The government will give ‘recognition’ payments to Post Office Capture victims before they receive full compensation. Former sub-postmasters and their families who are entitled to redress have been told the initial amount, which is yet to be finalised, could be £10,000. Capture was a faulty computer system used by sub postmasters in the 1990s - before the Horizon scandal. A report last year found the software is likely to have caused errors in accounting. A redress scheme is currently being set up for those affected and could possibly be introduced by the end of the summer (Sky News).
Starbucks is planning to hire more baristas, get them to work more hours at its coffee shops and roll back its embrace of automation, as the company’s new leadership battles to turn the chain around. Brian Niccol, who joined Starbucks as chief executive last September, has vowed to “fundamentally change” the company’s strategy in order to win back customers (The Guardian). On Tuesday, the firm announced worse-than-expected financial results as its sales continue to fall. Niccol was brought into Starbucks last year tasked with turning the business around as it struggles with rising prices and consumers cut back spending (BBC).
Royal Mail’s £3.6 billion takeover by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky has been passed by its shareholders, paving the way for the more than 500-year-old company to be taken into foreign ownership for the first time. International Distribution Services (IDS), Royal Mail’s owner, first agreed to the acquisition in May last year. Investors holding 80% of the group’s share capital had approved the takeover by Wednesday afternoon, making the offer “unconditional”, EP announced (The Standard). Under the terms of the deal, the EP Group will have to maintain the one-price-goes-anywhere Universal Service Obligation (USO). This obligation currently means it has to deliver letters six days per week, Monday to Saturday, and parcels Monday to Friday (BBC).
The EU is threatening to time-limit any agreement to remove red tape on UK food and drink exports across the Channel unless it gets long-term access to British fishing waters. The prospect of an expiry date on a so-called veterinary agreement with the UK — a key demand of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government — is designed to exert maximum leverage on London in negotiations over fishing rights. Restricting the length of any veterinary deal with the UK would create uncertainty for exporters, diminishing the potential value of the deal and adding pressure on the UK from business to do an open-ended deal over fish. The sensitive issue is one of the last remaining hurdles as the two sides close in on a deal to “reset” relations five years after Brexit at a summit on May 19 (Financial Times).
Health campaigners have called on the government to take urgent action to protect infants and young children following a study that found top brands are selling sugar-heavy, nutritionally poor baby food. A coalition of 40 leading health and child organisations have written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care following the findings of the Leeds University research, featured in the BBC Panorama investigation The Truth About Baby Food Pouches which looked at 632 food products marketed towards babies and toddlers under three (The Standard).
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