Monday newspaper round-up: Manufacturing, Petropavlovsk, Aldo
Britain’s smallest companies are “jumping before they are pushed” by diverting £10bn in exports away from the EU as concerns mount over a possible collapse in Brexit trade talks, according to a report. The research from academics at Aston University, which comes before the latest round of Brexit negotiations this week, showed small British firms were ramping up sales to countries in South America and east Asia. - Guardian
Manufacturing industry leaders have called on the government for an emergency bailout as the coronavirus outbreak forces factories across Britain to an effective standstill. Sounding the alarm as Covid-19 crushes production levels and puts growing numbers of firms on the brink of collapse, the industry group Make UK said ministers needed to step in with direct state support to ensure the short-term survival of firms. – Guardian
Petropavlovsk, London’s best performing listed gold miner last year, is studying a potential merger with UGC in a deal that would catapult the pair into the upper echelons of the gold mining industry. Discussions between the two mining giants are currently at an early stage, but the deal could “definitely happen”, Petropavlovsk chief Pavel Maslovskiy told The Telegraph. – Telegraph
Shoe chain Aldo is the latest retailer to collapse during the pandemic in the UK just weeks after its Canadian parent company sought creditor protection abroad. The UK arm has now shut five stores, with administrators at RSM working to explore “future options” for its remaining eight stores. – Telegraph
Household confidence is stabilising but consumers are still highly pessimistic about their personal finances, a closely watched survey shows. The gradual easing of the lockdown lifted confidence by three points to 95.8 in May, according to an index published by YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research. However, the index is still languishing below the 100 mark that separates optimism from pessimism. – The Times