Admiral has announced plans to sell Confused.com to Uswitch in a £500m deal.

The deal is expected to be closed in the first half of 2021 and is subject to approval.

David Stevens, the chief executive of Admiral Group, commented on the deal: “The purchase of the UK and European comparison businesses by RVU offers a positive outcome for our customers and our employees, and also provides good value for our shareholders.

“The combination of Penguin’s strengths, notably in insurance comparison across much of Europe, with RVU’s strengths beyond insurance and experience in growth through acquisition provides a solid foundation for the combined businesses to grow and prosper.

“Admiral will continue to focus on what Admiral has consistently done well, namely designing and underwriting good value mass market financial service products,” he added.

Tariq Syed, the chief executive of RVU, said: “Penguin Portals offers an exciting opportunity for us to expand our comparison brand portfolio and geographic reach. With its strong brand heritage and focus on insurance, Confused.com perfectly complements Uswitch’s expertise in the home services category.”

Earlier this year, Admiral posted pre-tax profits for the six months of 2020 up by 30% to £286.7m, helped by a fall in motor insurance claims as people stayed at home over lockdown.

Admiral’s chief executive, David Stevens, said on the results: “Our response to that pandemic highlighted two of Admiral’s key strengths – competent execution in the short term and sustainable values for the long term.”

Shares in Admiral Group are trading +3.29% at 3,019.12 (1020GMT).

Car production fell by 1.4% in November.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the number of cars made in November fell to 106,243.

The trade body has said that the situation could worsen depending on the Brexit deal.

In the 11 months to November, UK car production was down by 31% compared to the same period a year earlier.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “Yet another decline for UK car production is of course concerning, but not nearly as concerning as the New Year nightmare facing the automotive industry if we do not get a Brexit deal that works for the sector.

“With just nine days to go, the threat of no deal is palpable and the sector, now also reeling from the latest coronavirus resurgence, Tier 4 showroom lockdowns and disruption at critical UK ports, needs more than ever the tariff-free trading arrangements on which our competitiveness is founded.

“It is finally make or break time, as being forced to trade on WTO terms would be a hammer blow for many automotive businesses, workers and their families, so we must get a deal, and one that avoids the devastation of punitive tariffs for all automotive products, from day one.

“For the long-term survival of UK Automotive, there is quite simply no other option,” he added.

Lufthansa chartered a special cargo flight to airlift fruit and vegetables to the UK.

The airline said it would fly 80 tonnes of food to Sheffield airport, where food would be distributed to supermarkets.

“Lufthansa Cargo is currently examining whether additional special cargo flights can be offered during the next days. We are also checking if a regular flight might be possible,” a spokesperson told the BBC.

“This could be with a freighter, but we are also examining if we could use passenger aircraft for freight flights only.”

The goods include lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, strawberries and citrus fruits. Lufthansa is considering more special cargo flights this week.

France shut the border on Sunday for 48 hours. The border has reopened but lorry drivers must have a negative Covid-19 test.

Supermarkets including Sainsbury’s and Tesco warned earlier this week that if the chaos around ports and borders was to continue, the UK could see shortages of lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and some citrus fruits.

A spokesman for the airport at Sheffield said that the number of Lufthansa flights a week would increase over January for perishable goods to avoid any more holdups over the border.

“We are currently experiencing a large volume of enquiries for flights as a result of border closures and we are handling additional flights, such as today’s, where possible.

“Naturally, this is already a busy period for the airfreight sector as a result of Christmas and COVID.”

“This planned increase is related to anticipated Brexit congestion, rather than the current issues effecting cargo waiting to cross the Dover Ferry. These flights are largely non-EU freight that usually travel through the continent.

“We have seen a general increase in freight traffic in the period since the pandemic began in March by around 40% year on year, up to 30,000 increased from circa 20,000 tonnes in 2019,” the spokesperson added.

Whitbread, the owner of Premier Inn, has asked landlords for a 50% rent reduction amid the Coronavirus crisis.

As hotels were closed over lockdown, the group has suffered from a drop in revenues and large losses during the first half of 2020.

Whitbread also owns Beefeater and Brewers Fayre brands. Earlier this year, the company announced 6,000 job cuts.

In the six months ended 27 August, the group posted a £660.5m loss. This is a 483.6% fall in profits to the £172.2m in profits Whitbread made in the previous year.

A Whitbread spokesperson said that the business “has taken decisive action to ensure that our cost base reflects the low levels of demand”.

“Throughout the pandemic to date, we have paid our rent commitments in full, even when our hotels and restaurants were forced to close.

“With ongoing government restrictions expected to result in subdued market demand into the first half of 2021, we are now asking our landlords to support us, as other stakeholders have during the pandemic, through a reduction in rent for the December quarter in recognition of the current environment.”

Andrew Jones, is the chief executive of LondonMetric. This is a FTSE 250 property company that has Premier Inn as a tenant. He said that Whitbread has “behaved impeccably” towards to landlords “and so we will look to help them with their cash flow whilst the business recovers”.

A permanent transfer of value from our shareholders to theirs is not appropriate for a company still valued at over £6bn. There are no contractual provisions for landlords to share gains in the good years and so sharing pain in the tough years seems inequitable. After all, you can’t un-sign a contract.”

Whitbread shares are trading +0.67% at 3,159.00 (0925GMT). In the year to date, shares have fallen from highs of 4,259.53.

Octopus Energy has been valued at over $2bn after completing a deal with Japanese utility company Tokyo Gas.

The energy startup will be supplying electricity to homes in Japan. Under the deal, Tokyo Gas will buy a 9.7% stake in Octopus for $200m.

Greg Jackson, the founder and chief executive of the energy company, said: “When Origin invested less than eight months ago, we said it was fuel for stage 2 of our mission. Since then, Octopus Energy has accelerated that mission to make the global green revolution faster and cheaper by launching Octopus Energy Germany and New Zealand, acquiring Octopus Energy USA and acquiring Upside Energy to deepen our smart grid capabilities with their powerful technology.”

Takashi Uchida, the present of Tokyo Gas, said “Through this partnership, we will contribute to the achievement of a better lifestyle for customers by realising value creation and delivery tailored to every one of them.”

Octopus Energy is one of the UK’s fastest-growing energy suppliers. It has supplied energy to 1.8m homes in the UK.

Earlier this year, the group announced plans to create 1,000 new technology jobs.

Boris Johnson, said the new jobs will “provide exciting opportunities across the country for those who want to be at the cutting edge of the global green revolution”.

“It’s UK tech companies like Octopus who will ensure we continue to build back greener and remain a world leader in pioneering renewable energy, leading the path to net zero whilst creating thousands of skilled jobs.”