European Elections, British Steel, Jamie’s Italian: your commercial news round-up
updated on 23 May 2019
Backstabbing, surprise twists, intense disappointment – no, we’re not talking about the final episode of Game of Thrones – it’s been another crazy week in Parliament, and it shows no sign of letting up anytime soon. Take five minutes away from it all to reflect on the below news stories and think about the themes and currents that run through them. After all, commercial awareness is mostly just common sense.
- It’s the elections we never expected to take place, but today UK voters will elect 73 members of the European Parliament with polls predicting a poor result for the Conservative and Labour parties, and success for Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. The results will be announced from Sunday evening after all countries in the EU have finished voting. It might seem pointless, but it’s important to exercise your right to vote. Plus, the results will undoubtedly have an impact on government, with the pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May to resign increasing every day.
- British Steel has entered insolvency after talks with the UK government about emergency funding collapsed. The steelmaker employs 5,000 people, with thousands more jobs in its supply chain. Blaming its collapse partially on Brexit uncertainty, British Steel has been in trouble for a while, with the company forced to seek a £120 million loan from the government at the start of May. For more on what went wrong at British Steel, read this article.
- Jamie’s Italian, the restaurant chain of TV chef Jamie Oliver, collapsed this week, costing 1,000 jobs across 25 sites. Jamie Oliver said he was “devastated” at the news as the restaurant group which launched in 2008 went into administration. The chain is another victim of the high street as restaurants Byron Burgers, Prezzo and Carluccios all recently indicated their own troubles.
- The owner of The Body Shop – Brazilian cosmetics group Natura – is set to buy beauty company Avon in a deal worth £1.6 billion. The acquisition will create the fourth-largest global cosmetic company boasting 3,200 stores across 100 countries. It remains to be seen if Avon’s traditional door-to-door sales model will survive in the age of internet shopping.
- Pret a Manger is buying rival food chain Eat and will transform up to 90 of its stores into Veggie Pret shops. The first Veggie Pret opened as a pop-up in 2016 and the chain now has four permanent Veggie Pret branded stores. With plant-based and meat-free diets becoming increasingly popular, the move aims to tap into the millions of vegans and vegetarians in the UK.
- A weak Chinese market alongside declining diesel sales have resulted in British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover posting its biggest loss in history this week. The company, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, made a loss of £3.6 billion last year with a pre-tax loss of £358 million. It said it is focused on the road ahead, with rumours circulating that talks were recently held with the French company that owns Peugeot, Citroën and Vauxhall regarding a takeover.
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