Hitachi, housing market, Patisserie Valerie, Pulsin brownies: your commercial news round-up

It’s vacation scheme season and that means it’s the perfect time to take a glance at the business world and ensure that your commercial awareness is up to scratch. Our commercial awareness page is a great place to start working out how to develop your understanding of the business environment and how to demonstrate this in applications, but first take a quick read of some interesting commercial stories from this week:

• The breaking news from this morning is that Japanese firm Hitachi has announced it will pull out of the multi-billion pound nuclear plant in Wylfa Newydd, Wales. The decision puts thousands of jobs at risk at the plant and will cost Hitachi around £2.1 billion in expenses. The firm has been in talks with the government about funding for several months, with the project’s suspension coming “from the viewpoint of its economic rationality as a private enterprise”. The government has since reasserted its commitment to developing nuclear power in the UK.
• The outlook of the UK’s housing market is now the worst for 20 years, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors who expect sales to fall in the next three months. The confusion around Brexit, as well as a lack of supply and affordability, have all affected the market with house prices falling for the fourth month in a row in December.
• Café chain Patisserie Valerie has uncovered “thousands of false entries into the company’s ledgers” which goes some way to explain the multimillion-pound gap in its accounts that was announced last October. Work carried out by forensic accountants revealed “the misstatement of its accounts was extensive, involving very significant manipulation of the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts”. Patisserie Valerie was valued at £450 million last year, but shares have been since suspended.
• Good news for those of you doing Veganuary: health food brand Pulsin’s raw chocolate brownies have been officially deemed a cake, and therefore free from VAT charges. Judge Amanda Brown taste-tested the product alongside Mr Kipling cakes and commented that the brownie’s baking method, taste and texture were all “consistent with those of a cake”. Talking about veganism, a group of scientists from around the world have developed “the planetary health diet” that promises to save lives, feed 10 billion people and not damage the environment. The diet will involve people eating less meat and dairy and more fruit and vegetables. 

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.