1 P&O Ferries has defended its move to fire more than 780 workers without notice, saying it is paying the largest ever compensation package in the maritime sector. The company also delivered a letter to Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, explaining its actions.
2 Boots has promised to pick up the cost of hormone replacement therapy prescriptions for its menopausal staff and called on more businesses to emulate it. The pharmacy has followed Timpson’s, the high street shoe repair and dry cleaning chain.
3 Rishi Sunak will today pledge to do more to help families deal with the cost of living crisis by spending some of the government’s £30 billion “war chest” from higher tax receipts. The chancellor is expected to outline measures in his spring statement to reduce the burden of national insurance rises on the poorest families and cut taxes on petrol and diesel sales in wake of rising fuel prices.
4 Post Office bosses could be ordered to hand back their bonuses after the government agreed to award “proper compensation” to hundreds of postmasters who exposed the Horizon IT scandal and were wrongly prosecuted for theft, fraud and false accounting.
5 The government is drawing up contingency plans for the potential collapse of Gazprom’s London-based global energy trading business, amid fears it could cause chaos across gas and power markets. Officials think that Gazprom Marketing & Trading could be at risk as lenders shun dealing with the Russian company because of concerns over sanctions and reputational risk. It has yet to be formally sanctioned.
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6 Dancing and joking with visitors, Elon Musk personally handed over the first made-in-Germany Tesla cars to 30 buyers at a ceremony marking the opening of the company’s new €5 billion “Gigafactory” in Grünheide outside Berlin.
7 The housebuilding industry has written to Michael Gove after the housing secretary described leading developers as a “cartel” and criticised their approach to protecting the environment.
8 The government has dismissed fears of diesel rationing after some of the world’s biggest commodities traders suggested Europe could face a supply shortage.
9 A renewed enthusiasm for DIY during the pandemic has propelled profits at Kingfisher above £1 billion, making it only the third British retailer in history to achieve that after Tesco and Marks & Spencer.
10 THG, the online retailer, has claimed it will “meet the highest standards of corporate governance” after hiring Lord Allen of Kensington, the former boss of ITV, as non-executive chairman. The appointment comes after intense scrutiny over the level of control that Matthew Moulding, executive chairman, chief executive, landlord and large investor, had over the business.