Friday newspaper roundup: Furlough, UK beer sales, Ocado
More than a third of employees in some towns in Britain have been furloughed due to coronavirus, according to figures that also reveal the government’s job retention scheme has now cost almost £20bn. Crawley in Sussex, which sits next to Gatwick airport, had 33.7% of employees furloughed last month while in contrast Cambridge had just under half that proportion at 17.4%. – Guardian
Beer sales slumped to their lowest level in 20 years in the first three months of the year, as lockdown forced the UK’s 47,000 pubs to shut up shop. Pubs, bars, supermarkets and shops sold 1.5bn pints of beer between January and March, down 7.2% on the same period of 2019 and the worst result since the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) began publishing figures in 2000. – Guardian
A Barclays executive claimed it was his wife rather than businesswoman Amanda Staveley who was instrumental in landing a £3.25bn rescue deal from an Abu Dhabi prince, a court has heard. Roger Jenkins became furious that Ms Staveley was claiming it was her private equity firm who introduced His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the bank. – Telegraph
Ocado has lost a contempt of court claim against a senior City lawyer accused of burning corporate espionage evidence. The claim against Raymond McKeeve, a former partner at Jones Day, is part of Ocado’s broader battle with rival Today Development Partners, a new grocery technology venture set up by Ocado co-founder Jonathan Faiman. Ocado has said it wants to appeal the judgement and called it “surprising and disappointing”. – Telegraph
More than a fifth of household consumption has been made impossible by the lockdown, official figures show. The Office for National Statistics found that British households spent an average of £182 a week last year on activities that have since been largely prevented or restricted. This includes travel, holidays and meals out. – The Times