Commercial news round-up: Britain’s debt time bomb, Ryanair cancellations, Virgin Trains, Rolling Stone, Google sexism lawsuit

National leaders are on their way home from the United Nations General Assembly where those in favour of a rules-based international community clashed with a newly isolationist United States, which under US President Donald Trump is set on pursuing a policy of “might is right”. Trump once again set the world on edge by talking up the twin prospects of apocalyptic nuclear war with North Korea, as well as conflict with Iran by indicating his desire to withdraw from a mutually beneficial deal which limits the Iranian ability to develop atomic weapons. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Theresa May had to find time at the summit for peace talks with her own foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, after he broke ranks over Brexit in a bid to depose her. May’s problems over Brexit are likely to continue at least until the German election in October, after which we can expect Brexit to become a European priority. In the meantime she has an even more serious issue to consider on which we’ll provide a starting point for your further reading below, as well as a round-up of the week’s other commercial stories.

• The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned that the mounting debt of vulnerable consumers has reached the level where it could devastate the economy for the second time in a decade. Consumer credit (personal loans, credit cards and borrowing for big purchases such as cars) is rising at 10% a year, while wages are falling 0.4% a year in real terms due to low interest rates and inflation. Unsecured debt amassed by British households now stands at £200 billion, prompting the FCA to call for May’s government to get involved in an effort to prevent another financial crash should circumstances in the global economy change.
• Budget airline Ryanair is once again the subject of opprobrium after it announced the cancellation of 50 flights a day until 30 October, due to a cock-up in scheduling holiday leave for its pilots. The airline’s share price has slumped, its customers are furious and it faces a £30 million compensation bill. To make matters worse, pilots refused the last-minute offer of a cash bonus to work instead of taking their holiday.
• Virgin Trains East Coast is embracing the possibilities enabled by smartphone technology by allowing standard class passengers to upgrade to empty first-class seats using the Virgin Trains app. Seats will be purchased via auctions which close about half an hour before the train departs, with prices starting at £5.00.
• Venerable pop culture magazine Rolling Stone has been put up for sale in a “strategic move” to safeguard its long-held position as a fixture of music and political commentary in the digital media ecosystem.
• Tech giant Google systematically pays women less than men for similar work, segregates women into lower-paying roles and stifles women’s careers, according to a class-action lawsuit filed on 14 September. The complaint is being brought by three former Google employees who allege that Google has a practice of “assigning and keeping female employees in lower compensation levels than male employees with similar skills, experience, and duties.” Google disputes the complaint and says that it has systems in place to ensure fairness. 

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