1. Union Jack (East) Riding high
Thursday was a banner day for Union Jack Oil which has received approval from the East Riding Planning Committee for an expansion of drilling and production at the West Newton A site. Separately, Union Jack added that an extension has been granted to allow further exploratory drilling at the West Newton B site.
2. Persons overboard; taking the P&O
P&O Ferries said it was necessary to metaphorically throw more than a quarter of its crew overboard to keep the company afloat. Having said that, it is replacing the sacked workers with agency workers, which somewhat undermines the theory that it is the position, not the worker, that is made redundant.
3. Go-Ahead, make our day
Go-Ahead Group was fined £23.5mln by the UK government for an "appalling breach of trust" at its London & South Eastern Railway (LSER) franchise. The £23.5mln financial penalty was £6.5mln lower than the £30mln provision the company had made in its final results.
4. Bank of England goes hiking
The Bank of England’s policymaking committee voted by a majority of 8-1 to increase rates to 0.75%, with one member – Sir Jon Cunliffe – preferring to hold it at 0.5%. The decision was such a surprise that it was fully 30 seconds before comments from market pundits on the rate rise started appearing in journalists’ inboxes.
5. Netflix wakes up to shared passwords dodge
Netflix is testing a new feature that would spell the end of password sharing between different households. Happily, no one under the age of 30 can afford to have their own house in the UK so the issue is probably moot.
Wait, there's more! Former stay-at-home beneficiaries Deliveroo PLC and Ocado Group PLC grumble about higher costs, while demerger mania is now spreading to small caps.