Thursday newspaper round-up: Wages, sterling, Sky, food warning, Booker

Britain is set for a pay rise as the world economy lifts growth and falling migration makes it harder for companies to find cheap foreign labour. A report by the regional agents of the Bank of England suggests firms expect to give the average worker a 3.1 per cent pay rise in 2018, compared to 2.6 per cent last year, amid the strongest growth for a decade. - Daily Mail

Sterling will plunge more than 15 per cent from current levels if Britain leaves the European Union in a disorderly fashion, the IMF has warned. In its annual Article IV assessment of the UK economy, the Bretton Woods institution said the pound was up to 15 per cent overvalued on fundamentals today but “should Brexit lead to a significant increase in trade barriers, the equilibrium exchange rate could be more depreciated than suggested here”. - The Times

British businesses want to stay in the customs union and the single market after Brexit, according to a Harvard survey conducted by Ed Balls. The former shadow chancellor interviewed 80 small and medium-sized businesses in Britain about the type of deal they wanted and has published the findings in a report from the Harvard Kennedy School. - The Times

The Goldman Sachs boss, Lloyd Blankfein, has added his voice to the chorus warning that Donald Trump’s $1.5tn tax cut and spending plans could lead to an overheated US economy. “The odds of a bad outcome have gone up,” Blankfein said, warning that over-stimulating an already healthy economy could prove “too much of a good thing”. - Guardian

The Murdoch clan are under mounting pressure to increase their takeover bid for Sky in the wake of the pay-TV giant’s successful Premier League rights auction. Sky retained its status as the dominant Premier League broadcasterand slashed its annual bill by nearly £200m, prompting renewed calls for a more generous offer from 21st Century Fox.

Eating factory-made food including cornflakes, pizza and chocolate bars every day increases the risk of cancer by a quarter, the first study of its kind suggests. Additives in ready meals, packaged snacks and shop-bought cakes may combine to trigger the disease, with scientists fearing cancer caused by highly processed food over and above the harmful effects of the sugar and fat it contains. - The Times

An activist US hedge fund trying to push Tesco to pay more for Booker Group claims that a growing number of shareholders supports its position. Sandell Asset Management, which holds a 1.75 per cent position in Booker, said last week that it intended to vote against Tesco’s proposed £3.7 billion takeover of the cash-and-carry wholesaler. - The Times

More than 50,000 British workers may be being cheated out of part of their pension each year, according to a scathing report by MPs who warned of another “major mis-selling scandal”. The work and pensions select committee accused regulators of “fiddling while Rome burns” after its investigation found that unscrupulous financial advisers, sometimes employing “vulture” intermediaries at factory gates, had persuaded steelworkers to transfer their final salary pension pots. - The Times

City firms including Goldman Sachs, Invesco Perpetual and NFU Mutual have committed to signing up to a government-backed gender equality charter after being pressured to do so by the chairman of the Treasury select committee. Nicky Morgan, the Conservative MP, wrote to more than 30 finance firms urging them to sign up to the Women in Finance Charter – or explain why not. The charter commits firms to building a more gender balanced industry, including hiring more women in senior roles. - Telegraph

A new company backed by a trio of City grandees has been launched, with plans to raise an initial £150m to fund promising entrepreneurs. The business, named Ansor Ltd, has signed up Martin Morgan, the former chief of Daily Mail and General Trust, David Weaver, ex-chairman of Jefferies, and Tom Boardman, the chairman of huge Swedish investment company Kinnevik. - Telegraph

Faulty appliances such as washing machines, tumble dryers and fridge freezers are causing more than 60 house fires a week in the UK – a figure which has stayed “stubbornly high” in recent years – according to a Which? investigation. Government action to remove potentially dangerous electrical white goods from homes is falling “woefully short”, the consumer group warns, as it challenges ministers to explain how the fledgling Office for Product Safety and Standards will tackle the problem. - Guardian

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, could be costing the UK billions of pounds a year, according to a new report. According to the thinktank Demos, ADHD is a major socio-economic burden. The costs to the nation of the disorder in adults who are unable to work or hold down a full-time job are high. - Guardian

An independent US trade body on Wednesday said it rejected hefty duties on Bombardier's C-Series jets partly because Boeing lost no sales or revenue when Delta Air Lines ordered the aircraft in 2016 from the Canadian planemaker. The International Trade Commission (ITC) also said the 110-seat C-Series jets ordered by Delta and Boeing Co's smallest 737 MAX 7 plane do not compete, adding the sale to Delta did not come at the American planemaker's expense as it did not offer any new aircraft to the No 2 US carrier. - Telegraph

Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn has failed to subdue the anger felt by shareholders over a £110m payout despite promising to give a “substantial” amount to charity. Mr Fairburn said today that he planned to set up a charitable trust after facing criticism over his pay package, claiming that he was “misplaced” in believing the decision was a private matter. - Telegraph

Jim Ratcliffe, the multibillionaire chemicals tycoon and Brexit supporter, has handed a contract to create a “British” successor to the Land Rover Defender to a company in Germany. His chemicals company Ineos had signed up more than 200 German engineers to create a new “world-class 4x4”, the idea for which he first conceived in a pub near Buckingham Palace. - Guardian