British brewers sell weaker beer but don’t cut prices
LONDON –
Brewers in the United Kingdom are cutting the alcohol content — but not the price — of several of their most popular beers in what’s been described as another example of “shrinkflation.”
Greene King, a major UK brewer and pub chain, has cut the ABV, or alcohol content, of its popular Old Speckled Hen pale ale to 4.8% from 5%, a spokesperson for Greene King told CNN.
In March, the country’s oldest brewer, Shepherd Neame, slashed the ABV of its bottled Spitfire and Bishop’s Finger ales to 4.2% and 5.2% respectively, from 4.5% and 5.4%, a spokesperson said.…
The Bank of Canada raises the key interest rate
OTTAWA –
The Bank of Canada raised its overnight rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 per cent on Wednesday, its first increase since pausing hikes in January. The central bank’s key interest rate has not been this high since April 2001.
Several factors led to the bank’s decision to raise the key interest rate, including economic growth in Canada. Gross Domestic Product exceeded expectations in the first quarter of this year, growing by 3.1 per cent.
The central bank says demand in the economy has rebounded, with surprisingly strong consumer spending. Housing market activity has picked up again…
The Family Business Succession Puzzle
Two weeks ago today we bade farewell to everyone’s favorite oedipal billionaires as the final episode of “Succession” wrapped up. The show’s immense cultural impact is due to many factors: top-class writing, heart-rending performances, and the sheer power Brian Cox could load into the letter ‘F’ all they played their part.
At its heart, the series highlights the often messy interlacing of family dynamics and 21st-century capitalism — and while we believe few viewers could truly relate to the Roys, that dynamic is deeply entrenched in real-world economics. Around 60% of the US workforce is employed by family-run businesses, and…
Smith faces a slew of financial challenges in Alberta after election victory
After faltering about a decade ago in her ambitions to lead the Wildrose Party to power in Alberta, Danielle Smith found redemption on Monday night as leader of the United Conservative Party with a majority victory in the provincial election.
Smith became premier in October after winning the UCP leadership vote in the wake of Jason Kenney’s resignation, and now has a much broader mandate after a victory over the Alberta New Democratic Party.
“To paraphrase our dear friend Ralph Klein, ‘Welcome to another miracle on the Prairies,'” Smith said to cheers from the crowd in Calgary.
The election comes…
Visa and MasterCard agreed to lower the average credit card interchange fee below 1%
The government has announced new details of an agreement with Visa and MasterCard that will see them lower the amount that they charge retailers when a customer pays for a purchase with a credit card.
Known as so-called interchange fees, they have long irritated merchants by allowing the credit card company to keep a percentage of each sale, instead of a flat fee for each transaction.
On Thursday, the government announced a deal with the two card companies that will reduce interchange fees for in-store transactions to 0.95 per cent, on average.
That means on a $100 purchase, if a…
How Ryan Reynolds became Canada’s unlikeliest business mogul
UPDATE: After this story was originally published, Wrexham Football Club — which Ryan Reynolds and actor Rob McElhenney bought in 2021 — qualified for the fourth tier of the English football league system.
The business of Ryan Reynolds is booming. He bought into Montreal payment technology company Nuvei this week. He recently sold Mint Mobile for $1.7 billion. He offloaded his gin company for another $825 million.
But the jewel in Reynolds’ business crown may be a floundering Welsh soccer club he bought with fellow actor Rob McElhenney in 2021 for $3 million.
For years, Wrexham Football Club has been…
Tupperware shares tank as company warns it may go out of business
Shares in Tupperware have tumbled to their lowest level on record as the iconic food storage company warned investors that it is in danger of going out of business.
The company’s stock price fell by 50 per cent on Monday after the company said in a press release over the holiday weekend that it has hired financial advisors to explore options for the company and to “remediate its doubts regarding its ability to continue as a going concern .”
Shares in Tupperware had been on a downslope for years, as the company’s 77-year-old main business model of selling direct-to-consumers via…
NPR quits Elon Musk’s Twitter over ‘government-funded’ label – Business News
Photo: The Canadian Press
National Public Radio is quitting Twitter after the social media platform owned by Elon Musk stamped NPR’s main account with labels the news organization says undermine its credibility.
Twitter labeled NPR’s main account last week as “state-affiliated media,” a label also used to identify media outlets that are controlled or heavily influenced by authoritarian governments, such as Russia and China. Twitter later changed the label to “government-funded media” and gave it to a few other organizations, such as the Public Broadcasting Service in the US and the British Broadcasting Corporation in the UK
NPR said in…
