It’s been a relatively quiet day on the retail front so far, with the US-Russian negotiations to end the Ukraine war continuing to dominate the headlines. The economic implications of any potential end to the war are yet to be fully understood.
However, when it comes to preparing for rises to National Insurance and minimum wage payments, over a third of companies reportedly plan to cut roles in order to cope with the higher costs. The figures – which were reported by the BBC – were released by the CIPD ahead of the UK’s latest national employment figures today. Furthermore, 42% of the 2,000 firms polled said they intended to increase prices in response to the Chancellor’s autumn budget measures.
Also facing pressure from government is the Competition & Markets Authority. Fresh from its intervention into the baby formula market, the regulator’s CEO Sarah Cardell spoke to The Guardian, to address accusations that the CMA is anti-growth. The wide-ranging interview also discussed working with new chair, the former Amazon UK boss Doug Gurr, who replaced Marcus Bokkerink last month, as well as the promised “step change” in how the regulator treats mergers.
Elsewhere, the “magnitude of Asda’s decline” since TDR’s debt-fuelled takeover in 2021, offers a stark warning for any boss considering private equity ownership, rattles The Telegraph’s Ben Marlow. Looking back at the CMA-blocked attempt to merge with Sainsbury’s, Marlow suggests that regulators may be more “sympathetic” were round two on the cards again. There’s no evidence of any scheme to revive the merger, but Marlow suggests that the dominance of Tesco since the deal, as well as the continued growth of the discounters, “arguably means the grocery market has never been more competitive on a national basis”.
Meanwhile, coffee giant Pret a Manger finds itself in hot water over an unpaid water bill. In a bizarre legal case, supplier Castle Water has issued Pret with a winding-up petition in order to claw back a debt, which is reportedly less than £1,500. Pret says it has received no correspondence from Castle Water, which was co-founded by current Conservative Party treasurer Graham Edwards, according to The Telegraph.
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