Published: 03 February 2023
By Suzanne Evans, Director, Political Insight
Allies of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who told The Times two days ago that her would not oppose current PM Rishi Sunak's new Northern Ireland deal appear to have been wrong. Yesterday, Johnson said in a speech that he will “find it very difficult to vote for” the Windsor Framework. “I’m going to find it very difficult to vote for something like this myself, because I believed we should’ve done something very different,” he said. “I hope that it will work, and I also hope that if it doesn’t work, we will have the guts to employ that [Northern Ireland Protocol] Bill again, because I have no doubt at all that that is what brought the EU to negotiate seriously.” During his keynote address to the Global Soft Power summit, he raised numerous concerns about the agreement, announced on Monday by Sunak and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyden, saying: “I’m conscious I’m not going to be thanked for saying this, but I think it is my job to do so: we must be clear about what is really going on here. This is not about the UK taking back control…This is the EU graciously unbending to allow us to do what we want to do in our own country, not by our laws but by theirs.” Neither the DUP nor the influential European Reform Group of Tory backbenchers have yet delivered their verdict on the deal.
The Law Society is seeking permission for a Judicial Review to force the government to give criminal solicitors a 15% pay rise, matching the rise given by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to criminal barristers last September. Last November, the MoJ upped fees paid for work in police station and magistrates’ courts by 30% and 20% respectively, pledging to invest an extra £85m a year in solicitors’ pay. However, this made for an effective pay rise of only 11%. The Law Society is also critical of what it says is the government’s refusal to participate in an independent mediation process put forward by the trade body. Law Society president Lubna Shuja said the government’s failure to take the legal aid crisis “seriously” left it with “no choice” but to file a claim, saying the refusal to fund a 15% increase “puts the future of the criminal justice system in jeopardy”. The Law Society claims there will be 19% fewer solicitors working in the legal aid sector by 2025 as many decide to leave the profession due to low levels of pay. An MoJ spokesperson said: “We expect our reforms to criminal legal aid will increase investment in the solicitor profession by £85 million every year.”
Ofwat has told water firms that they need to be more ambitious in their strategies to improve customer service and secure reliable services in the coming decades, or risk having their profits slashed. Each water company has developed strategies for setting out how they ensure water needs are met through to 2050 and protect the environment, known as draft Water Resource Management Plans (WRMPs). These draft plans are typically updated every five years to set out how water resources are managed and developed – to ensure households and businesses have a secure and reliable water supply over a 25-year period.
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) said yesterday that it welcomes what it sees as a thaw in relations between Britain and the European Union, saying it does not expect the company's clearing arm to be cut off from customers in the bloc from June 2025, when existing permission from Brussels for London-based clearing institutions to continue serving customers in the bloc is due to end. "We are fairly confident, given the messages that have come out of the EU and the European Commission, there is not going to be a cliff edge in 2025," LSEG Chief Executive David Schwimmer told analysts, adding that LSEG customers in the EU have made it "increasingly clear" they want continued access to clearing in London. The LSEG also reported a jump in full-year profit yesterday, and said it was seeking shareholder approval to buy back £750m of shares from a consortium of former Refinitiv investors. In preliminary results for the year to the end of December 2022, LSE said pre-tax profit rose 38.8% to £1.2bn, with total income up 19.6% to £7.4bn.
The Chinese owner of Thomas Cook is reportedly plotting an outright sale three years after it rescued the holiday brand. According to Sky News, Fosun Tourism Group is in preliminary talks with a number of potential purchasers. Fosun, which is part of the same conglomerate which owns Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, the Premier League side, is also examining the sale of a minority stake in Thomas Cook by bringing in capital from an external investor. The news that Fosun is considering selling out of Thomas Cook entirely comes four months after it told Sky News that such an outcome was not being considered.
National Express is back in the black, posting Ian underlying operating profit of £48m for 2022, from a loss a year earlier. Annual revenue surpassed pre-pandemic levels for the first time, the firm said, with a boost from people travelling by coach during rail strikes fuelling a 24% increase in revenue to £2.81bn. Shares in the London-listed public transport operator rose as much as 19.2% during the day as the company also resumed dividend payments for the first time since 2020. However, the encouraging news was dampened by an announcement that more than 3,000 of its West Midlands bus drivers have voted to strike over pay from 16th March. "National Express is sitting on mountains of cash and can absolutely afford to give a pay rise to its staff that reflects rocketing living costs. It needs to do just that," Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said in a statement. A spokesperson for National Express West Midlands' said it was disappointed by the strike action and urged drivers to reconsider.
Capita shares also jumped today after the group revealed it returned to an adjusted profit in 2022, driven by contract wins and an improved order book. The outsourcing and professional services firm posted a full-year adjusted pre-tax profit of £73.8m, against a pre-tax loss of £122.8m a year earlier. The company's adjusted revenues rose from £2.78billion in 2021 to £2.84billion last year.
Flutter Entertainment enjoyed higher revenues in 2022, boosted by a strong performance in the US after a string of acquisitions, the Daily Mail reports. The gambling group, which owns Paddy Power and Betfair, said revenues in the year to 31st December increased by 27% to £7.69bn, while average monthly players (AMP) rose 26% to 10.2m. Earnings rose 27% to £918m and the firm's pre-tax loss narrowed to £275m, marking an improvement from £288m a year ago. US revenue jumped 87% to £2.6bn, with the bulk stemming from its FanDuel business.
Asset manager Schroders said its profits had tumbled sharply last year as market volatility dragged down its assets and caused investors to pull cash from its funds. The FTSE 100 firm said pre-tax profits fell 23 per cent to £586m down from £764m in 2021.
Metro Bank has narrowed its pre-tax losses for 2022 to £70.7m, having seen revenue jump 31% as a result of higher interest rates. The bank also noted it was profitable in the final quarter, ahead of its intention to break-even in the first quarter of 2023.
UK defence and commercial engineer Melrose Industries said 2022 profits came in higher than expected and forecast a significantly stronger performance from its aerospace unit this year. Adjusted full-year pre-tax profit came in at £384m, compared with £194m in 2021.
Real estate portal Rightmove says fewer people are searching for properties on its platforms as it posted an annual profit in line with expectations. The London-headquartered firm said there were more than 2.3bn visits to its platforms in 2022 but that was down 8% from a year earlier, with an 11% fall in time spent searching for properties. However, the company's Average Revenue Per Advertiser rose 11% to £1,314 pounds per month, up from £1,189 a year earlier. The company posted an operating profit for the year ended 31st December 2022 of £241.3m.
Building materials giant CRH is planning to shift its main stock market listing from London to New York, City A.M. reports. The world’s largest construction materials firm told shareholders yesterday that around three-quarters of its earnings came from North America. Headquartered in Dublin, and valued at over £30bn, CRH said: “we have now come to the conclusion that a US primary listing would bring increased commercial, operational and acquisition opportunities for CRH”.
The publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday has confirmed some roles at the newspapers are set to be cut amid a restructuring. In an email to staff, Ted Verity, editor of Mail Newspapers, said that parent firm DMGT was proposing “some reduction” in headcount at its print titles. The two papers will merge a number of operations across the titles as part of the shake-up. No figures were put on any job losses.
WH Smith has been hit by a cyberattack that has resulted in hackers gaining access to private company data. The stationary and book store, which has over 600 high street shops in the UK, said it has launched an investigation into the attack, but says customer data was not affected and that there has been “no impact” on the company’s trading activities.
Eurozone inflation is running at record levels, piling pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) to keep hiking interest rates aggressively this year, City A.M. says. The rate of core price increases bumped to a record 5.6 % last month, up from 5.3%, and up to the highest level since records began in 1999, according to the bloc’s stats office Eurostat. Overall annual inflation edged lower to 8.5% from 8.6% per cent. The data indicated that the initial burst in inflation driven primarily by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is curbing - energy price inflation fell to 13.7% from nearly 19%. Services inflation climbed to near 5%, while food prices jumped 15%.
Why Media is an award-winning design, marketing, digital communications and PR agency offering tailored solutions to companies on a global scale. We have extensive experience in delivering design and marketing services to a spectrum of companies including professional services, property companies, financial institutions and shopping centres. We have offices in London UK, Hertford UK, Finestrat ES & Brescia IT.
Marketing Contact
Name: Claire White
E-Mail: claire@whymedia.com
Telephone: 01992 586 507
