Wednesday newspaper round-up: Serco, Amazon, British Airways
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Wednesday 12 Aug 2020
(Sharecast News) - The government has been urged to demonstrate there was no favouritism at play in awarding Serco a contact-tracing contract worth £108m, as a leaked memo revealed the outsourcing firm was enlisted to help with the Covid-19 response as early as January. Serco is facing growing calls to be axed from any future involvement in contact-tracing services amid concerns over the performance of private firms contracted to trace people who have mixed with infected individuals. - Guardian
Online political advertisements could require labels for the first time under plans unveiled by the government, in an effort to inject more transparency into digital campaigning. The rules would require a "digital imprint", revealing who is behind the message, to be included on formal campaign ads as well as "organic" content made by certain campaigners and candidates on sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. - Guardian
Airbnb is planning to file for a US float in the coming weeks, putting the short-term rental company on course to go public by the end of this year. - Telegraph
Amazon has come under further pressure to reverse its decision to pass on the digital services tax to small businesses in Britain after eBay said that it would absorb the levy. The digital services tax was introduced in April as part of the government's efforts to level the playing field with high street shops and to tackle online companies that pay little tax on their huge revenues. The levy is a 2 per cent tax on revenues generated in the UK. It is thought that the tax will cost eBay at least £20 million this year, based on its last available accounts, which show that the online marketplace made sales of £1 billion in 2018. - The Times
British Airways has made what it calls "significant progress" in talks with unions over plans to restructure its business. In a letter sent to staff, which has been seen by The Times, Álex Cruz, chief executive, said that the airline had signed an agreement in principle over the future of parts of its workforce. - The Times
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