Monday newspaper round-up: Retailers, Telegraph, pension funds
More than 70 retailers, including Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Ikea, are lobbying the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, for a 20% cut to business rates, warning that the property tax could force tens of thousands of shops to shut. In a letter to Reeves coordinated by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), executives are pushing the Treasury to introduce a “retail rates corrector” on the levy, which is a property-based tax charged by local councils and imposed on businesses including retailers, pubs, factories and company offices. – Guardian
The UK steel industry has called for the government to consider further protectionist trade measures as it braces for a flood of imported steel amid a global glut driven by China. UK Steel, a lobby group, said the global industry has 543m tonnes of excess steel, 70 times more than the UK uses each year, in analysis published on Monday. It said the UK faces a “cliff edge” in 2026 when current protections run out. – Guardian
The owner of US news website The New York Sun is nearing a deal to buy The Telegraph for more than £550m. Dovid Efune is poised to enter exclusive talks with RedBird IMI to become proprietor in the coming days. Discussions are understood to be at an advanced stage, according to deal insiders. RedBird IMI, which is running the sale process, declined to comment. – Telegraph
An alliance of dozens of the biggest pension funds in Britain has renewed its attack on the London Stock Exchange, warning that it should not be pushing to weaken boardroom standards in listed companies any further. Council pension schemes with assets of £350 billion have repeatedly called on Don Robert, chairman of the parent London Stock Exchange Group, to justify claims that the old listing rules were damaging London. – The Times
A Vietnamese airline that is facing a compensation bill of up to $250 million in a High Court dispute over aircraft leases with a London-based investment firm has won the right to appeal. The dispute is between Vietjet, a private sector airline with ambitions to fly to London, and FitzWalter Capital Limited (FWC), a private investment firm with investments in the aircraft leasing sector. – The Times