Bitesize Blighty: September 21, 2018
- It has been a disappointing week for the British Prime minister as her Chequers plans – terms and negotiations for the UK’s exit from the EU – was rejected by the EU negotiators during this week’s EU Summit in Salzburg. Despite what has recently been a noticeable softening stance by the EU’s chief negotiator toward Brexit negotiations, the single market and the Northern Ireland border, remain key sticking points for both sides of the negotiation. In reference to the two options of the UK staying in the European Economic Area and customs union or a basic free trade agreement, or for Northern Ireland to remain within the customs union, Mrs May remains defiant, saying "I will not overturn the result of the referendum nor will I break up my country".
- Tesco unveiled a new discount chain in a bid to take back its market share, from low budget supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl. The new store, Jack’s, is named after the large supermarket’s founder Sir Jack Cohen, with an estimate of 10-15 stores expected to open over the next 6 months. Jack’s will sell 2,600 products - 1,800 branded Jack’s product – and is expected to be cheaper than Aldi and Lidl. Since 2013, the ‘big four’ supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons) and have been faced with the challenge of falling sales record as customers and consumers turn to discount supermarkets challengers like the German-owned Aldi and Lidl.
- Customers of RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank were unable to access their online bank accounts for five hours on Friday. The glitch which has since been resolved caused customers to take to social media with complaints about being locked out of their accounts Friday Morning. This glitch occurred a day after Barclays customers experienced some technical problems with its online services. RBS group spokesperson explained that the access issue was due to a ‘technical glitch’ in a firewall update which occurred on Friday morning.
