Category Archives: Business

US food delivery app DoorDash offers to buy UK rival Deliveroo for $3.6bn

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The London-based company, the second largest food deliver app in the UK, said no ‘firm offer’ had been made yet

DoorDash is offering to buy its UK-based rival Deliveroo for $3.6bn (£2.7bn), Deliveroo said on Friday.

Deliveroo said that its board was in talks with DoorDash over the offer and that a firm offer had not been made, according to statement sent to the Guardian. Should a firm offer of £1.80 ($2.40) a share be made, Deliveroo said, “it would be minded to recommend such an offer to Deliveroo shareholders.

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US food delivery app DoorDash offers to buy UK rival Deliveroo for $3.6bn

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The London-based company, the second largest food deliver app in the UK, said no ‘firm offer’ had been made yet

DoorDash is offering to buy its UK-based rival Deliveroo for $3.6bn (£2.7bn), Deliveroo said on Friday.

Deliveroo said that its board was in talks with DoorDash over the offer and that a firm offer had not been made, according to statement sent to the Guardian. Should a firm offer of £1.80 ($2.40) a share be made, Deliveroo said, “it would be minded to recommend such an offer to Deliveroo shareholders.

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US consumer sentiment sees largest drop since 1990 after Trump tariff chaos

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Experts warn of slowing economy after score based on Americans’ financial outlooks fell by 32% since January

US consumer sentiment plummeted in April after Donald Trump’s trade war threw the global economy into chaos, according to a new report.

The index of consumer sentiment, a score based on a monthly survey asking Americans about their financial outlooks, fell by 32% since January – the largest drop since the 1990 recession, according to the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.

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Sydney woman who sold a cartoon cat T-shirt told to pay US$100,000 in Grumpy Cat copyright case

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Alda Curtis, who earned US$1 for the t-shirt she sold on RedBubble, had US$600 removed from her PayPal account without explanation

Alda Curtis, a 63-year-old counselling student from Sydney, set up a Redbubble store as a hobby, including selling a T-shirt featuring an unhappy cat cartoon.

After years of running the store, a single sale of that T-shirt resulted in a US$100,000 default judgment against her for infringing on the trademark of Grumpy Cat late last year. Then Curtis noticed nearly US$600 had been taken from her PayPal account.

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Xi announces plan for Chinese economy to counter impact of US trade war

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Beijing will ‘strengthen bottom-line thinking’ as reports say it could drop tariffs on some US products

Xi Jinping has announced a plan to counter China’s continuing economic problems and the impact of the US trade war, as reports swirl that it could drop tariffs on some US products, including semiconductors.

Friday’s meeting of the politburo was convened to discuss China’s economy, which since the pandemic has faced difficulties fuelled by a housing sector crisis, youth unemployment and Donald Trump’s tariffs on all Chinese imports to the US.

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MPs question value of billions in subsidies granted to Drax power plant

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Spending watchdog warns £6.5bn in funding may not offer value for public money amid ongoing sustainability concerns

A government spending watchdog has questioned the value of the multi-billion pound subsidies granted to the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire – and said that plans to hand over billions more may not represent value for money.

The government has provided about £22bn of public money to businesses and households that burn biomass pellets as fuel over the past three years, including £6.5bn for the owner of the Drax plant.

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What are the Ofcom measures to protect children online – and will they work?

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Communications regulator has brought in more than 40 new rules for tech firms designed to keep under-18s safe

Ofcom announces new rules for tech firms to keep children safe online

The UK communications watchdog has set out more than 40 measures to keep children safe online under a landmark piece of legislation.

The Online Safety Act has a strong focus on protecting under-18s from harmful content and the codes of practice published by Ofcom on Thursday are a significant moment for regulation of the internet.

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‘Morally repugnant’: Brazilian workers sue coffee supplier to Starbucks over ‘slavery-like conditions’

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Brazil has been the world’s leading coffee producer due to the forced labour of enslaved Africans and Afro-Brazilians

“John” was just days from turning 16 when he was allegedly recruited to work on a Brazilian coffee farm that supplies the global coffeehouse chain Starbucks.

Soon after his birthday, he embarked on a 16-hour bus journey to the farm in the state of Minas Gerais – only to discover that none of what he had been promised would be fulfilled.

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Ministers braced for showdown over ‘postcode pricing’ in energy market shake-up

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Ed Miliband’s looming decision on electricity market changes could mean regional bill disparities for households

Britain’s most senior government ministers could soon be drawn into a deepening row over plans to charge some households higher electricity bills than others, as Ed Miliband prepares to decide on sweeping energy reforms.

The energy secretary is understood to be close to making a decision on whether to move ahead with proposals to replace the country’s single electricity market with several market zones.

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Boeing hopes to find new buyers for up to 50 planes returned by China

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Airplane manufacturer says it is lobbying Donald Trump over ‘unfortunate’ decision to impose tariffs

Boeing will try to divert as many as 50 planes ordered by Chinese airlines to customers elsewhere after steep tariffs prompted by Donald Trump’s trade war.

The US manufacturer said it was confident it could find other buyers for the planes, but said it was lobbying Trump personally to resolve an “unfortunate situation”.

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Elon Musk to pull back in Doge role starting May amid 71% dip in Tesla profits

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CEO to pare back White House work to one to two days weekly as analysts say role has caused branding crisis

The Tesla chief executive, Elon Musk, said he will start pulling back from his role at the so-called “department of government efficiency” starting in May. Musk’s remarks came as the company reported a massive dip in both profits and revenues in the first quarter of 2025 amid backlash against his role in the White House.

On an investor call, Musk said the work necessary to get the government’s “financial house in order is mostly done”.

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Gold climbs above $3,500 for first time as Wall Street rallies after slide

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Dollar also recovers after Monday’s sell-off prompted by Donald Trump’s attack on Federal Reserve chair

Gold has climbed above $3,500 an ounce for the first time while stocks on Wall Street and the dollar rose following Monday’s sell-off prompted by Donald Trump’s blistering attack on the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell.

Spot gold reached the record price of $3,500.01 (£2,620) on Tuesday, extending a rally that has pushed bullion up from $2,623 an ounce at the start of this year.

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UK manufacturers to cut jobs ‘within weeks unless ministers can strike trade deal’

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Bosses from automative, manufacturing and energy warned MPs about effect of Trump tariffs

Britain’s manufacturers will start cutting jobs “within weeks” unless the government can strike a deal to safeguard the UK economy from Donald Trump’s trade war, industry leaders have told MPs.

Senior executives from the UK’s automotive, manufacturing and energy sectors warned a committee of MPs to expect job losses this summer if the US moves ahead with a swathe of global trade tariffs set out by Trump earlier this month.

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British Steel halts redundancy plans after government rescue

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Union welcomes announcement company is closing consultation on laying off up to 2,700 Scunthorpe workers

British Steel will not continue with a consultation on making up to 2,700 steelworkers at its Scunthorpe plant redundant, after the government took control of the firm earlier this month.

The Chinese company Jingye, which promised a “new chapter” when it bought British Steel in 2020, last month proposed closing Scunthorpe’s two blast furnaces, putting the roles under threat and ending Britain’s ability to produce steel from scratch.

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Spain unveils €11bn plan to reach long-delayed Nato defence spending target

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Spanish PM says ‘industrial and technological plan’ will ensure country commits to spending 2% of GDP on defence

Spain has announced a €10.5bn investment plan to ensure it will reach its long-delayed Nato commitment of spending 2% of its GDP on defence this year, saying it has become obvious “only Europe will know how to protect Europe” from now on.

The country – which lags well behind other western nations by dedicating about 1.3% of its GDP to defence spending – is one of the Nato members that has been pressured by the Trump administration to increase its spending, and had previously committed to hitting the 2% threshold by 2029.

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US stock markets fall again as Trump calls Fed chair ‘a major loser’

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President amps up attacks against Jerome Powell, pushing him to lower interest rates to offset impact of tariffs

US stock markets fell again on Monday as Donald Trump continued attacks against the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, who the US president called “a major loser” for not lowering interest rates.

“There can be a slowing of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW,” Trump wrote on social media.

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Boeing investors brace for fallout from Trump tariffs

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Jets intended for Chinese airline returned to US, raising fears for planemaker as results near

Investors in Boeing are braced to learn the full impact of Donald Trump’s trade war, amid fears the US planemaker could be hit harder than first expected after jets intended for a Chinese airline were returned to the US.

A Boeing 737 Max 8 plane intended for use by a Chinese airline returned to the US on Monday from Boeing’s China finishing centre, according to flight data cited by Reuters. It followed the arrival in the US on Sunday of another 737 Max painted in the livery of China’s Xiamen Airlines at Boeing’s US production hub in Seattle.

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NatWest investors to scrutinise pay in last AGM before full privatisation

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UK government expected to sell remaining stake in bailed-out bank in coming weeks

This week, NatWest will hold its last annual shareholder meeting before returning to full private ownership, with the government expected to sell its remaining stake in the bailed-out bank in the coming weeks.

The bank, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), will host shareholders on Wednesday at its sprawling Gogarburn campus in Edinburgh, the £350m complex that became a symbol of the excesses that led to RBS’s £46bn bailout in 2008.

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London Gatwick is UK’s worst airport for flight delays, figures show

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CAA data shows flights departed more than 23 minutes late last year, with Birmingham and Manchester second and third-worst

London Gatwick is the UK’s worst airport for flight delays, official figures showed, with air traffic control issues blamed for continuing disruption.

In 2024, flights departed on average more than 23 minutes late from Britain’s second-biggest airport, according to data from the Civil Aviation Authority.

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UK set to ramp up weapons production to reduce reliance on US and French imports

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Defence secretary says lessons from Ukraine highlight need for homegrown supply chain

Britain is set to significantly increase its weapons production in order to no longer rely on importing from the US and France.

This comes as British and European defence companies move away from buying US-made weaponry and equipment due to concerns over president Donald Trump making the country an unreliable military partner.

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