Uber Eats will launch in Germany for the first time over the next few weeks, starting in Berlin, in its biggest entry to a new country since 2018 (The Financial Times £).
The chief executives of Uber and Just Eat Takeaway have clashed on social media after the US company revealed plans to launch its food delivery service in Germany (The Times £).
Investors lost their appetite for shares in Just Eat and Deliveroo as fierce competition and questions over labour issues plagued the two takeaway giants (The Mail).
Heineken, the world’s second-largest brewer, performed better than expected in the first quarter, as resurgent drinking in Asia and Africa helped compensate for the impact of tough European lockdowns (The Financial Times £).
Heineken saw UK sales drop by around 30 per cent in the first three months of this year as pubs remained shut during lockdown (The Mail). The Dutch brewer said UK on-trade sales were close to zero over the period, which even surging off-trade sales, up by a ‘low-30s’ percentage, failed to offset.
The world’s second largest brewer sold 5.4% more beer in Asia and 9.9% more in Africa, the Middle East and eastern Europe, making up for a 9.7% decline in Europe (The Times £).
Paying for something in the shops with just a wave of your hand is a step closer to everyday reality with the news that retail giant Amazon is trialing its palm-scanning payment technology in Whole Foods (The Guardian). The contactless payment method, known as Amazon One, was installed at one of the grocery stores in Seattle on Tuesday.
Amazon’s new east London hair salon is being interpreted as the ecommerce giant’s push further into the once “Amazon-proof” beauty industry (The Telegraph).
UK flower delivery business Bloom & Wild has bought Dutch rival Bloomon, creating the largest online business by deliveries in Europe’s £22bn market for flowers and houseplants (The Financial Times £).
Aron Gelbard admits he “didn’t know anything about flowers” when he launched the online florist Bloom & Wild in 2013 (The Times £).
UK inflation jumped in March, driven by the higher cost of petrol and clothes in a signal that prices are moving to an upward trajectory as the economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic (The Guardian).
Higher fuel and clothes prices have lifted inflation to 0.7% in March from 0.4% the previous month (The Mail).
Britain is set for its sharpest economic growth since 1988 this year as the easing of Covid-19 restrictions encourages consumers to start spending, according to a monthly survey of independent economists by the Treasury (The Times £).
The pub group JD Wetherspoon will reopen another wave of pubs in England on 26 April, along with venues in Scotland and Wales, as the easing of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions continues (The Guardian).
Shepherd Neame said some pubs posted record sales last week, despite only opening their gardens (The Mail).
Pizza Express is to recruit 1,000 new employees as it prepares to reopen its restaurants over May and June and put the ravages of coronavirus behind it (The Times £).
Hammerson has sold off the last of its retail parks as it seeks to rein in debt and make it through the Covid-19 crisis (The Financial Times £).
Hammerson has sold its remaining retail parks to a Canadian investor to further reduce its debt as the value of its properties falls during the pandemic (The Times £).
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