THE DAILY BRIEFING

OIL GIANT The world’s largest ship is due to arrive in Hartlepool today carrying the 24,000-ton platform of one of Shell’s old North Sea oil rigs.

The Pioneering Spirit set a lifting world record on Friday when it prised the platform off the Brent Delta rig. It is due to drop it off today at the Able UK decommissioning yard, where it will be dismantled for scrap and recycling. PLANT DELIVERIES Garden centre owner Dobbies is teaming up with Ocado to increase home deliveries. Chief executive Nicholas Marshall said garden centres do a ‘pathetically small’ amount of business online and that the tie-up with Ocado was a ‘huge opportunity’. BUSINESS DEAL The British

Chambers of Commerce has warned that the best Brexit deal ‘won’t be worth the paper it’s written on’ unless the Government does more to boost the economy.

It called for an end to the ‘relentless increase’ in costs, such as the apprenticeship levy and minimum wage, as well as investment in transport links and broadband. £1BN LAWYERS Three legal giants have merged to create a City powerhouse and the world’s sixth largest law firm.

CMS UK, Nabarro and Olswang are now trading as CMS, with a combined revenue of £1bn. FRAUD PROBE An American engineering company has been dragged into the widening fraud probe of global energy industry firm Unaoil. KBR and its UK subsidiaries are being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office for suspected bribery and corruption. DEBT BUYOUT GSO Capital Partners, the credit arm of private equity firm Blackstone, is buying more of J Crew’s debt in a move that could help the US fashion retailer stave off bankruptcy. USA GROWTH US consumer spending rose 0.3pc in March following two months of decline, official figures have revealed.