Tuesday newspaper round-up: UK telecoms industry, shop workers, BoE staff

The UK’s biggest mobile and broadband companies have agreed a plan to help customers struggling to pay bills amid the cost of living crisis, including moves to allow switching to cheaper deals without paying a penalty. The package was agreed at a summit at Downing Street, co-chaired by the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, and the cost of living business tsar, David Buttress, and attended by the top executives of the country’s biggest telecoms firms, including BT, Virgin Media O2, Vodafone, Three, Sky and TalkTalk. - Guardian

Abuse and violence towards shop workers and service staff is on the rise again, research shows, with a quarter of those reporting hostility blaming the cost of living crisis putting increased stress on customers. Figures from the trade body the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) revealed 44% of frontline retail staff have experienced hostility from customers in the past six months – up by a quarter from the figure of 35% in February. - Guardian

Staff at the Bank of England are to demand a major pay rise in the face of surging inflation, despite pleas for restraint on wages from their own Governor. The trade union Unite is consulting staff on Threadneedle Street this summer about securing a “decent pay rise” to cushion the blow of soaring living costs. Staff received just a 1.5pc increase this year, far below the 9.1pc rate of inflation reached in May. - Telegraph

Councils will be forced to ditch spending plans and draw up emergency cuts to public services after the highest inflation in 40 years sparks an £800m surge in costs. The Local Government Association (LGA) warned that inflation will force local leaders to make cuts to frontline services and poses a “serious risk to the future financial viability” of some councils. - Telegraph

The devastating impact of rising energy, goods and labour costs on hospitality businesses has been laid bare in a survey showing that only 37 per cent are still profitable. Despite the launch by the governmen last year of a post-Covid hospitality recovery strategy, the picture remains bleak, with 45 per cent of businesses forced to reduce opening hours to avoid closing permanently and 17 per cent having no cash reserves. - The Times