Thursday newspaper round-up: Gatwick, business confidence, outsourcers
US investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is selling a majority stake in Gatwick Airport for £2.9bn. The UK’s second-biggest airport was bought by a GIP-led consortium in 2009, which will sell a 50.01% stake to Vinci Airports. The airport, the eighth-busiest in Europe by passenger numbers, was heavily disrupted in the runup to Christmas after reports of drone sightings closed its runway. – Guardian
Business confidence in the British economy has fallen to the lowest level since the EU referendum, according to a survey of company directors. Business leaders in all parts of the UK are gloomy about 2019, said the Institute of Directors, with Scotland and London – areas where voters were heavily in favour of remaining in the EU – most pessimistic. About 57% of more than 700 company directors surveyed expected things to get worse, compared with less than 20% predicting improvement – the worse net score since the IoD started its confidence survey in 2016. - Guardian
More than £4bn has been wiped off the value of London-listed outsourcers this year as investors have turned their back on the sector in the wake of Carillion’s sudden demise. Interserve, G4S, Babcock, Kier, Capita and Mitie have seen their combined market value fall by around 40pc since their fellow contractor went under in January. – Telegraph
The train operator and the trade union behind disruption on the Northern railway network have fallen out over how Acas should be involved in resolving their two-year dispute. Arriva, the German-owned operator of Northern train services, claimed widespread support yesterday its call for an independent inquiry into the row by the arbitration and conciliation service. However, the RMT union claimed that the demand for such an inquiry was a “public relations stunt” and that talks should be opened at Acas. – The Times