Good morning. Today we're talking about aMcDonald’s expansion plans, the multi-billion pound lawsuit facing the mobile industry and Spotify’s latest layoffs.

Big Stories

McDonald’s goes supersize

McDonald’s is gearing up for its "fastest period of growth" in the Big Mac maker’s history, unveiling plans to open 10,000 new stores globally by 2027, which would bring its total restaurant tally to 50,000. The primary focus for the expansion is in its developing markets like China, India and Brazil. At a rate of roughly 2,000 stores per year, these new plans will see a McDonald’s opening somewhere around the world every 4 hours and 23 minutes. The company is also targeting 250m members on its loyalty program by 2027 and plans to open an entirely new restaurant concept: CosMc, a McDonald's spin-off brand that will focus on a slimmer, mostly drinks-and-snacks-focused, menu.

Mobile operators multi-billion lawsuit

A class action lawsuit has been filed against the UK's four largest mobile operators – Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three – alleging that they have overcharged millions of customers by up to £3.3bn for handsets and airtime. The lawsuit claims that the operators have been using a "loyalty penalty" scheme to charge long-standing customers higher prices than newer customers for the same services. The scheme is said to have been in place since 2007 and is calculated based on the length of a customer's contract. According to the claimants, the loyalty penalty has resulted in customers being overcharged by an average of £1,800 per contract. This is not the first time that the UK's mobile operators have been accused of unfair practices. In September 2018 Citizens Advice submitted a rare super-complaint to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), raising concerns that longstanding customers were paying more than new customers for mobile contracts, as well as broadband, cash savings, home insurance and mortgages. The CMA investigated and found the "loyalty penalty" was a significant problem hitting millions of people, including those who could least afford it.

Spotify shakeup

Music streaming giant Spotify has announced plans to lay off 17% of its global workforce, affecting approximately 1,500 employees. It’s the company’s third layoff round in 2023 and comes as it grapples with slowing growth and intensifying competition. Though the music streamer has accomplished steady subscriber growth, boasting 220m paying subscribers, it has continued to struggle to become profitable. CEO Daniel Ek said the company still has “too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact.“

Elsewhere...

Scaling back: Nationwide Building Society has told nearly 500 staff they are at risk of redundancy, just weeks before the Christmas holidays.

Dying out: British American Tobacco wrote off £25bn in value of its US cigarette business that it says is dying out.

Kick in the teeth: Once high-flying orthodontist firm SmileDirectClub is shutting down after last-minute talks to save it collapsed.

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