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Our final commercial news round-up of 2024 is here! This week, we take a look at: the US Supreme Court’s decision to hear TikTok’s arguments against a ban in the US; the UK government’s approval of the sale of Royal Mail; Subway’s partnership with the Women’s League Cup; and the BBC’s findings on unpaid treatment bills in London hospitals. Stay informed with this round-up – read more on these topics below.
- The US Supreme Court has said it’ll hear final arguments from TikTok about why the social media app shouldn’t be banned or sold in the US. This comes after the US government announced plans to ban the app following concerns that “TikTok’s ownership by China-based ByteDance poses a national security risk”. Tik Tok and its parent company ByteDance denied these links and have been given the chance to present their case to the US Supreme Court on 10 January. A spokesperson for TikTok believes the US Supreme Court will find the TikTok ban “unconstitutional”; however, Cornell professor Sarah Kreps said “it would be surprising for the court to overturn” the prior rulings.
- The UK government has approved the historic sale of Royal Mail to Daniel Křetínský – a Czech billionaire. Křetínský’s EP Group is set to buy the postal service’s parent company International Distribution Services in a deal worth £5.3 billion. Earlier this week, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds received legally binding commitments from Křetínský that aim to secure the “long-term, sustainable future of Royal Mail”, while protecting the service it provides for millions of UK customers. The government has also established a “golden share” to ensure that, “with every limited excepted”, Royal Mail’s headquarters can’t be moved abroad and the postal service can’t change where it pays its taxes without the UK government’s approval, according to the government’s press release. Křetínský said: “EP Group is a long term and committed investor with a mission to make Royal Mail a successful modern postal operator with high-quality service and products for its customers. We look forward to delivering on this mission alongside our partners in government.”
- Fast-food restaurant Subway has been named as the new title partner of the Women’s League Cup, with the cup renamed ‘Subway Women’s League Cup’ from the 2024/25 season. The franchise signed a multi-year agreement with the Women’s Professional Leagues Limited as part of its Fresh Moves initiative that aims to promote physical activity through partnerships such as this one. Kirstey Elston, Subway’s marketing director for the UK and Ireland, said the partnership isn’t just an investment in a “well-established domestic competition”, but also an investment “in the future of women’s football” and the company’s “mission to make sport more inclusive and accessible in the UK”.
- The BBC has found that more than £112 million in unpaid treatment bills from overseas patients has been written off by London hospitals between 2018 and 2023. Current NHS regulations require hospital trusts in England to charge patients who aren’t “ordinarily resident” in the UK for non-urgent treatment at 150% of standard NHS rates. The regulation is intended to address what’s described as ‘health tourism’, with exemptions for vulnerable groups (eg, asylum seekers). Barts Health, an East London hospital, wrote off £35 million in unpaid bills during this period. A spokesperson said that while they “make every effort to recover payment from patients”, it can be “difficult”. The system has faced criticism for being unfair by many with Dr Omar Forge Risk arguing: “The reality is that if [patients] were paying back any more, it would push them into destitution.”
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