Record High Inflation

Inflation is at its highest rate for 30 years, having risen to 5.4% in the 12 months to December. The jump in the cost of living, driven largely by rising fuel and energy costs, puts further pressure on households across the UK. Inflation is the rate at which prices are rising. If the price of a bottle of milk is £1 and it rises by 5p, then milk inflation is 5%. You may not notice price rises from month to month. But right now, prices are rising so quickly that average pay is not keeping up. It means that the money people earn does not go as far. The main reason is the rising global price of energy. This has meant higher energy and transport bills for businesses, many of whom pass on the extra costs to customers. Supply problems and higher shipping costs also continue to hurt businesses. Next, the High Street retailer, has admitted its prices could rise by up to 6% this year to keep up with higher costs. Staff shortages are a particular problem in the UK, due to Brexit and the pandemic, and are prompting some employers to raise wages.

Inflation

Primark Job Cut

The company behind retailer Primark and drinks Ovaltine and Twinings is cutting jobs and raising some prices as inflation pushes up its costs. AB Foods (ABF) said it would cut 400 jobs at Primark as part of a drive to simplify the management structure. The group, which has ingredients and agriculture arms, said higher energy and transport cost may push up prices. Despite inflation pressures and Omicron hitting Primark sales, ABF said the group had seen stronger trading. The company said the Primark job changes aimed to "provide clearer accountability, greater flexibility and more management support on the shop floor". Primark, which employs 29,000 staff in total across 191 stores in the UK, said it would be consulting with staff over the next couple of months. Kari Rodgers, Primark retail director for the UK, said: "The changes we're proposing will deliver a simplified and more consistent management structure across all of our stores, provide more opportunities for career progression and offer greater flexibility. However, despite inflationary pressures, Primark will not raise prices for its spring/summer range, ABF's finance chief told reporters. Other retailers have signalled prices increases, including Superdry. Boss Julian Dunkerton said that prices will increase by about 2% due to rising costs.

Primark

Microsoft $68bn Deal

Microsoft says it plans to buy major games company Activision Blizzard in a deal worth $68.7bn (£50.57bn). It would be the biggest acquisition in the company's history and is expected to be finalised in 2023. The move means Microsoft will take ownership of gaming franchises like Call of Duty, Warcraft and Overwatch. Microsoft claims it will help them grow their gaming business across mobile, PC and consoles along with providing building blocks for the metaverse. This deal is the biggest in gaming history and comes a year after Microsoft bought another influential gaming company Bethesda for $7.5bn. Activision Blizzard has studios around the world with nearly 10,000 employees.The games Activision Blizzard make, from Call of Duty to Candy Crush, are some of the most popular in the world. The company has nearly 400 million monthly active players in 190 countries and billion-dollar franchises. Microsoft say they are working to bring Activision Blizzard games to their Game Pass subscription service. The deal has shocked the gaming industry. In an era of increased competition, content is king. Currently it's reported that the PlayStation 5 is outselling Microsoft's latest generation of consoles. It's argued by some that this is down to the fact that in recent years Sony's machines have had more appealing exclusive titles - games that can't be played on a variety of devices. It is not yet clear if Activision Blizzard games, which at the moment can be played on both Microsoft and Sony consoles, will become exclusive to Xbox.

Microsoft Deal

Covid Sick Pay Cut

Ikea has cut sick pay for unvaccinated staff who need to self-isolate because of Covid exposure and in some cases for workers who test positive. The retail giant acknowledged it was an "emotive topic" but said its policy had to evolve with changing circumstances. From this week, sick pay cuts will be implemented at Wessex Water and in the US several major companies have started penalising unjabbed workers. It comes as firms struggle with mass staff absences and rising costs. At Ikea unvaccinated workers, who do not have mitigating circumstances, who test positive will be paid in line with company sick pay. Unvaccinated workers, without mitigating circumstances and required to isolate owing to being identified as a close contact, could now receive as little as £96.35 a week - the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) minimum. Average wages at Ikea are between about £400 and £450, depending on location and, as is the case at many companies, staff get enhanced sick pay. Many companies complained of labour shortages throughout 2021, and now are seeing mass absences due to the more infectious Omicron Covid strain. Last year, supermarket Morrisons cut sick pay terms, while several companies, including banking giant Citigroup, introduced a "no jab, no job" policy. 

Covid Sick Pay

Baguette Price Wars

 

French bakers have taken aim at a major supermarket chain that is offering inflation-busting low prices for baguettes, saying the move will undermine competition in one of the country’s prized industries. The Leclerc group said in newspaper ads on Tuesday that “because of inflation, the average price of baguettes could increase significantly. That’s unthinkable”, vowing to cut into its profit margins to cap the cost of the signature French loaf at 29 euro cents (24p). Bakers, farmers and millers came together the following day to attack Leclerc for its campaign. In a joint statement, industry organisations said the average price for a baguette, an everyday staple in French households, had reached 90 cents, driven by rising costs for flour, electricity and labour. “We have to pay people properly, those who plant, harvest, who gather the grain and make flour, those who make the bread. What Leclerc is doing is shameful,” he said. Leclerc boss, Michel-Édouard Leclerc, told business magazine Capital that prices for baguettes in his shops has been about 30 cents “for at least a year.” “In an environment where [prices for] everything are going up and will keep going up, we wanted to send a signal that Leclerc will keep prices accessible for consumers,” he said.  Some 10 billion baguettes are consumed every year in France – some 320 every second.

Baguette War

KFC Food Waste Boycott

 

A top Chinese consumer group has called for a boycott of a KFC meal promotion, saying it encourages food waste. The China Consumers Association (CCA) says the promotion sent some customers into a buying frenzy. KFC launched the promotion last week with Pop Mart, a Chinese toy maker known for its mystery boxes. Customers are able to collect limited edition versions of large-eyed and round-faced Dimoo dolls when buying certain KFC set meals. KFC "used limited-edition blind box sales to induce and condone consumers' irrational and excessive purchase of meal sets, which goes against public order, good customs and the spirit of the law", the state-affiliated CCA said in a statement. That led one customer to spend 10,494 yuan (£1,202; $1,649) on more than 100 of the meals in one go to collect the toys, while people also paid others to purchase meals for them, or just threw them away, the statement added. KFC launched the hugely popular promotion last week to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the opening of its first outlet in mainland China. In 2020, the Chinese government launched a major campaign against food waste, which was spearheaded by President Xi Jinping. President Xi called the amount of food wasted as "shocking and distressing". The "Clean Plate Campaign" came against the backdrop of growing concerns about food security during the pandemic.

KFC Boycott

Chameleon Car

BMW has unveiled a chameleon car that changes colour, in the latest attempt by automotive firms to combine their vehicles with cutting-edge technology. The German car firm said it was “bringing the car body to life” with the specially developed body wrap for its all-electric iX SUV model, which uses the same technology as Amazon’s Kindle e-reader. At the touch of a button, a driver can change the shade of the car’s exterior, allowing the colour to shift between black and white or even light and dark stripes by activating electronic ink in the wraparound shell. The concept car, which is not available for public sale, was unveiled at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where automotive firms increasingly advertise their products alongside mobile phone, gadget and TV screen makers. The technology could be used to locate the car by making it flash when the driver is looking for it, or to display the vehicle’s battery capacity externally.

Colour Changing Car

Business on the Box

Get ready to see The Apprentice 2022 cast in action, as series 16 is here and the tasks have begun. After two years off-air, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the show is back with 16 buzzing business people competing for a  £250,000 investment from Lord Alan Sugar. Each week, they’ll face several challenges and at least one person will be fired before we get down to the final week where Lord Sugar will decide who will be his next business partner. Helping him to make that decision is Baroness Karren Brady, who returns to the series after joining in 2009. There’s also a new face in the boardroom in the form of the show’s first-ever winner, Tim Campbell. Dragons' Den is also returning to BBC One for series 19 with a brand new Dragon. Steven Bartlett will join Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, and Sara Davies after taking over from Tej Lalvani who quit the show last year to focus on his own business. At 29 years old Steven is the youngest investor to ever join the show. You can watch both on BBC1 on Thursday from 8pm.

Apprentice x Dragons Den

Milk Sniff Test

 

Supermarket Morrisons is to scrap 'use by' dates on most of its milk in a move it says will stop millions of pints being poured down the sink. The retailer will instead place 'best before' on 90% of its own-brand milk and encourage customers to use a sniff test to check quality. Recycling charity Wrap said Morrisons was the first supermarket to make the move, which starts later this month. Ian Goode, senior milk buyer at Morrisons, said it was a "bold step". Milk is the third most wasted food and drink product in the UK, after potatoes and bread, with around 490 million pints wasted every year, according to Wrap. It also estimates 85 million pints of milk waste may be due to customers following 'use by' labels, despite research showing it can be used days after the date. Morrisons believes the move could save seven million pints of its own-brand milk being poured away each year. Morrisons has already scrapped 'use by' dates across some of its own-brand yogurt and hard cheese ranges.

Milk Sniff Test

Apple $3tn Company

 

US technology giant Apple has become the first company to hit a stock market valuation of $3tn (£2.2tn). The firm's share price has risen by around 5,800% since co-founder and former chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in 2007. Apple has been one of the big winners of the pandemic, as coronavirus lockdowns saw spending on gadgets jump. It took just over 16 months for Apple's stock market valuation to rise from $2tn to $3tn, as the world's biggest technology companies saw demand soar as people became more reliant on smartphones, tablets and laptops during lockdowns. The iPhone typically accounts for around half of the company's sales, while it is also well-known for its iPad tablets and Mac computers. Increasingly important parts of the business are software, sold through the Apple store, storage space via the iCloud and services such as its music, television and fitness subscription platforms. The company made its stock market debut in 1980 with a market valuation of $1.8bn.

Apple Trillions

Burger King Vegan Nuggets

 

Burger King will sell vegan nuggets across the UK as part of a pledge to make its menu 50% meat-free by 2030. The fast-food giant said the nuggets, made from soy and plant proteins, had been certified by the Vegan Society. It has introduced a Vegan Royale burger as demand for such products has risen. A vegan diet involves cutting out animal products such as meat, fish, dairy and eggs. Burger King said its 50% meat-free target would help it reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 41%. It said its vegan nuggets would taste the same as its chicken-based counterparts. Burger King UK chief executive Alasdair Murdoch said the introduction of vegan nuggets was an "a significant milestone for the company and an important next step in achieving our target of a 50% meat-free menu by 2030". According to the Vegan Society, there were about 600,000 vegans in Great Britain in 2019, four times more than there were in 2014. A total of 49% of those interested in cutting down on meat consumption said they would do so for health reasons, according to a survey of more than 1,000 adults in Great Britain by Mintel.

Vegan Nuggets

BlackBerry Decline

 

Many vintage BlackBerry phones will stop working on Tuesday as the company turns off support for its operating system. Launched in 2013, that particular model, and BlackBerry's phones since then, have faced an increasingly impossible battle as Apple and Samsung set about their battle for global smartphone domination. Announcing the termination, BlackBerry thanked "our many loyal customers and partners over the years". It means remaining die-hard owners of their devices won't be able to make or receive calls, send texts, use wi-fi or access mobile data. It is almost exactly 23 years since BlackBerry launched its 850 phone, and the company soon became the leader in providing emails when out and about on the move. But the models that followed the iconic BlackBerry Bold would face increasing competition from Apple and Android phones.

BBM Decline