Tuesday newspaper round-up: WeWork, Thomas Cook, Hargreaves Lansdown, interest rates
WeWork is expected to sack at least 2,000 people as soon as this week, as angry staff at the troubled office rental company turn on its co-founder Adam Neumann. WeWork rents buildings long-term, gives them a millennial makeover with beer taps, communal spaces and tiny workspaces, and then rents them out short-term. Until recently it was America’s most highly valued private company with 527,000 tenants, or “members”, as WeWork calls them, worldwide. – Guardian
The government is likely to be able to recoup £1m at most from bonuses paid to the executives who were in charge of Thomas Cook when it failed. MPs on the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) select committee will question former directors of Thomas Cook on Tuesday, in the first session of an inquiry into one of the most high-profile failures in UK corporate history. – Guardian
The founder of Hargreaves Lansdown has accused the firm of failing in its duty to shareholders amid a row about political donations. Peter Hargreaves fell out with the investment platform last week over a planned shareholder vote on making donations to political parties. The 73-year-old billionaire made it clear he would use his 32pc stake to oppose the motion, so Hargreaves Lansdown cancelled the ballot at the last minute before its annual meeting. – Telegraph
A prolonged period of ultra-low interest rates could exacerbate future economic downturns, a deputy governor at the Bank of England has warned. Sir Jon Cunliffe said that central banks were in a precarious position as they had little room to manoeuvre by cutting rates in any new slowdown. – The Times
The new transport secretary will be questioned by MPs on why his department handed the operation of the west coast main line and the new High Speed 2 line to First Group when the company’s running of South Western Railway already had financial and operational problems. Grant Shapps is to face the Commons’ transport select committee tomorrow. Before that, the Labour Party has tabled questions in parliament, including: “What assessment, if any, of the financial performance of First Group’s existing rail franchises did the Department for Transport undertake prior to the announcement of the award of the West Coast Partnership?” – The Times