Wednesday newspaper round-up: John Lewis, Vodafone, Asos

(Sharecast News) - The boss of John Lewis will face a confidence vote by staff members on Wednesday as the business considers the option of bringing in outside investment in a change that could threaten the decades-old employee-owned model. Chairman Sharon White is considering radical ways to bring in up to £2bn to help secure the future of the John Lewis Partnership, including diversifying into building flats for rent above shops, after reporting hefty losses from its chain of department stores and Waitrose supermarkets. - Guardian Banking start-ups and building societies risk being forced to set aside hundreds of millions of pounds of customers' money under plans to shield taxpayers if there is a new financial crisis. The Bank of England is considering new rules that would saddle so-called challenger banks with a wave of extra costs in an attempt to ensure depositors can be paid quickly should a lender go bust. - Telegraph

Vodafone's talks to merge its UK business with that of Chinese-owned rival Three face an "extremely difficult" conclusion amid calls for any deal to be investigated on national security grounds. Three's owner CK Hutchison, controlled by 94-year-old Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing, and FTSE-listed Vodafone hope to push through a merger of their UK mobile units in a deal valuing the combined business at about £15bn. - Telegraph

Several Asos employees allegedly quit the fashion firm after an investigation into workplace misconduct uncovered incidents that led to disciplinary action being taken against certain staff but "failed to properly reprimand bullying male managers". In 2021, Asos launched an internal investigation, supported by the law firm Lewis Silkin, after a series of anonymous posts were published on Instagram in spring 2020 levelling allegations of sexual misconduct at senior staff within the retailer. It was accused of being a "boys' club" and allowing inappropriate sexual behaviour in the workplace. - The Times

European gas prices could rise in the second half of this year and nearly treble from present levels in the winter, according to Goldman Sachs. Analysts at the US investment bank said that lower-than-expected prices in recent months following a mild winter could make European households more likely to increase their gas usage. - The Times