Published: 17 February 2023
By Suzanne Evans, Director, Political Insight
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travelled to Northern Ireland last night, raising expectations that agreement on post-Brexit trading arrangements may be announced shortly. British officials have for months been in talks concerning changes to what is known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, agreed as part of Britain's departure from the EU to allow goods to be transported across the Irish land border without the need for checks. However, unionist politicians in the province, already angered by the Protocol, are opposing proposals which will mean continued customs checks in Northern Ireland on some goods arriving from the rest of the UK. Sunak is expected to meet with the main political parties early today, and while the EU says it is open to the idea of “express lanes" separating goods originating or passing through the UK and bound only for Northern Ireland, from products heading onwards into the Republic of Ireland or elsewhere in the EU, Conservative and Democratic Unionist (DUP) Members of the Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland (MLAs) oppose this. They are instating on checks being removed entirely on goods going from Northern Ireland to Great Britain or from GB to NI. Only this, they say, will “fulfil Article 6 of the Articles of Union, which requires that everyone in the United Kingdom is entitled to the same privileges”. The DUP boycotted Northern Ireland's devolved parliament at Stormont over the Protocol, meaning Northern Ireland has not had a consistently functioning government for several years now. "Whilst talks with the EU are ongoing, ministers continue to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure any solution fixes the practical problems on the ground, meets our overarching objectives, and safeguards Northern Ireland's place in the UK's internal market," a spokesperson for Sunak's office said. Sunak is also due to meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Munich on Saturday.
The FTSE 100 closed at a record high yesterday, rising 0.18% to 8,012 points, the first time London’s blue chip index has finished above the 8,000 mark. The CAC 40 in Paris at one point also rose by 1.2% to 7,387.29 points, beating a lifetime high of 7,384.86 points reached on January 5 last year.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is escalating strike action, saying its members at half of all hospitals, mental health and community services in England will take part in a 48-hour strike from 1st – 3rd March. The RCN has also encouraged members working in key areas such as emergency departments, intensive care units, cancer care and other services to strike for the first time, leading to criticism from Ministers. "We are working closely with NHS England on contingency plans, but this action will inevitably cause further disruption," Health Secretary Steve Barclay said. This is the first time the RCN has announced a continuous 48-hour strike. Previous industrial action has lasted for 12 hours. The RCN is seeking 15% pay rises.
Rail workers are also set to walk out in a fresh series of strikes in March and April, in their long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. Members of the RMT union from 14 train operators will strike on 16th 18th and 30th March, and 1st April, the start of Easter school holidays. Members at Network Rail, responsible for the rail infrastructure will strike on 16th March and then ban overtime. A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents train companies, told the BBC: "This latest round of strikes is totally unjustified and will be an inconvenience to our customers, and cost our people more money at a time they can least afford it".
Environmental pressure group ClientEarth has filed a judicial review against the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) at the High Court, arguing Britain's financial markets watchdog acted unlawfully when approving documents that allowed oil and gas company Ithaca Energy Plc to list in London even though it had failed to properly describe climate-related risks. It is the first such case against the FCA, which responded by saying that the High Court would have to give permission for the claim to proceed. It pledged to "oppose permission in this case".
Troubled investment trust Home REIT has revealed it is the subject of a potential takeover bid, having pointed yesterday to a "serious deterioration" in rent collections for the quarter to November 2022; “serious challenges" in rent collection for December 2022 and January 2023; and a “highly uncertain” rent forecast for the coming months. The social landlord also confirmed swathes of its property portfolio need refurbishment. In a statement, Home REIT said it had received an unsolicited approach from London-based investment firm Bluestar regarding a possible cash offer for the entire issued share capital of the firm. Bluestar now has until the 16th March to firm up its interest and make a formal bid for the company. In December last year Home REIT described as “baseless and misleading” allegations by US-based investigative financial research group Viceroy Research that tenants "do not appear to be paying rent," hence shareholders were being misled. Viceroy also highlighted poor management and an over-valued property portfolio. The London-listed trust has since seen its shares plummet by more than 70% from their year high.
Wagamama owner The Restaurant Group (TRG) has shown “little hope for the future” and is in need of a strategy overhaul, activist shareholder and hedge fund Oasis Management has said. Oasis holds a 6.5 per cent stake in the company and called on the hospitality firm to “re-align its priorities” and take immediate steps to restore market confidence. Shares in The Restaurant Group, which also owns Frankie & Benny’s, have declined by almost two-thirds over the past year. TRG has rejected a request from Oasis Management for a board seat.
Hilco Capital, which specialises in buying distressed consumer businesses, has reportedly put the Cath Kidston brand up for sale again, after just eight months. According to Sky News, Hilco has been approached by a number of potential buyers. Cath Kidston collapsed into administration in 2020 with the loss of nearly 1,000 jobs and dozens of shop closures.
Reginal airline Flybe, which collapsed into administration last month, is being wound down as rescue talks have failed, insolvency practitioner Interpath Advisory said on Wednesday. Joint administrators David Pike and Mike Pink said that despite "significant interest from a number of credible parties", it had not been possible to develop a transaction in the available timeframe.
The FTSE 250’s Capricorn Energy has abandoned a planned takeover by Israeli gas producer NewMed Energy following opposition from shareholders. As a result, the two companies have mutually agreed that the merger entered into last September will be terminated with immediate effect.
SSP Group, the FTSE 250 which owns Upper Crust and operates franchises of M&S and Burger King, in airports and train stations in more than 30 countries, said sales in the first four months of its fiscal year exceeded pre-covid levels, despite the impact of rail strikes. It backed its full-year guidance on the strong start to the year.
Aldi yesterday announced plans to create more than 6,000 new jobs across the UK this year. The leading discount supermarket currently has more than 990 stores and around 40,000 staff, and plans continued expansion throughout 2023. The supermarket is currently recruiting for 450 jobs across its 11 regional distribution centres across the UK.
BP has agreed to buy TravelCenters of America (TA), one of the country's leading full-service travel centre operators, for $1.3bn in cash. The FTSE 100 oil giant said TA's strategically-located network of highway sites complements its existing predominantly off-highway convenience and mobility business, enabling TA and BP to offer fleets a "seamless" nationwide service. The deal will also provide options to expand and develop new mobility offers including electric vehicle (EV) charging, biofuels, renewable natural gas (RNG) and later hydrogen, both for passenger vehicles and fleets, BP said. Some 280 TA sites span 44 US states.
KitKat and Nescafé coffee maker Nestle has revealed its net profits tumbled by 45% as cost inflation led the global food and drink giant to hike up the prices of its products. The Switzerland-headquartered company, which owns some of the world’s biggest food brands, said its net profits fell to 9.3 billion Swiss francs (£8.4 billion) in 2022, down from 16.9 billion Swiss francs (£15.2 billion) in 2021. The decline comes despite the group pushing up the prices of its products by 8.2% throughout the year. Nestle UK and Ireland employs some 8,000 people across 20 sites.
BBC employees in New Delhi and Mumbai have undergone a three-day tax inspection by the Indian Government, following broadcast of a documentary which questions over the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during deadly communal riots in Gujarat in 2002, when the Hindu nationalist leader was chief minister of the western state. The Indian Government dismissed the documentary, India: The Modi Question, as propaganda and blocked its streaming and sharing on social media. The BBC said it cooperated fully with the tax authorities, and an internal memo instructed staff to answer questions honestly and "not delete or conceal any information on any of your devices." A government official denied accusations that the tax survey was "vindictive", saying it was related to transfer pricing rules and alleged diversion of profits. The broadcaster has stood by its reporting, which investigated one of the worst outbreaks of religious violence in India in the modern era. At least 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the bloodletting, Reuters says.
In recent days, Tesla’s employees had asked the electric carmaker to respect their right to unionise their workplace with Workers United Upstate New York, and called on the company to sign the Fair Election Principles, which would prevent Tesla from threatening or retaliating against them. Then on Wednesday, Tesla laid off dozens of employees in its Autopilot department at its Buffalo plant in New York, Tesla Founder and CEO Elon Musk, the world’s second richest man, has in the past been vocal about his opposition to unions and said in a 2018 tweet that employees would lose their stock options if they formed a union, prompting the National Labour Relations Board to ask him to delete the tweet.
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