5th July 2022
Bite-sized business news from the UK and beyond
Good morning Mark Zuckerberg has given Meta employees a stark warning that they need to up their game or start updating their CVs, as he says the company faces some seriously tough times. In a roundtable chat with employees last week, the Facebook founder reportedly told his staff that "there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn't be here" and that he's "okay" with employees quitting.
Today's stories
Pret bounces back into profit after Covid losses
Kellogg loses battle over UK sugar rules
RETAILPret bounces back into profit after Covid losses
Other stories to keep you in the loop
London rent prices see largest annual rise in over 20 years
Motorists arrested for driving too slowly on M4 in protests against high fuel prices
EasyJet executive quits after weeks of turmoil and flight cancellations
Demand at UK’s biggest pawnbroker at record high amid cost of living crisis
Pets at Home slumps due to cost-of-living crisis biting into Britons’ pockets
Criminal courts face disruption as barristers strike for second week
Gender pay gap widens in FTSE100 boardrooms
Tesla faces fresh discrimination claim from staff
Sri Lanka energy minister warns petrol stocks about to run dry
FOODKellogg loses battle over UK sugar rules
What happened?Yesterday the High Court rejected Kellogg’s claim that new government rules to limit sugary food were incorrect. The US cereal giant had argued that the regulations, set to be introduced in October, used the wrong formula to measure the nutritional value of food.How did we get here?The UK is facing an obesity epidemic with around two-thirds of adults above a healthy weight, and of these half are living with obesity. Obesity related diseases like cancer and diabetes costs the NHS over £4bn a year and this is projected to rise to £10bn by 2050. In 2020 the government unveiled a new strategy to tackle the issue which includes limiting the prominence of high fat, salt and sugar food on supermarkets shelves.Crying over spilt milkAt a hearing in April, Kellogg argued against the government's strategy to calculate fat, salt and sugar content of cereals when eaten dry, not when taken with milk.But the High Court said that no breakfast cereal maker had raised issues with the methodology during the consultation period about the rules.Hitting the bottom lineKellogg says the ruling will hit annual profits by about £5m as it agrees high-profile positions for its products on shelves, like near tills, with supermarkets. The Frosties and Coco Pops maker says it won’t appeal the decision but warned that consumers could face less choice and higher prices as a result.
Stat of the day
According to new research the number of pubs in England and Wales has fallen to the lowest level on record to 39,970 pubs in June, down by more than 7,000 since 2012
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