Monday newspaper round-up: Hospitality, wind generation, Vertical Aerospace

11th Nov 2024 07:26

(Sharecast News) - Great Britain "lags behind" Europe on measures to restrict betting adverts, according to a report released days after official data showed a sharp increase in the number of children with a gambling problem. Restrictions on ads by bookmakers and casinos are increasingly becoming "the norm" across Europe in response to public health concerns, according to a report commissioned by GambleAware, the UK's leading gambling charity. - Guardian

Hospitality businesses will be forced to close while others will have to slash jobs and investment as a result of changes to national insurance announced in the budget, according to a letter to the chancellor signed by the bosses of more than 200 of the UK's largest restaurant, pub and hotel businesses. The letter - with signatories including the Premier Inn owner Whitbread and pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers - comes as reports suggested Tesco would face an additional £1bn in costs over the course of the current parliament as the result of the increase in employers' national insurance contributions (NICs). - Guardian

Britain's wind generation is set to plummet to virtually zero this week as Ed Miliband presses ahead with plans to increase the nation's reliance on renewable energy. Much of the UK has seen zero hours of sunshine this month, and the first part of this week will see already-light winds hit fresh lows in many areas, according to Met Office forecasters. - Telegraph

A City grandee, business groups and a staff union have urged MPs to intervene to ensure the publication of a long-delayed report on a £1 billion fraud at Lloyds Banking Group. Lord Tyrie, former chairman of the Treasury committee, said the handling of the Dame Linda Dobbs review into whether Lloyds covered up a fraud at HBOS, the lender it rescued in 2009, was "itself becoming a scandal". - The Times

Vertical Aerospace is in advanced negotiations with creditors over a rescue deal that will probably result in its founder ceding control of the Bristol-based would-be manufacturer of electric flying taxis. Vertical could announce a deal as early as Tuesday with Jason Mudrick, an American distressed debt investor, based on the conversion of $200 million of loans from his Mudrick Capital into a big equity stake, significantly diluting the Ovo Energy tycoon Stephen Fitzpatrick's 70 per cent control of the company. - The Times