Following a couple of days of WH Smith and Guinness furore, the nationals are mainly preparing for chancellor Rachel Reeves’ economic speech later, where she will set out her plans to grow the economy.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer himself wrote a column for The Times last night promising readers to “cut the weeds of regulation and let growth bloom”. Labour’s policies will “unlock investment, slash red tape and usher in a ‘big build’ era”, the prime minister wrote.
He added his government would go “further and faster”, only days after Reeves hinted she would support a third runway at Heathrow Airport. The Chancellor also wants to make the UK Europe’s ’Silicon Valley’, as per Sky News.
Starmer “invoked Margaret Tatcher’s spirit” as he vowed for a productivity push, The Times reported. And alongside the PM’s column, the paper also did a deep dive on Labour’s plans to boost growth and its key economic policies.
Moving on to business news, there are some developments on both WH Smith and Guinness fronts – on the latter, Diageo confirmed the sale of its subsidiary Guinness Ghana Breweries for $81m, only days after denying reports that it was considering selling off the entire Guinness brand, the Financial Times reports.
And The Telegraph’s James Hall published a deeper look into what’s happened at WH Smith that led it from going from a ‘business colossus’ and a ‘go-to for books and music’ to ‘just low rent’ – and the fate of the around 200 Post Office counters located in WH Smith shops across the country.
Some earnings results news coming out of the US, with coffee shop chain Starbucks on Tuesday reporting a fourth straight drop in same-store sales but said a new turnaround plan was gaining traction, according to the FT, with its new CEO suggesting Starbucks’ US footprint could double in the years to come.
Brian Niccol, who joined Starbucks as chief executive in September, said the company needed to “fundamentally change” its strategy, The Guardian reports.
The Guardian also covered Asda’s decision to end its Aldi and Lidl price match schemes – but read The Grocer’s scoop here for all the details on Allan Leighton’s latest move to revitalise the supermarket.
Its sister publication, The Observer, interviewed Tate & Lyle chief executive Nick Hampton, the ‘boss who’s moved on from sugar’. Hampton talks about leading the company as it looks to create new ingredients against increasing regulation on sugary foods.
Finally, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) confirmed there has been a “limited distribution to the UK” of Coca-Cola and other soft drinks that have been recalled over safety fears, according to Sky, after high levels of a chemical by-product from chlorine disinfectants were found in drinks manufacturerd by Coca-Cola Europacific Partners including Appletiser, Coca-Cola Original Taste, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coke and Sprite Zero.
Read The Grocer’s coverage here.
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