UK must solve labour issues and cut red tape to help ease food inflation, lobby group warns May 16, 2023 The UK government must address labour shortages and make sure regulations don’t weigh food producers down to help ease food price inflation, an industry lobby group has warned. Downing Street hosted a Farm to Fork event at No10 with retailers, traders and producers invited, as Rishi Sunak announced greater protections for farmers in future trade [...]
‘It’s our duty to be vigilant’: CMA bosses defend blocking Microsoft-Activision deal May 16, 2023 Bosses of the UK’s competition watchdog said today that they will not turn a blind eye to anti-competitive mergers as they defended the agency's controversial move to block Microsoft’s £55bn takeover of Activision Blizzard after it was waved through by EU regulators yesterday.
Petrol below 145p per litre for first time since November 2021 – now it’s £26 cheaper to fill up a tank May 16, 2023 Average petrol prices have fallen below 145p per litre for the first time in 18 months. RAC analysis shows the average price of a litre of the fuel at UK forecourts has dropped to 144.95p. Prices have not been that low since November 2021. Diesel has reached its cheapest average price since February last year [...]
Tesco cuts price on 30 own brand products including pasta and oil as supermarket wars continue May 16, 2023 Tesco has announced another round of price cuts on its own-brand pasta and cooking oil as it sees deflation making its way through to cupboard essentials. The UK’s biggest supermarket is dropping the price of 30 products, with 15p off 500g and 1kg packs of own-brand pasta, 14p off its one litre vegetable oil and [...]
British farmers to be given greater protections in future trade deals May 16, 2023 Farmers are to be given greater protections in future trade deals as part of a package of measures unveiled ahead of a No 10 food summit. Downing Street said the government’s initiatives, as well as putting greater emphasis on farmers’ interests during international trade negotiations, include reviewing supply chains to ensure producers are getting a [...]
City of London grandees lay out vision for UK markets after bruising few months May 15, 2023 A group of City of London grandees are drawing up a “new market model” for the UK’s capital markets after a bruising few months in which the capital has been rocked by negative headlines and a slew of firms heading towards New York.
Restart game? EU approves Microsoft’s $69bn Activision bid weeks after UK rejected deal May 15, 2023 Microsoft’s $68.7bn bid for Activision Blizzard has been approved by EU regulators today, just weeks after the UK’s competition agency blocked the deal. The EU decided to approve the deal after remedies were put in place to address competition concerns, with the European Commission saying Microsoft offered 10-year free licensing deals to customers. “These licenses [...]
CMA to probe if ‘failure in competition’ is seeing consumers overcharged for food and fuel May 15, 2023 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today announced it will investigate whether a “failure in competition” is seeing consumers overcharged for groceries and fuel. The watchdog said it would be stepping up its work in the grocery sector to determine whether a “failure in competition is contributing to grocery prices being higher than they would [...]
FTSE 100 close: HSBC and Lloyds lead gains on London index as Turkish lira slides after inconclusive election May 15, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 kicked off a new week in decent style today, led higher by Britain’s largest banks clocking strong gains. The capital’s premier index advanced 0.30 per cent to 7,777.69 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, climbed 0.37 per cent to [...]
‘Greedflation’ not to blame for UK price surge, former rate setter claims May 15, 2023 “Greedflation” is not to blame for prices surging in the UK and instead businesses are pushing up prices in response to soaring costs, a former Bank of England rate-setter claimed today. Michael Saunders, an ex-member of the monetary policy committee – the nine strong group that sets interest rates in Britain – and now senior [...]