Market Buzz
Thursday newspaper round-up: Brexit, cars, broadcasters, PatVal
Theresa May is preparing to entice Labour MPs to support her Brexit deal with a cash injection into deprived areas that supported Leave, including former mining communities. The prime minister’s allies believe that she needs the backing of about 20 Labour MPs for a modified agreement to offset the number of Tory rebels, even if she wins the support of the DUP. - The Times.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Sofa.com, house prices, Apple, tech giants
Mike Ashley could be about to make the leap from sportswear to sofa retailing with yet another takeover deal, this time of the online furniture specialist Sofa. com. The Sports Direct founder has been on a buying spree over the past year, snapping up struggling retail chains including House of Fraser and the bike specialist Evans Cycles amid a high street crisis. He is also currently in the running to acquire the collapsed entertainment chain HMV. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Oddbins, Brexit, Patisserie Valerie, Google
The owner of Oddbins has warned staff of job losses in the near future as the off-licence business said it had appointed advisers to look at options for the future after an “extremely tough” Christmas. In an email to staff at European Food Brokers group, which also includes Wine Cellar Trading and Whittalls Wine Merchants, directors said they had concluded that its retail businesses “cannot continue in their current form” and may have to be sold. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Lloyds, BT, Scottish Power
The UK will be unable to have frictionless, tariff-free trade under World Trade Organization rules for up to seven years in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to two leading European Union law specialists. The ensuing chaos could double food prices and plunge Britain into a recession that could last up to 30 years, claim the lawyers who acted for Gina Miller in the historic case that forced the government to seek parliament’s approval to leave the EU. - Guardian .
Friday newspaper round-up: Tax relief bill, New Look, BT, Patisserie
British taxpayers face a £24bn bill for tax relief awarded to oil and gas companies removing hundreds of North Sea wells, rigs and pipelines, the UK public spending watchdog has said. The National Audit Office (NAO) said the figure would climb if companies collapse and are unable to pay for cleaning up their operations, leaving the government to pick up the tab. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Brexit, construction, RPC, Vodafone
Fears are growing internationally that a no-deal Brexit poses a threat to the stability of the global economy, the head of Britain’s leading business body has warned. Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the CBI, said the failure to sort out Britain’s departure from the European Union was damaging Britain’s brand abroad and had joined a list of systemic risks to the world economy. - Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Dyson, rents, Brexit
The scale of no-deal panic gripping major companies has been thrown into sharp focus by a series of damage-limitation announcements, as corporate Britain signalled it is running out of patience with Westminster gridlock. Sir James Dyson, the Brexit-backing billionaire, dealt a further blow to the government by revealing he is shifting his company headquarters to Singapore in a move that drew sharp criticism. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Patisserie Valerie, Rolls-Royce, Apple
Up to 40 members of the government will resign next week if Conservative MPs are banned from voting for a plan to stop a no-deal Brexit, No 10 has been told. Amber Rudd, the work and pensions secretary, has demanded that all Tory MPs are allowed a free vote on plans that would clear the path for extending Article 50 — the mechanism by which Britain leaves the European Union. - The Times.
Monday newspaper round-up: Brexit plan B, warehousing, energy suppliers
Theresa May halted the cross-party approach to Brexit last night as she told her cabinet that she would focus on securing changes from Brussels designed to win over rebel Conservatives and the DUP. The prime minister used an evening conference call to announce that she would seek changes to the backstop, the Northern Ireland insurance policy to avoid a hard border, or its removal despite repeated refusals by the European Union to budge on the issue. - The Times.
Friday newspaper round-up: Brexit, customs union, Debenhams, Netflix
Cabinet ministers have warned that Theresa May will face mass resignations if MPs are barred from trying to stop a no-deal Brexit. The Prime Minister said on Thursday that it is "impossible" to rule out a no-deal Brexit under the terms of Article 50 and warned that it "not in the Government's power" to do so. - Telegraph.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Brexit, sub-prime warning, M&A, Clarks
Philip Hammond told business leaders that the “threat” of a no-deal Brexit could be taken “off the table” within days and potentially lead to Article 50 “rescinded”, a leaked recording of a conference call reveals. The Chancellor set out how a backbench Bill could effectively be used to stop any prospect of no deal. He suggested that ministers may even back the plan when asked for an “assurance” by the head of Tesco that the Government would not oppose the motion.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Brexit, hedge funds, advertising, Ineos
Theresa May has pledged to face down a vote of no confidence in her government, after her Brexit deal was shot down by MPs in the heaviest parliamentary defeat of the democratic era. On a day of extraordinary drama at Westminster, the House of Commons delivered a devastating verdict on the prime minister’s deal, voting against it by 432 to 202. - Guardian .
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Carillion, Barclays execs, Ophir, Capita
Trade unions have accused the government of failing to learn lessons from the collapse of Carillion, instead pumping even more money into outsourcing companies, a year on from the firm’s high-profile demise. The lifetime value of outsourcing contracts awarded in 2017-18 “rocketed” by 53% from £62bn to £95bn in the past year, according to the GMB union, which pointed to nearly £2bn in contracts awarded to Capita and Interserve despite both issuing profit warnings.
Monday newspaper round-up: Brexit, banks, Debenhams, AA, PatVal
Theresa May will make one final appeal to the Commons to pass her Brexit deal, amid speculation among many Conservative MPs that the expected defeat could spark a cross-party plan or moves to oust the prime minister. May is to start her most crucial week as prime minister with a speech at a factory in Stoke-on-Trent, where more than two-thirds of people voted to leave the EU. - Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Brexit, inflation, Barclays, Capita, BT
Theresa May has been warned that her government “will lose its ability to govern” after Downing Street uncovered a bombshell plot by senior MPs to seize control of Brexit negotiations and sideline the prime minister. A cross-party group of senior backbenchers — including former Tory ministers — plan to change Commons rules so motions proposed by backbenchers take precedence over government business, if May loses the crunch vote on her Brexit deal on Tuesday.
Friday newspaper round-up: Brexit, SME lending, Brighton Pier
Up to 4,000 civil servants are being asked to abandon their day jobs to work on no-deal Brexit preparations under plans being rolled out across Whitehall. Officials in education, justice and welfare are among staff in five government departments being asked to take up new roles within weeks. - The Times.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Retailers, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce
Retailers experienced their worst Christmas for 10 years last month as shops were hit by Brexit worries and a dramatic fall in consumer confidence. Total sales growth dropped to zero in December for the first time since 2008, with all areas of the high street hit by a fall in sales except food, which benefited from intense competition among the major supermarket chains. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Brexit, World Bank, Hargreaves, taxis
Theresa May faces a concerted campaign of parliamentary warfare from a powerful cross-party alliance of MPs determined to use every lever at their disposal to prevent Britain leaving the EU without a deal in March. The former staunch loyalist Sir Oliver Letwin signalled that he and other senior Conservatives would defy party whips, repeatedly if necessary, to avoid a no-deal Brexit, as the government suffered a humiliating defeat during a debate on the finance bill in the Commons.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Housing, Barclays, Samsung, China-US talks
England must launch the biggest council and social house building drive in its history to rescue millions of people from a future in dangerous, overcrowded or unsuitable homes, a cross-party commission has told the government. More than 3m new social homes are needed in the next 20 years, more than were built in the two decades after the end of the second world war, according to a year-long housing commission launched in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster. Its commissioners include the former Conservative party chair, Sayeeda Warsi, the former Labour leader Ed Miliband and the former Conservative Treasury minister and Goldman Sachs chief economist Lord Jim O’Neill.
Monday newspaper round-up: US-China talks, Brexit, Morrisons, manufacturing
US officials arrived in China for the first face-to-face negotiations since a 90-day truce was declared in a trade war between Washington and Beijing, in the hope of ending a bruising confrontation between the world’s two largest economies. Hopes that the sixth round of negotiations between the two sides could yield a breakthrough helped Asian shares rise on Monday, combined with optimism about the state of the global economy on the back of strong US jobs figures on Friday.