RECORD

Fifty per cent of the UB range, which includes McVitie's Crawford's, Carr's, Penguin, Wright's and Macfarlane's biscuits, have already increased prices by 5 per cent.

Now it is the turn of the other 50 per cent. Managing director Hector Laing blames increased raw material costs. If prices stayed the same, he says, the group would suffer from decreased profit margins. The government does not object to this argument.

The case of United Biscuits is perhaps one of the most UB's share of the rocketing cost of living is considerable. In 1971 profits were 43.1 per cent over the previous year and the latest returns show a further £2.8m increase to a record figure of £21m—this is before the latest round of increases. The profit increase for the first half of 1972 reached an amazing 67 per cent, though margins narrowed towards the end of the year. fit was revealed last year by one of UB's brightest executives Bill Bowman, who heads the international division.

Bowman was commenting on the overhaul of the UB empire, which followed an investigation by business consultants McKinsey. "There was no advertising, no product support, no image, they were just cut-priced products,' he said of the old-style 'family' UB.

'So we made a start on revamping McVitie. We put prices up massively, we imfor rapid integration coupled with expansion into other food lines (KP nuts, crisps, flour manufacture, preserves and meat wholesaling).

The overhaul has meant massive redundancies within the industry. Four of the UB biscuit plants and four of ciated Biscuits-but price competition has effectively been eliminated in the industry in favour of the advertising war. In 1971 £2.9m was spent on TV advertising alone. an ex-Scottish Tory MP. The group's other connection with the Party is through British United Industrialists, which received £5,000 of UB cash last year.

Organizations like UB make fabulous profits and directors enjoy incomes beyond the living wage above this ceiling, they face fines and imprisonBut the food monopolies operate how they please. All fresh food and vegetables are exempt from the so-called 'freeze'. This has given the wholesalers complete freedom Associated Biscuit Manufacturers Reckitt & Colman Ranks Hovis Spillers Tate & Lyle British United Industrialists BUI Aims of Industry Economic League Aims of Industry Economic League BUI Aims of Industry Economic League BUI fits and drawing vast salaries, £2,000 a survey has been conducted £20,000 on the health of school£500 children. £500 £5,000 It established that 30 per £4,500 cent of children in a sample £5,000 throughout the country were €2,500 suffering in one degree or £2,025 ancther from rickets. £3,500