Unilever’s UK shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favour of plans to move the Marmite owner’s legal base to London, despite warnings that a vote on a proposed exit tax if it leaves the Netherlands could go down to the wire (The Telegraph). Unilever shareholders have almost unanimously backed plans to unite the business into a single London-based group (The Daily Mail).

Retailers enjoyed their biggest monthly sales rise in a decade last month as children returned to school, office workers were encouraged to stay at home and supermarkets grappled with further stockpiling (The Times £). The big day may still be more than 10 weeks away but Britons have already started their Christmas shopping with gusto, according to the British Retail Consortium (The Telegraph). Families beginning their Christmas shopping early have handed retailers their biggest monthly sales boost in more than a decade (The Daily Mail)

Members of Britain’s hospitality sector have threatened a legal challenge to the “catastrophic” restrictions facing the industry, which are set to be tightened further in England’s coronavirus hotspots. (Sky News)

Bars and restaurants across much of England are facing a huge blow from the new coronavirus restrictions, the hospitality industry has warned. (The BBC)

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, said that there needed to be an “urgent rethink” of the approach because companies in the second tier would find their trade bad damaged by restrictions, yet would not be able to access state support reserved for those forced to close. (The Times £)

Mitchells & Butlers, the pubs and restaurants group, has begun redundancy consultations with a number of staff as it struggles with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. (The BBC)

The FT advises investors to ‘hold’ Tesco shares, writing: “It should be clear by now that pandemic-induced panic buying hasn’t translated into big supermarket profits… [But] Tesco shareholders can expect a £5bn payout once the Thai and Malaysian disposals are completed”. (The Financial Times £)

Amazon braces for winter of demand with relentless expansion, writes The FT. An expansion push comes as the company scrambles to hold on to its position as the essential western supplier of the pandemic, meeting the unprecedented demands of populations locked inside their homes while also fulfilling one of its bedrock promises: guaranteed delivery in just one or two days. (The Financial Times £)

In any normal year, bargain-hungry shoppers wait until Black Friday to snap up Christmas presents. This year, however, the season of discounting has come six weeks early. (The Telegraph)

Flies lead the way to a greener future - the shift towards more sustainable sources of protein is hailed as the second agricultural revolution. (The Financial Times £)

Topics