Sunday newspaper round-up: Rolls-Royce, Royal Mail, Discount grocers

(Sharecast News) - Rolls-Royce boss Tufan Erginbilgic has set his eyes on the market for the engines that power narrow-body jets. Up until now, the engineer had focused on engines for wide-body jets, like those that keep the Airbus 350 or Boeing 777 in the air. But increased fuel efficiency means that the former are now increasing their range, turning them into a major and growing market that Erginbilgic wants a slice of. In remarks to the Sunday Times, he said that he is now on the look out for a partner to develop narrow-body jet engines. - The Sunday Times Royal Mail is facing a lawsuit for classifying delivery drivers as self-employed. That allows the company to avoid sick pay and minimum wages. Indeed, according to its drivers, Parcelforce - the business's parcel delivery arm - can make them liable for hundreds of pounds in fines if they call in sick. And yet, the drivers cannot decided on which days the work, their hours or the routes taken. - The Guardian

The bosses of Aldi and Lidl are crying foul over what they say are UK grocers repeated - and often successful - attempts to block planning permission for the discount grocers' planned new stores. Insiders at the discounters say the rues are being abused by bad faith challenges meant to slow them down. In the case of Aldi, its rivals filed 77 objections to its planning applications between 2020 and late 2022. Nonetheless, the cost of living crisis has seen Aldi and Lidl increase their combined market share from 13.7% back in 2019 to nearly 17%. - Sunday Telegraph

It is imperative that small and medium businesses not be left behind by the revolution in Artificial Intelligence, says Steve Hare, Sage Group boss. SMBs are critical to the UK economy, accounting for 99% of its firms and supporting 27m jobs across the country. Furthermore, does not augur widespread future job cuts. For AI is not about replacing humans but about augmenting them. - The Financial Mail on Sunday