Published: 30 May 2023
By Suzanne Evans, Director, Political Insight
The Secretary of State for Health, Steve Barclay, told Sky News yesterday that the Government will not negotiate further with nurses on pay. The current offer on the table - a one-off payment equivalent to 2% of salaries in the 2022/23 financial year and a 5% pay rise for 2023/24 – has been rejected by the members of the Royal College of Nursing. Asked whether the government would resume talks with the union, Barclay said “Not on the amount of pay”. The union is balloting its 300,000 members on further strike action over the next six months.
The Labour Party has been accused of undermining Britain’s energy security after reports in the Sunday Times yesterday suggested Keir Starmer and his shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, were minded to ban new North Sea oil and gas licences, should the party win the next election. Industry trade body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) warned that effectively shutting down the North Sea as an energy producing region would play into the hands of foreign governments. “Homegrown production of oil and gas means we avoid costlier, less secure, and higher carbon footprint imports,” CEO Dave Whitehouse said. “Investment in UK production would also support the infrastructure and workforces needed to make cleaner, more affordable energy in the UK, for the UK,” he added. The IEA think tank also criticised the proposals, saying: “Keir Starmer might as well jump in an Aberdeen taxi and hand out the dole notices”.
HMRC is tracking an increasing number of firms suspected of using tax havens, according to data obtained by law firm Pinsent Masons via a Freedom of Information request. The tax authority is currently investigating 512 UK firms suspected of failing to conduct enough business activities in tax havens to legitimately claim they operate there, an 84% increase on the 277 UK firms being monitored at the same time last year, the firm said.
Only a third of UK hospitality businesses are optimistic about their future due to high energy prices and rising food costs, industry bosses have warned. Pubs, bars and restaurants say their energy prices have surged an average of 81% over the past year, on top of rising food and wage bills. Four of the UK's largest hospitality industry groups - the British Institute of Innkeeping, UKHospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association and Hospitality Ulster – are asking the Government for more support. In a joint statement, they say: "The Energy Bill Relief Scheme has provided a short respite but with that falling away last month businesses are back to paying high costs, with no end in sight for the thousands locked into contracts who will be obligated to pay extortionate rates well into next year. The government must recognise this crisis isn't just crippling businesses now. Left unresolved it will have a lasting wider impact long into the future, impacting local employment, supply chains and removing essential community hubs from villages, towns and cities across the whole of the UK”. 86% of hospitality firms are worried about energy costs, they say.
Shop prices have hit a fresh high, rising from 8.8% in April to 9% in May overall, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Non-food inflation grew from 5.5% in the year to April to 5.8% in May, while the cost of fresh produce slowed slightly from 17.8% to 17.2% in May. "While overall shop price inflation rose slightly in May, households will welcome food inflation beginning to fall," BRC CEO Helen Dickinson said. She added: "The slow in (food) inflation was largely driven by lower energy and commodity costs starting to filter through to lower prices of some staples including butter, milk, fruit and fish”. The BRC has also criticised the government’s suggestion that food prices could be capped, saying it should focus on cutting red tape so resources could be "directed to keeping prices as low as possible," as opposed to "recreating 1970s-style price controls".
Nearly half of Brits believe that high streets are no longer relevant, according to survey data published by IT company Accenture, which also found 56% of respondents feel the high street no longer has everything they need to do their weekly shop. More positively however, 58% want new clothes shops and 63% new general retail stores.
Writing in City A.M, Chris Hayward, the policy chair of the City of London Corporation , has added his voice to calls for an end to the so-called “tourist tax” on foreign shoppers. He warns that the Treasury’s decision to scrap the VAT exemption for foreign tourists means London’s post-covid recovery is “not being maximised,” and places the city at risk of losing out to the likes of Paris and Milan. Hayward notes that research from Oxford Economics suggests that cutting the tourist tax could prompt an additional 1.8m extra visitors by 2025/26, generating £2.8bn of extra spending, and supporting 78,000 jobs.
A nationwide systems failure meant e-gate arrivals at British airports could not be used at the weekend, and border control staff had to return to manual checks, which led to long delays for travellers. British Airways also cancelled at least 50 flights at Heathrow Airport at the start of the Bank holiday weekend due to a computer problem affecting online check in.
Meta Platforms has told The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that it will not use competitors' advertising data to develop and improve its Facebook Marketplace online classified ad service, an offer The competition watchdog said will likely address its concerns that Meta could unfairly exploit the data of businesses advertising on the social media platform. Meta also owns WhatsApp and Instagram as is "by far" the country's largest supplier of digital display advertising, the CMA noted, earning between £4bn and £5bn from UK advertising in 2021.
Meanwhile, Lloyds Bank has criticised Meta for failing to stop a “Wild West” surge in online shopping scams. Britain's largest retail bank – it has 26m customers – blasted the social media giant for enabling so-called 'purchase' frauds, the Daily Mail reports, claiming that two-thirds of the scams start on Meta-owned platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram. Lloyds estimates that someone falls victim to the scam on a Meta-owned platform every seven minutes, costing consumers £27m this year alone.
As expected, Asda has agreed to buy petrol station giant EG Group for £2.27bn, a deal that will bring together two businesses already owned by the billionaire Issa brothers, and will see Asda own nearly 1,400 outlets split between a range of supermarkets, petrol stations and convenience stores. Asda already runs 166 On the Move convenience stores, which have been rolled out on EG sites since the Issa brothers bought the supermarket in 2021. The combined company will employ 166,000 employees across the UK, and see joint revenues of nearly £30bn.
British online estate agent Purplebricks Group Plc says it has received an indicative takeover proposal from one of its top shareholders, Lecram Holdings. Lecram has proposed 0.5p per share in cash, valuing the company at about £1.5m.
London-listed property fintech LendInvest has confirmed the sale of a £243m buy-to-let mortgage portfolio to digital bank Chetwood Financial.
Amazon says it will offer parents and grandparents working in its warehouses the option to work during school term-time only, a move regional operations director Neil Travis says will encourage more people back into the workplace. "We spent a lot of time listening to our employees and one of the things that we were learning is that they really wanted more flexible opportunities," Travis said, adding that such contracts will still entitle workers to full-time benefits.
Online delivery firm Ocado is facing demotion from the FTSE 100 index this week following a slump in its share price which has plummeted some 85% from its covid lockdown highs of 2,895p. The firm posted a £500m loss last year. Today’s closing prices will be used to re-jig the FTSE listings.
Rolls-Royce says it plans to cut up to 10% of its 30,000 non-manufacturing staff as part of a business transformation that requires “organisational efficiencies” and department mergers.
London-listed fast fashion retailer Asos has raised £75m from shareholders, it confirmed on Friday. The FTSE 250 firm, which also owns the TopShop and Miss Selfridge brands, said the placing, “in conjunction with new financing arrangements, provides financial flexibility and creates a stable based for Asos's continued execution of its strategy and future return to growth". Asos saw revenues surge during the pandemic but, as shoppers returned to bricks and mortar shopping, competition increased within the sector, and the firm was impacted by supply chain issues, as well as the cost of living crisis, Asos swung to an interim adjusted pre-tax loss of £87.4m in the last financial year, from a profit of £14.8m a year previously. Revenues fell 8% to £1.8bn.
Sky News says British fashion chain New Look is working with advisers at Deloitte to refinance £100m of debt, exploring options for a term loan which ends its June 2024. In March, New Look said it was looking to cut up to 70 job roles at its head offices in London and Weymouth as a result of a heavier focus on online shopping, and that 500 jobs were at risk at its lead distribution centre near Newcastle Under Lyme. The chain has reduced the number of stores from 800 sites to 400, as it turns its focus to online shopping. New Look declined to comment on the report.
Sky News also reports that lenders to online car retailer Cazoo have enlisted bankers PJT Partners to spearhead talks about a £510m debt restructuring on convertible notes due for repayment in 2027. The discussions were flagged by the British firm in a statement to the New York Stock Exchange, where it is listed. Cazoo, which is being advised by bankers at Goldman Sachs, declined to comment.
HSBC is set to announce next month that the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank will be renamed HSBC Innovation Banking, Sky News says. The Government and the Bank of England facilitated a private sale of SVB UK to HSBC in March.
Ineos billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe remains the leading candidate to buy Manchester United Football Club despite an inconclusive board meeting held late last week, Sky News says.
Reuters reports that PwC Australia has ordered nine partners to take leave and overhauled its governance board, as it battles a national scandal over the misuse of confidential government tax plans. A former tax partner at the “big four” firm who was consulting on new anti-tax avoidance laws shared confidential drafts with colleagues that were then used to drum up business.
US officials have agreed an 'in principle' deal to raise country's debt ceiling in last-minute dash to prevent the US Government running out of cash, beating a 5th June deadline to either approve more borrowing or risk a default. President Joe Biden and the Kevin McCarthy, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives announced an agreement over the weekend, following weeks of difficult negotiations and stalemate. Precise details have not been announced but it is thought the US debt limit will be raised for two years from its current level of £25tn to prevent standoffs before next year's presidential election. Negotiators have also agreed to cap non-defence discretionary spending, which is used to fund government services, at 2023 levels for two years. according to data obtained by law firm Pinsent Masons via a Freedom of Information request. Biden and McCarthy must now convince Capitol Hill legislators to pass the deal.
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