Sunday press review
Blow for Bank of England + JD Sports + war on petrol stations
Happy Sunday everyone. I thought it would be useful to quickly run through what I think is interesting in the newspapers today and the stories that are likely to be followed up in the days ahead. Let me know if you find this useful and would like it to become a regular feature…
The Sunday Times has a read on the tumultuous week inside 10 Downing Street. My main takeaway was the revelation that Boris Johnson sought advice from four economists before giving the go-ahead to the windfall tax on oil and gas companies. These were Gerard Lyons, Lord King, Rupert Harrison and Baroness Shafik. Apparently the prime minister wanted guidance on whether the tax could worsen inflation. This isn’t a great look for the Treasury or Andrew Bailey and the Bank of England, who were effectively bypassed. Lord King, a former governor, was “withering about the Bank’s performance in approving quantitative easing last year”, according to the Sunday Times. The full article is here.
Sam Chambers at the Sunday Times has done a deep dive on what happened at JD Sports that lead to the departure of Peter Cowgill as boss. Oliver Shah has also looked at it in his column. I have three initial thoughts. Firstly, is there a place for big-personality barons in the retail industry anymore? Sir Philip Green, Mike Ashley, Ray Kelvin and now Cowgill have all gone in the last couple of years in different circumstances. Secondly, what happens next at JD will be an interesting case study on whether the City is prepared to turn a blind eye to corporate governance concerns if the all-powerful boss delivers a brilliant performance. Thirdly, I really want to know what the Competition and Markets Authority has found in its investigation of alleged price-fixing of Leicester City and Rangers football kits. The read is here and the column is here.
Just Eat Takeaway bought US business Grubhub for £5.8 billion last year and may now sell it for as little as £1 billion. Oh dear. Full Sunday Times story here
A reminder from James Coney that one of the worst financial scandals in the UK in recent years - the collapse of Neil Woodford’s investment funds - remains unresolved. Link here
There were chaotic scenes outside the Stade de France last night that led to the Champions League final being delayed. Rob Draper at the Mail on Sunday, who was there, has given the most thorough account of what happened…
Royal Mail is getting close to launching a full parcel delivery service on Sundays, according to Neil Craven at the Mail on Sunday
Glaxosmithkline is planning a £400 million science campus in Stevenage that could create 5,000 jobs, the Mail on Sunday also says.
Boris Johnson is “declaring war” on petrol stations, the Sunday Telegraph reports. He will name and shame the companies that do not pass on the 5p-a-litre cut in fuel duty to motorists. This should put all businesses on alert that the windfall tax on oil and gas companies could be followed by similar levies on other sectors doing well. The dam has burst on this issue…
One from Saturday, I enjoyed Ashley Armstrong’s interview with outgoing Marks & Spencer boss Steve Rowe in The Times. It included this great quote: “I could say to them [shareholders], we’re going to get the skeletons out of the closet and I know where some of them are — because I buried them.” Apparently Rowe is also going to become president of M&S alumni association…
RIP Lester Piggott, the jockey, who has died aged 86. Lots of websites have published obituaries already today. Some amazing facts I didn’t know. He won his first race as a jockey at the age of 12. He rode 4,493 winners (the third most). And because he was tall for a jockey at 5ft 7in, he had to keep to a strict diet. You can read all about that and more in this obituary from the Telegraph.
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Graham