Three signal failure, Amazon Deliveroo deal, Tesla, Northern rail: your commercial news round-up

If you’re wondering exactly how to define commercial awareness, think of it as a way of looking at the world holistically and understanding that different industries will intersect and impact on one another. Take the news that Tesla has been given the greenlight to produce cars in China: what does this mean for the future of the automobile industry across the globe? Can you spot where the law and business have come together in this decision? How will law firms (your future employers) and their clients be impacted? Try doing this for each of the below news stories and watch your commercial mindset grow.

• Customers of the mobile phone network Three have been left without signal for hours as the network experienced “technical difficulties with voice, text and data” last night. Many users are still reporting signal failure this morning, with thousands of customers taking to social media to complain about the outage. Three says that it is looking into the problem.
• Earlier this year Amazon announced a deal with Deliveroo that saw it invest millions into the food delivery service, but now the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that it has launched an enquiry looking into whether the deal could harm consumers. The CMA said in July that it had “reasonable grounds for suspecting” that the two companies had ceased to distinct or were planning to merge, which would break competition rules. The first stage of the investigation will be taking place until December.
• Electric carmaker Tesla has been given the go-ahead to manufacture cars in China and will build a factory worth £1.5 billion in Shanghai. China is the owner of the world’s biggest carmaker, with Tesla planning to build 1,000 of its Model 3s every week in the Chinese factory. China excludes Tesla vehicles from its 10% tax on cars and has promised to help Tesla build the factory as quickly as possible.
• Tottenham Hotspur have signed a new partnership with HSBC as the bank becomes the football club’s official banking partner. The two companies will collaborate on creating digital content, with HSBC supporting the club in plans to regenerate the area around the new Spurs stadium.
• The government is looking at nationalising Northern Rail after the service has come under fire in recent months for inconsistent timetabling and trains regularly arriving late or not at all. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps gave evidence to the Commons’ Transport Select Committee on the problems faced by commuters in the North of England, while David Brown, managing director at Northern, cited the late delivery of North West electrification as a key factor in Northern’s problems.

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