The UK competition watchdog will open an investigation into competition in the retail fuel market amid soaring petrol prices (The Financial Times £).
Supermarkets are unjustifiably profiting from soaring fuel prices, former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King has suggested (The Times £). King told Andrew Neil in an interview that there was “absolutely no doubt” that supermarkets are competing less at the moment on the price of fuel than they have done historically. “There isn’t a price war on fuel … The reality is that fuel today for all supermarkets is more profitable than it’s historically been.”
A business editorial in The Guardian says that after the government cut duty by 5p a litre, it’s worth wondering what supermarkets’ fuel profits are. “Even former insiders in the petrol retailing game say privately that competitive tensions in the market feel less than intense.”
In an unusual dispute, Lidl has claimed that Tesco is exploiting the background to its trademarked logo, a blue square containing a yellow circle with a thin red border, to promote Clubcard discounts to their own customers (The Times £).
Tesco has been accused of “seeking deliberately to ride on the coattails of Lidl’s reputation as a discounter” in a High Court dispute over logo rights (The Telegraph).
UK supermarkets prepare to move unhealthy foods out of temptation’s way (The Financial Times £). “It has been described as the biggest change to supermarket retailing since supermarkets were invented.”
The head of a landmark review of England’s food system has called for “much bolder” action to address climate change and obesity after government proposals focused on production were attacked by campaign groups (The Financial Times £).
The co-founder of Just Eat has been made the government’s new “cost of living business tsar” (The Guardian). David Buttress, the former chief executive of the takeaway delivery app, will work in a new unpaid government role to assist companies in developing schemes to help people struggling with rising prices.
Business confidence fell to its lowest level in more than a year last month amid growing fears that inflation poses a long-term threat to company sales (The Times £).
America’s S&P 500 fell into a bear market last night amid a global stock sell-off driven by fears about a toxic combination of spiralling inflation and stalling economic growth (The Times £).
Major tampon manufacturers in the United States have pledged to make more of the sanitary products to address shortages in the country (BBC News).
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