THE DAILY BRIEFING

■ NEW ROLE the boss of the British and Irish arm of German discounter Aldi, Matthew Barnes, has been promoted to the coordination board of parent Aldi South.

■ APP AID taxi firm Uber is entering the patient transport market with a service letting doctors and hospitals book trips on an app.

■ HEADING OFF Online retailer Asos’s chief financial officer helen Ashton has resigned and steps down on April 30.

■ LITHIUM HIT Losses at lithium mining hopeful Bacanora Minerals narrowed to £2.7m during the six months to the end of December.

■ DIRECTOR OFF Michael Smerdon, 47, has stepped down as a director of Bristol Water.

■ PROFIT UP engineering firm IMI, which designs and makes fluid control systems, has announced a 2pc boost in profit to £193m.

■ BIG LOSS China’s second-largest online retailer JD.com failed to meet expectations in the final three months of 2017 despite soaring sales. It made a £104m loss.

■ BOARD DEPARTURE Co-founder and former boss of Just Eat, David Buttress, 41, is to leave its board due to ‘urgent family matters’.

■ CHICKEN TONIGHT Fast food chain KFC has allowed its franchises to buy goods from wholesaler Booker as it struggles with shortages of chicken and gravy, that saw it shut many restaurants last week.

■ DEAL SIGNED engineer RollsRoyce has signed a contract with eDF energy to provide heat exchangers for the hinkley Point C power station.

■ DELIVERY BACKING Japanese software giant Softbank is backing a rival to Uber’s food delivery service, after it led a £388m fundraising round for DoorDash.