A third coronavirus vaccine will start being administered in the UK next month, joining the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs already in use, the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, has confirmed. Britain has ordered 17m doses of the Moderna vaccine, which has a 94% efficacy rate in trials, and Dowden said the first supplies were expected to arrive in April. – Guardian
Asda has begun a discounting push and overhaul of its product ranges as the billionaire Issa brothers put their stamp on Britain’s number three supermarket. The chain told customers this month that it had slashed the prices of some ranges including desserts and baking products. More cuts are expected to be introduced as early as next week, industry sources said. Some product ranges are meanwhile due to be pared backed by as much a quarter. – Sunday Telegraph
More than two-thirds of people – 68% – have not booked any summer holiday this year, and most of those who have fear they may have to cancel or rearrange, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer. The message that “we’re not going on a summer holiday” this year rings out loudly from the survey, which suggests the vast majority of people have reconciled themselves to either staying put at home, or taking some limited form of break in the UK. – Guardian
Rolls-Royce has begun building the world’s largest jet engine which is designed to slash emissions for airlines post-pandemic, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. In a significant bet on a recovery in the aviation industry, the British engineer has started constructing a demonstration version of its vast UltraFan engine in Derby, East Midlands after seven years of preparations. – Financial Mail on Sunday
Britain’s biggest supermarket Tesco has triggered a major overhaul of the way its stores will be run in future – putting more than 2,000 managerial jobs under review. The shake-up will result in a slimmed-down management structure with fewer senior jobs across its biggest Extra and Superstore outlets. – Financial Mail on Sunday
The Government is preparing to trigger an emergency plan to save 5,000 British jobs in the event of a collapse of Sanjeev Gupta’s steel business. Gupta, founder of Liberty Steel and its vast parent company GFG Alliance, wrote to Government officials on Thursday in a desperate bid to secure a £170million bailout from taxpayers. – Financial Mail on Sunday
Love Film and Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman is to take his used-car platform Cazoo public in a $7 billion (£5 billion) deal, 18 months after he started it from a site in Northamptonshire. Cazoo is finalising a merger with a New York-listed special purpose acquisition company (Spac) called Ajax I, which was founded by billionaire investor Daniel Och and former Goldman Sachs executive Glenn Fuhrman. Ajax I’s board includes Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom and Jim McKelvey, who founded payments firm Square. – Sunday Times
Eurostar is in emergency talks with lenders to avoid a financial collapse this summer, when a £400m debt pile is due for repayment with the continent still in grip of coronavirus. The channel tunnel operator is this weekend in advanced discussions with a group of banks, including UK taxpayer-backed NatWest, to secure lifeline funding. Insiders said the company’s attention had turned to restructuring its loans, following weeks of lobbying ministers on both sides of the Channel for a bailout that is yet to yield a deal. – Sunday Telegraph
