Summary

  • Government delays airport decision

  • VW blames 'chain of errors' for emissions scandal

  • Sport Direct staff searches criticised

  • Benefit sanctions 'cause homelessness'

  • VW says customers will be compensated for loss of value

  • Bank of England keeps interest rates on hold at 0.5%

  • Glencore to accelerate debt reduction plan

Live Reporting

Russell Hotten

  1. Food deflation: 'online grocery orders up, but spend down'

    BBC business editor Kamal Ahmed tweets:

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  2. Airport expansion announcement due later

    We could this evening get an announcement from the government over airport expansion in the South-East of England.

    It's likely that the government will delay its decision, over whether to choose Gatwick or Heathrow, for another six months.

    This from the blog of business editor Kamal Ahmed.

    Senior sources very close to the process have told the BBC that there needs to be more "confidence building" about the environmental impact of a new runway at Heathrow, if the government backs it. And that means yet another review. And that expansion at Gatwick will not be ruled out."

    You can read more from Kamal here.

    We could hear something around 19:00 this evening.

  3. Rise of catch-up TV

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Two young boys watching TVGetty Images

    The media industry regulator Ofcom has released a report forecasting that 70% of UK adults will use a free catch-up service like iPlayer or ITV Hub this Christmas.

    That is a higher proportion than any other developed nation.

    Jane Rumble is the director of market intelligence at Ofcom is on 5 live. 

    She says that despite the rise of catch-up services, on average Brits watch 3 hours and 40 minutes of traditional TV every day.

  4. Commodities market 'not at maximum pessimism'

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Mining trucksGetty Images

    Ahead of miner Glencore's key shareholder meeting today, and after it said it intends to reduce its debt to $13bn, Jeremy Wrathall, head of global natural resources for Investec tells the Today programme:

    That debt reduction is a surprise but commendable. However, for the commodities market in general, we are not yet at maximum pessimism. Our forecast says that's due to occur in mid-2016. But that has been accelerated by the dramatic announcement by Anglo American this week, after they basically said there are no more new mines needed.

  5. Glencore raises debt reduction target

  6. Sports Direct 'streamlines' security procedures

    Sports Direct addresses some of the issues raised by today's Guardian report in comments accompanying its half-yearly report.

    Sports Direct says that "no warehouse workers" are on zero hour contracts.

    It also says that it has streamlined the security process for staff leaving the warehouses.

    Sports Direct has reported a 3.6% increase in underlying profit before tax to £166m for the 26 weeks to 25 October.

    Reported profit jumped 25% £187m, helped by the sale of a stake in JD Sports and other one-off adjustments.

    Sales edged 0.1% higher to £1.4bn.

  8. 'London to grow three times faster than rest of UK'

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    London commuters waiting for a Tube trainGetty Images

    The Today programme is talking about a new report from EY, which shows that London is going to grow faster than the rest of the UK for the next three years.

    Mark Gregory chief economist at EY said:

    London has started from a position of inherent strengths in the fastest growing services: professional services, and technology and information and communication services. There has been a lot of talk about the Northern Powerhouse, and Manchester has clearly been working on a reform agenda for some time... Manchester has been successful in driving professional services in the city."

  9. 'Time bomb' of UK wealth distribution

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Dancing pensionersGetty Images

    The UK government needs to urgently address the distribution of wealth in the country, Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies tells the Today programme.

    He's speaking after the Resolution Foundation found that the wealth of those who are retired has now overtaken those under 45 for the first time since the financial crisis - despite there being more than twice as many households headed by someone aged 16-44.

    "It could be a demographic time bomb - earnings for people in their 20's and 30's are still relatively low compared with expectations, so policy needs to address that. The government also needs to address the distribution of wealth - which I suspect will mean more tax on the way retirees accumulate their pensions," he said.

  10. Sports Direct target of Guardian investigation

    Sports Direct storePA

    The Guardian has a lengthy investigation revealing, what it claims, is the way Sports Direct pays its workers hourly rates below the minimum wage.

    Warehouse staff are made to go through searches at the end of each shift, for which their time is unpaid, the report says.

    They also suffer "harsh deductions" from their wages if they clock-on just one minute later, according to the newspaper.

    Also, in the company's warehouse in Derbyshire, workers are "harangued" by tannoy for not working fast enough and banned from wearing 802 different brands at work, the report says.

  11. Bank of England should watch inflation at home

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Richard Jeffrey says that, when considering interest rates, the Bank of England should be looking at domestically created inflation. He points out that in the services sector inflation is actually running above the government's target.

    Mr Jeffrey says that ignoring that sort of inflation got the Bank of England " into such a mess" earlier this century because it held interest rates "too low for too long".

    He also thinks that, when they come, the first two interest rate rises will not make much difference to mortgage rates, as the market is very competitive.

  12. Tobacco firms challenge plain packaging

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    CigarettesPA

    Tobacco firms are in the High Court today to challenge government plans to introduce plain packaging for all products from May of next year.

    The companies argue it infringes their intellectual property rights and hasn't worked to reduce smoking when introduced in Australia.

    They also fear it will commoditise the £20bn market for tobacco in the UK, says Shane MacGull, a tobacco analyst at Euromonitor on Wake Up To Money.

    Mr McGull does not think we will get a ruling from the court for a couple of months, and we might even hear something from a similar legal challenge made in European courts before then.

  13. Bank of England 'should have raised rates already'

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Pound notes and coinsThinkstock

    It's "very unlikely" that the Bank of England will raise interest rates when it announces the outcome of its latest policy meeting today, says Richard Jeffrey, Chief Investment Officer at Cazenove Capital Management.

    However Mr Jeffrey thinks the bank should have been raising interest rates for some time, partly because there's been strong credit growth in the UK economy.

    Because rates are so low, the bank has little room for manouevre if the economy takes a turn for the worse, Mr Jeffrey points out.

  14. Good morning!

    Welcome to Thursday's Business live page. The Bank of England announces its interest rate decision today - no move is expected. Meanwhile, a well known investor says he has lost confidence in the business model of engineering firm, Rolls-Royce. If you want to get in touch email bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk