Friday newspaper round-up: Rail strikes, National Grid, Morrisons

(Sharecast News) - A "permanent" strike at the factory that makes Jacob's Cream Crackers and Twiglets has come to an end after biscuit bosses crumbled and upped a pay deal for workers. More than 750 of about 800 workers returned to work at the brand's factory in Aintree on Thursday having won a 6.5% pay increase, backdated to January, with a £500 bonus payment on top and a further £250 bonus to follow in January next year. - Guardian The leader of the RMT union, Mick Lynch, has accused the government of deliberately ensuring next week's rail strikes go ahead by blocking negotiations, with rail bosses calling off talks as "a waste of time" while ministers insist on unacceptable provisions. He said meetings between the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) representing train operators and the RMT had failed to occur for three successive days because of a clause inserted for driver-only operation, which all rail unions have bitterly opposed for many years. - Guardian

Jeremy Hunt is to tear up hundreds of pages of "overbearing" EU legislation in a bid to boost Britain's financial services industry after Brexit. The Chancellor will on Friday in Edinburgh announce a package of reforms aimed at increasing the City of London's competitiveness by relaxing ring-fencing rules on smaller banks and mandating financial regulators to focus on economic growth as well as consumer protection. - Telegraph

National Grid is on standby to alert households to cut their electricity usage in the coming days amid a looming supply squeeze. The country's grid operator has warned that electricity supplies will be tight on Friday and Sunday amid low wind levels and a cold snap sweeping the UK. - Telegraph

The former chief executive of Wirecard, who guided the payments company through its rise and subsequent collapse two years ago, went on trial for fraud yesterday, after a scandal that shook German politics and tarnished the country's business reputation. Markus Braun, 53, who has been in custody since his arrest in 2020, and two other managers of the defunct blue-chip company face charges including fraud and market manipulation. If convicted, they could be jailed for 15 years. A verdict from the Berlin court is not expected before 2024. - The Times

Morrisons has struck a £220 million "sale and leaseback" deal that will allow it to accelerate the launch of Morrisons Daily, its convenience store chain. The supermarket group has agreed to sell seven of its distribution warehouses to Intermediate Capital Group, the FTSE 100 asset management firm, property agents say. Morrisons has leased back the warehouses on contracts of up to 25 years. The deal could be announced within days. - The Times