Tesco Workers Trapped in Forced Labour

 

In a factory at the Myanmar border in Thailand, hundreds of Burmese workers made F&F jeans for Tesco. They describe sweatshop conditions, with 99-hour weeks, one day off a month and illegally low pay. Now Tesco is facing a landmark British lawsuit for alleged negligence, having used the VK Garment (VKG) factory in Mae Sot as a supplier to its Thai business from 2017 until the supermarket sold its operations in Asia in December 2020. The case is being brought by 130 former garment workers at the factory. Tesco said protecting the rights of everyone in its supply chain was absolutely essential and that had it known of the serious allegations it would have stopped using VKG immediately. It is believed to be the first time a UK company has been threatened with litigation in the English courts over a foreign garment factory in its supply chain that it does not own. Tesco was not involved in the day-to-day running of the factory beyond setting and checking standards and placing orders. Tesco made £2.2bn profits in 2020, the last year that its Thai business used VKG. Labour experts say large clothing brands such as F&F deliberately outsource the production of clothes and the auditing of factories to avoid liability and reputational damage while keeping prices cheap and protecting profits.

Tesco Labour Investigation

JD Sells 15 Brands

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has snapped up a basket of 15 brands including former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher’s Pretty Green and 1980s brand Tessuti in a £47.5m cash deal with JD Sports. JD, which owns Size?, Finish Line in the US and Spain’s Sprinter as well as its main retail chain, said the sale of the “non-core” brands would allow it to focus on other priorities, particularly the “international and digital expansion of the group’s core premium sports fashion” retail brands. Ashley’s retail empire has a long history of buying up fashion brands to help bolster profits in its retail empire. Frasers already owns dozens of brands including Everlast, Lonsdale, Karrimor, Agent Provocateur and Firetrap and recently acquired tailoring brand Gieves & Hawkes and online fast fashion specialists Missguided and I Saw it First. It also has large stakes in listed luxury brands Hugo Boss and Mulberry.

JD Sells Brands

Musk No Longer World's Richest

Elon Musk is no longer the world's richest man after a sharp drop in the value of his shares in electric car company Tesla this year. According to both Forbes and Bloomberg, Mr Musk has been overtaken at the top spot by Bernard Arnault, the chief executive of luxury goods group LVMH. Mr Musk is chief executive and the largest shareholder in Tesla, with a reported stake of about 14%. He completed a $44bn takeover of social network Twitter in October. According to Forbes, Mr Musk is now worth about $178bn (£152bn). Meanwhile, Bernard Arnault has a value of $188bn. Mr Musk sold billions of dollars worth of Tesla shares to help fund his purchase, which helped to push the shares down. Investors have also been concerned that demand for the company's electric cars may slow, as the economy weakens, higher borrowing costs discourage buyers and other companies boost their electric vehicle offerings.

Worlds Richest

Twitter Hotel

The BBC has been given photos of Twitter office space that has been converted into bedrooms, which San Francisco authorities are probing as a possible building code violation. One image shows a room with a double bed, including a wardrobe and slippers. An ex-worker said new Twitter boss Elon Musk has been staying at the headquarters since he bought the firm. He last month emailed all Twitter staff saying they "will need to be extremely hardcore" to succeed. San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection has confirmed it is investigating potential violations following a complaint. Mr Musk said the city was attacking companies for providing beds to "tired employees". In a now-deleted tweet, Mr Musk posted that he would work and sleep in the office "until the org is fixed".

Twitter Hotel

The Changing High Street

The full extent of changes to Britain's High Streets after two years of Covid lockdowns and trading restrictions is revealed in data from Ordnance Survey. Overall, there were 9,300 fewer retail outlets in March 2022 than March 2020, as shoppers switched to online stores. The findings illustrate the changing face of the British High Street from a place to buy things to a place to do stuff - like get your nails done and meet friends for a coffee or a cocktail.Beauty salons and tattoo parlours have prospered on High Streets while the number of banks and department stores has fallen. Places to eat and drink have also increased - despite social distancing. Debenhams and Beales were among the landmark High Street retailers to close their doors during the pandemic, contributing to a 13.4% drop in department stores across Great Britain. Two years on from the first lockdown in 2020, there were 328 fewer such stores. Check out the details below:

High Street

Mac n Cheese Sued

 

A Florida woman has sued the makers of Velveeta Shells and Cheese, claiming the dish takes too long to make. The Kraft Company markets its microwaveable cups as "ready in 3.5 minutes" but Amanda Ramirez says it takes longer. The $5m (£4.2m) lawsuit claims the time advertised does not include preparation time - opening the lid and sauce pouch, before adding water and stirring. Kraft Heinz Foods Company described the lawsuit as "frivolous". In the lawsuit, which was filed in a Florida court last month, Ms Ramirez's lawyers claim she paid more than she would have had she known the truth. The lawsuit also asks the company to "cease its deceptive advertising" and "be made to engage in a corrective advertising campaign". It is not the first time a US customer has sued a company over false advertising. Earlier this year, a New York man filed a lawsuit against McDonald's alleging their adverts made their burgers look much bigger than they actually were. The lawsuit said the burgers in the marketing were at least 15% larger than they were in real life.

Mac n Cheese

Next Rescues Joules

Clothing chain Joules has been rescued from administration by retail giant Next and founder Tom Joule. Under the £34m deal, Next says it intends to keep about 100 Joules stores open and save 1,450 jobs. However, 19 stores will be closed with immediate effect with the loss of 133 posts. Joules, known for its premium, brightly-coloured clothes, collapsed into administration last month after failing to secure emergency investment. Like other retailers, the Leicestershire-based firm has struggled against a backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and cost-of-living pressures. Under the terms of the deal, Next will take a 74% stake in the business, with Tom Joule owning the rest. Next has also paid £7m to buy the current Joules head office. Next will continue to operate Joules' website but will also sell Joules-branded clothing through its own e-commerce platform from 2024. Tom Joule, who founded Joules in 1989, said the deal would protect the future of the company for its "loyal customers, its employees and also for the town of Market Harborough, which have been so central to Joules' success".

Joules

Bean Pizza

A pizza covered in Heinz baked beans is now available to buy in supermarkets. These pizzas can be purchased for £3 from Iceland and feature a crispy base topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, cheddar cheese and, of course, the brand’s famous baked beans. But this isn’t the first time the unusual pizza has hit supermarket shelves. In fact, it seems Heinz has resurrected the pizza after a 19-year hiatus – as it was previously sold in the 90s and disappeared from stores in 2003. The baked bean pizza is one of many items the brand is pushing this year, including Heinz Beanz Burgerz, Heinz Beanz Bowls and, of course, Heinz Beanz Filled Hash Browns. And it seems baked bean lovers should expect more to come. Sophie Higgins, the head of growth platform, New Ventures at Heinz, says: ‘This is our fourth foray into the freezer aisles for Heinz Beanz over the past year, following the launch of our first frozen ready meals range – Beanz Burgerz, Beanz Bowlz, and Beanz Hash Browns.  ‘But we don’t plan on stopping there. Make sure to watch this space for even more exciting Beanzy news.’

Heinz

Earthshot Prize Winner

A UK firm that makes packaging from seaweed has been named as one of the £1m winners of Prince William's Earthshot climate prize. The alternative to plastic was developed by London startup Notpla. The firm was founded by Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez and Pierre Paslier while they were students at Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art. The Earthshot Prize gives grants to firms that innovative ideas for the environment that can be scaled-up. Manufacturing plastic adds to greenhouse gases, and plastic pollution can harm animals and the environment. Hackney-based Notpla first developed an edible "bubble" called an "Ooho" that could hold water, and then a plastic alternative called "Notpla" made from seaweed. Its products include a coating for takeaway boxes, film, paper made from seaweed pulp, and a rigid plastic alternative, also made from seaweed. This year the firm has made more than a million takeaway food boxes for takeaway delivery platform JustEat.

Notpla