Market Buzz
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Elon Musk, John Lewis, Mike Lynch
Jeremy Hunt could offer striking public sector workers a bigger pay rise before his budget next month by cancelling plans for a fuel duty freeze costing £6bn, according to a leading tax and spending watchdog. With waves of fresh strike action planned across the public sector next month, the director of Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), Paul Johnson, said the chancellor faced a “straight choice” between subsidising car driving and helping public sector workers cope with the cost of living crisis.
Monday newspaper round-up: Britishvolt, Octopus, LSE Group
The Australia-based company Recharge Industries will take over collapsed battery maker Britishvolt after finalising a deal with administrators late on Sunday in the UK. The agreement revives hopes for the construction of a £3. 8bn (A$6. 7bn) “gigafactory” in northern England, the backbone of a plan to modernise the British automotive industry and supply the next generation of UK-built electric vehicles. – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Brexit deal, HSBC, Fresh fruit
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has refused to say whether Parliament will vote on the government's new Brexit deal. He did however tell Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme that "Parliament will find a away to have its say". The plan was expected to be unveiled possibly as early as Monday. "We want to handle this properly and in the right way," he said. I think one thing we’ve learned with meaningful votes and various other things since 2016 and beyond is that you have to carry Parliament with you, and I’m confident we would be able to.
Friday newspaper round-up: Rogue landlords, gas network bosses, electric cars
Rogue landlords are conning the government out of millions of pounds by fraudulently claiming housing benefits for so-called “ghost tenants”, it has been revealed. Criminal gangs are among those buying cheap property to convert into housing for vulnerable people, in some cases claiming welfare payments for tenants who do not live there. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Energy costs, Sainsbury's, ChatGPT
Ministers have moved to level the playing field on energy costs between British manufacturers and their European competitors after years of concerns that domestic firms faced an unfair disadvantage. The “British Industry Supercharger” scheme aims to improve conditions for 300 companies – employing 400,000 workers – in sectors including steel, metals, chemicals and paper manufacturing. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Wizz Air, Google, JPMorgan
Wizz Air has been named the worst short-haul airline by UK passengers. Passengers surveyed by consumer group Which? gave the Hungary-based carrier one star out of five for boarding experience, cabin environment and seat comfort. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Energy suppliers, JLR, business optimism
Switching between energy suppliers is expected to return later this year after a two-year pause due to lack of competition amid high bills. The energy consultancy Cornwall Insight said on Monday that easing costs later this year would present consumers with the chance to “take back some control” over their bills, as suppliers compete for customers again. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Retail jobs, online chatbots, Meta, Zopa
Nearly 15,000 British retail jobs have already been cut since January in a “brutal start to the year” for the high street. A total of 14,874 retail job losses have been announced by companies so far, according to analysis from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR). – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Post-Brexit arrangements, Manchester United, Home REIT
Rishi Sunak and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson are on a collision course over the former's plans to overhaul the post-Brexit arrangements as pertain to Northern Ireland. It is understood that Johnson is worried that a successful push by Sunak would become an obstacle to the government's ability to rip up some of the Brexit arrangements in the region. Keir Starmer on the other hand told the Observer that his party would support a vote in Parliament on the agreement.
Friday newspaper round-up: Meta, business taxes, PwC
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has said in a filing that it is increasing its spend on the personal security of chief executive and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg by $4m (£3. 3m) to $14m, at a moment when the company has cut thousands of jobs in what Zuckerberg has called the “year of efficiency”. Meta’s board declared that the 40% increase was “appropriate and necessary under the circumstances” and was in place “to address safety concerns due to specific threats to his safety arising directly as a result of his position as Meta’s founder, chairman, and CEO”.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Wilko, Revolut, Russian economy
Wilko plans to cut more than 400 jobs, including assistant store managers, retail supervisors, head office managers and call centre workers, in the troubled retailer’s latest effort to control costs. The value household and garden products retailer has told staff it plans to reduce hours for team supervisors in 150 of its 401 stores, leading to the equivalent of about 150 full-time equivalent job losses, after a fall in sales. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Subway, Waitrose, Royal Mail
Fast-food chain Subway has put itself on the menu – announcing on Tuesday it is exploring a possible sale of its business after 58 years of family control. After years of rapid growth, rising costs and mounting competition from rivals have taken their toll on the company in recent years, but it still has more than 37,000 restaurants in over 100 countries – making it one of the largest chains in the world. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Vodafone, Toyota, Arm
The US telecoms group chaired by “cable cowboy” John Malone has snapped up a stake in Vodafone in a bet on the UK company’s revival – but has ruled out making a takeover bid. Liberty Global, which is an investor in ITV and Virgin Media O2, told investors on Monday it had acquired a 4. 92% stake in Vodafone, saying it believed the shares were undervalued. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Telecoms providers, NatWest, energy firms
Britain’s biggest telecoms providers are preparing to launch inflation-busting price increases for broadband and mobile contracts this spring, hitting consumers with a combined bill worth £600m more than if these deals had matched the cost of living. BT, EE, Vodafone, Virgin Media, O2 and TalkTalk are to increase bills for tens of millions of customers under “mid-contract price rises” from April and May. – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Savings, British Gas
A cross-party summit that included both leavers and remainers has been held in high secrecy to address the failings of Brexit in the national interest. Also present were diplomats, defence experts and the heads of the largest businesses and lenders. A source said: "The main thrust of it was that Britain is losing out, that Brexit it not delivering, our economy is in a weak position,” said the source. “It was about moving on from leave and remain, and what are the issues we now have to face, and how can we get into the best position in order to have a conversation with the EU about changes to the UK-EU trade and cooperation agreement when that happens?" - Observer.
Friday newspaper round-up: News Corp, Shell, Stamp Duty tax
Media conglomerate News Corp said on Thursday that it would cut 1,250 jobs after it missed estimates for second-quarter earnings due to weakness in its news and digital real estate businesses. Rising inflation and higher interest rates are forcing companies to curb their ad and marketing spend, denting one of the major sources of revenue for companies such as News Corp, which has major publishing platforms including the Wall Street Journal and New York Post in the US, the Sun and the Times in the UK, and the Australian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Twitter, Disney, Siemens
Twitter users were unable to post instantly on the website for almost an hour, in the latest outage to hit the social media platform since billionaire Elon Musk’s $44bn takeover. From around 10pm GMT on Wednesday, users attempting to tweet were informed by the platform they had hit their daily limit – despite many of them reporting having not tweeted at all that day. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Zoom, fraudulent loans, Starling Bank
Households in Britain will suffer a hit to their finances of up to £4,000 this year, according to a report warning that the economy could avoid recession but that, for millions, it will not feel like it has. Adding to pressure on Rishi Sunak as the government prepares to scale back its support for energy bills this spring, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said low and middle-income households were facing the biggest financial hit from the cost of living crisis.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Digital pound, bus services, Royal Mail
Consumers could be using a new digital pound as an alternative to cash by the end of the decade under plans being drawn up by the Bank of England and the Treasury. The government is speeding up its response to the rise of privately issued cryptocurrencies and stable coins with a four-month public consultation process on a “Britcoin” starting on Tuesday. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Rail fares, Amazon, working from home
Return tickets will be scrapped and new digital ticketing introduced under reforms of the British rail system expected to be announced this week. The two-way tickets, which offer a discounted rate, will be replaced by “single-leg pricing” which will mean that the price of two singles will be the same as the current return fare, according to the Telegraph. The idea was trialled by London North East Railway (LNER) in 2020. – Guardian.