Friday newspaper round-up: Versace, Rightmove, Acorn project

(Sharecast News) - City regulators have announced a package of changes aimed at bolstering growth across the mutuals and co-operatives sector after the Labour government promised to double the size of the £223bn industry. Top officials from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England will join the city minister, Lucy Rigby, in Rochdale - the birthplace of the UK's co-operative movement - on Friday to set out plans to streamline regulation, simplify applications and launch a new mutual societies development unit to provide expert advice and support. - Guardian Versace has announced its creative director is leaving, less than nine months after taking on the role and two days after the deal to sell the brand to rival Italian fashion house Prada. Dario Vitale exits after just one season, having taken the helm from Donatella Versace. Prada said it would announce a replacement "in due course". - Guardian

An activist investor has bought a near £250m stake in Rightmove, piling fresh pressure on the embattled property giant. London-based Independent Franchise Partners (IFP) has built up a 5.8pc stake in the house-buying portal in recent weeks, becoming Rightmove's third-biggest shareholder. - Telegraph

Scotland's flagship carbon capture project is at risk of collapse after its main backer announced plans to exit the scheme. The Acorn project, based in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, is being built to capture CO2 from heavy industry and then bury it under the North Sea. But the driving force behind the project, energy group Storegga, said on Thursday it planned to sell its stake in the scheme, delivering a major blow to the net zero push spearheaded by Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary. - Telegraph

British businesses sacked staff at the fastest rate since the Covid-19 pandemic in the build-up to Rachel Reeves's second budget, and plan to lay off more workers in the year ahead, official data shows. Employment across the private sector fell by 1.8 per cent in November, the steepest monthly decline since July 2021, according to figures from the Bank of England. - The Times