Your commercial news round-up: credit, BrewDog, Moderna vs Pfizer, Cardiff vs Nantes

Reading time: four minutes

At the start of the week, Goldman Sachs forecast that British inflation could reach 22% in early 2023 if natural gas prices remain near current levels. As the cost-of-living crisis continues to sweep through the country, there’s so much to stay on top of with every person and industry likely to be impacted in one way or another. We take a look at some of the issues arising as a result in this week’s round-up.

• The annual rate of credit card borrowing in July was 13% higher than the same period last year, making it the biggest annual increase in more than 17 years, according to data from the Bank of England. British household borrowing rose by a net £1.4 billion in July, including credit card borrowing and car financing. The average interest rate on credit card borrowing also jumped by 21.7% – the highest rate in 24 years. With energy prices continuing to rise and the cost-of-living crisis wreaking havoc across the country, Thomas Pugh, economist at business advisory firm RSM UK, said that the new data “suggests that consumers are already battening down the hatches against what will almost certainly be an exceptionally tough winter”.

• Meanwhile, craft beer firm BrewDog has announced the closure of six of its pubs, which it has put down to increasing costs and the “sheer ‘rabbit in the headlights’ paralysis of this zombie government”. The six pubs facing closure are the Hop and Anchor in Aberdeen, Smithfield Market Arms in London, Hop Hub in Motherwell and its BrewDog bars in Dalston (East London), Old Street (East London) and Peterhead (Scotland). James Watt, BrewDog’s founder and chief executive has warned that if no action is taken, “the UK is set to lose half of its pubs and bars and all the millions of jobs these locations provide, as well as the vital role they play in local communities”. The employees working at the six BrewDog pubs that are due to close will be given positions in other BrewDog venues so no jobs will be lost.

In other hospitality news, last month’s heatwave saw holiday destinations across the UK have a record-breaking summer with 77% occupancy recorded in July. However, this remains behind pre-pandemic levels of 86% occupancy and the industry has raised concerns that the bleak economic outlook for the country could hinder the sector further. Many hoteliers charged premium prices in July, according to research by Hotstats, as average daily rates rose to £267.73 in London and around £166 for the rest of the UK. Chris Tate, head of hotels and accommodation at RSM UK said: “Many will be capitalising on high room rates in a bid to make up for anticipated losses during the quieter autumn and winter months.” Will it be enough to see them through the next few months given the rising cost of living?

• We haven’t spoken about covid-19 in the round-up for a while, but these names will definitely ring a bell – last Friday, Moderna sued Pfizer and its German bioNTech for patent infringement in the development of the first vaccine against covid-19 that was approved in the US. Moderna alleged that Pfizer copied technology that Moderna had developed before the pandemic even began. Stephani Bancel, Moderna’s chief executive said: "We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the covid-19 pandemic.”

• The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ordered Cardiff City Football Club to pay the first instalment of the late Emiliano Sala’s £15 million transfer fee after ruling that the transfer deal had been completed prior to his death. Sala was due to join Cardiff from Championship side Football Club de Nantes in January 2019 – the French side is now due to receive the first £5.1 million of the deal following the court ruling.

However, in response to the ruling, Cardiff has said that it’s “disappointed” and expects to “appeal”, while not making any payments to FC Nantes in the meantime. The club added: "If those appeals are unsuccessful and the club is liable to pay the transfer fee the club will take legal action against those responsible for the crash for damages to recover its losses. All our thoughts must continue to be with Emiliano's family, who are now supported financially by the trust the club put in place for them.”

Check the News every Thursday for this weekly commercial news round-up.

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