Pub chain shares rise on reports of government U-turn over business rates – as it happened

Shares in UK pub and hospitality companies have jumped this morning, as the government prepares to announce a climbdown on forthcoming increases to their business rates.Mitchells and Butlers, whose pub brands include All Bar One, Harvester, O’Neills, and Toby Carvery, are up 2.5%, one of the top risers in the FTSE 250 share index today.Rival Marsons, which has more than 1,300 pubs, bars and inns across the country, are up 2%, while JD Wetherspoons have gained 1.2%

Tesco aiming for bumper 2026 after best Christmas market share in decade

Tesco is aiming to grab an even bigger slice of the grocery market this year after winning its best share in more than a decade over Christmas with strong sales of fresh food and its Finest own-label range.The supermarket, which has an almost 29% market share, according to Worldpanel by Numerator, said it had taken the most trade from Asda, the UK’s third-largest supermarket chain that has been struggling to turn around falling sales.However, shares in Tesco dropped by more than 6% on Thursday as analysts said its third-quarter sales performance was behind expectations in all markets including the UK, Ireland, central Europe and at its Booker wholesale chain.Sales in the UK rose 3.2% in the six weeks to 3 January against hopes of 3

CMA begins full review of Kingsmill owner’s planned takeover of bread rival Hovis

The UK competition watchdog has ramped up its investigation into a £75m takeover deal that will result in the owner of Kingsmill snapping up its sliced bread rival Hovis.Associated British Foods (ABF), which also owns the Primark clothing chain, confirmed plans to buy Hovis from its private equity owners Endless in August, combining the UK’s second and third largest bread brands.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has now launched an in-depth investigation into whether the deal could harm consumers, potentially leading to reduced choice and higher prices on grocery shelves. It follows a request by the two companies to fast-track the review of the merger.ABF said in a statement: “Our priority is to achieve regulatory clearance as efficiently as possible and we are pleased to have agreed with the CMA that we will fast-track to the in-depth and detailed final phase of their merger review

Greggs puts up price of sausage roll by 5p to £1.35 amid rising costs

Greggs has added 5p to the price of a sausage roll and 10p to a latte coffee as it leans on some of its bestsellers to soak up rising wage, energy and packaging costs.The UK’s largest bakery chain said it had no plans for further price increases at present and it expected inflation to ease this year as it admitted it had sold fewer items in the run-up to Christmas amid a “very tough, challenging market”.The “targeted” rises mean a sausage roll now costs £1.35 in most shops, up from £1.30 a year ago, while a latte will now cost £2

Trump plans to use Venezuela’s huge crude reserves ‘to cut US oil price to $50 a barrel’

Donald Trump plans to use Venezuela’s vast crude reserves to establish control of most of the western hemisphere’s oil in an attempt to drive the market price down to about $50 (£37) a barrel, according to reports.The US president has repeatedly raised the prospect of producing enough crude from Venezuela’s oilfields to drive down the US oil price from more than $56 a barrel today to about $50 in an effort to cut energy costs for consumers, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited senior Trump administration officials.Global oil markets have already recorded significant losses in recent years due to an oversupply of crude. Prices slumped by almost 20% in 2025, marking the biggest annual loss since the Covid-19 pandemic and the first time the oil market has recorded three consecutive years of annual losses.As well as driving market prices lower, officials reportedly claimed Trump’s plans to control Venezuela’s oil reserves, which are the largest in the world, include cutting Russia and China’s access to the South American country in order to establish a western hemisphere oil production stronghold

Tunbridge Wells residents without water again as supplier blames cold weather

Residents of Tunbridge Wells have been left without water again, just a month after a major outage.South East Water said 6,500 households have no water at all, while thousands more have “intermittent supplies”.It blamed the cold weather for the disruption, which caused a “series of burst water mains”. The company had previously been found to be spending more paying dividends and servicing its debt pile over two years than investing in infrastructure.On Thursday night, South East Water said: “Reservoir levels have fallen this evening to the point where our boosters, which push water to the higher ground, are unable to operate