ASOS, Ryanair, Lidl, Amazon: your commercial news round-up

As we head into the autumn term, one of the best things you can do to prepare for the incoming milkround season is to get into good habits when it comes to commercial awareness. Reading our weekly summaries of the latest business news stories is an efficient way to keep up with the commercial world. Here’s more:

• ASOS has asked its suppliers for a 3% discount as it bids to repair its finances. The online retailer, which has issued two recent profit warnings, has written to suppliers for the discount on clothes and accessories, which it says will “fuel joint growth” as the company launches warehouses in US and Germany. “We have set our sights on becoming one of the few companies with truly global scale in the market,” said the letter.
• Strikes are due to take place by Ryanair pilots today and tomorrow as the High Court yesterday made a last-minute ruling that the strike could take place. UK-based pilots are taking industrial action over pay and conditions, with tensions heightened as the budget airline warned of job losses after a 21% fall in quarterly profits. However, Ryanair flights in and out of UK airports took off as normal this morning despite the strike warnings.
• Discount supermarket Lidl has attained its largest ever market share with Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons all losing more of their portions of the market. Sales at Lidl increased 7.7% over the summer, with new stores attracting 500,000 more customers. Meanwhile Aldi also grew 6.2%, with one in every seven pounds spent on groceries in the UK handed over at either Lidl or Aldi.
• Online giant Amazon has been criticised for launching a new type of plastic packaging that cannot be recycled in the UK. Meanwhile the other Amazon – the largest rainforest in the world – made headlines this week as satellite imaging showed a steep rise in fires in the region this year, with the forest having been purportedly on fire for three weeks due to illegal deforestation.
• Talking about the destruction of the environment, fracking has been halted again at the Cuadrilla site in Lancashire after a seismic tremor measuring 1.55 on the Richter scale occurred on Wednesday night. The oil and gas company attempted to ease fears by comparing the quake to “a large bag of shopping dropping to the floor”, but campaigners say it proves that the fracking process can’t take place without triggering earthquakes, and could have long-lasting environmental consequences.

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.