Welcome to life under our new PM, Gordon Brown. Off goes Teflon Tony to a new career, like a CEO who's seen the company through the MBO and reached the end of his time. We wish him well.

Politics with the Son of the Manse in charge is likely to be less colourful than under the uber Salesman who sold us the Iraq war. We'll need all the humour we can get. So it makes us smile that it took Icelandic financial group Landsbanki to provide £370m of "second refinancing" to Iceland Foods. Very apt!

There are people out there who can help companies in this business, but most of the time you need to be a certain size to benefit. In this issue we've an interview with Ambrose McGinn of Jenks, the sales distribution brokers. Jenks' sales top £130m annually. Under the joint leadership of ex-Abbey National MD Ambrose McGinn and Ross Beattie Jenks believe they can "significantly increase the use of specialist outsourcing for all aspects of the sales channel." But before everyone rings, Ambrose is quite specific about the size brands Jenks want to help, and the level of support they should have. If anyone offers a similar service to unsupported brands, please tell us.

Scale means you can control your logistics. We also have an extended feature on PD Ports' Portcentric Logistics proposition. As more and more imports come into the UK, the business case for retailers and marketers to establish combined import processing and distribution centres close to the port of entry is increasingly compelling. Adding to the pressure, England's Southern ports are congested, with no plans for new ones. And the region's roads and motorways are clogged too, making inland DC's less attractive.

PD Ports offers an answer to these problems at Teesport, its deep-water port on Teesside. After a year's marketing, Teesport's Portcentric Logistics proposition has been embraced by leading UK retailers ASDA and Baird Menswear. Both have established major import processing and distribution centres in the port's Bonded Area, with more retailers set to sign shortly. ASDA has built a 500,000 square foot warehouse on the site, and is already directing its UK-bound containers of non-food products from the Far East to Teesport.

ASDA/WalMart certainly has confidence in Britain. Which brings us back to our new PM. With the pundits now saying we could have an election as early as 2008, we might not have to endure the 'Clunking Fist' for long. So cheer up. Have a good month, and stay dry!

Charles Smith, The Grocery Trader