Friday newspaper round-up: Retail footfall, tax, Tesla, Nick Clegg, easyJet

(Sharecast News) - High streets and other shopping destinations have had a "drab December", ending another year of falling visitor numbers and raising fears of disappointing sales in the most important month for retailers. Attendance at UK shopping centres, retail parks and high streets was down 2.2% in December compared with the same period in 2023, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and analysts at Sensormatic. The decrease was led by a 3.3% decline at shopping centres. - Guardian

Shops and restaurants face record staff tax bills this year as Rachel Reeves's Budget raid hammers businesses. The cost of employing a full-time worker on minimum wage will rise by �2,367 this year to more than �24,800 per person, with more than �5,000 of that going to the Treasury, according to new analysis by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS). The surge will be driven by the Chancellor's decision to increase employer National Insurance contributions from April and sign off on an inflation-busting increase in minimum wage. - Telegraph

Worldwide sales of Tesla vehicles fell for the first time in a decade last year as the American electric car manufacturer battled fast-growing Chinese rivals for dominance amid slowing global demand. The Texas-based carmaker, led by the billionaire Elon Musk, delivered 1.79 million vehicles in 2024, down 1.1 per cent on 2023's 1.81 million and short of Wall Street expectations. - The Times

Nick Clegg, Britain's former deputy prime minister and Meta's current president of global affairs, is leaving the company after six years. Clegg joined the Facebook parent company in 2018 as the social media platform's vicepresident for global affairs and communications. At the time the company faced intense scrutiny over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal and its role in the 2016 US presidential election. - Guardian

EasyJet is reducing the amount of paint it applies to each of its aircraft in a bid to reduce fuel consumption and cut carbon emissions. The carrier said it has become the first airline anywhere in the world to trial a system that requires thinner layers of paint to be applied in order to achieve the same finish. Rather than receiving two full coats, planes will now get a thin "grip" layer followed by a full second coat. That will be sufficient to shave what the airline called a "modest" 27kg off the weight of each aircraft. - Telegraph