Your commercial news round-up: Roe v Wade, criminal barrister strikes, Heinz, Patisserie Valerie, petrol

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The US Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn the constitutional right to abortion has sent shockwaves across the world this week. It’s expected that now half of US states will introduce new restrictions or bans, making it increasingly difficult for women in the US to get abortions. As this news continues to dominate media outlets, there’s lots to consider – when you’re ready. We touch on one commercial impact of the decision in this week’s round-up, while also looking further afield at the strikes impacting the Bar, a dispute between Heinz and Tesco, and more.

• Following the US Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn abortion rights, several major companies, including Disney and JP Morgan, have announced they will cover staff travel costs for employees who need to leave their home state to get an abortion. Disney said it’s committed to providing staff with “comprehensive access” to affordable healthcare, including family planning and reproductive care, “no matter where they live”. In Florida, where Disney employs around 80,000 staff, the governor has already signed into law a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy – the law is due to come into effect on 1 July. Vogue, Conde Nast, Levi Strauss, Lyft and Uber are among other companies that have indicated they will support their staff in similar ways.

• Criminal barristers in England and Wales have gone on strike in response to an ongoing dispute over pay. The criminal legal aid review, which was published at the end of 2021, proposed a minimum increase in legal aid fees of 15%; however, the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has requested 25%. The proposed 15% increase has been rejected, with plans for criminal barristers to take action over the next four weeks. The series of strikes, which started on Monday, are set to cause further delays to justice, as courts are already facing a backlog of 58,000 cases. Last year, some 300 specialist criminal barristers left the profession, according to Jo Sidhu QC, chair of the CBA. With the proposed increase not planned to come into force until the end of next year, Kirsty Brimelow QC, deputy chair of the CBA, explained that it would be too late to help. The strikes will continue for four weeks, culminating in a five-day strike from Monday 18 July to Friday 22 July.

• Meanwhile, Heinz has stopped supplying Tesco with some of its most popular products, including baked beans, ketchup and tomato soup, in a disagreement over pricing. Owner of Heinz, Kraft Heinz, said it’s working with the supermarket giant to resolve the situation as production costs rise. Tesco has responded, explaining that it “will not pass on unjustifiable price increases” to its customers in light of the cost of living crisis, and apologies for the disruption to stock.

• Grant Thornton and Patisserie Valerie have settled a £200 million lawsuit following claims that the accountancy giant had been negligent in its audit of the café chain prior to its collapse in 2019. The UK’s Financial Reporting Council previously fined Grant Thornton £2.34 million for the audit, citing a “serious lack of competence in conducting the audit work” after the accounting firm allegedly “missed red flags” that pointed to potential fraud within Patisserie Valerie. The terms of the settlement deal are “strictly confidential”, according to a spokesperson for Grant Thornton.

• As the cost of filling up the average family car with petrol hit £105, the RAC has accused petrol retailers of employing a “rocket and feather” approach, which it says “the Competition and Markets Authority will no doubt be looking at very closely”. While motoring organisations had previously predicted a fall in wholesale costs to be reflected at the pumps, data from Experian Catalist shows that the cost of petrol hit 191.1p a litre on Sunday. “We are struggling to see how retailers can justify continuing to put up their unleaded prices as the wholesale cost of petrol has reduced significantly”, RAC’s fuel spokesperson Simon Williams said. He added: “The only explanation of retailers' resistance to reducing prices is that they're protecting profits in case of wholesale costs suddenly going back up.”

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