What the Sunday papers said

The UK faces an apple shortage, such is the popularity of cider throughout the country. Some 970m pints of cider were drunk in Britain last year and orchards are being expanded to accommodate the demand for apples to turn into the drink. However the National Association of Cider Makers has warned that as each new orchard takes four years to come into production there is likely to be a supply issue in the near future. - Independent On Sunday​

Scottish & Newcastle could be on the end of a £7.15p a share bid from rival brewer SABMiller as early as this week. Shares in S&N rocketed more than 12 per cent last week. It was thought that Dutch Heineken or Carlsberg, S&N's Danish joint venture partner in Eastern Europe, might have been behind purchases of millions of shares in the UK's largest brewer, although experts said competition rules would block a takeover by Heineken. - Sunday Express​

An approach from Heineken or Carlsberg for Scottish & Newcastle is unlikely, as a bid would prompt a competition enquiry, although around £600m-worth of S&N shares were bought last week. - Mail On Sunday​

Pubs face £10,000 fines from next month if they repeatedly serve under-age drinkers, plus their licences could be suspended, under the government's new Violent Crime Reduction Act. - Sunday Mirror​

Whitbread says the status of its David Lloyd Leisure business remains that it is under review, although many observers see the sale of the health club chain as a catalyst that would expose the rest of the group to some kind of private sale. One former ex-executive says he saw no reasons why a buyer could not come in for its pub restaurant business or its hotel arm, despite Whitbread maintaining the two divisions are inextricably linked. - Sunday Telegraph​

Sky is attempting to force down the 'carriage fees' it hands over to pay-TV broadcasters. It has opened this new front in its battle with rival broadcasters to claw back some of the £60m it stands to lose after withdrawing its channels from cable services. - Sunday Telegraph​

Pressure is growing on the Bank of England to raise interest rates this week, on news of rising inflationary pressures. Finance experts who shadow the Bank's monetary policy committee say the case for a rate hike in the next few days is overwhelming. - Sunday Times​