Law and business: commercial news round-up 26.03.15
updated on 26 March 2015
What’s on the commercial menu this week? Among other things, a gigantic helping of merger which sees Kraft and Heinz combine, a supermarket rejigging its property assets and a train company promising better service for customers (excuse us if we remain sceptical). Read on for these and more:
- Prompted perhaps by the need to claw back some control in what has been a bad 12 months, Tesco has announced a £733 million "property swap" with British Land, giving it sole ownership of 21 superstores.
- FirstGroup has secured the Great Western train network for a further four years, in a franchise agreement that promises more seats and better service, but which unions have condemned as "outrageous".
- A parliamentary report says that the demise of now-defunct delivery firm City Link has exposed the flaws in the current UK insolvency system, which favours investors over workers.
- Inflation is at 0% - for the first time since records began – and analysts are wondering whether that’s a good or a bad thing for the economy, or simply too early to call.
- The Economist explores the impact of the entrance of the "Big Four" accountants’ firms into the legal sector. Should law firms be worried?
- In a massive food-related deal weighing in at $40 billion, Kraft and Heinz have combined to create the fifth-largest food company in the world. Tasty.
Be sure to check the News section every Thursday for this weekly commercial news round-up. Follow @LawCareersNetUK and @CityLawLIVE on Twitter for instant business news updates.
