Wednesday newspaper round-up: Retailers, Boohoo, British industry
Many retailers given the go-ahead to reopen next month will face a “fight for survival” in the coming months, as they try to restore their fortunes with tough new physical distancing and health and safety requirements, a senior retail executive has warned. Clothes shops, toy stores, electronics retailers and booksellers were on Monday given the green light to get back to business on 15 June. The date was two weeks later than most retailers had anticipated. Other high street businesses allowed to reopen on that date include indoor markets, shoe shops, tailors, auction houses and photography studios. Outdoor non-food markets and car showrooms will be allowed to open from 1 June. - Guardian
The fortunes of millions of workers are hanging in the balance as Rishi Sunak weighs up whether to axe a crucial self-employment support programme and separately prepares to block new furlough applications. A decision on whether to extend the self-employment income support scheme (SEISS) beyond May is expected to be made within days - and a sudden stop to the grant is still on the table, according to sources close to the discussions. – Telegraph
Boohoo came under attack on Tuesday from a British short-seller that claimed the online retailer had exaggerated the amount of cash flowing through its books. Shares in the online fast fashion firm fell by more than 12pc after investor Shadowfall revealed it had bet on a share price fall. The stock later staged a partial recovery, ending the day 6.8pc lower at 334.9p which valued Boohoo at £4.1bn. – Telegraph
The old debate about the government picking winners in British industry has resurfaced. Ministers responsible for industrial policy during the past decade have studiously avoided the strategy, fearful of accusations of a return to the “disastrous” state interventions of the 1970s. Yet if the governments of Harold Wilson and Ted Heath had not picked some winners, there would be no Rolls-Royce to consider bailing out in 2020, none of the legacy car factories from which Jaguar Land Rover operates and no steel industry. – The Times
President Macron has launched an €8 billion plan designed to rescue the French car industry, while turning France into Europe’s biggest producer of electric and hybrid vehicles. Motor manufacturers are reeling from the pandemic, which led to an 88 per cent fall in new car sales in France last month compared with a year earlier. – The Times