Keeping it simple was always the answer for John Lewis | Nils Pratley

It turns out, the remedy for the John Lewis partnership’s post-Covid woes of a few years ago did not lie in seeking outside capital or building 10,000 buy-to-rent flats. Rather, the solution was the old-fashioned one of cutting costs and concentrating on basic shopkeeping.As it happens, the wild idea of seeking external investors was virtually dead the moment it was loosely aired, such was the uproar among customers and staff about the threat to the 100%-employee owned model. But the home-building adventure did get going until it was ditched by the newish chair, Jason Tarry, a couple of weeks ago. He accepted, in effect, a point that should have been obvious at the outset: if the building assumptions relied on interest rates remaining at near-zero for years, the project would not survive contact with events

Watchdog puts UK fuel retailers ‘on notice’ over profiteering from Iran war

The UK competition watchdog has warned fuel retailers it is stepping up its monitoring of pump prices amid concern over profiteering as the US war with Iran drives up wholesale costs.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said firms responsible for thousands of filling stations across the country had been “put on notice” amid a wider government crackdown to stop bosses ramping up profits at the expense of consumers.The watchdog said it would require firms to provide their revenue, costs and sales data, accelerating a review of fuel industry margins it initiated after the conflict began just under a fortnight ago.Against a volatile backdrop in global energy markets, the oil price rose past $100 (£75) a barrel on Thursday for a second time in a week, as widespread Iranian attacks on energy facilities across the region and a threat to continue blocking the strait of Hormuz overshadowed a vast release of government reserves.Petrol and diesel prices have risen sharply, alongside a jump in the cost of home heating fuel

Google’s former Europe boss close to becoming next head of BBC, sources say

Google’s former Europe boss is closing in on becoming the BBC’s next director general, the Guardian has been told.Sources said that Matt Brittin, 57, was very advanced in the appointment process. Some insiders believe that, barring a last-minute development, he will succeed Tim Davie as the broadcaster’s next director general.Brittin, a member of the British Olympic rowing team in 1988, led Google in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for a decade until stepping down last year to take what he described as a “mini gap year”. He is also a non-executive director of Guardian Media Group

Lincolnshire council approves AI datacentre despite emissions warnings

Plans for a new datacentre in Lincolnshire have been approved, despite warnings it could be a major new source of emissions.On Wednesday, North Lincolnshire council voted unanimously to approve planning permission for the Elsham Tech Park, a proposed AI datacentre campus near Scunthorpe, next to the Elsham Wolds industrial estate.According to the tech justice nonprofit Foxglove, the projected emissions produced will approach those generated by every domestic flight taken in the UK.Council documents estimate the proposed datacentre’s “peak annual scope 2 emissions”, or indirect greenhouse gases from generating electricity, will reach about 1m tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2033-34. All of the UK’s domestic flights total 1

‘There’s no crack’: Itoje says spat with ‘good guy’ Fin Smith shows England’s harmony

Maro Itoje has said there are no cracks in the England squad despite his spat with Fin Smith during last week’s humiliating defeat by Italy and believes the confrontation demonstrates the harmony within the camp.Itoje was heard roaring at Smith “don’t argue with me, take the three,” in the 43rd minute of the defeat in Rome with the fly-half eager to kick to the corner and push for a try with England 12-10 to the good. Ellis Genge, one of two vice-captains, also wanted to go for the try but Jamie George, the other, wanted a kick at goal. Itoje vehemently disagreed with Smith and overruled his No 10, who duly kicked the penalty.England built an 18-10 lead thanks to another Smith penalty but then unravelled with Sam Underhill and Itoje shown yellow cards as Italy came from behind to secure a famous 23-18 victory

Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed defies talk of ‘shadow ban’ with Sunrisers deal in Hundred

Abrar Ahmed has become the first Pakistani player to be signed by one of the four Indian-owned Hundred teams, after he was bought by Sunrisers Leeds for £190,000 in the inaugural men’s player auction.The signing was a badly needed relief for the England and Wales Cricket Board, which was recently forced to deny publicly reports that the four sides would operate a “shadow ban” on picking players from Pakistan. The Sunrisers are owned by the Sun media group, which runs the Indian Premier League franchise in Hyderabad and South Africa’s Sunrisers Eastern Cape. They had to fight hard for him after being drawn into a bidding war with the Trent Rockets.Ahmed, 27, is third in the world in the men’s international T20 bowling rankings