IN the final run-in to Christmas, business is booming at the Blue Haven Food Company as last-minute orders are readied for supermarket shelves around the country.

SALES at Musgrave Group rose 4.5% to €4.6 billion last year making it the main challenger to Tesco in the Irish grocery market.

Seamus Scally (aged 61), the mastermind behind building the SuperValu and Centra chain of stores is to retire as boss of the Musgrave Group, owner of the franchises.

MUSGRAVES ambitious 57 million takeover of the Londis operation in Britain may face a challenge from the rival Nisa-Today’s, a rival convenience store supplier group.

IRELAND’s largest food distributor — Musgrave Group plc — has made a surprise €57m bid for Londis in Britain, which has a turnover of more than €1.4bn.