Bitcoin, Birmingham Airport, Westfield, Prezzo, Heineken, JD Sports, iCar: your commercial news round-up

Aspiring lawyers must consider the impact that both Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic are having on law firms and their clients. Take a look at this round-up for some insight into the stories that caught our eye this week and think about what additional work you can be doing to analyse them further and demonstrate your commercial awareness in upcoming vac scheme or training contract interviews. You can also listen to our most recent podcast episode ‘commercial awareness is a frame of mind’ for some more guidance on this essential skill.

• After a $1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin by Elon Musk’s Tesla, demand for the crypto-currency rocketed earlier this week to trade at $48,000. Speaking about Tesla’s investment, ThinkMarket Analysist Fawad Razaqzada said: “Tesla is going to be a major player in the auto industry and if it starts accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment, it will give the digital currency further legitimacy.”

• Meanwhile, Mastercard revealed plans to enable its one billion users to spend crypto-currencies at more than 30 million businesses this year. As these digital assets become more popular, with customers using these over traditional fiat options, the global payments firm believes that supporting crypto-currencies could encourage new customers to use businesses accepting this currency, while also building loyalty with existing customers. The firm said: “We are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value — traditional or crypto — however they want. It should be your choice, it’s your money."

In other banking news, Klarna is expanding its offering in Germany by turning its mobile app into a banking app to allow customers living in Germany to open a consumer bank account and acquire a Visa debit card.

• JD Sports is due to open a distribution centre based in the EU following concerns over the Brexit red tape and tariffs introduced a month ago, with up to 1,000 jobs expected to transfer to the continent.
   
• Birmingham Airport is set to receive an £18.5 million emergency loan from the city council in an effort to avoid the threat of collapse, according to the BBC. Passenger numbers have fallen by 91% at the airport since the start of the pandemic and with the near future of air travel uncertain, questions have been raised by councillors over whether the airport will require more funding. Council leader Ian Ward said: "The risk here if we don't put this loan in and ensure the liquidity of the airport is that we would lose control of the airport as seven metropolitan authorities." As well as using the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the airport also suspended capital projects to help preserve cash and manage costs.
   
• A loss of €7.6 billion was reported by the shopping centre landlord that owns Westfield, Stratford City and other mega-malls across Europe and the US, following a 24% decline in its like-for-like rental income as retail and leisure tenants were offered rent relief while countries were plunged into lockdown. As restrictions eased last year, data indicated a jump in demand when shops reopened: “We have realistic expectations for 2021 but are encouraged by the way footfall and sales bounced back strongly whenever restrictions were eased or lifted last year”. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is set to sell US real estate, as well as €3.2 billion of its European assets before the end of 2022 to address long-term debt issues following the pandemic lockdowns. Westfield, White City and Westfield, Stratford City are not included in this.

• Other businesses taking a hit this week include pizza chain Prezzo, which is due to permanently close 22 restaurants with 216 jobs also being cut. This comes after the Italian chain was brought out of pre-pack administration by private equity firm Cain International. Dutch brewer Heineken is also due to cut around 8,000 jobs.
   
• Hyundai and Kia have said they are not in talks with tech giant Apple to develop an iCar. Meanwhile, a deal has been reached between Aurora, Toyota and Denso to “develop and test vehicles equipped with the self-driving startup’s technology”, according to Tech Crunch. The firms are aiming to start testing the technology with the Toyota Sienna minivans by the end of 2021.

Be sure to check the News every Thursday for this weekly commercial news round-up. Follow @LawCareersNetUK on Twitter and like us on Facebook for instant business news updates.