Tuesday newspaper round-up: TikTok, Lloyds, Amazon

(Sharecast News) - Taxpayers are being asked to shoulder £1bn in debt amassed by a bankrupt Surrey council that will be merged in the government's plan for the biggest transfer of powers to England's regions this century. Posing a fresh financial headache for the government, councillors in Surrey have requested that ministers "write off" £1bn in debt held by troubled Woking borough council to enable a merger between the county's 12 local authorities. - Guardian Chinese officials are in preliminary talks about a potential option to sell TikTok's operations in the United States to billionaire Elon Musk, should the short-video app be unable to avoid an impending ban, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. Beijing officials prefer that TikTok remains under the control of parent Bytedance, the report said, citing sources. - Guardian

Britain's hiring downturn is "just the tip of the iceberg", business chiefs have warned, as companies face surging costs in the wake of Rachel Reeves's tax raid. The share of employers putting the brakes on hiring jumped during the last three months of 2024, according to figures from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), with companies already slashing jobs following the Budget. - Telegraph

One of Britain's biggest lenders has stepped up efforts to bring employees back to the office as it emerged that senior staff at Lloyds Banking Group may have bonuses cut if they fail to go in at least twice a week. The risk of a lower bonus for falling short of office attendance requirements applies to about 20 per cent of Lloyds's 60,000 staff who are considered to be senior employees. - The Times

Amazon has put in orders for more than 150 electric heavy goods vehicles to create Britain's largest zero-emission truck fleet. The delivery company is also to start moving packages at scale by rail, using freight trains on the west coast main line which runs between Scotland, the West Midlands and London. - The Times