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  • Today's business and finance round up 23rd August 2022

Today's business and finance round up 23rd August 2022

Euro hits new low

August 23, 2022

23rd August 2022

Bite-sized business news from the UK and beyond

Good morning Here’s a cautionary tale on the dangers of work socials. A 28-year-old employee at audit giant PwC is suing the company after he suffered a serious head injury during a work event involving a drinking game called “pub golf”. Michael Brockie, from the Reading office, said PwC owed him a duty of care and that he drank so much alcohol that after 10pm he has no memory of events and was later found lying in the street after falling.

Today's stories

  • Euro hits new low

  • End of an era at John Lewis

EUROPEEuro hits new low

Other stories to keep you in the loop

  • Average pay for FTSE 100 chiefs jumps by 39% to £3.4m

  • Key UK mortgage rate passes 4% for the first time since 2013

  • Barristers vote to escalate strike action over pay

  • British Airways to cancel thousands more flights

  • PlayStation sued for £5bn in the UK over ‘rip-off’ games

  • Adidas CEO steps down amid struggles in Asia

  • Apple employees fight back against return-to-office order

  • Elon Musk subpoenas former Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey as he tries not to purchase company

  • Usain Bolt moves to trademark signature victory pose

RETAILEnd of an era at John Lewis

What happened?Yesterday was the final day of John Lewis’s ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ promise as the department store acknowledged that consumers have changed the way they shop. First introduced in 1925, the retailer pledged to refund customers the difference if they find the same item on sale elsewhere cheaper within 28 days. What changed?The promise didn’t apply to online shopping which, in an age of ecommerce, makes the slogan outdated. Almost a third of non-food sales are done online and high street retailers have been losing market share to the likes of Amazon for years. What’s replacing it?John Lewis says that instead it will invest £500m in keeping prices low, a 25% increase on 2021. It will also expand its ‘Anyday’ value range which was introduced last year and has clocked up sales of over £125m so far. The company is expected to launch a new marketing campaign in the coming weeks. It’s already registered a string of potential slogans with the Intellectual Property Office, including “John Lewis: Life is beautiful”, “For the joy of life: John Lewis” and “John Lewis for all life’s moments”.But how much will ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ be missed?In reality the pledge was rarely used by shoppers – less than 1% - with it being little more than a marketing ploy. MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis says that it gives an arguably false impression that John Lewis is cheap as only a minority of consumers are price sensitive enough to care which allows John Lewis to charge what it likes to everyone else.

Stat of the day

Available office space in London has reached 31 million square feet, the highest level in 15 years

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