1 The chairman of the Conservative Party is using his business partner in a secretive company to help to manage party donors and arrange access to Boris Johnson. Ben Elliot is already under scrutiny over the overlap between his party and business roles as co-founder of Quintessentially, a luxury concierge business.
2 Amazon’s hopes of delivering parcels to British customers by drone may be some way from getting off the ground. The retail giant is said to have laid off more than 100 workers at its UK Prime Air division, many in Cambridge, where it has been building and testing drone deliveries since 2016.
3 A model-turned-entrepreneur is expected to have made tens of millions of pounds after selling her online cosmetics business to The Hut Group in a £275 million deal. Cult Beauty, a website that sells 300 upmarket beauty brands, was co-founded by Alexia Inge in 2007.
4The construction industry is facing a 10 per cent increase in the cost of materials over the next year amid materials and labour shortages as it struggles to meet demand for housing and infrastructure projects, a survey has found.
5 Pret A Manger, Sheffield United FC and John Lewis are among 191 employers fined and publicly criticised for an “unacceptable” breach of unemployment law in which tens of thousands of workers were paid less than the minimum wage.
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6 Trading in Robinhood shares was halted after they rose by up to 81 per cent in minutes. The popular trading app, which had a torrid debut last week after a disappointing initial public offering in New York, has bounced back rapidly.
7 The economic recovery slowed last month as the “pingdemic” hit consumer spending and staffing in Britain’s dominant services sector, according to the closely watched purchasing managers’ index for services in July.
8 Taylor Wimpey, Britain’s third biggest housebuilder, has hit back at government plans for a “use it or lose it” scheme that could introduce time limits for building on land with a planning consent and levies if developers miss deadlines.
9 The High Court has backed Provident Financial’s divisive plan to cut compensation payouts to borrowers who were mis-sold high-interest loans. The sub-prime lender’s proposal was put before the court on Friday and the judge has now ruled that he had sanctioned the scheme.
10 With so much cash sloshing around the partnership tables of City law firms that partners are earning £2 million, it’s little wonder that solicitors are in the frame for a possible windfall tax from Rishi Sunak, the chancellor.