Morrisons is cutting the price of petrol to below £1 a litre for the first time since the Brexit vote, escalating a pre-Christmas price war among Britain’s biggest supermarkets.

From this morning, Morrisons customers spending more than £50 in stores will be able to fill their cars with unleaded petrol for 99.9p a litre, a 10p cut compared with Sunday. Diesel drivers buying their groceries at Morrisons will also receive a 10p a litre cut, paying just over £1. (The Guardian)

New government rules to prevent companies appealing against business rates could lead to them paying billions of pounds in “unfair taxes”. The regulations, which come into force next April, will make it much harder for companies to claim that they are being overcharged by the taxman. (The Times £)

A consortium of business lobby groups has condemned a Treasury proposal that blocks small firms from appealing against business rates up to a certain level, a move it is estimated could cost more than £700m in overpayments over the next five years (The Telegraph). Britain’s retailers, already struggling with the economic uncertainty and volatile currency movements caused by the Brexit vote, face a £2.3bn tax hike next April, heightening fears that they will have to raise prices for consumers. (The Guardian)

Theresa May is to attempt to woo Britain’s bosses with the promise of tax cuts and a new Government approach to business: “Stepping up, not stepping back.” In her first speech to a CBI conference, she will promise £2bn of investment in science and research and tax breaks for innovators in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. (Sky News, The BBC)

Tesco has unveiled a radical new plan to add residential flats on top of some of its largest urban stores. The retailer wants to sell the so-called air rights to developers in a plan which it believes could generate £400m. The scheme is part of £1.5bn of fundraising targeted by Tesco, which also includes buying back some freeholds in a bid to reduce rent (The Daily Mail). Tesco is planning to turn some of its largest urban supermarkets into mini-Tesco villages containing hundreds of homes as it looks for new ways to raise cash to fund a giant turnaround. (The Telegraph)

An organisation backed by global retailers including Gap, Target and Walmart is giving passing grades to Bangladeshi factories that have yet to implement life-saving safety changes the retailers pledged to put in place following a deadly building collapse in 2013 that killed 1,137 people, according to a new report published Monday. (The Guardian)

The FT compares the differing share price fortunes of Cranswick after its acquisition of Dunbia’s pork business and sausage skin manufacturer Devro. The FT writes: “It seems a new manufacturing plant can’t provide casings robust enough to withstand the way its South American customers boil sausages before cooking. Devro has also lost ground to rivals in other regions and volumes at another new factory in China have not ramped up as quickly as hoped… It demonstrates the perils of expansion for small businesses operating in highly-competitive but niche markets.” (The Financial Times £)

A woman who won an industrial tribunal judgment against Marks & Spencer, which had sacked her while she was on sick leave, says she was “just another number” to the firm. (The Times £)

Mothercare is braced for a chilling half-year profit report as it struggles to revive its fortunes amid a downturn on the high street. The retailer, which has 170 stores under the Mothercare and Early Learning Centre brands, is expected to report a 43% fall in pre-tax profits from £7m to £4m when it delivers interim results on Thursday. (The Times £)

Lorries and warehousing are the unsexy part of business. But while logistics may not set the pulse racing, get it right and logistics can be key to a company’s efficiency, so it is worth paying for. One such is Wincanton and, despite a strong share price performance over the past few years, its shares still look undervalued. On top of that, the group looks set to start delivering a decent dividend. (The Daily Mail)

The budget coffee shop chain backed by easyJet tycoon Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is eyeing expansion in London and beyond after receiving approaches from about 200 potential franchisees interested in opening sites. (The Telegraph)

“Seaweed pasta on the menu as agtech looks to feed world”, writes The Financial Times on start-ups targeting new ways to cash in global demand for alternative food sources. (The Financial Times £)

When American hamburger chains arrived in France, gastronomes reacted with a mixture of scorn and anger. Now France’s Michelin-starred chefs have created one of their own and are planning to launch it in the UK and the US. French Burgers is hoping to show New Yorkers, Texans and Londoners that the hamburger can reach the height of sophistication. (The Times £)

 

 

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