Tuesday newspaper round-up: Retail, waistcoats, Sky, Ei Group

Britain’s retailers are benefiting from England’s continuing World Cup run and the warm weather boosting beer, barbecue and big-screen TV sales, despite the severe underlying challenges facing the high street. Suggesting deep problems remain for retailers as they close hundreds of stores across the country, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG said World Cup fever sweeping the nation along with a heatwave helped paper over the cracks for the industry in June. - Guardian

Marks & Spencer is running out of Gareth Southgate’s trademark waistcoat prompting anguished protests from England fans. The waistcoat has become a cult fashion item since Southgate began wearing it at the start of England’s run to the world cup semi-final. It even has its own spoof Twitter account with the slogan “Fashion’s Coming Home”. - Telegraph

The Bank of England should use its powers to freeze house prices for the next five years to reduce the chances of another financial crisis, a think tank has suggested. The Institute for Public Policy Research said that Britain needed to “reset” the way it thinks about rising prices to break the “cycle of ever-rising house prices that drives property speculation”, which it argues crowds out investment in the “real economy”.

21st Century Fox is putting the finishing touches to a £25 billion bid for Sky in an attempt to outgun Comcast in the battle for the British broadcaster. The company — which owns 39 per cent of Sky already — is expected to table its offer once it has received final approval from government in the coming days, according to reports last night. - The Times

Sky’s long-serving strategy chief Mai Fyfield is to become the first senior executive to exit the pay-TV operator as it prepares for a US takeover by Disney or Comcast. Ms Fyfield, formally Sky’s chief strategy and commercial officer, is due to leave in October after almost 20 years at the company. - Telegraph

Britain’s biggest pub company has appointed advisers to look at a potential sale of its commercial property division in a deal that could value the business at up to £300 million. The Times understands that Ei Group, formerly Enterprise Inns, has hired Rothschild, the investment bank, to help it to consider options for the business, including a sale of some or all of the portfolio of 351 properties.

Sir Martin Sorrell is on the verge of a €300m (£266m) takeover that will escalate hostilities with WPP, the advertising group he founded before sensationally resigning after 30 years at the helm. The acquisition by Sorrell's S4 Capital venture of Dutch agency MediaMonks, which could be announced as soon as Tuesday, comes after WPP told its former chief executive it would withhold up to £20m in future bonus payments if he went ahead with the deal. - Guardian

The takeover of a British aircraft component maker by a Chinese rival has collapsed, putting hundreds of jobs at risk. Better Capital, the listed venture capital fund owned by Jon Moulton, the financier, had been poised to sell Northern Aerospace to Shaanxi Ligeance Mineral Resources. However, the £44 million sale has fallen apart after a national security inquiry. - The Times

The Bank of England is examining whether an American investment bank may appoint an accountancy firm outside the Big Four as its British auditor over concerns that its chosen company lacks the resources of its elite rivals. Goldman Sachs has held discussions with Grant Thornton, the fifth largest audit firm by fee income in Britain, as the bank approaches a review of its audit relationship in the UK in 2022. - The Times

Stobart Group is keen for someone to buy out a 7 per cent stake in the company owned by Andrew Tinkler, its former chief executive, after he lost a bitter boardroom fight. In a statement to the stock market last night, Stobart said that it had been contacted by a would-be new investor “interested in making a significant investment in the company” and that it would explore other options to dilute Mr Tinkler’s shareholding “as soon as practicable”. - The Times

Petrol and diesel hybrid cars will still be permitted to be sold in 2040, the government has conceded, in a move that has angered environmental campaigners but was welcomed by the car industry. Ministers last year pledged to ban new cars powered by fossil fuels by 2040 but the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, confirmed on Monday that hybrid cars – powered by electricity and diesel or petrol – would be exempt. - Guardian

Government advisers have told ministers to back only a single new nuclear power station after Hinkley Point C in the next few years, because renewable energy sources could prove a safer investment. The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) said the government should cool down plans for a nuclear new build programme that envisage as many as six plants being built. - Guardian

One of the two shareholders trying to oust the chief executive of Premier Foods has trebled its stake in the British food manufacturer. Paulson & Co, an American hedge fund, has disclosed in a regulatory filing that its stake in the maker of Ambrosia Custard and Batchelors soup had risen from 1.99 per cent to 6.08 per cent. - The Times

Twitter’s shares nosedived overnight as investors balked at a crackdown on fake accounts that may affect the social network’s user numbers. Shares fell by more than 8pc after reports that the company is deleting more than 1m accounts a day, double the rate it was removing them at a year ago. - Telegraph

Motorists are facing delays of more than six months to order new cars as manufacturers struggle to get to grips with tough new emissions tests. Drivers have told of long waiting lists to purchase vehicles over the summer and autumn as tests are introduced that attempt to show pollution levels in the “real world”. - The Times

Uber users will soon be able to rent electric scooters via the ride hailing company's app, after it agreed a partnership with scooter startup Lime, in yet another sign of its ambitions to shift consumers away from car ownership. Uber agreed the deal with Lime after taking part in a $335m (£253m) funding round, which also included Alphabet's venture arm GV and valued the company at $1.1bn. - Telegraph

Monsanto has long worked to “bully scientists” and suppress evidence of the cancer risks of its popular weedkiller, a lawyer argued on Monday in a landmark lawsuit against the global chemical corporation. “Monsanto has specifically gone out of its way to bully ... and to fight independent researchers,” said the attorney Brent Wisner, who presented internal Monsanto emails that he said showed how the agrochemical company rejected critical research and expert warnings over the years while pursuing and helping to write favorable analyses of their products. - Guardian