27th June 2022
Bite-sized business news from the UK and beyond
Good morning Wimbledon begins today with a record prize pot of £40.4m on offer. The winners of the men’s and women’s singles tournament will pocket £2m each and first round losers will get £50,000. But one of the big stories off the court is that squash maker Robinson’s is to end its sponsorship of the event after 86 years. Wimbledon said the partnership ended, ahem, cordially.
Today's stories
UK consumer confidence hits record low
Corporate America reacts to Supreme Court ruling
ECONOMYUK consumer confidence hits record low
Other stories to keep you in the loop
G7 summit: Leaders detail $600bn plan to rival China's Belt and Road initiative
UK to ban Russian gold imports
Barclays to buy Kensington Mortgages as interest rates rise
M&S blasts government decision to investigate plans for West End flagship store
Netflix is definitely getting ads, company announces
Cambridge-based tech firm Arm set to list in New York
Russia on brink of default as debt deadline looms
Japan urges 37m people to switch off lights
USCorporate America reacts to Supreme Court ruling
What happened?On Friday the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a 1973 ruling that provided a constitutional basis for abortion rights in the country for nearly 50 years. The decision had been anticipated since last month when a draft opinion was leaked. Under the court's ruling, individual states will have the legal authority to allow, regulate or ban abortion procedures, creating a patchwork of laws.Over the weekend some of the biggest names in corporate America have come out with how they will respond to the historic and highly divisive ruling.The scrapping of Roe v. Wade presents another challenge to business leaders who’ve been increasingly pressured to take sides on heated social and political matters. In addition to focusing on keeping their companies’ finances healthy, they must now navigate a maze of complex issues resulting from the Friday ruling—from workplace politics to health coverage to legal considerations.Since the draft opinion emerged, several large corporations including Starbucks, Tesla and Airbnb said they would cover expenses for employees who needed to travel to get abortions. And following the official ruling, many others, such as Goldman Sachs, Disney, JPMorgan and Facebook owner Meta, made clear that they would do the same.A few CEOs have spoken out about the ruling but most have refrained from making a direct statement. Companies operating in Republican-led states know that wading into the debate can spark unwanted backlash.Big picture: The striking down of Roe could also influence corporate location decisions in this historically tight labour market. Companies, especially startups, trying to hire in a state where abortions have been banned could find it harder to recruit employees.
Stat of the day
Accounting giant PwC announced that half of its 20,000 UK staff would get a pay rise of at least 7%, while 70% would get a rise of 9% or more
Interesting links from around the web
How to read more books
The degrees with the lowest average salaries five years after graduation
‘Do I sound stressed to you?’ How a hard day at work changes the way you talk
