Your commercial news round-up: Barclays and WSL, Amazon, Apple and Google, inflation, McDonald’s

It’s been a busy year. We started the year in lockdown, booster jabs have been rolled out, firms battled it out in a pay war, tech continues to change the way the legal sector operates, there was a fuel crisis… phew! Plus there were many more developments for you to get stuck into. We know that consuming the news can create a bit of a rain cloud above your head, so we also wanted to share some of the positive stories that came out of 2021: the world’s first malaria vaccine was given the green light by the World Health Organisation; the 5% VAT on sanitary products was abolished in the UK; and a Cancer Research funded study found that the UK human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine reduces cervical cancer rates by 90% in women who were offered it as teenagers.

For now, here’s LCN’s last commercial news round-up of 2021.

• Barclays has committed to a new sponsorship deal with the Football Association (FA) and Premier League and has agreed to invest more than £30 million into women’s and girls’ football over the next three years as it becomes the headline sponsor of the FA Women’s Championship. This doubles the bank’s 2019 investment target (£15 million), setting a new record for investment in UK women’s sport, according to the FA. Talking about the continued partnership, Kelly Simmons, the FA’s director of the women’s professional game said: “As part of the FA's 2020-2024 women's and girls' strategy, Inspiring Positive Change, we set ourselves the ambition of providing equal access for all girls at 90% of primary and secondary schools in the UK, and Barclays' continued support and investment has allowed us to make great strides in achieving this ambition.”

• Amazon is set to open three new London Amazon Fresh branches in Chingford, Euston and Wandsworth, bringing the total number of stores in London to 15, with the multinational tech company tipped to open more. Its Amazon Fresh stores are till-free, enabling customers to use an Amazon app to enter and shop. Once they leave the store, they will receive an email receipt and are then billed from their Amazon account. Supermarket giant Tesco has also joined this tech wave, having opened a checkout-free store in High Holborn. The concept mirrors that of Amazon Fresh: customers with the Tesco app can use it to enter and shop. They will then later be charged via the payment method linked to their app.  

• The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has accused Apple and Google of “exercising a ‘vice-like grip’ over mobile devices”, with concerns “that this is leading to less competition and meaningful choice for customers.” Nearly 100% of all phones purchased in the UK run on either iOS or Android, owned by Apple and Google, respectively. Both companies have disputed the CMA’s allegations. Andrea Coscelli, the regulator’s chief executive explained that the best way to tackle this control is “through the Digital Markets Unit when it receives powers from government.”

• The cost of living rose by just over 5% in the 12 months to November to its highest rate since September 2011. Driving the increase was higher transport, energy and clothing prices (among others), according to the Office for National Statistics. Petrol reached the highest ever recorded price in November at 145.8p per litre and the shortage in new vehicles due to covid-19 drove up the price of second-hand cars. Wage inflation is also important to consider. Sharon Graham, general secretary of trade union Unite said: “Current estimates suggest that costs for the typical UK family will jump by £1,700 in 2022.”

• McDonald’s has opened a net-zero carbon restaurant in Market Drayton, Shropshire. It will be powered by wind turbine and solar panels, with recycled IT equipment and household goods making up the restaurant’s cladding. Used coffee beans and sheep wool are also among materials used. As the first restaurant in the UK set to be verified as net-zero emissions for construction using the UK Green Building Council’s net-zero carbon buildings framework, it will act as a ‘blueprint’ for the company’s future builds.  

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