Poverty wages strike, train delays, Aston Martin, Tesco discount store: your commercial news round-up
updated on 20 September 2018
Students never stop asking us what they can do to improve their commercial awareness, and aside from reading the weekly Commercial Questions written by top firms, the next best thing you can do is to learn about the business news stories being reported each week. Read on for a short summary of just that:
- Employees from Wetherspoon’s, McDonald’s and TGI Fridays will strike next month as hospitality industry staff take unprecedented action against so-called ‘poverty wages’. The workers have not been traditionally unionised and are banding together for the first strike of its kind. They are striking for £10 an hour wages and union recognition which they claim will alleviate increasing personal debts and lift them out of subsistence living.
- A railway regulator has blamed the rail timetable chaos earlier this year on a lack of “responsibility and accountability” and says that “no-one took charge” during the problems. The government has made a U-turn on its responsibility for the disruptions and has promised a major review of Britain’s railways. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling told the BBC’s Today programme that it was his job to “make sure it doesn’t happen again”.
- Aston Martin is preparing to become the first automotive company floating on the London Stock Exchange next month, debuting almost 57 million shares which represents a 25% stake in the company. With its share price ranging between £17.50 and £22.50, the luxury carmaker confirmed that its IPO could value it at over £5 billion.
- Tesco has opened its first two discount stores – named Jack’s after the supermarket’s founder, Jack Cohen. The store promises to be the “cheapest in town” and will take on the likes of Aldi and Lidl with its bargain-priced products and overtly British packaging and sourced fresh food. Around 10-15 more Jack’s stores are planned to open within the next six months.
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.
