Tuesday newspaper round-up: Working from home, BT Sport, Morrisons
The industries most affected by the UK’s delayed reopening will need to find almost £50m to cover wages once the government’s furlough scheme is cut back on 1 July, according to analysis by the Labour party. Hospitality firms and cultural and arts businesses, which still have large numbers of workers on furlough, will need to cover the higher cost of keeping workers on the scheme even though they have no choice but to limit the number of customers they serve over the next month or are forced to remain shut. - Guardian
The heads of the UK’s largest business lobby group and two major City employers have warned against giving workers the legal right to demand remote working, claiming it would harm young employees and city centre economies. Lord Bilimoria, the president of the CBI, said that while employees should be able to request the option of working from home, flexible working arrangements must be allowed to evolve in their own way. - Guardian
Rupert Murdoch is exploring a tie-up with BT’s television arm, The Telegraph can reveal, as the nonagenarian attempts to reshape and secure his media legacy amid the decline of print newspapers. BT has held talks about a potential partnership with News UK, the publisher of the Sun and the Times, City sources said. - Telegraph
MPs are preparing to intervene in a potential takeover of Morrisons as investors brace for a feeding frenzy after the supermarket rejected a £5.5bn offer from private equity. The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee is understood to be preparing to write to the competition watchdog to seek assurances following the takeover offer from Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). The Competition and Markets Authority would be expected to look into a takeover of such a large UK business. - Telegraph
The accounting watchdog is seeking a joint-record £15 million fine against KPMG after a draft tribunal report found “many very serious” findings of misconduct relating to the company’s role in the sale of the mattress company Silentnight to the private equity firm HIG. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is also pushing for a fine of at least £500,000 against David Costley-Wood, the former restructuring partner involved, as well as a ban from his membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) for 15 years and from an insolvency licence for 15 years. - The Times