Wednesday newspaper round-up: Amazon, Lloyds Banking, Heathrow

(Sharecast News) - Amazon is to settle a group claim from delivery drivers that it deprived them of thousands of pounds, the Guardian has learned, ending a suit that lawyers had said could cost the company £140m. Drivers who deliver for the internet marketplace through its "delivery service partners" (DSPs) are classed as self-employed, meaning they are not entitled to benefits such as holiday pay and the minimum wage, while they also do not have an employment contract. - Guardian A Lloyds Banking Group advert has been banned for making false environmental claims, making it the second major lender to break the UK advertising watchdog's rules against greenwashing. The ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) follows an investigation into a billboard poster and three paid-for posts on the networking website LinkedIn, all of which hailed the lender's climate credentials. - Guardian

Honda and Nissan are plotting a historic merger as they struggle to survive the seismic worldwide shift to electric cars. The two Japanese carmakers are in early discussions about a possible combination, according to Japanese paper Nikkei. The deal, which may involve cost-cutting, will raise concerns on the impact of British jobs. Nissan employs 7,000 workers in the UK. - Telegraph

Heathrow has unveiled plans to spend more than £2.3bn upgrading the airport, days after Saudi Arabia finalised its investment in the transport hub. The funds will pay for improvements including new baggage systems, runway resurfacing work and the completion of the rollout of higher-specification security scanners. - Telegraph

UK exporters suffered a £27 billion drop in goods sales to the European Union after Brexit, with smaller firms bearing the brunt of new trade barriers. Research from the Centre for Economic Performance, a think tank based at the London School of Economics, said Brexit led to a 6.4 per cent drop in the UK's global exports and a 3.1 per cent decline in imports into the UK from the rest of the world. "The decline in exports was concentrated among smaller firms, but insignificant for the largest firms," the report said. - The Times