The seventh and final phase of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, which kicks off this week, is sure to garner a lot of column inches in the next six weeks. Ahead of this a feature in The Times magazine on Saturday covered the ‘strange rise’ of ex-CEO Paula Vennells and asks if she was ’malicious, incompetent or misunderstood?’. The headline somewhat gives the game away. ’She just wasn’t very good’.
Meanwhile it’s emerged that current CEO, Nick Read, who tendered his resignation last week, lobbied ministers six times for a pay rise, The Sunday Times reported, as postmasters waited for compensation. Reed is due to appear at the Inquiry from 9 to 11 October.
The nationals also lay into Asda’s private equity owners over the crisis. It’s a ‘BASKET CASE’ said the Mail on Sunday. The Asda fiasco will kill mega buyouts for a generation reports the Daily Telegraph. And Asda has ‘paid the price for big debt and turmoil in the boardroom’ reports The Guardian.
Shopping in a supermarket convenience store can cost up to 21% more, finds a new report from consumer lobby group Which? The differential is at its highest in Morrisons Daily stores, The Guardian highlights. Shoppers are paying as much as £500 per year for the convenience, says The Daily Telegraph.
But the price of fuel is plummeting at its fastest rate of the year so far says the Evening Standard, highlighting that petrol and diesel prices are on average 7p per litre cheaper.
’We’re putting the glitz into WH Smith’ says CEO Carl Cowling in an interview with the Mail on Sunday Conducted from Birmingham Airport, the glitz comes courtesy of its Las Vegas stores, where you can but sequinned dresses and jackets for a night out, he notes.
Dysfunction in the post-Brexit border system is prompting a growing number of UK plant and food traders to set up their own ‘inspection points’ where products can be inspected, as an alternative to state-run facilities, The Financial Times reports. Businesses can sign up to the ‘trusted trader’ schemes to cut costs and ease trade friction it says.
And finally a couple of consumer reports. The trend towards moderation suggests the time is ripe for booze-free drinks, says the Financial Times. And ’it’s going to be messy’ says a piece about the rise of American-style supersized sandwiches in The Guardian.
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