Boss looking to buy back Julian Graves

Black Country-based food specialist retailer Julian Graves could be sold back to the man who originally started the business as a market store 24 years ago.

Chief executive Nick Shutts wants to take control of the company with seven members of his management team. The news comes after Icelandic investment group Baugur, the chain's owner, confirmed a review of options for Julian Graves was under way.

Mr Shutts said: "My management team and I would be delighted to re-acquire the business.

"I firmly believe my management team and I are the right people to take this business to the next level."

Baugur turned down interest in Julian Graves last summer but is currently reviewing its retail portfolio.

It bought the business for £14 million in 2003.

Julian Graves' origins go back to 1984 when Mr Shutts borrowed £500 from his dad to set up a market store in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire.

The West Midlands chain began trading in 1987 from a single high street shop in Brierley Hill under the original name Food for Thought.

It took its current name in 1993 after the middle name of the two founders, Nick Shutts and Nigel Morris.

Based on the Pensnett Estate, at Kingswinford, Julian Graves is one of the fastest-growing retailers in the UK, and has 350 stores in the UK, Ireland and Channel Islands.

It employs 1,644 people with 150 at its headquarters in Kingswinford.

It sells a range of nuts, dried fruits, cakes and cereals as well as "retro" sweets such as flying saucers and pear drops.

In April, Julian Graves opened a new store in Moreton-in-Marsh, just yards away from the town's weekly market where the business began life.

Last year Julian Graves' customers consumed around 800 tonnes of Brazil nuts, 500 tonnes of walnuts, 1,100 tonnes of cashews, 600 tonnes of prunes and 1,350 tonnes of dried apricots alone.