Below are the key morning headlines from today’s papers, featuring the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
Fortnum & Mason takes up its seat in the City. Fortnum & Mason is opening its first shop and restaurant in the City in a move that it says demonstrates its confidence in London before Britain’s departure from the European Union in March. The grocer to the Queen begins trading today at The Royal Exchange, which has been a centre of commerce in the Square Mile since the 16th century. It said that it was “bringing together two London institutions with a shared history in trade and commerce and a shared passion in architectural history”. Ewan Venters, chief executive of Fortnum & Mason, said that the company had decided to open in the City as it was “a gateway to the world”.
Macron tries to take UK’s gold crown as historic rivalry is reborn. Paris has vaulting ambitions to capture a share of the world gold trade from London, reviving its historic role as a top-tier power in the international bullion market. The Banque de France has teamed up with JP Morgan to offer a full range of swaps, leases, and gold deposits for global central banks and sovereign wealth funds. Global reserve managers will be able to pledge bullion as collateral for deposits or for raising foreign currency on the Paris market. Sylvie Goulard, the BdF’s deputy governor, called it the spearhead of a sweeping shake-up of the French gold industry and left no doubt that one aim is to challenge the hegemonic position of the City in bullion dealing.
UK fintech unicorns in talks with Softbank. Revolut and Oaknorth seek slice of $100bn fund. A pair of British technology “unicorns” could be the next investments for Softbank’s $100 billion Vision Fund, providing a significant vote of confidence in the UK’s growing band of online-only challenger banks. Revolut and Oaknorth have held talks with the Softbank fund about a potential investment at their next fundraisings, in what would mark the Mayfair-based vehicle’s first investments in the British financial technology sector. Talks with Revolut are said to be at a very early stage, while negotiations with Oaknorth are understood to be more advanced. In each case a final decision is not expected for several months, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
Short sellers bet £1.4bn on tough Christmas on the high street. Hedge funds have amassed a £1.4bn bet against high street stores as economists warn that a crucial Christmas period will hinge on a Brexit deal. Pets at Home Group (PETS) , Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) and Debenhams (DEB) have become top short seller targets on London’s stock market after struggling to cope with subdued consumer spending and more nimble online competition. Economists have predicted shoppers could tighten their belts over the Christmas period after splashing out during the summer. The latest retail footfall data from Springboard last night showed a 2% decline in October, a steeper decline than in September.
Britain ‘at risk of blackouts without more gas storage’. Britain needs more gas storage sites to reduce the risk of a supply shortage that could lead to blackouts, a leading energy consultancy has warned. The country’s gas supply position is “precarious” and winter shortfalls could jeopardise fuel supplies for power stations, according to Wood Mackenzie. Graham Freedman, its principal analyst for European gas, accused the government of “taking its eye off the ball” after the closure of Britain’s main storage site and urged it to act to “get some more gas storage in place”. The question of gas security has risen up the agenda after the “Beast from the East” cold snap in the spring, when a supply scare led to prices surging to two-decade highs. MPs on the business and energy select committee have launched an inquiry to examine the need for more gas storage.
MPs to probe audit market over fears accounts resemble ‘works of fiction’. MPs have launched a new probe into the “broken” audit market over concerns that “fiction” produced by the Big Four accountants was at the heart of major failures such as BHS, Carillion and Patisserie Valerie. Rachel Reeves, chairman of the Business Select Committee, said the collapse of Carillion implicated the entire industry and undermined public trust in business. The audit of BHS, which closed a year after PwC rubber stamped its accounts, and the recent accounting black hole found at cafe chain Patisserie Valerie have also raised serious question, she said.
BA owner International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) seeks Spanish help amid Brexit fears. The owner of British Airways is seeking the support of the Spanish government as it steps up its preparations for a no-deal Brexit. International Airlines Group has asked for Madrid’s help in its campaign to retain its operating rights should Britain crash out of the European Union without a deal, according to reports. It has been in talks with the Spanish government since at least last month, as it seeks to prove to Brussels that it complies with its airline ownership rules, according to El Pais, the Spanish newspaper. Britain is just over four months away from exiting the European Union, but has yet to secure a withdrawal agreement in negotiations with Brussels. If Theresa May, the prime minister, fails to reach a deal, IAG’s status as a European carrier could be thrown into jeopardy. Under existing rules, an airline must be more than 50 per cent EU-owned and controlled to be considered European. IAG has yet to demonstrate that it meets this requirement.
Alarm over talks to implant UK employees with microchips. Trades Union Congress concerned over tech being used to control and micromanage. Britain’s biggest employer organisation and main trade union body have sounded the alarm over the prospect of British companies implanting staff with microchips to improve security. UK firm BioTeq, which offers the implants to businesses and individuals, has already fitted 150 implants in the UK. The tiny chips, implanted in the flesh between the thumb and forefinger, are similar to those for pets. They enable people to open their front door, access their office or start their car with a wave of their hand, and can also store medical data.
New UK gas power station ‘would breach climate commitments’. Environmental law group submits objection over proposed 3.6GW Drax plant. Plans to build a huge new UK gas power station are facing a challenge from an environmental law group that argues the project would breach the government’s recommendations on climate change. ClientEarth, which has repeatedly defeated the government in court over its air pollution strategy, has submitted an objection to the planning inspectorate over Drax Group (DRX) proposed 3.6GW plant in North Yorkshire. The intervention is the first by the lawyers against a gas project in the UK. Sam Hunter Jones, a lawyer at the group, said it had acted because the Drax scheme marked a tipping point in the amount of new gas planned by energy firms in the UK.
85,000 jobs lost from Britain’s high streets as retailers feel the pinch. New figures reveal surge in the number of businesses going into administration or closing stores as costs rise and shoppers move online. Up to 85,000 retail jobs disappeared from Britain’s high streets in the first nine months of this year after a surge in the number of businesses going bust and closing stores. Nearly 1,000 retail businesses – from big employers such as House of Fraser, Evans Cycles and Poundworld to independent traders – went into administration between January and September, according to new data seen by the Observer, the highest number in five years. A further 26 big companies, including New Look, Carpetright, Mothercare and Homebase, opted to close stores or cut rents using an insolvency procedure known as a Company Voluntary Arrangement – up 73% on the same period last year. The figures raise further fears about the future of Britain’s high streets, where the number of premises lying empty soared by more than 4,400 in the first six months of 2018, according to retail analysis firm Local Data Company.
Retailers to pay up to £1bn for recycling under waste strategy. Exclusive: ministers seeking to make firms pay more towards recycling their own waste. Supermarkets, retailers and major drinks brands are set to pay tens of millions of pounds more towards recycling their used packaging under the government’s new waste strategy expected to be published this month, the Guardian understands. Supermarkets and other major producers of packaging waste currently pay a small fraction of the cost of collecting and recycling the 11m tonnes of packaging waste produced in the UK. Ministers are considering several options to improve recycling, stop abuses to the export market in plastic packaging and make companies pay more towards collecting and recycling their own waste.
Shamed Persimmon chief Jeff Fairburn grabs £21m MORE on top of £75m share awards. Ousted Persimmon (PSN) boss Jeff Fairburn will pocket an extra £21 million on top of the £75 million bonus already lined up, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Fairburn was sacked from the FTSE 100 housebuilder last week – a year after The Mail on Sunday’s revelations about his pay triggered fury. A car crash TV interview last month, in which he walked off without answering questions about the bonus, is thought to have been the final nail in the coffin.
Fashion retailers are so fed up with the damaging effects of Black Friday that many of the biggest high street names are refusing to take part in the annual discount bonanza later this month. The Mail on Sunday can reveal that House of Fraser, Marks & Spencer and Selfridges will all trade as normal on November 23. Even online fashion retailers are understood to be stepping back from the event, which one supplier said had become a ‘nightmare’ due to customers loading up on cheap purchases that they then return. Black Friday, which traditionally falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving in the US, was introduced to the UK by Amazon in 2010.
