Kerry Group is set to spend over €500m on acquisitions this year, with chief executive Stan McCarthy saying the group is very busy in the takeover market.

Kerry Foods is to continue with the restructuring programme that delivered a sales uplift at the end of 2013 and into 2014 — despite “highly competitive” consumer markets in the UK and Ireland.

It is true that we are seeing sad stories in the media, in the midst of our difficult economic recession, almost on a daily basis. As well as murders, suicides and gang killings theere are stories of businesses that have closed down under the pressure of less ‘footfall’ in stores and upward only rent reviews (still not changed by legislation as promised with a sense of urgency before the February 2011 General Election by this new government, who are 18 months in office).