Thursday newspaper round-up: Dyson, Panasonic, Macron, Canada
A dramatic rise in land values pushed Britain’s wealth to a fresh high of more than £10tn last year, highlighting the huge gains made by developers in property hotspots across the UK. From London and the home counties to Cambridge and popular parts of Devon and Cornwall, land values have become the single largest element of wealth, dwarfing household wealth locked up in property and financial savings. Official figures showed that the UK’s net worth rose by £492bn between 2016 and 2017 to £10.2tn, with the lion’s share of the increase accounted for by a £450bn jump in the value of land. – Guardian
Sir James Dyson, the billionaire inventor and Brexit backer, has unveiled expansion plans to accommodate more than 2,000 workers at his Wiltshire research facility, more than doubling capacity for electric-vehicle testing. Coming despite severe warnings over lost jobs and investment from no-deal Brexit, his technology company is spending about £200m to expand the testing facility on a former second world war airfield at Hullavington, near Malmesbury in the west of England. – Guardian
Panasonic plans to move its European headquarters from Britain to the Netherlands later this year over concerns about potential tax issues related to Brexit. The Japanese company's move is the latest sign of concern from the business community over the protracted Brexit negotiations. "We will move our European headquarters to the Netherlands," a spokeswoman for the firm told Agence France-Presse, confirming a report in the Nikkei business daily about the electronics giant's decision. – Telegraph
Unseasonably warm weather can cost retailers £40m per week for each degree that temperature is raised, according to analysis by the Met Office and the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The effect is strongest from mid-August to early October when higher temperatures make consumers put off buying clothing for autumn and winter. In that period, sales growth is reduced by 1.1pc for each degree above temperatures seen a year previously. This equates to £40m a week in lost non-food sales. – Telegraph
President Macron is preparing to throw Theresa May a lifeline by pushing other EU leaders to agree a close relationship with Britain after Brexit as part of his vision for a united Europe. The French leader wants to use a summit in Austria next month to spell out a new structure for European alliances. It would be based on “concentric circles”, with the EU and the euro at its core and Britain in a second ring, diplomatic sources have told The Times. – The Times
Canada is considering making concessions as part of last-ditch efforts to save a trilateral trade deal with the United States and Mexico. If Canada does not sign up to a reformed North American Free Trade Agreement by tomorrow, the White House has said it will continue with its own bilateral deal with Mexico, which President Trump has championed as a “big hit”, claiming that it would bring scores of companies back to America. – The Times