Dec 9: Guinness’s London brewery; Weak Black Friday sales; Volkswagen’s Touareg Final Edition

Guinness opening £73m London brewery venue this week

Guinness is to open its latest brewery in London later this week after a £73m investment.

The popular stout brand said it will make four permanent beers from the site in Covent Garden but said this will not include the famous “black stuff”, which will still only be made in Dublin.

It is the latest move by owner Diageo to capitalise on the soaring popularity of the brand in recent years, which has seen social media trends and marketing investment help it bring in more young customers.

Pre-Budget shopper ‘jitters’ dampen Black Friday sales

Pre-Budget ‘jitters’ among shoppers dampened a much-needed Black Friday boost for retailers, figures show.

Total retail sales across the UK increased by 1.4% year on year in November – the weakest growth in six months despite elevated inflation, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG.

Food sales were up 3%, but even this was below the 12-month average growth of 3.6%.

Volkswagen’s Touareg Final Edition arrives priced from £72,535

Volkswagen is saying goodbye to its Touareg SUV with a high-specification Final Edition model.

Arriving priced from £72,535 – £1,990 less than the previous range-topping Black Edition – the Final Edition has been created to celebrate the Touareg’s more than 20 years on sale in the UK.

The Final Edition comes with a long list of standard equipment, including metallic paint, Varenna leather seats, a power-folding tow bar with Trailer Assist technology and 30-colour interior ambient lighting.

The markets

The FTSE 100 started the week on the back foot, weighed by falls in Marmite owner Unilever, while in the US the battle for control of Warner Bros Discovery took another turn.

The FTSE 100 index closed down 21.92 points, 0.2%, at 9,645.09. The FTSE 250 ended 142.67 points lower, 0.7%, at 21,921.28, and the AIM All-Share ended down 2.78 points, 0.4%, at 748.52.

In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended up 0.1%

Judge-only trials will help get ‘justice moving faster’ in fraud trials – Lammy

Judge-only trials will help to deliver swifter justice in complex fraud cases, David Lammy claimed as he launched the Government’s anti-corruption strategy.

The Deputy Prime Minister made the claim as he set out plans to make the UK a harder target for corrupt practices at a speech in the City of London.

The strategy includes stronger law enforcement action to tackle bribery and corruption in the public sector and financial services, as well as tougher sanctions on corrupt lawyers and bankers who enable the flow of dirty money.

Allies discuss ‘positive progress’ to use frozen Russian assets in Ukraine talks

European allies have discussed ‘positive progress’ towards using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, Downing Street said, after hosting crisis talks over the country’s future.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met at No 10 on Monday as Mr Zelensky warned that Kyiv ‘can’t manage’ without European and American backing.

Mr Zelensky’s visit to London came as US President Donald Trump accused him of having failed to read the latest peace plan, while insisting Russian President Vladimir Putin was ‘fine with it.’

Met Office issues ‘danger to life’ alerts for rain and wind amid Storm Bram