NHS Test and Trace system, criminal defence firms, John Lewis, McLaren, Boohoo, EasyJet: your commercial news round-up

As many of you will have been completing online exams this week, this commercial news round-up aims to bring you recent updates from the legal and business world to facilitate your commercial awareness development.

• The NHS Test and Trace system has started in England and Scotland, with a team of 25,000 contact tracers making phone calls to anyone deemed at risk of infection from coronavirus. The team will begin by contacting the 2,013 people who tested positive for the virus on Wednesday to identify who they have had contact with and anyone considered at risk of infection will be told to isolate for 14 days, even if they are showing no signs of sickness.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock expressed his confidence that the “vast majority of people” would participate in the voluntary system in a bid to tackle the pandemic.

• Criminal defence firms are at risk of going out of business if more jury trials are not held, a managing partner has warned. Jury trials in Manchester Minshull Street, Bristol, Cardiff and the Old Bailey have restarted, while trials in Reading, Warwick and Winchester have been listed to start this week. Sports halls and hotel conference rooms are being considered for hearings in a bid to clear any backlog caused by the coronavirus, according to the lord chief justice.

• John Lewis is preparing to reopen 13 stores next month as non-essential shops are given the go-ahead to reopen from 15 June in England. Strict social distancing measures will be in place to ensure the safety of customers, as John Lewis confirms that the 13 branches reopening were selected “primarily because of their accessibility by car”. The company reported an increase in online trading following the UK’s lockdown but warned that in a worst-case scenario, annual sales could plummet by 35% due to the virus outbreak.

• UK supercar manufacturer and Formula 1 team McLaren plans to cut a quarter of its workforce as the pandemic damages sales and advertising revenue. Of the 4,000 employees at the firm, the vast majority facing redundancies will be UK employees, as orders for McLaren’s supercars have fallen. The firm’s Chair Paul Walsh said: "This is undoubtedly a challenging time for our company, and particularly our people, but we plan to emerge as an efficient, sustainable business with a clear course for returning to growth."

The manufacturer recently had a £150 million loan request rejected by the government, which has accelerated its drive to access new funding.

• Boohoo has bought the remaining 34% stake in UK-based fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing, following conflict of interest criticism from a short-seller, according to City AM.

• EasyJet has revealed plans to let go up to 30% of its workforce as it continues to face difficulties following the collapse in demand for air travel as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The budget airline has not confirmed the number of jobs to be cut but it did announce that it will restart flights on 15 June. The airline also indicated that 2019’s levels of market demand were not likely to be seen again until 2023.

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