Your commercial news round-up: Storm Bert and Conall, Heathrow monopoly, trade tariffs, Gail’s

Reading time: three minutes

It’s been a week of wet weather chaos, with “danger to life” warnings issued in parts of the UK. As well as the storms, we take a look at calls for the government to consider a break-up of Heathrow Airport in light of its monopoly control of the airport’s operations; Donald Trump’s proposed trade tariffs; and reports that British bakery chain Gail’s has instructed investment bank Goldman Sachs to auction a sale of the group.

• Earlier in the week, the Met Office issued severe flood warnings with the arrival of Storm Bert, which has caused disruption to homes, roads and rail networks. As of Wednesday morning, 99 flood warnings remained in England, including a severe “danger to life” alert for the River Nene in Northamptonshire.
  
  The arrival of Storm Conall brought more heavy rain and strong winds to parts of the UK on Wednesday, causing further chaos to already flooded areas. National Rail issued a warning of disruption to services in parts of Wales and London, while Thameslink said there was “heavy rain flooding” on the railway between London Bridge and St Pancras on Wednesday morning. Roads continued to flood, including the A406 North Circular in Walthamstow, with the Met Office also noting that it’s “likely” homes and businesses would see flooding and power supplies could be disrupted.  

• Sticking with transport, the chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, Shai Weiss, has urged Prime Minster Sir Kier Starmer to consider a break-up of Heathrow Airport in a bid to end its monopoly control of the airport’s operations. This comes amid increased tensions that arose over Virgin Atlantic’s home in Heathrow Terminal 3, which first opened in 1961 and has been described as “unfit for purpose”.
  
  Weiss has called on the government, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority “to exert their powers and look into how this monopoly player is governed”. At the Airlines 2024 conference, Weiss referenced New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport, where terminals are operated by different companies, as an example of what Heathrow Airport could look like. Thomas Woldbye, chief executive of Heathrow Airport, believes “having a single operator is always more efficient”, before adding: “I think we’d get much more out of trying to work together.”

• Since Donald Trump’s re-election to US president, he’s outlined his plans to impose a 25% tariff on all products coming into the US from Mexico and Canda, as well as an additional 10% tariff, “above any additional tariffs”, on goods from China.
  
  Mexico, Canda and China are the country’s top three suppliers, according to census data, with more than 83% of exports from Mexico going to the US in 2023. Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said: “China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature. No one will win a trade war or a tariff war.”

• Meanwhile, on the UK high street, the owner of upmarket bakery chain Gail’s has reportedly enlisted Goldman Sachs to auction a sale of the café group next year. It’s likely that Goldman Sachs’ appointment would likely lead to a partial or full exit for the company’s existing investors, according to Sky News. Following the opening of its first café in Hampstead in 2005, Gail’s has since expanded beyond London with stores across the UK. Analysts have forecast that the chain could now be worth around £500 million. Earlier this year, the chain faced backlash over its growth into areas of London such as Walthamstow, with locals signing a petition to stop Gail’s from opening a store on its high street. So far, the petition has 1,822 signatures and states: “Preserving Walthamstow’s high street is not just about supporting local business, it’s about protecting the unique identity of our community.” Despite the petition, Gail’s opened in Walthamstow Village in October.

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