Hopes that Deliveroo would serve up London’s most valuable listing in a decade have taken a knock after two more prominent City fund managers shunned the logistics company (The Times £). A host of Britain’s biggest fund managers have snubbed Deliveroo’s stock market float amid growing concern over the treatment of its workers (The Daily Mail).

Deliveroo faces growing scrutiny over worker pay ahead of IPO, writes The FT. Food-delivery company’s model of using self-employed riders under pressure as it heads for £8.8bn listing (The Financial Times £)

Alex Brummer in The Daily Mail writes: “It is good to know these fund managers are taking seriously their responsibility towards the working conditions of Deliveroo riders. It would be terrific if founder Will Shu was listening.” (The Daily Mail)

Investors should take the danger of Deliveroo’s ‘ticking bomb’ seriously, writes The Guardian’s Nils Pratley. “If it wants to dispute calculations of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism that many UK riders are being paid less than the minimum wage, it should cough up its own statistics in full.” (The Guardian)

Thousands of firms are to be refused business rates discounts claimed due to the pandemic in what has been described as a “catastrophic blow” (Sky News). The government is set to ban appeals from companies that say the fallout from Covid-19 has rendered their business rates bills unduly high (The Times £).

The world’s largest catering company expects increased operating margins in the second quarter after “resizing” to cope with a hit from school and office closures. (The Times £)

Nearly three months into the post-Brexit era, over half of UK businesses say they have faced disruption. According to new polling from YouGov, that figure rises to 80% among firms that do a “moderate” or “large” amount of trade with the EU. (Sky News)

The leading equity crowdfunding platforms have abandoned a planned merger after the competition regulator indicated that it was minded to block it. (The Times £)

Nostalgia and stress have driven many people confined at home to eat unhealthily, suggests an article in the FT. “Food and drink companies have now learnt that traditional formulas can be sold effectively as comfort food, with some tweaking to combine nostalgia with social responsibility.” (The Financial Times £)

For John Lewis, ‘normal and respectable’ is a hard sell in our age of individualism. It had to report this month that it had made a loss for the previous financial year, the first in its history. Although the pandemic contributed to it, you couldn’t sweep the truth under the rug. Profits were already heading south fast — eight of its 50 stores last year had been closed and a further eight won’t reopen when lockdown is eased. (The Financial Times £)

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