McStrikes, car sales, DFS, Russian cyber attacks: your commercial news round-up
updated on 04 October 2018
Today’s collection of commercial news stories is as varied as the weather at the moment and much more likely to help you in your search for a legal career. It’s important to maintain a holistic view of the world of business and to stay up-to-date with the issues that might affect your future employers, and their clients. Use these four stories as a starting point for your research:
- Strikes are taking place today across several UK cities by employees of JD Wetherspoon, McDonald’s and TGI Fridays, as well as UberEats riders. The workers are taking industrial action over their pay, with restaurant staff striking for wages of £10 an hour and UberEats drivers asking to be paid £5 per delivery, and a further £1 per mile for each delivery.
- Sales of new cars in the UK plummeted 20% in September amid confusion over tax and emissions standards. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has reported a decrease in sales across the board, with registrations by private consumers, fleets and businesses all down. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes commented on the regulation which has caused all cars sold in the EU to undergo a new emissions test since 1 September, calling it “exceptional circumstances” which has caused “bottlenecks and a squeeze on supply”.
- Sofa shop DFS has reported a 50% cut in their annual profits, blaming the heatwave earlier this year for their poor sales figures in the summer. And DFS aren’t the only ones to claim that the heatwave affected business: supermarkets announced bumper sales of food and drink in the summer, white suit company Moss Bros said the hot weather caused disappointing trade.
- The UK and Dutch authorities say they have identified five previous cyber attacks as coming from a network of hackers employed by Russian military intelligence. The attacks include the hacking of a UN watchdog, as well as the 2016 hack on the US Democratic National Committee and the theft of email accounts and content from a UK TV station in 2015.
Be sure to check the News every Thursday for this weekly commercial news round-up. Follow @LawCareersNetUK on Twitter and like us on Facebook for instant business news updates.
