THE DAILY BRIEFING

TECH ROW A plan by Amazon to open a base in New York faces opposition from city councillors. The proposal, which would give the internet shopping giant £2.4bn in subsidy, has been branded ‘corporate welfare’ by critics.

FESTIVE SPARKLE Online grocery retailer Ocado is on course for its best Christmas ever, saying retail revenue increased 12pc in the 13 weeks to December 2 to £390.7m.

JOBS BOOST Tech giant Apple has revealed plans for a new billiondollar office block in Austin, Texas, after Donald Trump called on it to make more products in the US.

RECORD NUMBERS Auditor KPMG raked in record revenues of £23bn in the financial year. The advisory business grew almost 10pc to £9bn, while audit gained 4.8pc to £8.8bn and its tax business grew 6.3pc to £5bn.

FASHION DEAL Online luxury retailer Farfetch has snapped up streetwear website Stadium Goods for £197.5m. FOOD TIE-UP Distribution firm Bunzl has bought Danish food distributor CM Supply for £4m.

PARK CONTRACT Technology provider Accesso has won a contract with Merlin Entertainments to work on the theme park operator’s Bear Grylls Adventure in Birmingham. Accesso will provide ticketing and queuing technology.

DIRECTOR ROLE Anne Anderson, the former Irish ambassador to the US and EU, has been appointed to the board of packaging company

Smurfit Kappa as an independent non-executive director. She will join on January 1.

RACING MOVE A former Investec senior investment director has joined the board of Newbury Racecourse as a non-executive director. Bryan Burrough has owned racehorses for the last 40 years, including the Grand National winner Corbiere.

MARKET OPENING Travel firm Time Out Group plans to open one of its sprawling food markets in London Waterloo station in 2021. It said permission has been granted and a conditional lease agreement signed for a two-floor market. GEM HOPES Zimbabwe has allowed London-listed miner Vast Resources and diamond giant De Beers to return to the country to explore for gems.