BBC names and shames the British railway stations who cancel the most trains

A BBC investigation has revealed which of Britain's 100 busiest railway stations have had the highest rates of cancelled trains this year. To 31^st July, Huddersfield topped the undesirable league table, with more than 5,500 scheduled trains cancelled, 13% of total services. TransPennine Express (TPE), which manages the station, was brought under government control in May after months of complaints about delays and cancellations. Meanwhile, Manchester Victoria had the second highest cancellation rate at 10%, while York, Newcastle and Manchester Oxford Road all followed at 9%. The BBC analysis of National Rail data, collated by On Time Trains, also found that almost half of the trains that ran across Britain were at least one minute late. A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "Ministers have been clear with operators they need to deliver punctual services, keeping delays to a minimum. To help make our railways more reliable, it's crucial unions agree to reforms that will modernise the industry."

Trade organisations representing the construction industry are calling on the Government to relax immigration rules to allow tens of thousands more bricklayers into the country so builders can meet a target set by ministers to build 300,000 new homes each year. The Home Office extended the Shortage Occupation List in July, allowing more bricklayers, tilers and roofers to get UK work visas, but The Home Builders Federation (HBF) says this isn’t enough, estimating that 2,500 brickies are needed for every 10,000 homes built, meaning around 75,000 are needed to hit the target. As only 42,000 bricklayers work in home building currently, an extra 33,000 are now needed. Paul Westhead, development director at One Heritage Group, a London-listed residential property developer focused on the North of England, said: “If the Government is ever going to meet its annual 300,000 new homes target something radical needs to happen to reverse the trend. Even with this, it could take over a decade to establish suitable levels of home-grown tradesmen to get close to meeting demand. Policies making it easier for foreign tradespeople to work in the UK would certainly help to elevate the lack of bricklayers in the short term, but it will not fix the bigger problem,” he said.  Rico Wojtulewicz, head of housing and planning policy at the National Federation of Builders and House Builders Association (NFB), said the UK would benefit from having a “one for one” visa system where a firm taking on a foreign worker must train a British apprentice in that role. He also said an ageing workforce has added more pressure on recruiting in the industry, as one in five builders are over 50.

Tesco is offering store staff body cameras amid a rise in violent attacks, having seen physical assaults increase by a third since last year. Writing in the Mail on Sunday yesterday, CEO Ken Murphy called for tougher laws targeting offenders, saying "abuse or violence towards retail workers" should be in itself an offence, to bring law in England and Wales into line with Scotland, where the Protection of Worker's Bill makes it an offence to assault, threaten or abuse retail staff. Tesco’s data mirrors findings by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) published earlier this year, which found abuse against retail staff had almost doubled compared to pre-Covid levels, from 450 incidents a days in 2019/20 to 850 in 2021/22. Similar action on cameras has already been taken by Sainsbury's, Waitrose and the Co-op, the latter of which said in July that crime in stores was now so bad that some areas could become "no-go" areas for the company.

The Government is in advanced talks concerning a £500m state aid package to shore up Tata Steel and secure the future of steelmaking at Port Talbot, according to Sky News, which says a deal being negotiated with the Indian-owned group could also ultimately involve as many as 3,000 job losses. Tata currently employs some 8,000 people across the UK. “Under the plans currently envisaged, the government would commit approximately £500m of public funding to the company, while Tata Steel's Indian parent would sign off £700m of capital expenditure over a multi-year period” Sky says.

MPs have raised concerns that Asda’s ownership structure could be limiting the supermarket’s ability to support shoppers through the cost of living crisis. In a letter to Mohsin Issa, one of the billionaire brothers who bought the supermarket with a private equity partner, TDR Capital, in 2020, Darren Jones, Chair of the House of Commons’ Business and Trade Select Committee, has asked for details of the retailer’s corporate structure and capital investment, as well as details from its petrol forecourt business, EG Group, regarding its profit margins on petrol. “The committee has concerns that the complex company structure within which Asda sits, and associated decisions on financing, may restrict your ability to help meet cost of living pressures on your customers,” Jones wrote. Asda was criticised recently by MPs for its petrol profit margins, following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority which found it had not passed on price cuts when the wholesale price of oil fell.

The boss of Universal Music Group, fashion designer Anya Hindmarch, UMG chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge and Tim Bevan, the co-founder of film producer Working Title are expected to be appointed by Kemi Badenoch, the business and trade secretary, to a revamped Government Board of Trade, Sky News claims.

EY, the auditor of collapsed retail chain Wilko, is facing a backlash for its oversight of the group after signing off its accounts despite the firm having warned that it did not have enough funds to cope with a sharp drop in sales, the Mail on Sunday said yesterday. The risk of insolvency appears to have been flagged as long ago as January 2022 when the firm was putting the finishing touches to its most recent set of annual account. At that time, it reported a loss of £37.6m and directors warned that there was a 'material uncertainty' around the fact that it had not been able to secure additional funding, which “cast significant doubt” over its ability to continue as a going concern. However, bosses decided there were “adequate resources” to continue operating until January 2024 before which time financing to shore up the company could be secured, a forecast that turned out to be inaccurate.  Nevertheless, EY agreed with the directors' assessment and senior auditor Victoria Venning signed off the accounts, saying the directors' methods were “appropriate” despite acknowledging a “material uncertainty” existed about its viability as a going concern. EY was paid £269,000 for its services, and has declined to comment on the matter. MPs on the House of Commons’ Business Committee will meet tomorrow to discuss the fate of the retailer, which collapsed into administration last month putting 12,000 jobs at risk.

Upmarket burger chain Five Guys says it wants to double the number of UK restaurants in the next few years to 300. CEO John Eckbert said the has said the family-owned American group, which counts former US President Barack Obama and singer Adele among its fans, was only “halfway done” with its UK expansion. It currently has some 160 outlets across the country. It opened its first UK branch in London's Covent Garden in 2013. The British business has “exceeded expectations,” Eckbert said, and is now looking to open sites in airports and train stations as well as open more drive-thrus after its first in Teesside “broke every record for first week sales”. New stores in Lincoln, Barton Mills in Suffolk and Bolton in Greater Manchester will open in October, with one opening at Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet near Ellesmere Port in November.

Simon Murphy, who runs the Battersea Power Station Development Company has added his voice to industry calls to remove the “tourist tax,” the decision made two years’ ago by Rishi Sunak when Chancellor to ditch VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors. The tax has damaged London’s reputation for business and made it less competitive compared to European rivals, he said, also telling The Daily Telegraph that the UK was “shooting itself in the foot” by not axing the tax.

Stock market news: Mike Ashley's Frasers Group upped its stake in online fashion retailer Asos on Friday. The company - which owns Sports Direct, House of Fraser, Flannels and Jack Wills - lifted its stake to 19.8% from 19.3%, sending shares in Asos some 5.5% higher. Frasers has also revealed it has increased its stake in fast-fashion retailer Boohoo to 10.4% from 9.1%, having already upped it from 7.8% on Thursday. Meanwhile, Next is spending £128m buying a further 21% stake in premium high street retailer Reiss, also putting the lie to recent reports it was considering selling its investment. Instead, Next is to partner with the Reiss family to buy up the entirety of fellow minority shareholder Warburg Pincus, which currently has a 34% interest.  The investment will see Next’s share of Reiss increase from 561% to 72%, subject to regulatory approval. The Reiss family holding will rise to 22%, while the remaining 6% equity will be held by the Reiss management team. Finally, shares in FTSE 100 firm Johnson Matthey jumped 12% on Friday after Standard Industries nearly doubled its shareholding in the specialty chemicals group to over 10%.

Mohamed Al Fayed, the former Harrods boss whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, has died aged 94. Born in Egypt, he built a business empire in the Middle East (starting his career selling fizzy drinks on the street) before moving to the UK in the 1970s. His purchase of Harrods in 1985, for £615m, followed a vicious bidding war with mining conglomerate the Lonrho group, headed at the time by Tiny Rowland. He also owned Fulham FC many years, and bought the Paris Ritz hotel with his brother Ali for £20m. Fayed never realised his lifetime ambition to gain a British passport, and remained convinced that the deaths of Diana and his son were on the orders of the late Prince Philip and with the connivance of MI6. Fayed was also responsible for the downfall oof three former Conservative MPs: in 1995, angered by having had his application for the UK passport rejected, he told the press he had paid then ministers Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith to ask questions in the House of Commons about his interests; then Jonathan Aitken, also a cabinet minister at the time resigned after Fayed revealed he stayed for free at the Ritz in Paris at the same time as a group of Saudi arms dealers. In a statement released on Friday, his family said: "Mrs Mohamed Al Fayed, her children and grandchildren wish to confirm that her beloved husband, their father and their grandfather, Mohamed, has passed away peacefully of old age on Wednesday August 30, 2023. He enjoyed a long and fulfilled retirement surrounded by his loved ones."