Magnum to Marmite consumer goods group plans productivity programme to save £684m
Unilever is to cut 7,500 jobs globally as part of an overhaul aimed at saving about €800m (£684m) over the next three years.
The consumer goods company, whose brands range from Marmite and Hellmann’s mayonnaise to Dove soap, Lynx deodorant and Domestos bleach, employs 128,000 people worldwide, including 6,000 in the UK.
Continue reading...Wealthy are willing to pay more than double the standard price of £170,000, says luxury carmaker
The luxury carmaker Bentley is cashing in as more of the world’s richest people opt to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on “levels of personalisation that we’ve never seen before”, the company has said.
While households all over the world struggle with inflation and the continued impact of the global energy crisis, its chief executive, Adrian Hallmark, said that “our customers can still afford our cars”, even if some were hesitating before committing.
Continue reading...Former PM called ‘reckless’ for accepting talks with foreign minister Wang Yi. Follow the day’s news live
Energy minister Chris Bowen is on a bit of a media blitz this morning.
More renewables are coming on to the grid, which is lowering the default price of energy, but this is Bowen’s main message (he is speaking to ABC radio RN here)
Nuclear is the most expensive form of energy in the world at the moment. There will be a real choice at the next election between the cheapest form of energy and the most expensive.
Continue reading...Co-founder of Autonomy charged with 16 counts of wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy in 2011 sale of company to HP
A British technology tycoon once lauded as “Britain’s Bill Gates” was the “driving force” behind a “massive” years-long fraud, prosecutors alleged, as his criminal trial got under way in San Francisco on Monday.
Prosecutors said Mike Lynch, co-founder of the UK software company Autonomy, ruled the firm “with an iron fist” before its blockbuster takeover by Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
Continue reading...China’s Longi looks to slash costs as renewable energy sector faces tough headwinds from inflation
The world’s largest solar manufacturer has slashed nearly a third of its workforce after a cost-cutting drive that included telling staff to only print in black and white fell short and as a chill ripples through the renewable energy sector.
China’s Longi is to cut as much as 30% of its workforce, in an acceleration of cost reductions that began late last year, Bloomberg reported.
Continue reading...The party will table a private senator’s bill this week to enable the ACCC to force Coles and Woolworths to sell off parts of their business
Australia’s competition regulator would gain powers to “smash the supermarket duopoly” and force the breakup of big supermarket chains, under a push from the Greens to be introduced to federal parliament.
The Greens will this week table a private senator’s bill seeking to introduce divestiture powers into Australian competition law. The party’s economic justice spokesperson, Nick McKim, said they will seek support across the parliament for their plan which would allow the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to apply for a court order requiring large companies to divest assets if their market power is unfairly inflating prices or blocking competition.
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‘There’ll be a lot of people grieving today’
Both Barnaby Joyce and Tanya Plibersek were asked about soldier Jack Fitzgibbon, the son of former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon.
The Fitzgibbon family are a family of honour. Jack died in service to our nation. Joel has served our nation. The family will be absolutely grieving. We hope and pray Jack is with our maker, give comfort to them. You’ve seen the Fitzgibbons, you’ve watched them on television. They’re a great family. He is also my mate. We’ll turn up and give what support we can to Jack’s family.
It’s just the worst thing that any parent can imagine and so our hearts go out to Joel and Diane and their family and the friends and comrades that Jack had in the service as well. We know there’ll be a lot of people grieving today.
Well, first of all, of course it’s not on government devices in Australia either. We’ve got a ban here in Australia on government devices. But there are 8.5 million Australians who are using it.
We’ll take the advice of our security and intelligence agencies on anything we need to do around TikTok. I think people should be careful of the data that they put online in general. Like I say, if the security and intelligence agencies give us advice on TikTok, we’ll take it.
Continue reading...Rideshare company agrees to settle long-running class-action lawsuit, finally giving cab and hire-car drivers the compensation they deserve, lawyers say
Uber will cough up almost $272m to compensate taxi and hirecar drivers who lost out when the rideshare company “aggressively” moved into the Australian market.
A class action against Uber was expected to go to trial in the supreme court of Victoria on Monday but judge Lisa Nichols vacated it after the rideshare giant agreed to the $271.8m settlement.
Continue reading...Data from property website Rightmove finds average asking price has reached almost £370,000
An increase in buyer demand and stronger house sales during March have combined to push the average UK home’s asking price up by a further £5,279 to almost £370,000, as the market picks up after a “muted 2023”.
According to the UK’s biggest property website, Rightmove, this month’s 1.5% price growth is notably higher than the historical March average of 1%, and is the biggest monthly increase for 10 months.
Continue reading...Exclusive: £10m needed for regulator charged with developing tools to thwart financial crime and protect consumers
Banks are under pressure to stump up millions of pounds in interim funding for the organisation that polices open banking, with regulators saying the new money is needed to prevent financial crime and protect consumers if things “go wrong”.
Large banks including NatWest, HSBC, Lloyds and Santander UK were among more than 40 City firms summoned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last week to discuss a cash injection into Open Banking Limited (OPL), the body that oversees innovation in this area.
Continue reading...FAA investigating loss of panel before Boeing 737-800 landed safely in Oregon
The US Federal Aviation Administration is investigating how a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 lost an external panel before landing safely in Oregon.
United flight 433 landed at Medford airport at about 1.45pm on Friday carrying 139 passengers and six crew after departing from San Francisco, the FAA and airline said.
Continue reading...Legal experts say directors could face personal claims for failing to consider how businesses affect nature
Company directors in the UK could be held personally liable for failing to properly account for nature and climate-related risks, according to a group of lawyers.
A legal opinion published this week found that board directors had duties to consider how their business affected and depended on nature. These included climate-related risks as well as wider risks to biodiversity, soils and water.
Continue reading...Tory donor has been widely condemned over racist and misogynistic comments about prominent black MP
It has been four days since the Guardian reported on the extraordinary remarks by the Tory donor Frank Hester about Diane Abott. They elicited widespread condemnation for being racist and misogynistic. Here are some of the key voices – and what they have said:
Diane Abbott MP
Continue reading...New scrutiny of planemaker’s 787 Dreamliner over terrifying drop adds to safety crisis after cabin panel blowout on 737 Max 9 jet
Another Boeing jet is facing scrutiny after the planemaker reportedly told airlines to check the cockpit seats of 787 Dreamliners following a terrifying drop during a flight from Sydney to Auckland.
Dozens of people on Latam Airlines Flight 800 were said to have been hurt this week when the plane fell sharply, throwing passengers around the cabin.
Continue reading...Coles and Woolworths leverage their dominant position over smaller suppliers and consumers alike – and both groups are getting angry
Farmers are pressuring supermarkets to raise produce prices, and shoppers want shelf prices lowered. Can both win?
As inflation eases, supermarkets would typically lean on suppliers to cut prices, with some of those savings passed on to frustrated shoppers to dissuade them from buying less or switching grocery stores in search of a better deal.
Continue reading...Roadworks mean stretch between junctions 10 and 11 will be closed for first time, from 9pm on Friday to 6am on Monday
Drivers have been warned to steer well clear, turn off the satnav and stick to the official diversions as some of the biggest roadworks since the Romans results in part of the M25 motorway fully closed for the first time in its history this weekend.
Epic traffic jams are anticipated, with a five-mile stretch of Britain’s busiest motorway, the London orbital motorway, closed for engineering from 9pm on Friday.
Continue reading...Deal between Japanese carmakers involves components and software amid race to catch up with Chinese EV firms
Honda and Nissan have put aside the “traditional approach” of fierce rivalry to join forces and work together on electric vehicle technology as Japan’s carmakers try to catch up with Chinese competitors.
The Japanese manufacturers will work together on technology for EVs, including components and software, after signing a memorandum of understanding on Friday.
Continue reading...Fast food chain working to resolve problem but denies it has been hit by cybersecurity attack
McDonald’s restaurants in multiple countries including the UK and Australia have been hit by a “technology outage”, which the fast food chain denied had been caused by a cybersecurity attack.
Australia, the UK, Japan and China were among the markets where services were affected, with restaurant, drive-through and online orders hit.
Continue reading...UK telecoms group says some of proceeds will be returned to investors via share buybacks
Vodafone is selling its Italian business to Swisscom for €8bn (£6.8bn) cash and plans to return €4bn to shareholders.
The telecoms company said it had reached an agreement to sell Vodafone Italy as part of wider plans to streamline its European operations and that some of the proceeds would be returned to investors via share buy-backs. Vodafone will continue to provide certain services to Swisscom for up to five years as part of the transaction.
Continue reading...Ex-treasury secretary tells CNBC of plans a day after US House passes bill giving app’s owner six months to divest or face US ban
Steven Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to try to buy TikTok, he told CNBC on Thursday.
The former US treasury secretary’s comment comes just a day after the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would give the short-video app’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the US assets or face a ban. If it did not, app stores including the Apple App Store and Google Play would be legally barred from hosting TikTok or providing web-hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications.
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