Tourism and recreation experienced the fastest fall in output of any UK business sector last month, the latest data shows. Output in the sector, which includes pubs, hotels and restaurants, declined at the fastest pace since February 2021, when the UK was last in lockdown, with a tracker score of 36.3 in September, according to the Lloyds (LON:LLOY) Bank UK Recovery Tracker. Any reading below 50 indicates contraction. – Guardian
Train travellers are to escape a double-digit rise in ticket prices linked to soaring inflation, amid fears it would prompt more to abandon the railways. Industry leaders have been told by ministers that a scheduled increase in fares of 12.3pc will not go ahead. The annual increase would have been based on July’s retail prices index (RPI). – Telegraph
A row has broken out between the billionaire co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HRGV) and the FTSE 100 company after he accused the group’s chairwoman of overseeing a “diabolical” performance by the business. Peter Hargreaves, 76, who is the biggest shareholder in the DIY investment platform with a stake of almost 20 per cent, told The Times this evening that he believed Deanna Oppenheimer, 64, should step down from the board of the Bristol-based company. – The Times
Business groups have implored Royal Mail (LON:IDSI) and the Communication Workers Union to negotiate to avert further strike action, which they warned would be a “body blow” to small companies. Royal Mail workers are due to walk out today amid a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions, part of plans for 19 days of strikes this month and next. – The Times