Monday newspaper round-up: Brexit, climate crisis, UK aerospace
Economic growth in Britain is expected to slow to the lowest levels since the financial crisis as firms run down Brexit stockpiles, according to a leading business lobby group. After a stockpiling rush this year that pumped up the rate of economic growth, the British Chambers of Commerce said growth would slow in 2020 and 2021. – Guardian
A $10tn (£7.9tn) investor alliance has accused more than 700 companies, including Amazon, Tesco and ExxonMobil, of failing to reveal the full extent of their impact on the climate crisis, water shortages and deforestation. The major global companies, with a combined worth ofmore than $15tn, lack transparency over their effect on the environment, according to the intervention by some of the world’s biggest financial names. – Guardian
Almost a thousand shops have closed over the past two years as a direct result of retailers using controversial restructuring tactics to slim their store estate. The new research lays bare the full effect of company voluntary arrangements on the high street. Retailers including Carpetright, Mothercare and Homebase have used CVAs to shut a total 954 stores since the start of 2017, according to fresh analysis by property group Colliers International. The number of CVAs, which have become a tool to renegotiate rents with landlords, have doubled during that period. – Telegraph
The UK aerospace sector has attacked “extreme” politicians endorsing a no-deal departure from the European Union, warning at the Paris Air Show that opens today that it would inevitably prevent leading companies from competing on the global stage. Aviation businesses are poised to continue ratcheting up contingency plans ready for the October 31 Brexit deadline “very soon”, according to industry leaders. – The Times
An investment firm championed by Hargreaves Lansdown is one of the biggest shareholders in the fund supermarket, throwing the spotlight back on the relationships between Hargreaves and the City in the wake of the Woodford affair. Lindsell Train, led by the star fund managers Michael Lindsell and Nick Train, holds an 11 per cent stake in the FTSE 100-listed Hargreaves and is its second-largest shareholder, according to Refinitiv, the data researcher. – The Times