Trade deal, Eat Out to Help Out, Tesco, DW Sports, London Zoo, music start-up: your commercial news round-up

Top up your commercial awareness with this week’s commercial news round-up.

• Following three months of negotiations, a free trade deal between the UK and Japan is expected to be completed by next week as the UK government hopes to to finalise the deal before September, according to a Downing Street official. The deal could include a drop in tariffs on products including Japanese cars and British cheese, and an increase in access to Japanese markets for British companies.
   
• The government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme, which offers customers in restaurants, pubs and cafes 50% off their meal, up to £10 per person, has been used 64 million times in the first three weeks, according to the latest Treasury figures. The scheme – effective every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in August – has been protecting around two million jobs. Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: "Today's figures continue to show that Brits are backing hospitality - with more than 64 million meals discounted so far, that's equivalent to nearly every person in the country dining out to protect jobs.

"This scheme has reminded us how much we love to dine out, and in doing so, how this is helping to protect the jobs of nearly two million people who work in hospitality." Compared to last year, the number of customers in UK restaurants between Monday to Wednesday last week was 61% higher.

• As Tesco experiences “exceptional growth” in its online business, it says it will create 16,000 new permanent jobs in the UK. Britain’s biggest supermarket has revealed that most of the jobs will be filled by workers who joined temporarily at the start of the pandemic. The roles available include 10,000 pickers and 3,000 drivers, as well as a number of other roles within stores and distribution. The retail giant’s online customers have increased from around 600,000 at the start of the pandemic to 1.5 million, with online sales expected to rise to £5.5 billion, up from £3.3 billion in 2019.

• Earlier this month DW Sports’ gym chain collapsed into administration. Following its collapse Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, previously known as Sports Direct, has bought the assets of DW Sports for £37 million, excluding the DW business name and IP. Ashley’s latest acquisition is among several others, including House of Fraser and Jack Wills.

• At the pandemic’s outbreak, London Zoo was forced to close for the first time since the Second World War and is now close to securing a £20 million rescue loan from Barclays. While the loan will provide the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) with additional funding following the reopening of London and Whipsnade Zoo, it will not be enough to remove the need for private funding. ZSL’s director-general said: "The impact of coronavirus on ZSL cannot be understated.

“Lockdown saw us closed for longer than any time in our history with fixed costs of more than £1 million a month just on food and care for our animals, let alone our conservation and science and almost no income. […]

"Seeking a loan is key to keeping us going while we raise sustainable funding, but any loan will need paying back and can only offer a short-term reprieve while we continue exploring other options to secure our financial future."

• British music tech start-up MelodyVR, which streams gigs that fans watch with virtual reality headsets, has acquired Napster, a pioneer of the music streaming revolution, in a £53 million deal. MelodyVR’s chief executive said: “MelodyVR’s acquisition of Napster will result in the development of the first ever music entertainment platform which combines immersive visual content and music streaming.

“Our purchase of Napster, one of the music industry’s original disrupters, is born out of a wish to present a truly next-generation music service.”

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