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business | Keir Starmer: Recall Parliament and abandon budget | Sir Keir Starmer said Labour is "showing it is ready to govern"
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for Parliament to be recalled so MPs can abandon last week's mini-budget "before any more damage is done".
ue of the pound dropped to $1.05 on Wednesday, after the Bank of England announced it would buy government debt to stabilise the economy.
Downing Street has rejected calls for Parliament to be recalled.
Sir Keir said the "government has clearly lost control of the economy" and had to do a U-turn immediately.
"Unlike other situations where it may be a world event, an unexpected event that causes this sort of crisis this is self-inflicted. This was made in Downing Street last Friday.
"And for what? For uncosted tax breaks for those earning hundreds of thousands of pounds."
reasury has rejected calls to reverse any of last week's budget.
Parliament is currently suspended while the two main parties hold their annual conferences. It is due to come back on 11 October.
Labour are calling for the mini-budget to be completely scrapped, despite supporting some measures, including keeping the basic rate of income tax to 19% from 20%.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) Labour's plans would reverse less than half of the £45bn in tax cuts announced last week,
In an interview with BBC Political Editor Chris Mason, Sir Keir would not rule out cutting public services to reduce borrowing.
Sir Keir said: "I'm not predicting what we will put in our manifesto."
"We've got very clear rules which are that we will pay for day to day spending and we will borrow to invest.
"We will inherit, a complete mess from this government and obviously we'll get to those rules just as quickly as we can, as any incoming government would do.
"That's the normal situation when a government comes in."
All the main opposition parties - including Labour, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Plaid Cymru - have now called for Parliament to be recalled early.
Conservative Party conference is due to begin on Sunday, with Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng giving a speech on Monday.
Watch: Key moments from Sir Keir Starmer's speech to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool
Last week, Mr Kwarteng unveiled the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years, including scrapping the top rate of income tax and lifting the cap on bankers' bonuses.
reasury said the plans would be funded by £72bn of borrowing and there is an expectation this will surge as interest rates rise.
und slumped following his statement and later fell to a record low against the dollar after Mr Kwarteng hinted there were more tax cuts to come.
Conservative MP Simon Hoare who supported Liz Truss's defeated Tory leadership rival Rishi Sunak - described Mr Kwarteng's handling of the economy as "inept madness".
Mr Hoare, the chair of the Northern Ireland select committee, tweeted: "These are not circumstances beyond the control of Govt/Treasury. They were authored there.
"This inept madness cannot go on."
On Wednesday the Bank of England announced it would buy government bonds on a temporary basis to help "restore orderly market conditions".
Bank also signalled it is prepared to ramp up interest rates in response to the falling value of the pound, leading mortgage lenders to pull deals.
But the International Monetary (IMF) fund has criticised the UK's plans for tax cuts, warning the measures were likely to fuel the cost-of-living crisis.
IMF works to stabilise the global economy and one of its key roles is to act as an early economic warning system.
But the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadim Zahawi defended the government's economic plan, claiming interests rates would come down once inflation is under control.
He promised that the "fiscal discipline that the markets are looking for will be delivered in November".
Mr Zahawi said that co-ordination between the Bank of England and the Treasury was "incredibly strong."
reasury said Mr Kwarteng was due to publish his medium-term plan for the economy on 23 November, which would include ensuring that UK debt falls as a share of economic output in the medium term. | /news/uk-politics-63058869 | eng |
business | Suffolk council says pylons 'will industrialise countryside' | A planned 112 mile-long (180km) power line suspended mostly on new pylons would be the "industrialisation of our countryside", councillors said.
Babergh District Council in Suffolk agreed to object to National Grid's plans for the high voltage line from Norwich to Tilbury in Essex.
uthority said the line should be under the sea rather than over land.
National Grid said the pylons were needed to meet the increasing demand on the network.
Suffolk County Council has also said it intended to object to the proposals.
It said it believed there were "better ways to manage the project".
re part of a proposed 400kV electricity transmission line between Norwich and a new Bramford substation near Ipswich, and then to Tilbury in south Essex, called the East Anglia Green Energy Enablement project.
National Grid said the line was needed to carry electricity from offshore wind turbines.
It has proposed to run the cables underground through the Dedham Vale area of outstanding natural beauty on the Essex/Suffolk border, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
Concerns over the project have been previously raised by raised by six East Anglian MPs, Mid Suffolk District Council and campaign groups.
Babergh Liberal Democrat councillor Dave Busby said: "As far as we are concerned there is only one option, and that should be subsea.
"We should be resisting every industrialisation of our countryside.
"We are rural counties - tourists come to see us for that, and people live here because of that."
Independent Conservative council leader John Ward said: "A large number of people are currently potentially affected by it in terms of their wellbeing, as well as their house price values which inevitably will be impacted by it.
"It's causing a lot of people a lot of upset and anguish, so this particular issue must be resolved to set their minds straight."
National Grid said the existing network was developed in the 1960s and, to date, had been able to meet demand.
However, increased renewable and low-carbon power by 2030 meant demand on the network would increase significantly and the existing power lines did not have the capacity to meet demand without reinforcement.
Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-suffolk-61739565 | eng |
business | Businesses criticise delays in EU import checks | xtra checks on EU imports has been criticised by businesses for creating confusion and leaving UK borders vulnerable to unsafe produce.
New controls on EU foodstuffs had been due to be introduced in July but they have been postponed by the government.
Nova Fairbanks, from the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce, said uncertainty over import rules hits businesses.
government said it was delaying the changes due to rising prices associated with the war in Ukraine.
It said at this point it "would be wrong to impose new administrative burdens and risk disruption at ports".
It is the fourth time it has delayed EU import checks since the UK left the free trade bloc.
Ms Fairbanks said: "Businesses work on certainty. They have to be able to plan. They have to be able to understand what is coming. If the government says the checks need to come in they will gear up to invest to meet the needs for the checks.
"If the government then turn around and say 'we're not going to introduce them' it's a problem for business."
uncertainty has also cost councils money, including East Suffolk District Council, which covers the Port of Felixstowe, as they had to prepare for the checks by employing more people "to manage post-Brexit border checks on EU food imports".
A council spokesman said: "However, following the announcement of a delay to implementation, we are now exploring a range of options to help us address a highly challenging situation.
"No decision has yet been taken and we are keeping staff informed as best we can."
m Bradshaw, an Essex farmer and deputy president of the National Farmers Union, warned that without proper checks unsafe meat could be being imported.
"We have always had a commitment to border checks and at the moment our exports are being checked but our imports aren't. That is not good enough," he said.
British Veterinary Association (BVA) was worried about an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) among pigs on the continent and he said not having full checks on livestock was dangerous.
Simon Doherty, past president of the BVA, said: "This isn't about a bunch of vets creating jobs for themselves.
"There is a real concern that disease could encroach within the country and therefore we want to do everything we possibly can to minimise the risk."
Jack Hanson, managing director of fruit and vegetable wholesaler Fountain Fresh Import of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, said he was pleased the new checks had been delayed.
"It's a massive relief," he said.
"It's much more work. It's much more cost. It's all going to get passed on to us and then passed on to the consumer."
A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson said: "We have strict biosecurity controls on the highest risk imports of animals, animal by-products, plants and plant products from the EU.
"EU countries affected by ASF cannot export pork or pork products from affected regions unless in very specific circumstances.
"We continue to assess the risk of ASF and consider whether further mitigations are needed, including targeted interventions at the border."
Politics East airs on BBC One in the East on Sunday 3 July at 10:00 GMT and can be viewed on the BBC iPlayer afterwards.
Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-norfolk-61929599 | eng |
business | Ofgem blamed as supplier failures lead to higher energy bills | Energy watchdog Ofgem has been accused of allowing an industry to develop on "shaky foundations" in which a series of supply companies collapsed.
All billpayers will pay £94 more a year each to cover the £2.7bn cost of the failure of 28 suppliers which folded after wholesale prices soared.
National Audit Office (NAO) said Ofgem had allowed a market to develop that was vulnerable to large shocks.
regulator said it was already addressing the issues raised.
Meg Hillier, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee, said: "Ofgem's approach created an energy market built on shaky foundations. As a result, many companies simply collapsed under the shock of energy price increases.
"Once again, it's the public who has to pay for the mistakes of those charged with protecting them. It's unacceptable."
result of last year's shock was that 2.4 million customers were automatically moved to a rival company when their own supplier collapsed. Typically, according to Citizens Advice, they had to pay an extra £30 a month for the duration of their original contract, as they were shifted to a more expensive tariff.
In addition, the cost of these failures totalled £2.7bn - a tab which was spread across all billpayers in Britain, not just those of the failed companies. This is before taking into account the potentially multi-billion charge that households could face due to the collapse of Bulb Energy, which is in special administration.
NAO said that Ofgem had decided on a "low bar" approach for allowing new domestic energy suppliers into the market to encourage competition and choice for customers after the market had been dominated by six big companies.
regulator had then introduced tighter rules for new entrants from 2019, but not for existing suppliers until 2021.
As a result, many suppliers lacked the financial resilience to deal with the six-fold increase in wholesale prices seen last year, the NAO said.
"By allowing so many suppliers with weak finances to enter the market, and by failing to imagine that there could be a long period of volatility in energy prices, Ofgem allowed a market to develop that was vulnerable to large-scale shocks," said Gareth Davies, head of the NAO.
"Consumers have borne the brunt of supplier failures at a time when many households are already under significant financial strain having seen their bills go up to record levels. A supplier market must be developed that truly works for consumers," Mr Davies said.
Ofgem is making changes after a review it commissioned came to many of the same conclusions.
"We are already working hard to address all of the issues raised," a spokesman for the regulator said. "While the once-in-a-generation global energy price shock would have resulted in market exits under any regulatory framework, we have already been clear that suppliers and Ofgem's financial resilience regime were not robust enough.
"While no regulator can, or should, guarantee companies will not fail in the future, we will continue to take a whole-market approach to further strengthen the regulatory regime, ensuring a fair and robust market for consumers which keeps costs fair as we move away from fossils fuels and towards affordable, green, home-grown energy."
NAO said concerns had been raised that Ofgem's reforms could limit new entrants and innovative ideas in the future.
A typical household gas and electricity bill - governed by the energy price cap in England, Wales and Scotland has risen sharply, and now stands at about £2,000 a year.
Analysts Cornwall Insight have predicted that the bill could hit about £3,000 a year this winter. | /news/business-61881981 | eng |
business | Octopus Energy to take over collapsed supplier Bulb | Octopus boss Greg Jackson says the company expects a "seamless" switch for Bulb customers
Energy supplier Octopus Energy is to buy its smaller competitor Bulb.
Bulb collapsed last year amid rising gas and electricity prices and has since been run by the government.
Its 1.5 million customers will not see any change or disruption to energy supplies, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said.
ue of the deal has not been published but the BBC understands Octopus paid the government between £100m and £200m.
It is expected to be completed by the end of November.
Business Secretary Grant Shapps said the deal, approved by the UK government, would bring "vital reassurance and energy security to consumers across the country at a time when they need it most".
government announcement on Saturday made no mention of the money involved in the deal, which was reached overnight between special administrators of Bulb and Octopus Energy.
ment said that "due to high market volatility it is impossible" to forecast the true cost of Bulb.
For Bulb customers, credit balances on bills will be protected and direct debits automatically transferred.
Greg Jackson, Octopus Energy Group boss, said the company was determined to provide a "stable home for the future" for Bulb's customers and staff. Bulb has 650 employees.
Mr Jackson told the BBC he was confident the takeover would be smooth, saying the company had "a great track record" when it came to moving customers across companies.
firm has agreed to share profits - if any are made from its new Bulb customers - with the government, for up to four years.
Octopus said the move would bring "an end to taxpayer losses", adding it was "paying the government" to take on Bulb's customers.
It was previously reported in July that Octopus had requested £1bn in public funding for the deal. However a source close to the company has since categorically denied this.
London-based Bulb was the biggest of more than 30 energy companies that collapsed last November following a spike in wholesale gas prices, which was partly caused by Covid restrictions ending and has since been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.
It was placed into "special administration", meaning it was run by the government through the regulator Ofgem. The special administration measure is only used if Ofgem is unable to find another company to take over an energy firm's customers.
ut of Bulb had been forecast to cost the taxpayer around £2bn by next year. It was the biggest state bailout since the Royal Bank of Scotland collapse during the 2008 financial crisis.
Natural gas prices have doubled since last October, and despite dropping significantly from a peak in August, many families are struggling to get by as they also grapple with rising inflation, which reached 10.1% in September.
As part of the mini-budget announced by former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in September, the government announced an "energy price guarantee" - capping typical household bills at £2,500 - for two years, but Jeremy Hunt - who replaced Mr Kwarteng as chancellor earlier this month - then said the support will last until April.
Mr Hunt is expected to make a full statement on his spending plans on 17 November.
Every household in the UK is also getting an energy bill discount of £400 this October.
Mr Shapps, who became business secretary this week, said the deal highlighted the government's "overriding priority" to protect customers. He added he would do everything he could to "ensure our energy system provides secure and affordable energy for all".
Octopus will continue to use Bulb's technology and branding "for a transitionary period", the government's statement said.
mpany, which was founded in the UK in 2015, said that before the Bulb acquisition it served 3.4 million customers.
Worried about energy bills? The BBC's Colletta Smith tells you - in a minute - about four discounts and payments that could help | /news/business-63437352 | eng |
business | Football fans warned to beware of fake ticket scams | Football fans have been urged to be wary of ticket scams.
Fraudsters are using social media to offer fake tickets and trick unsuspecting victims out of their cash - the average loss is £410, according to Lloyds Bank.
fans pay by bank transfer, which offers no protection to consumers.
If you can't pay by credit or debit card, "that's a big red flag that you're about to get scammed," the bank warned.
Cases of the scams climbed by more than two-thirds between January and June, according to Lloyds Bank data.
urge was because fraudsters took advantage of people desperate to attend live events after Covid restrictions ended.
But the bank warned that the start of the Premier League season this weekend could see another surge in the scams.
It said criminals target the biggest games which are already sold out - such as matches between the top six clubs in England, European games and internationals matches.
With major events such as cup finals, Lloyds Bank said it had seen victims losing as much as £2,000.
mmers use social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, to offer fake tickets to sought-after matches.
-flight football in particular is popular among criminals, as they take advantage of fans' desperation to watch their team, knowing that many matches will already be sold out,
ften use bogus pictures of tickets to fool fans, or publish a made-up story about why they cannot attend the game to sound more legitimate.
Once they've snared a victim they demand payment by bank transfer, also known as 'faster payment'.
ments offer no consumer protection and are effectively the electronic equivalent of just handing over your cash to someone in the street.
Once the cash is sent, the scammers simply disappear, leaving behind an anonymous, untraceable online identity and an angry fan left out of pocket.
"The vast majority of these scams start on social media, where it's all too easy for fraudsters to use fake profiles and advertise items that simply don't exist," said Liz Ziegler, Lloyds Bank's retail fraud and financial crime director.
"Buying directly from the clubs or their official ticket partners is the only way to guarantee you're paying for a real ticket."
If shoppers are purchasing anything online using a debit or credit card will give them extra protection.
use buyers who pay by credit card or debit card benefit from Section 75 and Chargeback rules.
When using a credit card, Section 75 protection means that your card provider could be responsible for compensating you if the goods or services you bought aren't as advertised.
Under chargeback rules a card provider can get your money back from the bank the money was sent to, if you do not get the goods or services you paid for.
re has also been a marked increase in purchase scams targeting tickets for concerts so music fans should be wary too.
Lloyds Bank said fraudsters will target any major event, such as festivals, where demand for tickets is likely to exceed supply. | /news/business-62398558 | eng |
business | Fuel prices: Filling a diesel car now costs a record £100 | Filling the tank of a diesel car now typically costs more than £100 after fuel prices hit record levels.
rage price of diesel in the UK rose to 182.59p a litre on Sunday, according to the AA.
At the same time, petrol hit a new record of 172.73p a litre, it said.
rises mean drivers will pay more at the pump ahead of half-term getaways or trips over the four-day Platinum Jubilee bank holiday which begins on Thursday.
Filling the average 55-litre tank with diesel costs £100.42 and petrol £95, the AA said.
RAC fuel spokesperson Simon Williams said: "With crude oil prices consistently above $115 a barrel last week, worse is sadly yet to come, just in time for the Jubilee bank holiday".
He said petrol was now more expensive than diesel to wholesalers, so retailers were taking smaller margins on petrol but larger ones on diesel.
"If the wholesale price of petrol stays above diesel, we ought to see the current 10p-a-litre gap in average petrol and diesel forecourt prices narrow," he said.
"If this doesn't happen diesel drivers will be getting a raw deal, and with prices at these historic highs, every penny matters to drivers."
rice of Brent crude oil - the global benchmark for prices - has soared in recent months, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine raised concerns of potential global supply issues.
Fuel prices had already been rising after economies reopened from coronavirus lockdowns, prompting a surge in demand.
A month ago, diesel across the UK averaged 176.47p a litre and 131.64p a litre a year ago, the AA said. Meanwhile petrol a month ago cost an average of 162.40p a litre and 129.31p a year ago, it added.
"With the cost of filling up now above £100, what had once been a 'dash for diesel' among UK car owners is rapidly becoming the death of diesel," said Luke Bosdet, the AA's spokesman on pump prices.
"Diesel's new record price is the latest nail in the coffin of the diesel car, after it had been demonised for its emissions in an urban environment.
"However, a diesel car's 15%-20% better fuel consumption compared to a petrol equivalent out on the open road means less CO2 emissions and would make it more attractive were it not for the current higher cost of refuelling," Mr Bosdet said. | /news/business-61637028 | eng |
business | California's cannabis-growing nuns pray for profits | Merced County sits in the middle of California's Central Valley.
For as far as the eye can see, there are identical rows of crops, with the occasional farmhouse or family home.
One of these homes looks unassuming from the outside.
re's nothing unusual about the building or the land around it, except that there's a small group of women, wearing pristine white habits, burning incense, and singing hymns as they walk in step blessing their cannabis plants.
women are the "Sisters of the Valley," better known as the Weed Nuns.
Lead by Sister Kate, the women are members of a self-proclaimed enclave of nuns who identify as healers and feminists, but more importantly, business people. They do not represent an official religion.
"I chose an industry that is messed up," Sister Kate says. "It's going to probably be messed up and I'm probably going to have to do a lot of dancing and sidestepping."
She's referring to all the confusing technicalities in the laws surrounding California's cannabis industry.
California is home to the so-called "green rush" of cannabis production. It was the first state to legalise medical marijuana in 1996, and recreational use has been legal since 2016.
's law, however, is full of regulatory loopholes, which means the legality of marijuana cultivation varies from county to county and city to city.
So while it's legal to use cannabis in the state, nearly two-thirds of California cities have banned marijuana businesses, with others making it extremely difficult to obtain permits.
means that for the Sisters of the Valley, growing their 60 plants outside, here in Merced County, does not fall within the law.
"The sheriffs know that, they just let me do this," admits Sister Kate. "But there's really no reason for them to let me.
"They could have shut me down by now just because it's illegal to grow hemp [cannabis] in this county.
"But I think that they know we will just challenge the law and get it changed then in the county… And I think they know it would be a fight they don't want to undertake."
re's a second home on the property which the sisters call "the abbey"- it's where all the medicine-making takes place.
Sister Camilla carefully pours super-strength CBD oil into tincture bottles.
roduce and sell all their own hemp-based medicines and salves, a business that before the pandemic was grossing $1.2m a year (£1m).
Despite praying for, and blessing every batch, they're now making half that.
Selling through dispensaries might help them rebuild, but that would mean even more regulations, and higher taxes.
wenty miles down the road, in downtown Merced, Joel Rodriguez, who runs the local cannabis shop, is operating legally.
However, California has put so many taxes in place on the cannabis supply chain, Mr Rodrigez says it is putting people out of business, or pushing people to operate outside the legal regulations.
He is one of many cannabis businesses in California that complain of stifling taxes and high operating costs.
"Dealing with the tax rates as well as having the overheads that black-market dealers don't have to deal with - rent insurance payroll, just basic stuff like internet - those kinds of things we have to deal with everyday, we can't write that off, and that all goes into the end cost for the customer."
fee for a retail license in California is $1,000.
After that there are annual state administrative and regulatory fees that can add up to tens of thousands of dollars a year for small businesses, and close to $100,000 for larger operations.
Operating legally is much more expensive than operating illegally, acting as an incentive to dealers.
gal trade in marijuana is estimated to be worth around $8bn, roughly twice as big as the legal trade in California in 2021.
One underground dealer, who did not want to be identified by name, says he can offer a better product and make more profit by working outside legal parameters.
"Just trying to get that license is going to cost you about a million dollars," he says. "And in the industry that we're in, you can accumulate a million dollars just off of doing what you're doing by making it available to everyone who doesn't have a card or doesn't have a car to get to a club."
roughout California, those who once arrested people for cannabis offences now embrace legal businesses.
"We need to make it a little bit easier for those folks that are doing it lawfully," says Chief Ruben Chavez of the Gustine Police Department in the Central Valley. "Make it easier for them to be able to produce the product and not have to go through so many hoops."
So far this year, California has received nearly $580m dollars in tax revenue and Chief Ruben believes easing regulations would lead to more revenue for his city and help his department's efforts to eradicate the illegal trade.
"Our resources are dwindling," he says. "But if we can get some revenue, some assistance, not only from the state, maybe from the Feds to go after those folks that are doing it illegally… If you stop the illegal growers, the illegal operations a little more, I think the lawful, business community will pick up more [revenue]."
roach would benefit growers like the Weed Nuns, Sister Kate says.
"The truth is, I'd love for them to permit us, because that would be a win. And because we believe in paying taxes." | /news/business-63393214 | eng |
business | People delay turning heating on as UK inflation soars | rate at which prices rose in September has returned to a 40-year high as a BBC survey uncovers growing concern about the squeeze on finances.
rice of cereals, milk and cheese all went up along with energy bills and transport costs.
Some 85% of those asked are now worried about the rising cost of living, up from 69% in a similar poll in January.
As a result, nine in 10 people are trying to save money by delaying putting the heating on.
rising cost of food, fuel and energy dominate fears about rising costs, the survey of 4,132 shows.
Almost half of people (47%) polled in the Savanta Comres survey for the BBC said that energy bills were the most significant increase in cost seen by their household.
Nearly nine in 10 of those asked were turning lights off to save money in the last week, as well as turning electrical goods off standby.
urvey was conducted earlier this month before Chancellor Jeremy Hunt reversed some tax cuts, said support on energy bills would be limited for some, and warned of further government spending cuts.
But more than half of those polled (56%) expect their financial position to worsen in the next six months. It was 30% in January.
wo-thirds of renters who were asked said it had been difficult to pay for essential costs in the last six months. A similar proportion of everyone surveyed said that government support was insufficient to help people with the rising cost of living.
f living rose by 10.1% in the 12 months to September - the fastest rate in 40 years - driven by sharp price rises in energy and food costs.
Food and energy prices have been going up around the world following Russia's invasion of Ukraine which has disrupted production and exports, as well as pushing up prices at supermarket tills.
September's inflation figures are usually used to calculate next April's rise in the state pension in the UK and the increase in some benefits. It is unclear if the government still intends to stick to this policy or cut down on spending by increasing payments by a lower level by linking the increase to wages instead.
Over half (52%) of UK adults say it has already been difficult for their household to pay essential household costs in the last six months.
People are changing their spending habits to help them cope, cutting back on clothes spending for themselves and their children, taking fewer day trips as well as travelling less to meet up with family or friends, the BBC survey shows.
People are also putting off big purchases such as buying a new car, sofa or TV or renovating their homes.
Among UK adults worried about the cost of living, two thirds have also said this is having a negative effect on their mental health.
Naomi Naylor from Durham is in her of third year of studying to be a paramedic at the University of Sunderland. She worries about the impact higher petrol costs will have on her finances.
ree-quarters of workers in the North East normally commute to work by car, so rising fuel prices can really hit personal finances.
"I commute in and out every day, it's cheaper not paying for accommodation. Petrol is my biggest outlay, it's costing me more than it used to."
21-year old says she and most of her friends want to stay around this area, but there's also competition for graduate paramedic jobs, which means some may need to look further afield for work.
uld push up their travel costs even more, adding to her concerns.
In Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's emergency announcement on Monday to cut back government spending, the help to limit energy bills rises for households was cut back from two years to six months.
reasury will review support given from April, but Mr Hunt said there would be "a new approach" targeting those in the most need.
A spokesman for the Treasury said the government had reversed the rise in National Insurance and made changes to help people on universal credit.
"Countries around the world are facing rising costs, driven by Putin's illegal war in Ukraine, and we know this is affecting people here in the UK," he said.
"That is why we have taken decisive actions to hold down bills this winter through the Energy Price Guarantee and provided at least £1,200 of additional cost-of-living support to eight million of the most vulnerable households."
What is your experience of the cost of living crisis? What are your questions about it? Email your stories and questions to: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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Make Sense of Food Prices
Find out why food prices are also on the rise.
Watch now on BBC iPlayer (UK only). | /news/business-63240629 | eng |
business | Pound rises as Liz Truss announces resignation | und rose against the dollar and government borrowing costs dipped as the markets reacted to Prime Minister Liz Truss's resignation.
Sterling hit $1.13 as Ms Truss made her announcement and rose higher in the afternoon before falling back to $1.12.
One analyst said investors were "relieved" by the news, despite a lot of uncertainty remaining.
Business groups said the new prime minister would have to act quickly to restore confidence.
A fall in the value of the pound increases the price of goods and services imported into the UK from overseas - because when the pound is weak against the dollar or euro, for example, it costs more for companies in the UK to buy things such as food, raw materials or parts from abroad.
A weaker pound can push rising costs higher as well if companies choose to pass on higher prices to customers. For people planning a trip overseas, changes in the pound affect how far money can go abroad.
While the pound plunged to a record low against the dollar last month, government borrowing costs rose sharply in the aftermath of the government promising huge tax cuts in its mini-budget without saying how it would pay for them.
But these costs fell back after the Bank of England stepped in with an emergency support programme, and after Jeremy Hunt reversed nearly all the mini-budget measures when he became chancellor.
Mr Hunt is due to announce plans for spending and tax on 31 October in his economic plan, which the Treasury confirmed was set to go ahead, although there are reports it could be delayed due to the Conservative leadership contest.
"Although the resignation of Liz Truss as prime minister leaves the UK without a leader when it faces huge economic, fiscal and financial market challenges, the markets appear to be relieved," said Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics.
"But more needs to be done and the new prime minister and their chancellor have a big task to navigate the economy through the cost of living crisis, cost of borrowing crisis and the cost of credibility crisis."
Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Gordon, said the market reaction had been "fairly muted", with investors waiting for the "detail of what comes next".
Ms Truss said her successor would be elected in a Tory leadership contest, to be completed in the next week. Her resignation came after a key minister quit and Tory MPs rebelled in a chaotic parliamentary vote on Wednesday.
Mr French said the markets could rally "more aggressively" if a clear favourite emerged for PM. "The sooner you get there the more likely the person who has won will have the support to do the difficult stuff."
f the CBI business lobby group, Tony Danker, said: "The politics of recent weeks have undermined the confidence of people, businesses, markets and global investors in Britain.
"[The next prime minister] will need to deliver a credible fiscal plan for the medium term as soon as possible, and a plan for the long-term growth of our economy."
rime minister was the author of her own demise.
She would still be prime minister had she not pushed ahead with the mini-budget, which caused her economic experiment, the entire basis of her leadership mandate, to fail in full view of the country and the world.
Her conference would have been about the generous energy guarantee help, and not the 45p tax rate. Last week would have been about the fall in gas prices across Europe perhaps and global inflation, not the corporation tax U-turn and Kwasi Kwarteng's sacking.
robably would have been about the Russian use of missiles in the Black Sea.
And even then, she probably could have got much of the mini-budget through the House of Commons and past the markets with a more patient approach. Her resignation though is about much more than a Number 10 exit. The question now is whether it will end the instability, or if what comes next might make it even worse.
rest rate - or yield - on UK government bonds for borrowing over a 10-year period climbed above 4% at one point on Thursday morning, but then fell back steadily as speculation grew about the possible departure of Ms Truss.
, the government agrees to repay the investor on a certain date in the future when a bond "matures". In the meantime, it pays interest on the loan.
However, the mini-budget hit confidence in bonds, and it led to investors demanding a much higher rate of interest in return for investing in them. Some bonds halved in value.
Following the PM's statement, the yield edged higher again to about 3.8%, but still remained below the level seen at the start of the day.
Ahead of Liz Truss's resignation, Bill Blain of Shard Capital had told the BBC that the markets had been "watching in a kind of stunned, open-mouthed horror" at political events.
"The problem we've got is that the last couple of weeks has really destroyed the image of political competency and that's one of the key elements to make any economy work," he said. | /news/business-63326809 | eng |
business | What the new Liz Truss energy plan means for you | w Prime Minister, Liz Truss, has outlined her plans to deal with soaring energy bills faced by households and businesses.
At its heart is a move to limit the 80% rise in domestic bills that was earmarked for October.
what it means for you.
You will still pay for the gas and electricity you use. But the government's Energy Price Guarantee will limit the price that suppliers can charge for each unit of energy.
For a typical household - one that uses 12,000 kWh (kilowatt hours) of gas a year, and 2,900 kWh of electricity a year - it means an annual bill will not rise above £2,500 from October. Without this intervention, that annual bill would have been £3,549 a year. Last winter it was £1,277 a year.
However, if you use more gas or electricity than that, you will pay more.
guarantee will last for two years.
In precise terms, the average unit price for dual fuel customers paying by direct debit will be limited to 34.0p per kilowatt hour (kWh) for electricity and 10.3p per kWh for gas.
Standing charges will still see the slight rise planned for October.
Not directly on your bill or taxes. However, the government is paying for this by borrowing the money. That adds it to the pot of national debt. The prime minister says the cost will be outlined later this month.
In time, that could be paid for through taxation, but at the moment the government will borrow the money on international markets and pay a premium as a result.
So-called "green levies" will be moved off bills, and again paid for through borrowing on taxation.
Yes, these can amount to hundreds of pounds this winter.
So far, a first instalment of £326 has been paid to low-income households on certain benefits and tax credits.
re is also a £400 discount on bills for all households over the winter.
ments will only be paid this winter, under current plans, whereas the cap will be in place for two years. So, there will be an effective rise in what householders pay next winter.
government says that the same level of support will be provided to households in Northern Ireland, as it is in the rest of the UK.
However, this will require legislation.
rime minister said a fund will be created to support those who are not covered by a cap, but she did not say how big that fund would be.
udes people who use heating oil in their homes, those who have communal heating schemes, and people in mobile home parks who pay the park owner rather than a supplier.
More details will come later, but this will be an extremely complex task.
government did say there would be a payment of £100 to households across the UK who are not covered by the price guarantee.
However, some issues are still outstanding. For example, people in park homes do not yet know how they will receive the £400 discount available to everyone - and that was announced months ago.
Fixed deals allow you to pay for energy at a set rate for a set period of time, but you are locked in.
Plenty of people whose fixed deals have expired in recent months may have considered fixing again, given the outlook of rising energy prices.
xtremely expensive option, but one which some understandably chose to take given the eyewatering forecasts of soaring bills.
rime minister did not mention fixed deals in her statement. However, since then, the government has said that fixed rate deals which are higher than than price cap rate will be automatically discounted by 17p per kWh for electricity and 4.2p per kWh for gas at the start of October.
quivalent of a £1,000 or so reduction for a household using a typical amount of energy. However, it means somebody on a fixed rate could still be paying a higher unit charge than the price cap - if their fix had been much more expensive.
re is no automatic right to cancel a fixed deal without a penalty, unless you fixed within the last 14 days. It may be the individuals need to negotiate with their provider.
Businesses will get support, with bills capped for six months, a shorter period of protection than many had hoped for.
upport will focus on businesses on variable deals, or whose contracts are soon to come to an end. More details are here. | /news/business-62833623 | eng |
business | People cut back on food, fuel and clothes as prices rise, BBC survey suggests | People struggling with the soaring cost of living are cutting back on food and car journeys to save money, according to a BBC-commissioned survey.
More than half (56%) the 4,011 people asked had bought fewer groceries, and the same proportion had skipped meals.
findings reveal the widespread impact of prices rising at their fastest rate for 40 years.
Many people have cut spending on clothes and socialising. Some say their mental health has been affected.
wo-thirds of those surveyed also suggested government support provided so far was insufficient.
BBC-commissioned survey of 4,011 UK adults in early June lifts a lid on how the economic climate is affecting lives and financial, physical and mental health.
f domestic energy, petrol, and food have all increased significantly in recent months, and the findings suggest more than eight in 10 people (81%) are worried about the rising cost of living.
Concern has grown since the start of the year when 69% of those asked said they were worried in a similar BBC survey.
In the latest results, two thirds (66%) of those with worries said this was having a negative effect on their mental health. Nearly half (45%) said their physical health had been affected.
Day-to-day, individuals are making further changes to manage their budgets. The survey suggests this can be as simple as going on fewer nights out, or getting a haircut less often.
For charity worker Janine Colwill, from Easington, and those she talks to, the changes have been more fundamental.
"We get together with the family every Sunday, religiously, for Sunday roast - but my family and other families are starting to grow their own vegetables," she said.
"Those people who may not have worried about these things before are now worrying about them constantly.
"With advances in technology, I never would have thought that people would be relying on a food bank or growing their own - and just penny-pinching," she said.
urvey suggests people are finding various ways to manage and save their money. The findings include:
About half (52%) expect to work more hours in the next six months to help to pay the bills.
, the UK's largest supermarket, said in a trading update for the three months to 28 May that it was seeing early signs that shoppers are changing their habits due to inflation, such as buying less food and visiting more frequently.
Chief executive Ken Murphy also said people are switching to cheaper own-label brands for goods including bread and pasta which have seen prices soar due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, both of which are major wheat exporters.
Prices, as measured by inflation, are rising at a rate of 9% a year, the fastest for 40 years. Interest rates, which also affect the cost of living, were increased to 1.25% on Thursday by the Bank of England - the highest they have been for 13 years.
uation is being driven, to a significant degree, by global factors such as the cost of oil, gas and food.
But there are UK-specific issues which are adding to inflation such as the tight labour market. Job vacancies are at a record high of 1.3 million meaning employers face paying higher wages to fill roles.
Also, the UK's dominant services sector - which includes the likes of accountancy and law firms, as well as restaurants and pubs - is seeing price rises.
Drivers now have to spend £103 for petrol and £106 for diesel to fill a family car, according to the RAC. The Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) has predicted food prices will rise at a rate of 15% this summer as households pay more for staples such as bread, meat, dairy and fruit and vegetables.
A typical household in England, Wales and Scotland is likely to see a rise in its annual domestic gas and electricity bill of £800 in October, on top of a £700 rise in April.
urge in inflation is hitting wide and hitting deep, with the effects leading to significant changes in the way lives are being lived well beyond those on low incomes.
Large swathes of Britain's middle income working households are having to make material cutbacks and even after that are part of a new class of those "just about managing".
In practice this has meant energy bill direct debits wiping out people's entire disposable income, some food banks running out of food donations, or their donors becoming users.
And it may be changing attitudes, with nearly two-thirds of those asked saying even after the recent package of support for energy bills from the government, that it is not enough. And the numbers suggest a similar proportion think the support in place needs to last at least a year longer.
Inflation this high certainly changes the economy and our spending behaviour.
But the figures raise a question about whether the high levels of government support in the pandemic and in this energy crisis too, are now becoming baked into public expectations.
Soaring prices have led the government to announce a package of financial support directed primarily at those on low incomes. This includes a £400 discount on all energy bills in October, in addition to payments totalling £650 to people on means-tested benefits. Pensioners will get more this winter, as will billpayers with disabilities.
However, the BBC survey reveals that 64% of those asked said this support was insufficient to help people with the rising cost of living.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke said vulnerable households would receive £1,200 which he said was part of a "very large" amount of support, on top of what had already been provided.
He said the first payments would come in July, and would continue into the autumn to offset the key driver of the rising cost of living for households, which was energy bills.
"That, of course, is yet to filter through to people, which is why I suspect people are saying they want more support," he told the BBC.
"As this gathers pace, it will be clear to people that this will be a comprehensive package."
mpact of rising household costs has already led to the financial regulator warning lenders that they need to do more to help those in financial difficulty and support vulnerable customers.
"Early action is important for those struggling with debt," said Sheldon Mills, of the Financial Conduct Authority. | /news/business-61813857 | eng |
business | Mini-budget damaged the UK's reputation, says Bank of England boss | Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, told the BBC he believed that September's mini-budget had "damaged" the UK's standing internationally.
He said that at a recent International Monetary Fund gathering in Washington "it was very apparent to me that the UK's position and the UK's standing has been damaged". | /news/business-63505329 | eng |
business | Ring doorbell inventor shares advice... about advice | Jamie Siminoff invented the Ring wireless doorbell and is the Ring company's CEO, which was acquired by Amazon in 2018. He shares his business advice for the CEO Secrets series.
Video by series producer Dougal Shaw | /news/business-62966924 | eng |
business | Wales only part of UK to see employment fall | Unemployment in Wales continues to be low but it has become the only UK area where the number of people employed fell in the three months to June.
jobless rate is 3.8%, the same as for the UK as a whole, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Meanwhile, pay has dropped by 3% on the year when taking into account rising prices, according to its latest data.
Household budgets have been hit by soaring energy bills as well as higher food and fuel costs in recent months.
figures show that Wales has also seen the biggest increase in the number of people not working but not available for work between March and June.
uld be for a number of reasons, including being unwell, caring for someone or being a full-time student.
As a result, across Wales there were 7,000 fewer employed in June than in the first three months of the year.
For those people in work, pay has been rising but with prices rising much more steeply, the ONS said regular pay fell at the sharpest rate on record between April and June .
In terms of what wages can buy, average pay fell by 3% across the UK compared with a year ago.
Prices are rising at a rate of 9.4% and there are warnings that the economy will stop growing and fall into recession.
Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said the "real value" of pay was continuing to fall.
"Excluding bonuses, it is still dropping faster than at any time since comparable records began in 2001," he said. | /news/uk-wales-62548790 | eng |
business | Star casino: Record fine for Australian operator over money laundering | Australian gambling giant Star Entertainment Group has been fined A$100m ($62m, £55m) for failing to stop money laundering at its Sydney casino.
group's licence to operate the casino has also been suspended.
Star has promised to "do everything in [its] power" to regain its licence and the community's trust.
Casino operators in Australia have been under great pressure to reform their gambling operations following reports of widespread criminal activity.
record penalties were announced in response to a damning inquiry in New South Wales (NSW) earlier this year.
It heard the Star had allowed money laundering and organised crime to infiltrate their Sydney casino, taking a "cavalier" approach to governance and at times making deliberate moves to cover its tracks.
At the time, the regulatory chief Philip Crawford said: "The institutional arrogance of this company has been breathtaking."
fine announced on Monday is the maximum allowed, but the NSW Independent Casino Commission stopped short of removing Star's licence altogether, to protect thousands of jobs.
Under the conditions of the suspension, the casino will still operate under a manager appointed by the regulator.
From Friday the Star will not be able to run the casino on its own until it can "earn" its licence back, Mr Crawford said.
A spokesman for The Star said the company is committed "to charting a path back to suitability".
It has previously promised to increase security staff, improve surveillance, end high-risk international VIP trips known as "junkets" and implement leadership changes.
ready led to the resignation of executives, including former CEO Matt Bekier.
were announced on his replacement Robbie Cooke's first day.
Mr Crawford said the company's "cultural issues" would take time to stamp out, but it had showed signs it could reform under Mr Cooke's leadership.
Star entered a trading halt on Monday morning, which is set to last until Wednesday.
After a similar inquiry in Queensland, The Star was earlier this month also found unsuitable to run its three casinos in that state.
Media investigations have aired allegations of misconduct at various casinos around Australia in recent years, including at those owned by the country's largest gaming and entertainment group - Crown Resorts.
It was fined $80 million by Victorian gambling authorities earlier this year for its failures to stop criminal activity.
Gambling "completely took over my life" | /news/world-australia-63280853 | eng |
business | Northern Ireland economy: Record inflation causes fall in demand | Record inflation has taken its toll on the Northern Ireland economy and caused a fall in demand last month, according to a survey by Ulster Bank.
Every month it asks firms about things like staffing levels, new orders and exports.
urvey is considered a reliable indicator of economic performance.
In July, business activity in Northern Ireland fell at the fastest rate since February 2021, with a drop in both output and new orders.
Outside of the Covid pandemic and lockdown restrictions, it was the sharpest contraction since November 2012.
rop in demand was seen across all sectors of the economy but was most marked in retail.
Richard Ramsey, Ulster Bank's chief economist in Northern Ireland, said: "Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the cost-of-living crisis, retail recorded the steepest declines in sales and orders.
"Retail sales have plunged over the last three months and retailers expect sales to be broadly unchanged in 12 months' time."
urvey was that firms were still taking on more staff.
Mr Ramsey added: "Employment continues to be a bright spot with all four sectors increasing their staffing levels in July.
"But with the Bank of England forecasting a UK recession, a softening in the labour market will be expected going into 2023.
"That said, the labour market is likely to be much more robust this time than in previous recessions." | /news/uk-northern-ireland-62525332 | eng |
business | Orkney Christmas businesses hit by Royal Mail strikes | Businesses in Orkney have said they are being hit hard by the Royal Mail strikes in the build-up to Christmas.
Negotiations between the organisation and the CWU union, over pay and conditions, have stalled.
With uncertainty over delivery dates, some business owners in Orkney are reporting a drop in online sales.
Members of the CWU are due to continue striking on Sunday as well as on 14, 15, 23 and 24 December.
Judith Glue's knitwear shop has been a fixture on Kirkwall's Broad Street since 1979.
She was an early pioneer of online sales in Orkney, and now sends goods worldwide via her website.
She says she has lost thousands of pounds of sales of Orcadian food hampers, as the postal strikes mean perishable items cannot be sent.
"It's had quite a serious affect on our business," she said.
"We made the decision to send them out in the first two weeks of December, but we're not guaranteeing Christmas delivery."
She said they had moved to more non-perishable items - for example less smoked salmon and farmhouse cheese.
"Sadly, this has affected our suppliers as well, as we've not been able to order the same quantity as other years.
"This situation has shown how essential the Royal Mail is for Orkney. I don't think people realise how much the islands rely on the postal service."
Sheila Fleet Jewellery is also based in Kirkwall, as well as having a gallery and cafe in Tankerness.
r goods globally, using Orkney's airmail service to get the parcels to mainland Scotland.
"It's having a profound effect on our business," managing director Martin Fleet said.
"We rely on the Royal Mail's special delivery service, it's been a lifeline to us for many years.
"With the strikes coming up, our team has had to work incredibly hard to get as many parcels out as soon as we could, in order not to let any of our customers down."
He said they supported some of the reasons behind the strike, but said it had the potential to be "absolutely devastating" to the business.
"I really hope they can find a resolution, so that the universal postal service can continue," he said.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "Royal Mail continues to deploy contingency plans to keep communities, businesses and the country connected throughout the CWU's industrial action.
"We apologise for any disruption and delay that CWU strike action is causing to our customers in Orkney."
Last week, Royal Mail advised people to post Christmas mail earlier than usual.
CWU said staff want a pay rise to match the soaring cost of living and accused management of trying to "force through thousands of compulsory redundancies".
Royal Mail plans to cut 10,000 jobs by next August, including 5-6,000 redundancies. The company said it "will do all we can to avoid compulsory redundancies, including offering a voluntary redundancy scheme".
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | /news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-63915821 | eng |
business | Iceland to launch over-60s discount as cost of living soars | Iceland is to launch a new discount for shoppers who are over 60, as soaring prices hit household budgets.
upermarket chain said it would offer over-60s 10% off every Tuesday to support its older customers through the cost of living crisis.
move comes as supermarkets battle for customers, with prices rising at their fastest rate for 40 years.
Morrisons and Asda, which have been losing shoppers to discounters Aldi and Lidl, have already cut prices.
Grocery prices were 5.9% higher in April than a year ago, according to research company Kantar.
figure was the biggest increase since December 2011, with supply chain issues, increased raw material costs and the war in Ukraine all contributing to rising food prices.
Iceland's new discount will be launched from 24 May, with anyone aged 60 or over able to use it every Tuesday in-store at branches of Iceland and The Food Warehouse.
Shoppers will need to show proof of age, such as a driving licence or senior bus or rail pass, and the discount will cover all products, with no minimum spend.
Iceland said it was the first UK supermarket to introduce such a discount and decided to do so after research by Age UK found three-quarters of older people in the UK were worried about the rising cost of living.
Last Christmas, Iceland also ran a regional trial offering £30 vouchers to those receiving state pension and the company said it was now exploring a national rollout ready for this summer.
Richard Walker, managing director at Iceland, said the chain had a "long history" of supporting older customers, including offering dedicated shopping hours for elderly and vulnerable people during the pandemic.
"The cost of living crisis has made support for these customers even more important, which is why I'm proud that we're finding new ways to support them, including the launch of this discount. We hope it will help all those in this age category to cut costs where they can," he said.
UK inflation - the rate at which prices rise - jumped to 9% in the 12 months to April, up from 7% in March.
urge was driven by higher electricity and gas bills, after millions of people saw an unprecedented £700-a-year increase in energy costs last month.
Increased fuel and food costs also contributed, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Research from Kantar suggests shoppers are turning to discount retailers as pressure on budgets grows, with Aldi the fastest growing supermarket at the beginning of this year, followed by Lidl.
Many rivals have also cut their prices to compete.
In March Asda said it would bring out a budget range called "Just Essentials" in May.
Its announcement came after the supermarket was criticised by food poverty campaigner and chef Jack Monroe for raising the prices of its value products or removing them from some stores.
Meanwhile, last month Morrisons said it would offer an average 13% price cut on more than 500 goods.
Sainsbury's also said it was trying to limit price increases despite facing higher costs from suppliers, lowering the prices of 150 of its most popular products. | /news/business-61512945 | eng |
business | Liz's big bazooka or the Truss blunderbuss? | Your energy bills are going up in less than two weeks, by around a quarter. That's if you are on dual fuel gas and electricity, on a flexible tariff and if you haven't yet found ways to cut back on usage.
rise from nearly £2,000 for a typical British home to a maximum of around £2,500 is what we're to call the Energy Price Guarantee. It replaces the energy price cap, introduced four years ago to stop energy firms charging rip-off rates for those who can't be bothered shopping around.
Now, no-one is shopping around. There isn't much choice. The only option now is to hunker down for a tough winter.
If you missed out on the announcement of the Energy Price Guarantee, it's probably because Liz Truss announced it minutes before it was also announced that the Queen required "medical supervision". She died a few hours later and the rest really has been history.
If you missed out on the detail of the Energy Price Guarantee, that's because there wasn't much to be had. The £2,500 level is a rough estimate, knocking £1,049 off the price Ofgem had set as a limit from 1 October. That's for the typical home, not for all homes - the cap is on the price per unit of gas or power.
Liz Truss was, you may recall, only two days into her Downing Street residency, having paid not much evident attention during the Conservative leadership campaign to the clamour for some clarity on what government was going to do.
In August, wholesale prices for gas were soaring to 15 times the steady level they were at before August 2021. In energy markets, there was a dash for gas, to secure contracts which could fill Europe's reserve tanks ahead of winter.
Because Germany and other countries were pulling back on gas use in summer that goal of having the tanks 80% full was achieved faster than expected. The traders pulled back on some scarily high prices.
Britain doesn't have much storage capacity beyond the original sub-sea oil and gas reservoirs, and while there are signs of less British demand for energy in recent months, it's due to a response to high prices rather than significant effort or exhortation by government.
So having reached dizzying heights of scariness, which fed through the Ofgem price cap formula to independent forecasts of price rises in January to more than £5,000 a year for the typical household, wholesale gas prices have fallen by more than half.
're still more than six times the level we were used to, but for now, the really truly scary bit is over. And with an adjustment to an energy future which is not reliant on Russia, it's getting harder for the Kremlin and its state-controlled oil corporations to exert further price leverage over Europe and Britain.
Lower prices will be a relief for the Treasury, which wrote a blank cheque for Liz Truss's price guarantee. However high the wholesale prices, the government is going to pay the difference between the actual cost and that typical £2,500 bill. If it were to rise to £5,500, that would put the government on the hook for more than half the cost - borrowing £3,000 to pay the difference for that typical home.
Quite how it pays for this is yet to become clear, but we're assuming it will get added to Britain's already high pile of debt.
If things go badly with wholesale prices, the cost could be around £150bn. If wholesale prices stabilise, it might look more like £50bn.
f servicing that extra debt, as interest rates rise, is becoming more of a burden, squeezing out expenditure on public services, and handing the bill to future taxpayers.
And while money markets are still willing to lend to Britain, the value of sterling against the US dollar suggests they are taking a dimming view of Britain's economic prospects. It may require higher interest rates if currency traders are to prop up the pound.
gh and uncertain cost is just one of the reasons why economist commentary on Liz Truss's 8 September announcement was less than flattering. Deemed at the time to be the defining moment for her premiership, the gist of it was that the support package had become politically unavoidable, but that this was not a good way of designing it.
Paul Johnson, at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said it was "deeply disappointing" that we had such a radical and expensive departure from the norm with not one hint of costing.
government "needs to be immediately working out its exit strategy from this huge and costly intervention. It is concerning that it appears to be committing to this policy through next year as well as this.
He said: "It is perhaps forgivable not to be able to come up with something better designed and better targeted right now. Surely there should now be a concerted effort to come up with something better for next winter. Failure to do so would be enormously costly."
Institute focused on two other questionable elements of this package beyond its cost. One is the price signal: if the price of anything goes up, that's a message to consumers that they should look for ways to use less of it. But if gas prices are capped, that incentive is also capped, and the transition to alternative sources or lower energy use is slowed.
Feel free to take my own example: I'm thinking of getting solar panels installed on the roof. The higher the cost of electricity from the grid, the more attractive it becomes to invest in something that replaces it. So the calculation on whether that makes financial sense or not - leaving aside the environmental case - is changed by the price guarantee on electricity.
So on current assumptions, for every £1 spent on energy, the UK government will be paying 75 pence. As billpayers, we are therefore paying less than the economic cost, we have less incentive to reduce demand. And therefore on a limited supply, with prices capped, rationing is one possible consequence, even if the new prime minister says it won't happen on her watch.
re's the targeting. The IFS calculates that the package of support - including the Energy Price Guarantee, plus £400 per household, plus £150 off many people's council tax bills, plus a range of grants for those on benefits totting up to a potential extra £1,200 - should bring £1,600 of benefits to the poorest tenth of households, while it is worth £2,000 to the top tenth for income.
While, according to the IFS, households tend to spend similar amounts on energy, the share of their income that goes on it is very different. The benefit should be worth 14% of income to the lowest earners, and 5% to the top earners. So the same amount of money to a high earner is less effective at going where it's needed. Just over half of this support package goes to the better-off half of people.
It's something like the blunderbuss - that early form of shotgun that scattered pellets in all directions, which could prove useful over a short distance but was hopeless over the longer range.
IFS goes on to point out that targeting the funds at the lowest income tenth of households still fails to reach the people most in need.
It says one quarter of that low pay decile pay bills of less than £1,250 a year, while a different quarter will be paying more than £3,500, even after they've prices guaranteed. Either they live in hard-to-heat homes or they have greater need of warmth, for reasons of age or medical conditions. Or both.
National Institute of Economic and Social Research takes a similar view to the IFS, but with different assumptions about energy use by better off households, it seems even more skewed towards those who least need the help.
It says the lowest income tenth save around £1,200 or 8% of their income, while the highest income tenth of households save more than £2,000, thanks to government borrowing, or 1% of income.
It had suggested a tapered subsidy, which is withdrawn the more energy a household uses.
Max Mosley, an NIESR economist, said: "The prime minister's energy plan is appropriate in terms of scale and ambition, but is needlessly inefficient and expensive.
"Its untargeted nature makes the currently unfunded proposal wasteful, which will put pressure on public finances, and for an unknown amount of time. There are better options, including a variable price cap that would have gone further in lowering the bills for the poorest and could have even paid for itself."
What about think tanks closer to Conservative government thinking? At the start of this month, before Liz Truss's announcement, the Social Market Foundation published its recommendation that funding a bailout for households had to come from a combination of taxpayers and billpayers, with their shares "to be negotiated".
"A 30-year funding facility for energy companies should be created, secured by collateral assets to encourage bank lending," it said.
"The cost of purchasing the collateral assets should be shared between taxpayers and shareholders in energy providers, on a basis to be negotiated.
"The facility should make loans that could be in place for up to 30 years, reflecting the fact it may take decades for providers to recoup, through household bills, the subsidy implicit in an artificially low cap".
revious week, it had cited new survey evidence suggesting that the public was swinging behind a scheme targeted at those most in need of support.
Institute of Economic Affairs, styling itself "the original free market think tank" is least impressed with the Liz Truss response. It is a firm believer in the price signal as a means of reducing demand.
Andy Mayer, its energy analyst, didn't hold back. He said: "The energy price freeze is middle class welfare on steroids. It represents a gigantic, untargeted handout to households funded by an increase in debt. It will mean future taxpayers subsidising hot tubs, heating swimming pools, and cooling wine cellars.
"Price controls don't work. The freeze will encourage more energy use, risking blackouts, and discouraging investment in energy saving.
"It would be better to use targeted welfare and tax cuts to help those who need it."
A blog on the IFS website cites the International Monetary Fund in its support, saying: "Many European governments have taken measures to delay the pass-through of wholesale to retail energy prices through tax reductions or price controls.
measures are an inefficient tool to protect the economically vulnerable, are fiscally costly, and they mute the demand adjustment to the price shock, including energy-conserving behaviour and energy efficiency investments."
IEA supports measures that compensate people after they have seen how much more their energy costs, again quoting the IMF: "Policy responses to the surge in energy costs should aim to preserve the price signal while providing targeted support.
"For households, lump-sum cash transfers, vouchers, or fixed discounts on utility bills are appropriate means of providing income support without distorting marginal energy prices, thus conserving the incentive to reduce energy consumption."
All that is before we consider the challenge for business and voluntary sector. Without a price cap, they have been facing soaring energy bills for months where they did not hedge in advance. Many of them face a new contract in October, if they can find a company willing to commit to a fixed price.
And although promised an equivalent level of support to households, though for six months rather than two years, it is not clear how the system will work in a fair way across business.
Some firms have low fixed rates, some have a complex buying strategy that includes some fixed and some flexible prices, which is where much of Scotland's public sector seems to be.
We're told today that the plan could be set out this Wednesday by the new business secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg. That's after being told of the many ways in which this is very difficult policy to nail down.
From next April, once the initial promise to business has ended, policy could focus instead on government picking the most vulnerable and the most deserving companies. Choosing who qualifies will be even more weighted with difficulty. | /news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-62946218 | eng |
business | Furniture firm Made collapse: Customers in the dark over refunds | Online furniture firm Made.com has gone into administration, leading to hundreds of job losses and leaving customers in the dark over refunds.
ministrators PWC said there will be 399 job losses, mostly redundancies.
firm's collapse leaves thousands of customers facing uncertainty over outstanding furniture orders.
Around 12,000 UK orders are outstanding and customers will not get a refund from the firm, but may be able to claim one from their bank or card provider.
Next is buying Made's brand name, website and intellectual property for £3.4m, although it will not be buying the remaining stock.
Natalie, 38, from County Antrim, was waiting for a £1,800 refund from Made.com when she received news that the firm had collapsed.
"I ordered a left-hand version of a sofa. Instead, I received two parts of the wrong sofa, which didn't even fit together!", said Natalie.
She has appealed to her lender to ask if they can help and has had to order another sofa in the meantime.
UK and European customer orders currently with delivery companies will be fulfilled. But orders which have been paid for but not yet dispatched will not be refunded or delivered.
Lisa Webb, consumer rights expert at Which?, said for customers with outstanding orders, exercising their rights is not always straightforward.
"It is always worth trying to claim for a refund in this situation, but customers should know it is not guaranteed," she said.
She pointed out that if customers bought an item costing more than £100 on their credit card, that card provider is jointly responsible.
In that case, consumers can claim under Section 75 if an item is faulty or not delivered, and if it cost less than £100 and a credit or debit card was used, they might be able to claim the amount back via a chargeback through their bank.
Sarah, 46, from York, told the BBC that she has been waiting for 14 weeks for a sofa bed that has not yet arrived.
After paying £270 and receiving a notification that the item had been shipped, she says she has not heard from the company.
Sarah described her "disappointment" about not receiving the product, as well as the fact she heard more about the company's collapse on social media than from Made itself.
f executive of Made, Nicola Thompson, apologised to everyone affected by the business going into administration, adding that the firm had "fought tooth and nail" to avoid this outcome.
She described Made.com as a "much-loved brand" that had thrived in a world of lower prices, stable demand from its customers and reliable supply chains.
But she continued: "That world vanished, the business could not survive in its current iteration, and we could not pivot fast enough. The brand will now continue under new owners."
It is a dramatic change in fortunes for the brand, which boomed during the pandemic-related lockdowns as people bought more furniture and other products online.
retailer, which sourced furniture directly from designers and manufacturers, gained a loyal base of mostly younger customers. Last year, it was valued at £775m after floating on the London Stock Exchange.
But more recently the company hit problems, as households cut back on big-ticket purchases. Global supply chain issues have also left customers waiting months for deliveries.
Made.com had already halted new orders recently and said it is currently not offering refunds or accepting returns from customers, although it is still intending to fulfil some previous orders.
Made.com announced its intention to appoint administrators last week. It had originally hoped to find a buyer for the whole business.
However, the company's co-founder and former boss wrote in a LinkedIn post that his offer to buy the furniture business was rejected.
Ning Li said he had offered to buy Made with his own cash, saving about 100 jobs, but this "wasn't accepted".
Additional reporting by Olga Smirnova.
Do you have an outstanding order with Made? Do you work for the company? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | /news/business-63539652 | eng |
business | Autistic businessman hopes success will inspire others | A man who was told by his teachers he would amount to nothing says he has proved them wrong by successfully running two car dealerships.
Adam Bignall, 27, from Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, has Asperger's Syndrome and operates by putting post-it notes everywhere.
"It helps me and I've found a way of coping," he said.
Mr Bignall said he was inspired by the receptionist at his school who helped him find work experience.
"I found it very hard to fit in [at school]. Limited friends, limited people who'd understand," Mr Bignall said.
"Making friends was very difficult because everyone was like 'he's different'."
usiness owner said he was "always told I was going to fail".
He struggled with school work and said he did not pass a single written exam.
"But I didn't let it phase me because I thought, I'm going to prove that you can get through life without exams."
usiness owner has had about 10 different jobs but they did not work out. He said owning his own company has given him the flexibility he had always needed.
Mr Bignall added: "If I'm having a bad day there's nothing to stop me locking the door and going home and starting afresh. Working in someone else's environment you cannot do that.
"That's a luxury I have now which I've never had previously and I think that's a massive, massive help."
He said he has a tendency to forget information so uses the reminder app on his phone and a lot of post-it notes.
"It works. It's not ideal. It's a lot of money in post-it notes, but I've found a way of coping," said Mr Bignall.
"Growing up I saw myself as failing everything because that's what I was led to believe. But I didn't and I'm here and I'm still going."
Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-gloucestershire-61786099 | eng |
business | Shell fined for overcharging pre-payment customers | Shell has been fined more than £500,000 for overcharging thousands of customers on pre-payment meters since the energy price cap was introduced in 2019.
giant's home energy supplier failed to implement rate changes to meters due to "operational errors".
Ofgem said: "Overcharging by suppliers can cause additional and unnecessary stress and worry at what is already a very challenging time for consumers."
regulator will announce changes to the energy price cap on Friday.
rgy price cap is the maximum amount suppliers can charge domestic customers in England, Scotland and Wales for each unit of energy.
w cap - which will come into force on 1 October - is forecast to lift the typical household energy bill to around £3,600.
It comes as millions across the country face the fastest rise in the cost of living for four decades. Meanwhile, Shell recently reported record profits of $11.5bn (£9bn) between April and June alone.
Ofgem found that over a period of more than three years since the price cap was introduced in January 2019, Shell overcharged more than 11,000 households, resulting in them having paid above the price cap.
rrors were made when tariff updates were sent to people's prepayment meters to amend rates in response to changes in the level of the price cap, but Shell said that due to a "variety of operational issues", not all meters were successfully altered.
Affected customers will be automatically refunded from a total £106,000 and Shell will also pay £400,000 to Ofgem's voluntary consumer redress fund.
Customers will also get payments from a total of £30,970 in goodwill from the oil giant, which identified the errors and alerted Ofgem.
Out of 22 million households paying the price cap, around 4.5 million are prepayment meter customers who are among some of the country's poorest and most vulnerable households.
rity Citizens Advice has warned that these energy customers are more likely to be on the lowest incomes.
Neil Lawrence, director of retail at Ofgem, said: "Ofgem expects suppliers to adhere to the terms of contracts they have with customers, particularly ensuring they pay no more than the level of the price cap."
A spokesperson for Shell Energy said: "We are sincerely sorry that errors updating our prepayment meter rates resulted in some customers being overcharged for a period of time.
"As soon as we identified the issue we began taking steps to put it right and self-reported it to Ofgem. The overcharge, which averages £9.40 per customer, will be refunded along with a gesture of goodwill." | /news/business-62672781 | eng |
business | Thai army boycotts e-commerce giant Lazada over video | 's army has boycotted online retailer Lazada over an advert that the government is probing for allegedly insulting the country's royal family.
move will see 245,000 members of the Thai military banned from using the e-commerce giant's websites for official purposes.
rict laws over defaming, insulting or threatening senior members of the royal family.
Singapore-based Lazada is one of South East Asia's biggest online retailers.
uncement comes after citizens loyal to the king complained about a TikTok video promoting a Lazada sale on 5 May.
Royalists said the advert, which featured a woman in a wheelchair, mocked the younger sister of King Vajiralongkorn, Princess Chulabhorn, who uses a wheelchair as a result of Lupus, an autoimmune disease.
was "offensive to the monarchy" and "caused disunity in Thai society," Thai army spokeswoman Colonel Sirichan Ngathong said in a statement.
"The army now has a policy to ban all army units and army-related activities from ordering merchandise from Lazada platform or delivering things from Lazada," she added.
's digital economy minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn told reporters that the government was considering legal action against the influencer and the advertising agency responsible for the video, as well as Lazada.
Under Thailand's lese-majeste law courts can hand down jail terms of up to 15 years for each offence of defaming, insulting or threatening King Maha Vajiralongkorn, the queen, their heir or regent.
Lazada, which is the South East Asian unit of Chinese online retail group Alibaba, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the BBC.
Earlier the company apologised for the "emotional damage" caused by the video and said it should have been more careful.
At least half a dozen businesses in Thailand, including some run by the palace, have also suspended use of Lazada because of the video, according to the Reuters news agency.
’s youth rebellion: Protest movement demands monarchy reform | /news/business-61389117 | eng |
business | 'My energy company is refusing to connect my new home' | For Pauline Sinclair, building a new home has always been her dream, but finishing it has become a nightmare.
Despite the house in Orkney being almost ready to move in to, the date of fitting her electricity meter on 8 August has been changed to next year.
She is furious, as being without power will mean spending another winter in a caravan right next to her property.
And she is not alone, as other energy customers are reporting similar difficulties with meter installations.
One builder said it could become a serious issue. | /news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-62321812 | eng |
business | Pound at two-week high after spending plan reports | und has risen to its highest level for two weeks on hopes Kwasi Kwarteng will bring forward details of how he will cut debt.
It rose to $1.14, recovering after the chancellor's plans to fund tax cuts by extra borrowing rattled investors.
und remained high despite confusion over when he would set out his debt-cutting plan.
It is scheduled for 23 November but the BBC had understood that it would be bought forward to later this month.
On Monday, Mr Kwarteng had said his plans for how to boost growth as well as an independent assessment of the economic impact of his tax-cutting plans by independent forecaster the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) would be published "shortly".
w date was expected to be announced once parliament returns on 11 October.
However on Tuesday, both Mr Kwarteng and Prime Minister Liz Truss told GB news the so called "fiscal plan" would still happen on 23 November.
Fears his tax-cutting plans are unaffordable sparked turmoil on markets last week after Mr Kwarteng laid out the measures in a mini-budget.
Conservative MP Mel Stride, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, told the BBC's Today programme the plan to cut debt would be "critical in calming the markets".
In the wake of the mini-budget, the pound slumped to a record low, government borrowing costs surged and the Bank of England was forced to step in and take emergency action after the dramatic market movements put some pension funds at risk of collapse.
Market turmoil was fuelled by the lack of an independent assessment on the impact of the plans, which had been offered by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), but was declined by the government.
Investors also bet interest rates would rise faster than previously thought, leading banks to withdraw more than a thousand mortgage products as the uncertainty made long-term loans difficult to price.
Andrew Montlake, a mortgage broker at Coreco Partners, told the BBC that the beginning of last week had been "a whirlwind of activity and confusion".
His staff worked around the clock to help clients tie down deals before lenders pulled their products or replaced them with more expensive ones.
"If we spoke to a client at nine in the morning and quoted them a rate, we had to phone back two hours later and say: 'It's going in the next hour. You need to make a quick decision if you want it'," he said.
Homeowners about to come off fixed rates were facing huge jumps in their monthly payments, he added.
Mr Stride said if the OBR forecast stacks up then interest rate expectations could fall "which is going to matter to millions of people up and down the country when it comes to their mortgages".
After a backlash from Tory MPs over plans to scrap the top income tax rate for high-earners, Mr Kwarteng made a dramatic U-turn on Monday, declaring he would abandon the move. He then later agreed to bring forward the date of his spending plan.
A fall in the value of the pound will increase the price of goods and services imported into the UK from overseas.
's because when the pound is weak against the dollar or euro, for example, it costs more for companies in the UK to buy things such as food, raw materials or parts from abroad.
Firms could choose to pass on those higher prices to their customers. And that could push up inflation, which tracks how the cost of living changes over time.
Read more
w due to published later this month, ahead of 3 November when the Bank of England next meets to make its latest decision on interest rates.
Interest rates have risen seven times since December as the Bank tries to curb inflation - the rate at which prices rise. This is currently at a near 40-year-high of 9.9%.
After last week's turmoil, investors were estimating interest rates could reach more than 6% next year - although expectations have since edged back to around 5.4%.
Raising interest rates makes it more expensive to borrow which should, in theory, encourage people to spend less and cool inflation, but it also makes borrowing money for mortgages or other loans more expensive.
Mr Stride said: "If [the OBR forecast] is well received... you might expect the [Bank of England] to come up with a lower level of interest rate rises, which of course once again will be very helpful for those with mortgages, business borrowing and indeed for the cost of the government servicing its own debt."
However, he said there were doubts over whether the OBR would give the government its blessing.
Mr Stride said much would ride on the government proving that its policies can, as promised, boost economic growth to a yearly rate of 2.5% which will be "difficult to do".
Failing that, Mr Stride said the government would have to "row back" on other promised tax cuts or "lean into" public spending cuts at time of soaring inflation, which could meet fierce resistance.
Prime Minister Liz Truss has refused to confirm whether benefits will rise with inflation, a change that would save about £5bn.
But Penny Mourdant, Leader of the House of Commons, has openly opposed the idea telling Times Radio: "We're not about trying to help people with one hand and take it away with another." | /news/business-63128436 | eng |
business | Dyson fined £1.2m after milling machine fell on worker | Dyson has been fined over a million pounds after an employee was injured when a milling machine fell on him.
gy company has been ordered to pay £1.2m after pleading guilty to breaching health and safety laws.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector, James Hole, said the incident "could have been fatal".
Dyson said it was "thankful" that the employee was "not more seriously hurt" in the incident at its factory in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
Swindon Magistrates' Court heard that the worker had been moving a 1.5 tonne milling machine along with a colleague when the incident occurred in August 2019.
fted it up with a five-tonne jack, and were replacing some wheels with wooden blocks when it fell.
It struck the man and his head and chest were injured, the HSE said.
Its investigators found that Dyson had not provided "suitable and sufficient information, instruction and training" to its staff.
man escaped being crushed only because the machine landed on two toolboxes and the handle of another machine.
"Those in control of work have a duty to assess the risks, devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workforce," said Mr Hole.
"Had a suitable safe system of work been in place this incident and the related injuries could have been prevented," he added.
Dyson said that health and safety is its "number one priority" and confirmed that the man had now returned to work.
"As an engineering company, we use complex and often heavy equipment and take care to do so safely.
"We deeply regret that this happened and we accept the court's decision today," it said in a statement.
Dyson added they had no previous convictions or enforcement history related to health and safety at work and that the court noted their "excellent safety record".
Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-wiltshire-62411411 | eng |
business | Economic slowdown: China urges push to boost sluggish economy | China's premier has called on the country's richest provinces to offer economic support to boost pro-growth measures.
untry saw consumption and output unexpectedly slow down in July.
"A sense of urgency must be strengthened to consolidate the foundation for economic recovery," Premier Li Keqiang said.
An uncompromising zero-Covid approach sharply slowed China's economic growth in the second quarter of this year.
In a rare move, China's central bank cut lending rates on Monday to revive demand.
China's economy continued to recover in July, but there were "small fluctuations", Mr Li said in a video meeting with senior officials from six major provinces - Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Henan and Sichuan - which account for roughly 40 percent of economic output.
government will take more steps to boost consumption and expand effective investment, Mr Li added.
China, the world's second largest economy, has been badly hit by widespread coronavirus lockdowns that have affected both businesses and consumers.
Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 2.6% in the three months to the end of June from the previous quarter.
Major cities across China, including the major financial and manufacturing hub Shanghai, were put into full or partial lockdowns during this period.
But Beijing has so far shown no signs of relaxing its zero-Covid policy.
Key economic indicators show China is having a hard time shaking off the impact the lockdowns are having on its manufacturing and retail business. In July, retail sales rose 2.7% compared to a year ago. However, the number missed forecasts for 5% growth and fell short of June's figure - 3.1%. The latest figures also showed youth unemployment is at a record high.
roperty sector is taking a major hit amid a mortgage boycott with homebuyers losing faith that projects will be completed. Property investment dropped 12.3% last month, the fastest rate this year, while the drop in new sales deepened to 28.9%.
Watch: The Chinese people living in unfinished apartments | /news/business-62571995 | eng |
business | Doing business on purpose | wo most important days in your life are the day you're born, and the day you find out why.
So said Mark Twain, we're told, in an observation that could also be applied to business.
re's a growing movement towards the company being for a purpose - or more precisely, for a variety of purposes beyond the one that has dominated British business.
Making profit is why shareholders tend to subscribe on the day firms are born. And once listed on the London Stock Exchange, the pressure from institutional shareholders is to deliver consistent profit each quarter or a reliable prospect of future dividends.
're now being asked to consider whether it's in shareholders' long-term interest to aim for other objectives, including the social or environmental.
A jargon word has emerged - "purpose". Maybe I was late to it, but I first heard it from Alison Rose, chief executive of NatWest, including Royal Bank of Scotland, setting out her leadership mission to make it into a purpose-led bank.
I asked her in an interview last month what that meant. Her reply: "Purpose-led means delivering long-term sustainable value for all our stakeholders - good returns for our shareholders, but also for our customers and for our communities and our colleagues.
"It's about thinking long term and keeping all that in balance, and making sure we're addressing the role we play more broadly than just being a bank - around education, inclusion and the climate, and support for entrepreneurship."
Ms Rose reflected: "From my perspective, as someone who's been in banking a long time, there have been times we haven't balanced all those elements equally."
who watched Royal Bank of Scotland going through the Fred Goodwin era and beyond surely cannot argue with that.
A commission was set up by the Scottish government with the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, that broad alliance of the public and private sector, to look into "the purpose of business" and how it might be altered for the public good.
r results are just in, published in a weighty, glossy report, along with the findings of polling and business surveys.
uggests that 50% of Scots think the reputation of business is excellent or good, while 5% disagree. The remainder are neutral or don't know.
's not a bad ratio when one considers the banking crisis or fury at energy suppliers that we've seen in recent years, or those of us holding on the phone while being fobbed off by an automated bot or told for more than two years how "we're experiencing unusually high call volumes". (I digress.)
Nearly two-thirds of Scots questioned for the survey said they would like to see business find profitable solutions to people's problems and those of the planet, while only 27% think that's what they already do.
Nearly half now see the maximising of profit is the current main purpose, and only 17% want to see things remain that way.
What about consumers? More people say they are influenced by a company's values and beliefs when they buy goods or choose where to work than say that are not. So there may be a competitive advantage there for those who put some effort into this stuff.
A majority want firms to pay the real living wage, but there are only minorities who want firms to pay their fair share of tax (38%), provide job security for employees (32%) or commit clearly to good customer service (30%).
When the Fraser of Allander Institute went to its panel of Scottish firms to find out what they think about it for this commission, it found most want to have a purpose beyond profit, but only by a small majority of 53%.
Many claimed they are already doing their bit, and the spur for that can be from different sources: a board member, employee or customer.
report gives us examples, from energy giant SSE to Jerba Campervans and from Muckle Media PR to Amiqus software.
Another stimulus is in trying to recruit the best people. Particularly in a hot labour market, and notably with younger workers, the right values and beliefs in the company boardroom, cascading into working life, can make all the difference to winning over recruits and retaining them.
f-interest extends to aligning with customers' values, and increasingly to investors in search of ethical places to plant their funds.
"A strong business purpose makes clear to customers why they should buy from you, to people why they should work for you and to society why it should trust you," says the report.
f the survey numbers is good, conclude this commission of people from business, professional services, academia and trade unions. But they also say the effort ought to be scaled up.
So they have set out a vision for every Scottish business to become "purposeful" in delivering not just profit but for people and planet. And going beyond the usual dry analysis, they offer a checklist for company bosses, and also for investors to adopt, and for employees to play a leading role.
report has 12 suggestions for ways companies, trainers and different layers of government can play their part. Along with some change to company law to help this process, the other ideas tend towards the nebulous and vague.
Number five is to "work with government to inform and mobilise consumer expectation of business purpose".
By coincidence, this week, the UK government has ventured into this terrain with a suggestion that firms should demonstrate their efforts to cut prices amid the cost of living pressures. For doing so, they could get some kind of government kite-mark. The response has been at best polite explanation of how business works, and sometimes one of withering contempt.
Back in Scotland, the Purpose of Business Commission has set a firmer target of a tenth of Scottish firms, some 36,000, that can define, measure and manage their environmental, social and governance impact.
's where it can get trickier. Measuring inputs and outcomes of these more abstract concepts is more difficult than bean-counting for the bottom line.
It is also where good intent comes into conflict with cynicism. There is already something known as "purpose-washing". It's the equivalent of green-washing: spray-painting your company's reputation green in the hope of gaining environmental credit.
In this line of business, authenticity counts for a lot. | /news/uk-scotland-61975166 | eng |
business | Nottingham Castle Christmas traders relieved at relocation | Christmas market traders affected by the sudden closure of Nottingham Castle have said they are relieved the event has been relocated.
rust that runs the attraction went into liquidation on Monday, meaning it closed and a market, due to take place at the weekend, was cancelled.
Business Improvement District (BID) has said the market will now take place in Sneinton.
Nottingham Castle Trust said it was "hugely disappointed" to be closing.
Christmas craft market was due to take place in the castle's grounds from Friday to Sunday.
raders said they feared they would have lost thousands of pounds as a result of the cancellation.
However Nottingham BID said it had worked with partners to offer the 23 traders who had been due to attend the market a new location on Sneinton Market Avenues.
Dr Rose Deakin, founder of The Crop Club, a Gedling-based business selling eco-growing kits, said: "I am blown away by how quickly the community rallied around to create an alternative.
"Thank you to everyone that has helped make this new location a possibility."
Heidi Hargreaves, co-owner of Dukki which specialises in regional dialect gifts and homeware, said cancelling the market completely would have been a "huge blow financially".
"The only good thing to come from this is the strength and resilience of all the small businesses," she said.
"Even though we largely work alone in our day-to-day lives, when there is a crisis we pull together and form a community of like-minded individuals."
Julie Jackson, owner of Sustainable Bags and Fashion, which sells recycled bags and accessories from leather destined for landfill, said she felt lucky Sneinton Market Avenues had offered to host the event at short notice.
"It's such a lovely gesture to do for us all," the 49-year-old said. "We appreciate it.
"This has really helped us out as we rely on trading at these events and it's tough being a small business in the current climate."
Alex Flint, CEO of Nottingham BID, said: "On hearing the news about Nottingham Castle, we knew decisions needed to be made to enable the diverse range of local food retailers and makers to continue to trade.
"We have collectively secured a new event venue at Sneinton Market Avenues."
Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk. | /news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-63699854 | eng |
business | Lipstick index: Do shoppers turn to low-cost luxuries in a recession? | Do we really buy more low-cost luxuries in a recession?
-called lipstick index, coined by Estée Lauder's Leonard Lauder, is the theory that sales of affordable luxuries rise in economic downturns.
Consumer psychologist Dr Cathrine Jansson-Boyd said there was evidence people attempt to boost their mood with small treats in difficult times.
But she said a bigger factor in what we buy is a subconscious decision about how we want other people to see us.
"Being short of money is psychologically daunting for people and the way to make yourself feel better, even if it's ever so little, is to purchase something that you think will cheer you up," said Dr Jansson-Boyd, an associate professor in consumer psychology at Anglia Ruskin University.
She said this explains why sales of alcohol and chocolate rocketed in the Covid lockdowns.
"The purchase itself might vary depending on your personality," she said.
Cardiff fashion blogger Christy Llewellyn believes she is certainly benefitting from the so-called lipstick index.
Six months ago she launched her business Loste, selling false nails that allow people to forgo the salon to do their nails themselves at home.
"They can't afford it anymore, obviously the price of going to the salon is going up," she said.
"When the news came out that bills were going to rise again there was actually a big rise in sales which was interesting."
Christy, who blogs as Style Rarebit, identifies with wanting small treats but said her go-to more affordable luxury would be a mascara or coffee from an independent coffee shop rather than a lipstick.
"They're not going to make a huge dent whereas things like going on holidays, buying a new car, buying a really amazing pair of shoes feels like a huge spend," she said.
In July, US market research group NPD said beauty stood alone as the only industry with unit sales on-the-rise this year.
UK consumer confidence in the future hit a record low in August, with GfK's Consumer Confidence index saying a "sense of exasperation" about the economy was the biggest driver behind the fall.
Artisan baker Alex Gooch has two coffee shops, a pizza shop and provides bread to seven Waitrose stores as well as delis, restaurants and hotels in Wales and the borders.
Despite the cost of living crisis he said business was booming, with customers still prepared to spend £10 on his 2kg (4.4lb) sourdough and up to £4.50 for a standard-sized loaf.
"People get a lot out of going to their favourite coffee shop, reading a paper, meeting a friend - it is an integral part of wellbeing... it's the last thing people are going to consider giving up," said Alex, who lives in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan.
He has reason to be optimistic, having set up his business during the 2008 financial crisis and despite the current downturn he is in the process of opening two new shops.
He said while people may think twice about making bigger purchases such as a holiday, a croissant and a cup of coffee costs about £6, a relatively small amount of money compared to other indulgences.
"It's a very simple thing that is actually, very, very important to people," he said.
"It's a treat isn't it? It's a big treat."
Recent months have seen a surge in energy, petrol and grocery costs, then last week's mini-budget sparked a fall in the pound and a surge in borrowing costs.
"People are really feeling confused, but I think what is easy for them and very tangible is the fact that they have less money generally," said Dr Jansson-Boyd.
She said price "always comes into the equation if you don't have money to spend" but "people actually purchase things to represent who they are".
"Most things are no longer purchased for the practicality of them," she explained.
"They're actually bought because they represent some sort of symbolic value... from which supermarket you want to be associated with to what sort of vacuum cleaner you have.
"People look at what you wear, what brands you have, what car you drive, and the handbag you use, even the suitcase you have, and we made judgments - we're not aware of making judgments because it happens subconsciously."
She said in a downturn people tended to invest in more widely-recognisable brands and items that others get to see - so they may buy a branded lipstick that can be applied in public over a moisturiser that is usually applied at home.
She said not having as much money as you used to also had an emotional impact that can lead to "irrational choices" such as impulse purchases and taking on credit card debt.
"They're not thinking it through, they kind of want stimulation immediately," she said.
"That is concerning because with interest rates going up it is actually a trap for many so it's very worrying." | /news/uk-wales-63047913 | eng |
business | Saudi Aramco: Oil giant sees profits jump as prices surge | Saudi Aramco has posted its highest profits since its 2019 listing as oil and gas prices surge around the world.
-owned energy giant saw an 82% jump in profits, with net income topping $39.5bn (£32.2bn) in the first quarter.
In a press release, the firm said it had been boosted by higher prices, as well as an increase in production.
f Ukraine has seen oil and gas prices skyrocket.
Russia is one of the world's biggest exporters but Western nations have pledged to cut their dependence on the country for energy.
Oil prices were already rising before the Ukraine war as economies started to recover from the Covid pandemic and demand outstripped supply.
Other energy firms including Shell, BP and TotalEnergies have also reported soaring profits as a result, although many are incurring costs exiting operations in Russia.
Aramco's president and chief executive, Amin Nasser, said on Sunday that the company was "focused on helping meet the world's demand for energy that is reliable, affordable and increasingly sustainable".
"Energy security is vital and we are investing for the long-term," he added.
In March, the oil and gas producer pledged to ramp up investment and boost output significantly over the next five to eight years.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the world's biggest oil exporter that month to try to persuade it to release more oil into world markets in the short-term.
Saudi Arabia is the largest producer in the oil cartel Opec (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and by raising production it could help to reduce energy prices.
But the country has been condemned for a range of human rights abuses: its involvement in the conflict in neighbouring Yemen, the murder in 2018 of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, for jailing dissidents and for widespread use of capital punishment.
Aramco itself also faces security challenges because of the conflict in Yemen, with Huthi rebels targeting some of its sites and temporarily knocking out a big portion of the kingdom's crude production.
Its latest set of results come days after Aramco reclaimed the top spot as the world's most valuable company from Apple for the first time in almost two years.
Aramco also announced on Sunday it would issue 20 billion bonus shares to shareholders - one share for every 10 shares already owned. | /news/business-61455301 | eng |
business | China Covid: Universal Resort shuts due to Beijing coronavirus cases | Universal Resort theme park in Beijing has temporarily closed due to Covid-19 prevention measures.
Cases have been rising in the city despite having some of the world's toughest anti-coronavirus restrictions.
For yesterday, the Chinese capital - which is home to more than 21 million people - reported 19 symptomatic infections and one asymptomatic case.
China's zero-Covid policy has seen cities and attractions locked down over relatively small numbers of infections.
rk, which is part-owned by the US media giant Comcast, did not say when it would reopen, but pledged to refund or reschedule tickets.
"We will continue to assess the impact on operations and strive to resume operations as soon as possible," it said on Weibo, a Twitter-like social media platform.
"At the same time, we will continue to carry out a series of work related to epidemic prevention and control, such as deep cleaning, disinfection and nucleic acid testing," it added.
Some users on Weibo took issue with the short notice given to customers by the company.
"The pandemic shutdown is understandable. But why didn't you give earlier notice?" one user asked.
Another said: "Who is responsible for the loss if I specially took leave to visit?"
me the theme park, which was opened in September 2021, has been forced to close its gates this year. It was shut for six weeks from the start of May due to Covid measures.
Strict zero-Covid policies have seen some of China's biggest cities being locked down, including the financial, manufacturing and shipping hub of Shanghai.
Beijing is the only major Chinese city to have so far avoided a full lockdown.
However, infections have been rising after the national Golden Week holiday earlier this month.
Last Thursday, some housing estates and shopping centres in Beijing were locked down because of a steep rise in cases.
Other major attractions in China have been shut in recent months because of rises in Covid infections.
Earlier this year, Shanghai Disneyland was closed down for three months because of a coronavirus outbreak.
When it reopened in June, visitors had to wear face masks and stick to strict social distancing rules.
President Xi Jinping, who secured a historic third term in power at the weekend, has signalled that the country will continue to pursue its strict zero-Covid approach even as the measures have weighed on economic growth.
Watch: What people had to say about China's new leadership line-up | /news/business-63396556 | eng |
business | Direct sales: 'My dream job turned into a nightmare' | Matt stood, phone in hand, taking photos of his hair on the floor. His topknot had just been cut off as a forfeit for losing out on a challenge to a colleague at the direct sales company for which he worked in 2018.
Fail to make as many sales as your colleague door-to-door, or on the street? There were consequences, which included eating chillies, being slapped with a fish, or doing press-ups in front of the office.
Matt says it never crossed his mind not to do the forfeit due to the peer pressure from colleagues. "You realise it's weird but because you're in that bubble, it normalises itself."
He told his mum and dad very little about his new role - from working up to 80 hours a week, to earning commission only - because of a sense of embarrassment.
He says the job was framed as a junior executive role in sales and marketing. Quick progression was a big selling point, with the promise of branching out and owning his own direct sales company and earning six figures within a year.
Watch The Dark Side of Direct Sales on BBC iPlayer, or listen on BBC Radio 4.
"That's more money than any graduate scheme at the time," says Matt, now 25. "I was hooked. I was all in."
A year-long BBC investigation, based on the experiences of dozens of ex-sales agents, suggests Matt's story, while an extreme example, was not unique.
It revealed concerns around exhausting working conditions, low pay and how some companies have been exploiting young people with little knowledge of the job market.
After Lauren, now 20, lost her job bartending in London during the pandemic, an online message about a marketing vacancy seemed like a dream come true.
During an interview, the director of the company asked what she would like to achieve in life. "I said: 'Well, I'd love to retire my mum, I'd love to be able to drive a nice car.'"
Lauren says she was told that would be easy if she followed in her manager's footsteps.
Like Matt, she was hooked by the dream of entrepreneurship.
She suggests the hustle culture - the idea of becoming your own boss and prioritising work above all else - and its prevalence on social media had a part to play, but says she was willing to "grind" to achieve her goals.
Lauren's parents questioned the new role. "But I was so defensive," she says. "I told them that they weren't seeing 'the vision'." But the reality of the job quickly set in.
Drawn in by descriptions of immediately earning £300-400 a week, Matt says he found out on his induction day that the role was commission-only. He was asked to register as self-employed, which meant no minimum wage, paid holiday, or sick pay.
Determined to make a success of it, Matt says he tried his best to sell to customers on the street, working about 12 hours a day, six days a week.
But over the 14 months he worked there, he made only £7,900. Between having to pay for travel and accommodation during "road trips" - to sell in other towns or cities - he says he maxed out his overdraft and credit card.
On one occasion, he started crying in front of a manager who told him off for his dishevelled appearance. "I said, 'I can't afford shampoo, I can't afford hair gel.' So I'd had to use hand soap to try and make [my hair] look decent."
For Lauren, it became clear at her second interview that she would be doing door-to-door sales. It was then that she was also told she would need to register as self-employed, earning commission only.
"If you put in the work, you won't even be on the doors for long," she says she was told, referring to the promise of moving up the chain.
She describes the first day selling as "horrific", being instructed by her team leader to run door-to-door, waiting no longer than three seconds at each one.
"I came into the office limping because my feet were swollen."
She says the breaking point came after three weeks, when she wasn't able to take a toilet break during her period, and bled through her clothes. She describes "begging" a manager to find somewhere to change.
Lauren says he eventually agreed. "He said: 'You're not giving 100%.' He asked: 'Do you even want this? Do you want to retire your mum? Your period can't stop you from doing that.' I just felt so humiliated."
A spokeswoman for the company Lauren worked for said it does not tell sales agents that there are "no toilet breaks or lunch breaks".
But describing the experience overall, Lauren says: "I don't want to sound dramatic, but it was kind of like selling your soul."
Something else links Matt and Lauren's experiences: a company called Credico, one of the biggest players in the direct sales industry in the UK.
It is a company that essentially acts like a middleman. It contracts smaller sales companies, which get their recruits to go out and sell on behalf of big-name brands.
Credico was originally set up in Canada and boasts up to 15,000 sales agents working for its partner companies worldwide.
It says it now has more than 100 sales companies in its UK network, most owned by people who started out as sales agents themselves.
Matt says Credico was described to young recruits as "like Uber". "We were the taxi drivers, and the passengers were the clients. So Credico connect us and the clients together, they would give us the training materials and they will act as a go-between."
Despite the fact they were self-employed, many of the sales agents at these smaller companies told the BBC they felt a "lack of control" about when and where they would go and sell. "None of it was on my terms," Lauren says.
And court documents from a case brought by Credico for competition reasons last year suggest it does direct some of what the independent offices do.
For example, it provides the wording of the agreements that sales agents must sign when they are joining up to sell in its "network".
Several experts called this structure into question.
riticised the working conditions described, as well as the fact that some job adverts for these companies outline a base salary, calling it "deeply misleading".
Employment lawyer Luke Menzies said there was a risk sales agents were being "taken for a ride without realising it".
"It seems to me, from what I've seen, that [sales agents] would have the right to go to an employment tribunal and say, 'I want my national living wage, I want my holidays.' And they would have the right to bring that claim."
But he said ultimately the responsibility for these sales agents would lie with the smaller companies in the network.
Labour MP Darren Jones, who chairs the House of Commons Business Committee, said he believed workers were being exploited.
"They are being exploited because they think they're signing up for an exciting job with a good salary that gives them prospects and actually, they arrive at the office and they're told they're self-employed, commission-only, door-to-door salespeople."
He also questioned why reforms aimed at helping vulnerable workers, promised as part of the 2019 Queen's Speech, have not yet materialised.
A government spokesman said new employment status guidance had been introduced, acting as a one-stop-shop for businesses and people to understand which employment rights apply to them.
"Exploitative practices have no place in our society, and we will investigate cases of malpractice," the spokesman added.
A Credico spokesman said: "Individuals are all engaged as independent contractors directly by independent sales offices, using a contract that is written using plain language to make it very clear that the individual will be self-employed."
It said standard pay and contracting models, which are common in the industry, were used.
"The contractors enjoy the flexibility that self-employment brings, as they are free to work the hours and days they choose, with many working less hours than a standard five-day week."
Credico also pointed out that it operates a whistleblowing programme for workers to flag concerns. Its spokesman added that the well-being of contractors was "extremely important to them".
As for Credico's clients, it is still an approved supplier for Shell Energy, but a spokesman said it has not used its services since October 2021.
National Deaf Children's Society said it was not aware of the allegations and had launched an investigation. A spokesman added any malpractice will be treated "extremely seriously".
"It is crucial that any fundraising carried out for us is respectful to both the public and anyone working on our behalf," he said, adding that the charity has "sector-leading" safeguards.
kTalk told the BBC it "no longer" has a relationship with Credico, but described the practices uncovered as "shocking".
Matt now works in sales in a salaried job. Meanwhile, Lauren describes the skills she gained in direct sales as helpful in finding a marketing job where she's happy.
But she added: "I want young people to be aware. Please don't get caught up in the hustle and the go-getter lifestyle. You will get there 100%. Don't feel like you have to rush it."
For details of organisations offering advice and support, go to BBC Action Line.
Follow reporter Lora Jones on Twitter.
Watch The Dark Side of Direct Sales on Tuesday, 23 August at 20:00 BST on BBC Three or BBC iPlayer, or listen on BBC Radio 4. | /news/business-62466147 | eng |
business | Uncertainty remains over some people's energy rebates | Everyone has been promised a £400 rebate on their domestic energy bill this winter, to offer some relief from soaring prices.
rt of a package of government support to help people with the rising cost of living.
But millions of people are still facing uncertainty over exactly how they will get the promised rebate.
Mobile homes can vary in size and structure, and often it is pensioners and semi-retired people who own them, paying a fee to the park owner for their pitch.
Many park home residents have been afraid they would not receive the promised £400 energy rebate. Their concern prompted a petition, signed by more than 11,000 people, calling for confirmation that they will not miss out on the payment, which has been promised to every household.
While the government has stressed that they will receive the money, the mechanics of how their bill will be discounted remain unclear.
Residents do not have a direct relationship with their energy supplier, so cannot be given a straightforward rebate like everyone else. The park owner is billed by the energy firm, then the owner charges the residents for the power they use.
"A lot of people believed they would not get [the money]. However, there is no doubt, and I have been assured by government officials, that this money will be paid," says Brian Doick, who lives in a mobile home in Sussex and is president of the National Association of Park Home Residents.
"This will not be a cash payment but will come in a way that covers [some of] the cost of your utility bill. It could be vouchers or something else, but I am assured you will be paid from October. We will be paid exactly the same as everyone else."
For most regular billpayers, the rebate will arrive in six instalments, with a discount of £66 applied to energy bills in October and November, and £67 a month from December to March 2023.
A government spokesman said officials and ministers were "urgently working" to ensure everyone, including park home residents, received the support.
Mr Doick, an 81-year-old retired firefighter, says support is crucial, because mobile home residents are facing inflation-linked increases to their pitch fees.
Every year, the park owner can put up the fee in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation, which currently stands at 12.3%.
Many residents also have access to gas from cylinders, or tanks, outside their home, but that has also been going up in price.
Hundreds of thousands of tenants pay rent which includes bills - but the type of contract can vary.
John Gallagher, a solicitor at housing charity Shelter, says that - in the case of a fixed rent, inclusive of bills - there is no specific legal obligation for a landlord to pass on the energy discount.
re "at the mercy of their landlord", he says.
However, for those who pay a variable service charge that covers gas and electricity, the landlord is not allowed to overcharge for the energy used, or make a profit on it.
"If [landlords] pocket the government support and continue to charge you the same rate for utilities or more, they may be in breach of these rules," he says.
National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) agrees that where tenants are being charged higher prices for the energy they use, the discount should be passed on to them by their landlord.
However, a spokesperson pointed out there would be cases where all-inclusive rents had been set without reflecting the recent surge in energy costs, in which case the landlord would be shouldering the impact of higher prices.
In principle, though, landlords with a domestic electricity connection, where a fixed cost for energy is included in the rent, "should also be passing on the discounted payments to tenants", the government says.
Other tenants, such as housing association tenants on communal heating networks, who have their heating supplied through a central boiler that reaches all homes in a building, rather than having an individual boiler in their home, pay for their heating bills via service charges.
Many of these residents are vulnerable, living in supported or sheltered housing. Although the government has said they will definitely receive the £400 rebate, this is another group awaiting detail on how the money will get to them.
From the outset, the government has said that residents of Northern Ireland should receive the £400 rebate.
Energy supply is different to the rest of the UK, and the price cap that operates in England, Wales, and Scotland does not apply here. But prices have also been rising in Northern Ireland over the last year.
Without a functioning executive government at Stormont, the issue is being discussed by a taskforce set up by the chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi.
A week ago, Northern Ireland Finance Minister Conor Murphy said there had been "long overdue" confirmation that the rebate would apply in Northern Ireland.
But he added there was no guarantee that Northern Ireland households would receive the money from October, like the rest of the UK. Instead, payments might not be made until early next year. | /news/business-62736620 | eng |
business | Aviva chief responds to 'sexist' shareholder jibes | f Aviva has responded to "sexist" jibes that were allegedly made about her by some of the group's shareholders this week.
Amanda Blanc, group chief executive of UK insurer Aviva, said the comments were "derogatory".
She added that she had picked up her "fair share of misogynistic scars".
Financial Times reported a series of remarks that were aimed at senior women, including Ms Blanc, at Aviva's annual general meeting (AGM).
Ms Blanc joined Aviva in July 2020, becoming the company's first female chief executive.
According to the newspaper, two shareholders criticised Ms Blanc at the meeting.
One reportedly said a speech where she highlighted returns to shareholders was at odds with Aviva's share price performance over the last ten years, which signified "she's not the man for the job".
Aviva's market capitalisation is about a third higher than when Ms Blanc joined.
Another shareholder is said to have referred back to the company's past bosses and asked whether Ms Blanc should be "wearing trousers".
A third reportedly made a jibe about the women on the board, saying: "They are so good at basic housekeeping activities, I'm sure this will be reflected in the direction of the board in future."
Writing in a LinkedIn post, Ms Blanc said: "In all honesty, after 30 plus years in financial services I am pretty used to sexist and derogatory comments like those in the AGM yesterday."
She added that like "many other women in business", she has picked up her "fair share of misogynistic scars" during her time working at various companies and in boardrooms.
"I guess that after you have heard the same prejudicial rhetoric for so long though, it makes you a little immune to it all," she said.
Ms Blanc said that while she'd like to say things have been improving recently, she feels the opposite is true, with the fact that such comments were now being made publicly rather than in private "a new development".
"The more senior the role I have taken, the more overt the unacceptable behaviour," she said.
Aviva's chair, George Culmer, criticised the comments at the end of the AGM.
Mr Culmer refused to thank people for their contributions to the session, saying some comments had been "simply inappropriate" and adding that he was "flabbergasted".
Concluding her post, Ms Blanc expressed her hope that initiatives working towards gender equality will help to eradicate such occurrences in future.
"But in truth that seems a long way off," she said. "So we have little choice other than to redouble our efforts together." | /news/business-61411229 | eng |
business | World Bank warns of recession risk due to Ukraine war | Countries around the world are facing recession as the Ukraine war hits economies already rocked by the Covid pandemic, the World Bank has warned.
Less developed countries in Europe and east Asia face a "major recession", it said.
risk of high inflation and low growth - so-called "stagflation" - is also higher, World Bank President David Malpass said.
Energy and food bills have been rising around the world.
"The war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, supply-chain disruptions, and the risk of stagflation are hammering growth. For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid," Mr Malpass said.
He also warned in the World Bank's Global Economic Prospects report for June that the danger of stagflation was "considerable".
"Subdued growth will likely persist throughout the decade because of weak investment in most of the world. With inflation now running at multi-decade highs in many countries and supply expected to grow slowly, there is a risk that inflation will remain higher for longer."
Also on Tuesday, the World Bank approved $1.49bn (£1.2bn) of additional funding for Ukraine, which it said "will be used to pay for wages for government and social workers."
w financing is part of a more than $4bn support package for the country, which covers areas including healthcare, education and sanitation.
More than a hundred days have passed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but only now is the sobering size of the shock waves hitting nations and households thousands of miles away from that epicentre becoming clear.
Developing nations were already struggling to get back on their feet. For every $20 households there typically earned pre-pandemic, they now only get $19.
But soaring food and energy costs threaten to throw livelihoods further into reverse, spelling misery and hardship for the most vulnerable.
And that's not just true for poorer countries. One survey shows one in six British households have turned to a food bank.
global struggle could be compounded by the higher interest rates being used to ease inflation, just as government support to ease the impact of the pandemic is evaporating.
World Bank is urging immediate action, from debt relief, to urging nations not to put restrictions on food exports.
Instead they want policymakers to show they are acting together to safeguard food and energy supplies, reassure volatile markets, and ease price spikes,.
Policymakers have already had to tackle an extraordinary battle.
But if we down tools now the World Bank suggests we could face an even more prolonged and painful crisis.
Hardship today doesn't just mean misery and social unrest, it can blight lives for years.
untries in Europe that are most likely to suffer a sharp drop in economic output in 2022 are Ukraine and Russia, the World Bank forecast.
But it warned that the fallout from the war and the Covid pandemic would be wider.
"Even if a global recession is averted, the pain of stagflation could persist for several years - unless major supply increases are set in motion," Mr Malpass said.
Between 2021 and 2024, global growth is projected to slow by 2.7 percentage points, Mr Malpass said, more than twice the slow down seen between 1976 and 1979, when the world last saw stagflation.
report warned that interest rate increases needed to control inflation at the end of the 1970s were so steep that they touched off a global recession in 1982, and a string of financial crises in emerging market and developing economies.
However, in the 1970s the dollar was weaker and oil was relatively more expensive.
Speaking to the BBC, Ayhan Kose, director of the World Bank's Prospects Group said "There is not much governments can easily do" to tackle rising energy prices.
"They shouldn't introduce export bans, they shouldn't introduce subsidies, they shouldn't introduce price controls," Mr Kose said.
"Those type of interventions distort prices and they translate into even higher prices," he added. | /news/business-61723643 | eng |
business | Lowestoft: 'If empty shops open up everybody wins' | In the Queen's Speech the government announced that councils would get new planning powers to force landlords in England to let out empty shops to rejuvenate high streets. What do people in the Suffolk coastal town of Lowestoft, the UK's most easterly point, make of the plans?
Home to more than 70,000 people the coastal town of Lowestoft is the most easterly settlement in the UK.
who live there say the town has been caught in a vicious economic circle in recent years.
As shop after shop has closed, the fewer visitors come and the cycle continues.
Mandy Peterson, has run Lennie's, a plant shop in the town for four years.
"I took voluntary redundancy and I thought I would use that money to set myself up in a business that I thought I would enjoy doing.
"Lowestoft has taken a real dip in how much retail there is here, it doesn't look so nice to walk through when everywhere is closed.
She says local shop keepers do work together and "help each other".
Her message to anyone thinking of opening a new business - "give it a go."
She does not think forcing landlords to let out empty shop units will work in all situations.
"I'm not sure if we should force anybody to do anything personally, the thought of empty shops being open, marvellous, everybody wins. The landlord wins for the rent, the community wins for the financial flow and it's a better area for everyone to live in."
She remembers a time when in the '80s and '90s there were "nice shops" with "loads of choice" in Lowestoft.
"I was born here, so I've seen a big change. It's awful if you're a local person and you've seen the town that you've lived in all your life go down."
She believes things could turn around if there is the "will and the finance" in place.
Pamela Norman says Lowestoft has "gone downhill very badly, there's nothing", so she does not come into town a lot.
"It needs to be more people friendly, there's just nothing here"
re are only "a couple of shops, there's not a lot"
"Awful" is what Nicki Cross thinks of the seaside town.
She also believes it has gone "downhill so much, I've lived here all my life and there's nothing here".
"Regeneration" is the answer, she said.
"The shops are closing left, right and centre, we're just getting no new trade, the road network system is absolutely awful.
"Something seriously needs to be done as the town is dying a death."
Danny Steel, a commercial property specialist and chairman of the business improvement group, Lowestoft Vision, believes the government's scheme to make sure empty shops are taken over, will have some positives.
"In some cases yes it will and in other cases it could cause problems, the devil is in the detail," he said.
Mr Steel does not think just having retail shops is the answer as the nature of town centres is changing.
He would like to see coffee bars, restaurants, nail bars, doctors' surgeries and dentists, alongside shops and homes.
Plans are in place to turn units in the town into housing and "we want that, we need a thriving, breathing, living town centre", he said.
"Wouldn't it be great if in the evenings there were children playing out in the pedestrian precinct... it would be a proper community."
He does not think Lowestoft is any different to most towns, as he think Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and internet shopping has all added to changes.
"Last year something like 30 percent of all sales were internet based so the whole retail offering from town centres is reducing very very quickly.
"It would be great to see the town centres busy again and bustling, but bustling maybe for different things rather than retail."
Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-suffolk-61399014 | eng |
business | Date set for Octopus to buy failed energy firm Bulb | A date has been set for Octopus Energy to complete its deal to buy failed supplier Bulb despite legal challenges from rival suppliers.
Bulb, which has about 1.6 million customers, is currently being run by government appointed administrators after being bailed out by the taxpayer.
On Wednesday, a High Court judge set a date of 20 December for the proposed takeover to be completed.
But Mr Justice Zacaroli said legal challenges could still stop it.
Rival suppliers Eon, British Gas and Scottish Power have applied for a judicial review of the deal, arguing the government's sale of Bulb was not transparent and involved unfair government funding for Octopus.
A judicial review is a type of court case that allows the legality of a government decision to be challenged.
Mr Zacaroli said the applications from the rivals were now the "only obstacle" to Bulb's assets being transferred over to Octopus.
He ruled that the legal challenges should be heard by another court.
wrangling will not affect Bulb customers, who will remain under the service of the government appointed administrators until any deal for a buyer is finalised.
Bulb was the biggest of more than 30 energy companies that collapsed last year following a spike in wholesale gas prices.
usiness department (BEIS) approved a deal with Octopus to buy Bulb in October and it was expected to be completed by the end of November.
But the acquisition was delayed after Eon, British Gas and Scottish Power raised concerns earlier this month.
Octopus Energy said after Wednesday's ruling that the High Court had "rightly given the green light for the transfer to go ahead in December".
"Taxpayers will be saved from millions - even billions - of costs that could have been incurred if the process was dragged out," a spokesperson said.
"This is positive news for Bulb's customers and staff, and starts to bring to an end the huge financial exposures for government and taxpayers."
However, in written submissions to the court on Tuesday, Stephen Robins, King's Counsel (KC) for Scottish Power, said that the marketing of the Bulb sale was "defective" and the auction should be re-run to allow for alternative bids.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Adkin, representing British Gas, told the court there had been an "abject lack of transparency" about the commercial terms of the deal.
Bulb's administrators rejected the arguments and said that other energy companies had decided to "walk away" from the sale process.
On Wednesday, Mr Justice Zacaroli set the date of 20 December as a start date under an Energy Transfer Scheme (ETS), which will move Bulb's relevant assets into a new separate entity.
He told the court that Business Secretary Grant Shapps's decision to sell Bulb to Octopus was a "valid and effective decision until such time a court order is made quashing it".
However, Mr Justice Zacaroli said he did not have "either visibility or control over the timing of judicial review proceedings" which could still derail the deal.
ue of the Octopus Energy deal has not been published but the BBC understands the firm paid the government between £100m and £200m.
Bulb's bailout was the biggest one by the state since the Royal Bank of Scotland collapse during the 2008 financial crisis. The government's official budget forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), has said the support for the firm will cost around £6.5bn to taxpayers. | /news/business-63812510 | eng |
business | Energy bills: James Cleverly on help for poorer and vulnerable people | James Cleverly says the UK had the highest tax burden for 70 years under Rishi Sunak as chancellor, and higher than competitors.
ucation secretary, who backs Liz Truss for the Tory leadership, was asked by Simon Jack on BBC Radio 4 what help Truss would give to pensioners and others who do not pay tax and were struggling with rising energy bills.
Cleverly said the UK needed to make itself more competitive to attract companies to invest in “longer-term sustainable cheaper sources of energy generation”.
But he would not be drawn on whether Truss would cut windfall taxes on energy firms in her planned emergency budget.
Live: Energy boss: People need more support to pay soaring bills | /news/uk-politics-62493496 | eng |
business | Post Office under pressure over victims' pay-outs | A public inquiry into the Post Office scandal is putting pressure on the company and the government to speed up compensation payments to victims.
Chair Sir Wyn Williams will publish a progress report in the coming weeks.
If he is unhappy that the Post Office and the government are not acting on its recommendations, he will issue a formal report to Parliament.
ribed as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history.
A public inquiry, led by the retired judge, has been examining the treatment of thousands of sub-postmasters who were made to pay their own money to cover shortfalls in accounts when a faulty IT system made it look like money was missing from their branches.
More than 700 individuals were given criminal convictions. So far, 81 people have had their convictions quashed.
Interim payments of £100,000 have been made to most, but not all, of those who have been exonerated. No-one has yet received a full and final settlement and thousands more left out of pocket are seeking redress.
Former sub-postmaster Richard Hawkes was one of five people who were exonerated in July, 18 years after being convicted of false accounting.
"Now the weight has been lifted, as your character is back as it should be," the 75 year-old told the BBC.
But while the fight to clear his name is over, Mr Hawkes is only just beginning the process of claiming compensation.
After completing community service, Mr Hawkes eventually managed to find a job cleaning laboratory equipment, where he worked until he was 71 years old.
"Somehow we managed to hang onto the house," he said, although he still has a mortgage. It was only at the start of this year that he finally paid his brother back for a sum of money lent to cover debts the Post Office claimed he owed them.
Some 15 months ago, the Post Office, and the government as its sole shareholder, apologised to sub-postmasters and promised swift and fair compensation.
However, many are still waiting. Sharon Brown, a former sub-postmaster in Sunderland and mother-of- two, was accused of theft by the Post Office in 2012 and is furious that her compensation hasn't arrived yet.
She told the BBC she has only survived thanks to the financial support of relatives, including her sister-in-law who took out a loan on her behalf. At one stage, she had to rely on credit cards to buy food for her family.
"I want my life back," she said. "I want to be able to walk about and hold my head up and say finally 'I got compensation because they did me wrong'.
"They've ruined so many people's lives, it's heart-breaking."
A Post Office spokesperson said: "Our priority is to ensure that there is meaningful compensation for victims and that such events can never happen again."
ublic inquiry into the Post Office scandal, which began hearing evidence in February 2021, was set up to examine who was to blame for the wrongful prosecutions and why nothing was done to prevent them.
However, Sir Wyn became so concerned about the slow progress of compensation for sub-postmasters that he took special evidence at hearings in July.
Sir Wyn has now decided to publish a progress update in the coming weeks, and will issue a formal report to Parliament if he's not happy those recommendations are being acted on.
It seemed as though that pressure was bearing fruit earlier this summer, following good news at the end of June for more than 500 sub-postmasters who had previously been excluded from compensation. The then-Postal Affairs Minister Paul Scully said a scheme worth £19.5m had been arranged to ensure they did not miss out.
But since then it's been all change in the Cabinet. There's now a new minster for Postal Affairs - and victims are worried it qill be yet another delay on their route to compensation.
Jane Hunt, who replaced Paul Scully as minister for postal affairs, declined an interview but she said she looked forward "to continuing [Scully's] excellent work in delivering compensation for postmasters".
A former supreme court justice has been asked to give advice to try and break the impasse between victims and the Post Office over how much should be paid.
During the inquiry hearings the Post Office admitted that it had anticipated hundreds of applications for compensation, but had ultimately received thousands. The Post Office said it did not have enough staff to process the volume of claims, and had so far dealt with only the more straightforward claims of lower value. | /news/business-62337045 | eng |
business | Train drivers very close to going on strike, union warns | rain drivers are "very close" to going on strike and could walk out within weeks, according to their union.
Drivers at eight rail companies voted on Monday in favour of industrial action in a row over pay.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, told the BBC that strike action could happen in the coming weeks if talks over wage rises stall.
"We don't do this lightly," he said. "We see it as a sign of failure when we do have to do it."
However, he pointed out that the union had received a strong mandate from its members to take industrial action with drivers voting overwhelmingly of strikes.
But the Department for Transport (DfT) said: 'It is very disappointing that, rather than commit to serious dialogue with the industry, Aslef are first seeking to cause further misery to passengers by joining others in disrupting the rail network."
Mr Whelan did not say when strikes might begin. Unions must give 14 days' notice.
uncement has led to fears of disruption to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which is expected to attract about one million tourists between 28 July and 8 August.
rain drivers at the following companies have voted to strike:
Separately, about 2,500 members of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) also voted in favour of strike action on Monday.
Rail services have already been hit by three days of strikes in June when 40,000 members of the RMT union who work for 13 train companies and Network Rail walked out.
RMT has resumed talks with Network Rail, which owns and operates the UK's rail infrastructure, as well as the train companies over pay rises. The RMT recently told the BBC that it is "not in any rush" to call for further strikes in July.
Commenting on why Aslef members voted for industrial action, Mr Whelan said: "Quite simply, we haven't had a pay rise for three years. Train drivers went to work during the pandemic, we moved food and medicine around the country, we got other key workers to work and with the cost of living increase and inflation going through the roof, people feel they deserve a pay rise."
DfT said: "We urge the union bosses to reconsider and work with its employers, not against them, to agree a new way forward."
It added: "Our railway is in desperate need of modernisation to make it work better for passengers and be financially sustainable for the long term."
But Mr Whelan said: "If you want productivity you pay for it." | /news/business-62132711 | eng |
business | Ashby chocolate maker recognised for pandemic start-up business | A chocolatier, who set up a business during the Covid-19 pandemic, has been praised for helping draw shoppers into a town.
Keith Tiplady started making chocolates in May 2020 after being made redundant from his role as a project manager.
He started off doing online sales but then opened a shop on Bath Street in Ashby-De-La-Zouch in Leicestershire.
usiness - Indulgent Chocolates - has now been nominated for a national award.
Mr Tiplady said the business idea started when he began experimenting with his wife's chocolate tempering machine.
He started making Belgian chocolate slabs and selling them in markets and online before opening his shop.
He said: "It has been a whirlwind.
"Even though I had the online sales, I loved the idea of having a physical shop.
"Ashby has a thriving high street with a good range of shops so it seemed like an ideal location.
"We were really lucky and when we opened, we had a queue right down the road."
usiness is now in the running in the UK's Favourite Local Business awards.
Mr Tiplady said: "Being recognised in the competition feels great.
"It's a tough time for everyone right now, especially small businesses, and someone taking the time to nominate us means a lot."
Stuart Benson, manager of Ashby Business Improvement District, said: "Indulgent Chocolates is a relatively new business to Ashby that has made a big impact.
"It is fantastic to see them nominated in the search to find the UK's favourite local business."
winning business will be announced later this month.
Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk. | /news/uk-england-leicestershire-63971290 | eng |
business | Simpson's Tavern: Historical London chophouse fights for its future | Self-proclaimed as London's "oldest chophouse", Simpson's Tavern is fighting for its future following a surprise closure.
Grade II-listed tavern has stood on Cornhill for more than 250 years - surviving fires, wars and epidemics.
After getting into rent arrears during the coronavirus pandemic, the venue's locks were changed by the landlord last month, closing the business.
Now the tavern is raising funds to reopen and keep its heritage alive.
Founded in 1757 on Cornhill, Simpson's was where influential people met to trade and do deals over lunch, long before the emergence of the modern skyscrapers of glass and steel that surround it today.
Customers used to be able to look at what meat was on offer, select their preferred cut and watch as it was cooked in front of them on charcoal grills - a service Simpson's provided until 1979.
Now, it sits on the capital's Heritage Walk and is frequently a stop for tourists on guided tours, who are attracted to its rich history and famous former clientele including Charles Dickens.
After the UK went into lockdown in March 2020, like many hospitality businesses Simpson's built up sizeable rent arrears - of more than £300,000 - and eventually the landlord changed the locks and demanded payment in full.
Benjamin Duggan, the general manager of Simpson's, said: "Its been extraordinarily difficult for the team. They've done nothing wrong, but now we're sadly going through redundancy conversations with people who've worked with us for decades.
"I've been lucky enough to be the custodian for many years and I can feel the heritage and the significance for people as they come through."
He added: "The time, the blood, the sweat, the tears, the memories, the claret soaked into the walls, the stories absorbed by the furniture - that can't be replicated anywhere else.
"It lives here in this place, and extinguishing that rubs it from the history sheets in a cruel fashion."
usiness has launched a crowdfunding campaign to pay what is owed, and has raised almost £100,000 so far from nearly 2,500 supporters.
"My only hope is that the landlord and their agents will come to some reasonable sense and understand the damage that they are doing to this historic institution," Mr Duggan said.
"But I rely on them coming back, sitting down at the table, discussing a way through and allowing this piece of history to trade and live on."
Simpson's landlord, Bermuda-based Tavor Holdings, said it did make allowances during the lockdowns but since July 2021 it had been trying to come to an agreement to get the money it is owed.
In a statement, the firm said: "The issue here is with the tenant, not with Simpson's. The tenant, Restaurant EC3 Limited, is under the control of its sole director and owner Mr Sarvindra Singh.
"He has consistently failed to settle commitments or engage meaningfully in negotiations over several years. The landlords had no choice but to act."
Both Simpson's and Mr Singh dispute this.
In the meantime, City of London councillor Peter Dunphy has lodged a request to list the venue as an asset of community value - a designation that aims to protect civic buildings, schools, pubs and open spaces that further the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community.
would give Simpson's a way of ensuring the interior of the business is safeguarded in its current form.
"The impact on this particular business is directly related to the Covid lockdowns because it's a dispute over arrears that built up during that period," he said.
A decision on the tavern's application to become an asset of community value is due on 15 December but until then, and without some kind of payment of the money owed, the future of this 265-year-old venue hangs in the balance.
Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hellobbclondon@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-london-63703069 | eng |
business | Hospitality firms warn June rail strikes will be devastating | National rail strikes will have a devastating impact on the theatre, live music and hospitality industries recovering from the Covid pandemic, trade bodies have warned.
usands of workers are set to walk out on 21, 23 and 25 June after talks over pay and redundancies failed.
RMT Union said the action will shut down the country's railways, causing major disruption for passengers.
union and rail firms have criticised each other.
If industrial action goes ahead, more than 40,000 staff from Network Rail and 13 train operators are expected to take part in what is dubbed the "biggest rail strike in modern history".
But in a joint statement from bodies representing hospitality businesses, theatres, live music venues, and museums, leaders said a strike would be "hugely damaging" and felt "counterintuitive when we are facing so many other challenges".
"Our night time economy relies heavily on the rail network to bring our audiences and staff safely to and from our venues, with 81% of London theatregoers using public transport and a similar proportion of hospitality customers," they said.
"We urge all stakeholders to come together to support a recovery that we can all benefit from."
rikes fall at a time when several music and sporting events, including the Glastonbury Festival and an England cricket Test match against New Zealand, are taking place, many for the first time without Covid restrictions since the pandemic began.
Both train operators and the union have said they want more talks to avoid the strikes.
Downing Street said the union was being "selfish" and warned the plans would inflict pain on passengers during "really tough times".
However, the RMT hit back at Downing Street's comments calling the union "thoroughly irresponsible", saying the government itself was both selfish and irresponsible.
On the first day of the planned strike on 21 June, London Underground RMT workers and Unite members working for the underground and Transport for London, all plan to walk out in a separate dispute over pensions and job losses.
rikes will leave around a fifth of mainline rail services running on the strike days, but due to each walk out being 24 hours long, disruption is expected to spill over to non-strike days, leading to a week of disruption.
Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, which represents night clubs, bars and festivals, said the strike announcement had sent a "shockwave throughout the industry".
It said businesses had concerns for staff and public safety, as well as the potential impact on trade.
"Limited Rail services across the UK will leave many stranded at night, compromising safety with very few alternative transport services available," Mr Kill said.
However, Mike Lynch general secretary of RMT, has said the union doesn't want disruption for thousands of commuters and said there was "plenty of time to get proposals forward".
Mr Lynch told the BBC railway firms "can easily afford a pay rise for our members" by cutting back on their profits, a claim which the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, disputed.
According to the Department for Transport, the average salary rail worker salary is £44,000, which is more than the median pay of other public sector workers, such as nurses (£31,000), teachers (£37,000), and care workers (£17,000).
However, RMT said the salary figure was "unrepresentative" as it included higher-earning train drivers, who did not take part in the ballot as most are part of a different union. The union claims its members earn £33,000 a year on average.
People working for 13 train operating companies, which each run services in different parts of the country, will take part in the strike. These are:
In addition, workers at Network Rail, which maintains the railways throughout Britain, also voted to strike. So the impact of the action would be felt across England, Scotland, and Wales.
Read more on how the strikes will affect you here
How will you be affected by the planned rail strikes? Tell us by emailing: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | /news/business-61738945 | eng |
business | Investment cuts could threaten levelling up, warns infrastructure tsar | government's targets for "levelling up" and "net zero" are at risk if too much investment spending is cut in the Autumn Statement, its top adviser on infrastructure has warned.
f the National Infrastructure Commission told the BBC it was crucial the government stuck to its policies.
Sir John Armitt said cutting back on the HS2 rail route would be "silly".
Last week, the government confirmed that much infrastructure spending was under review.
On Thursday, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will unveil his Autumn Statement - a Budget in all but name - and he has already said that he faces decisions of "eye-watering difficulty".
Speaking to the BBC, Sir John said: "Clearly we're in a very difficult situation. The chancellor has real challenges and therefore one can understand there might be some pressure on infrastructure.
"On the other hand infrastructure is seen as being the economic driver for many parts of the country, particularly those parts of the country which are looking to level up.
"It's so important that government doesn't flip flop, it sticks to its ambition, it sticks to its policies, so that the private sector will bring in a lot of capital, which creates jobs and opportunity.
"To cut back on HS2 would be frankly very silly," he added. "I think you've got massive investment, which has happened in Birmingham ahead of HS2 - it just shows what can happen. And Manchester of course equally is now seeing investment off the back of HS2. I think that would be a very strange decision."
He said that scheme and the Integrated Rail Review were "very important for levelling up".
Some economists anticipate that the government will squeeze investment spending on Thursday because in history it has been seen as the easiest "big ticket" spending item for the Treasury to delay.
re has also been a relative boost to investment spending at the very beginning of this Parliament under the initial premiership of Boris Johnson up to above £70bn a year in public sector net investment.
But Sir John disputed the idea there had been an infrastructure boom, saying: "If you look at the numbers, there's been a decrease in investment in the last couple of years, not a ramp up. There's been talk of a ramp up and that's why it's important to maintain that belief that there needs to be a ramp up."
With COP27 climate talks still ongoing, Sir John also expressed concern about the delivery of investment required to hit net zero targets for carbon emissions, saying the UK risked falling behind other countries.
"If everybody stuck to the policies, we'd get to net zero. The actual delivery is where we're falling down. So we can't afford to take our foot off the pedal, we've got to keep going, otherwise we will not get to net zero." | /news/business-63624768 | eng |
business | I have sleepless nights about how to feed my pigs | Harriet Ross says rising costs are a huge worry for pig farmers
Harriet Ross admits to having days where she's sick of farming. Pig sick.
She is trying to run a pig farm at Newburgh in Aberdeenshire but costs and overheads are getting out of control.
Her farm aims to grow enough barley to feed the pigs in all seasons but this year it ran out almost six months early.
Harriet points to a range of factors including Brexit, coronavirus and the war in Ukraine which have created difficulties which are pushing her business to the brink.
Young piglets have to be kept in temperature-controlled rooms all year round so rising electricity prices are having a crippling effect on the business.
"Welfare of the pigs is the number one priority so we need to make sure that (the temperature) is at the right level for them and we need electricity to do that," she says.
Harriet's energy bill has just doubled from £60,000 a year to about £132,000.
But that's not even her biggest overhead. About 70% of the cost of running the farm is feed.
Harriet and her partner Ben have tried to create a circular system where they grow enough barley to feed the animals in all seasons.
But a shortage of migrant workers at the abattoir created a backlog in processing the pigs, meaning they had to keep them on farm for longer.
xtra mouths quickly ate through the grain store which ran out back in March.
xt harvest is late July or early August and until then they're seeing bills stacking up.
She says the harvest will be "quite a big relief but actually paying for the fuel (for the machinery) won't be."
few months have brought sleepless nights as they try to buy cereals for the pigs to eat.
While prices have been extremely high, the biggest difficulty has been getting hold of it.
With just a week's worth of food left, she estimates making about 50 phone calls before she could find any more.
At just 30, Harriet only became a full-time farmer last year when she took over her parents' arable business.
Around the same time, a neighbouring pig farm went on the market and so she took on that too.
It's not been the easiest of starts and she says she feels "guilty" that she might not be doing a good enough job to make the business work.
"In the middle of the night I'll wake up and check the bank account," she admitted.
Rising input costs - from feed to fertiliser - are having a huge impact on farmers across the country.
As the Royal Highland show takes place at Ingliston near Edinburgh, the biggest showcasing farming and rural life in Scotland, NFU Scotland said overheads for farmers were reaching unprecedented levels.
It said the situation had created a "cash flow crisis" and the Scottish government has agreed to bring forward the date for issuing farm payments from October to September.
NFU commissioned a survey of members which says many are already reducing the size of their farms.
In the pig sector, sow numbers are decreasing by about 30% while beef cattle and ewe numbers are being cut by 38%.
NFU Scotland President Martin Kennedy said: "These results must serve as a wake-up call and move food security to the top of the political agenda.
"Reductions in agricultural production on this scale, if replicated across our whole industry, will have significant ramifications for our food and drink sector and all those businesses upstream and downstream who rely on farmers and crofters."
But a report by Scotland's Food Security and Supply task force has said there is no immediate threat.
It has recommended that the Scottish Government set up a Food Security Unit to monitor potential future threats, such as from climate change. | /news/uk-scotland-61873877 | eng |
business | Cost of living: Fuel and clothing at top of family spending cuts | Families are cutting back on fuel and clothing as rising prices make them question what they can afford, new figures suggest.
Petrol and diesel sales fell by 4.3% in June as prices at the pumps hit new records, monthly retail data shows.
Clothing sales dropped by 4.7%, as UK inflation reached new highs.
Retailers told the Office for National Statistics the figures indicated people were cutting back on spending due to concerns over what they could afford.
Prices in the UK are currently rising at their fastest rate for more than 40 years.
Inflation - the rate at which prices rise - jumped to 9.4% in June, with the increasing cost of petrol and food putting pressure on households' finances.
Although overall retail sales remain above their pre-pandemic levels, "the broader trend is one of decline", said Heather Bovill at the ONS.
"Clothing purchases dipped along with household goods, with retailers suggesting consumers cutting back on spending due to higher prices and concerns around affordability," she said.
"Fuel sales fell back considerably with retailers reporting the record high prices at the pump hitting sales," the deputy director for surveys and economic indicators added.
It comes as a new survey by the ONS found around nine-in-10 adults continued to report a rise in their living costs over the past month.
Around half (46%) of adults who pay energy bills found it difficult to afford them, up from 43% in the previous period, while 46% of adults said they would not be able to save any money in the next 12 months.
was collected in early July.
Fuel prices have soared in recent months, driven by the war in Ukraine and moves by a number of countries to reduce their dependence on Russian oil.
Average petrol prices rose by 18.1p per litre in June, the ONS said, the largest monthly rise on record. Diesel prices also soared by 12.7p per litre.
It led to the average family car costing more than £100 to fill up, according to the RAC.
However, the AA said this week that lower wholesale costs of fuel were leading to cheaper prices at the pumps, though they still remain much higher than last year.
Food sales were the only area to see a boost in June, with volumes rising by 3.1% largely driven by the Queen's Platinum Jubilee bank holiday celebrations.
"After a fall in May, food sales picked up due to the Jubilee celebrations, but this was the only sector to report an increase," Ms Bovill said.
Paul Dales, chief UK economist at research firm Capital Economics, said the jump in food sales "was surely due to people stocking up on sausages rolls, cakes and alcohol for jubilee street parties".
But he added that the extra bank holiday "also appears to have meant people spent less time shopping for other items", such as clothing and household goods.
Silvia Rindone, UK and Ireland retail leader at the accountancy firm EY, said: "Despite the long Jubilee bank holiday weekend at the start of June, today's ONS retail sales data shows that consumers are feeling the pinch from the rising cost-of-living and are becoming more cautious about where and when they are spending."
Ms Rindone said retailers with robust plans to manage cost inflation are best placed to cope.
She added that companies need to ensure they address people's concerns over what they can afford, such as by offering value for money or "own label" options. | /news/business-62262138 | eng |
business | The Russian billionaire daring to speak out about Putin | Boris Mints is one of a few rich Russian businesspeople to speak out against Russia's invasion of Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin.
majority of high-profile people in the country have remained silent over the war, avoiding criticism of the Kremlin.
re is one simple explanation, according to Mr Mints: "They are all afraid."
Kremlin has a reputation for cracking down on outspoken critics of President Putin with the content on Russian news channels controlled. Unauthorised protests have also been banned in the country since 2014.
Mr Mints said "any person" who openly criticises Putin "has grounds to worry about personal safety".
However, in an interview conducted over email, he told the BBC: "I have no intention to live in a bomb shelter, as Mr Putin does."
64-year-old, who built his wealth through investment company O1 Group, which he founded in 2003 and then sold in 2018, said that in Russia the "usual way" to punish a business owner for their "intolerance" towards the regime was to "open a fabricated criminal case against their business".
"Such criminal cases will affect not only the business owners themselves, but also their family and employees," he said.
"Any business leader independent from [Putin] is seen as a threat as he or she may be capable of financing opposition or cultivating protest - as such, those people are seen as Putin's enemies and, therefore, as enemies of the state," he added.
It is a situation Mr Mints has first-hand experience of, having first spoken out publicly against President Putin's policies in 2014 after Crimea was annexed from Ukraine.
Mr Mints felt he needed to leave Russia in 2015 for the UK "in the context of growing crackdown on political opposition", with Boris Nemtsov being shot dead that year.
Mr Nemtsov was a fierce adversary of President Putin. His murder in 2015 is the highest-profile political killing since Mr Putin came to power. The authorities deny any involvement.
wo years later, Mr Mints' former investment company O1 Group "found itself in an open conflict against Central Bank of Russia", he said, with legal proceedings starting across several different jurisdictions.
"When things like this start to happen, it is a clear signal that one should leave the country immediately," he said.
He remains the subject of current legal action by the Kremlin.
It is because of such action that Mr Mints suggests the "bravest step available" for wealthy Russians who dislike Mr Putin is to "go silently into exile", citing the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was once Russia's wealthiest man, but was jailed for almost a decade on charges of fraud and tax evasion which, he says, were politically motivated.
wo of the country's most prominent oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska stopped short of direct criticism of Mr Putin when they made separate calls for peace in Ukraine.
Mr Fridman, a billionaire banker, said any personal remarks could be a risk not just to himself but also to staff and colleagues.
However, Mr Mints has been joined by Russian tycoon Oleg Tinkov, founder of Tinkoff Bank and former owner of cycling team Tinkoff-Saxo, in lambasting the invasion.
Mr Mints called President Putin's actions "vile", saying the invasion was "the most tragic event in recent history, not only of Ukraine and Russia, but globally".
He also compared it to Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939.
"This war is a result of madness and hunger for power of a single person, Vladimir Putin, supported by his inner circle," said Mr Mints, who was chairman of one of the largest pension asset managers in Russia until 2018.
BBC has contacted the Kremlin for comment.
Mr Mints was first introduced to Mr Putin in the early 1990s but only properly spoke with him on 2 January 2000, two days after Mr Putin was appointed acting president of Russia.
Mr Mints, who worked under former Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s, was keen to discuss his plans to reform local government to grow Russia's democracy into the 21st Century.
"Mr Putin listened to my suggestions without commenting or arguing. The following day, Putin sacked me," he said.
He knew then that Mr Putin's vision for his country was "miles away" from the previous administration's.
Leaving politics, Mr Mints started a stock brokerage for individual clients three years later.
Mr Mints has not been sanctioned by the UK government, unlike other Russian businessmen who have been identified as having close links to the Kremlin.
However, his name did appear on a so-called "Putin list" released by the US in 2018. Out of 210 names, 114 of them were listed as being in the government or linked to it, or key businessmen.
r 96, which included Mr Mints, were listed as oligarchs apparently determined more by the fact they were worth more than $1bn (£710m) at the time, rather than their close ties to the Kremlin.
father-of-four made Forbes' world billionaires list in 2017 with a total wealth of $1.3bn, before he dropped off in 2018.
But he dismissed suggestions that he was an oligarch.
"Not every Russian entrepreneur is pro-Putin, and likewise neither is every wealthy Russian person an 'oligarch'," he said. "In Russia, the term means a business leader who is very connected to Putin and most of whose wealth, or the profits of their businesses, depend on co-operation with the Russian state.
"Russia is not only an oilfield with an aluminium mine in the centre," he added. "It is a country of 140 million people. People there as everywhere else have their needs and these needs are not at all different from those here in the West."
Now living in the UK, Mr Mints, a keen art collector, feels comfortable without the need for extra security to keep himself and his family safe in Britain, and has no current ambition to move back to Russia. | /news/business-62037169 | eng |
business | 737 Max: Boeing to pay $200m over charges it misled investors | Boeing is to pay out $200m (£177.5m) over charges that it misled investors about two fatal 737 Max crashes.
US stock market regulator said the aviation giant and its former chief executive Dennis Muilenburg made false statements about safety issues.
Boeing "put profits over people" in an effort to rehabilitate its image, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
737 Max was grounded for 20 months after two crashes killed 346 people.
As part of the settlement Mr Muilenburg will also pay a penalty of $1m.
"In times of crisis and tragedy, it is especially important that public companies and executives provide full, fair, and truthful disclosures to the markets," SEC chairman Gary Gensler said in a statement.
Boeing and Mr Muilenburg "failed in this most basic obligation," he added.
SEC's statement also said that both Boeing and Mr Muilenburg did not admit or deny the regulator's findings.
"We will never forget those lost on Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, and we have made broad and deep changes across our company in response to those accidents," Boeing said in response to the SEC's announcement.
"Fundamental changes that have strengthened our safety processes and oversight of safety issues, and have enhanced our culture of safety, quality, and transparency," the company added.
SEC said a fund will be established for investors who suffered losses due to the misleading information between 2018 and 2019.
ment is largely symbolic. The 737 Max scandal has already cost Boeing tens of billions - another $200m will barely register.
But it does give the SEC the chance to call out Boeing and its ex-chief executive Dennis Muilenburg for making assurances about the plane's safety, when they already knew it had a serious problem - thereby misleading investors.
It's unlikely this will cause Boeing any meaningful harm. Its corporate reputation had already been severely damaged by the affair. The company is now working hard to restore it, and regain public and investor confidence.
For Mr Muilenberg himself, the financial consequences of the settlement won't be that painful either. He received some $60m in compensation and benefits when he left the company. But the fact that the SEC chose to charge him personally sends out a powerful signal.
re have been criticisms in some quarters that the ex-boss has not been properly held to account for his role in the affair. On this occasion, though, the finger has been pointed squarely in his direction.
On 29 October 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, killing all 189 passengers and crew.
Less than five months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, another Boeing 737 Max on its way to Kenya, crashed six minutes after leaving Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. All 157 people on board were killed.
rashes were linked to a flight control system called the "Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System" (MCAS) in the Boeing 737 Max.
SEC said that "after the first crash, Boeing and Mr Muilenburg knew that MCAS posed an ongoing airplane safety issue, but assured the public that the 737 Max was safe to fly.
rashes have cost Boeing more than $20bn, including payments to families of those killed in the crashes.
In the wake of the incidents, the US Congress passed new legislation reforming how the country's aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), certifies new planes.
A small number of trials are expected to start next year to resolve outstanding claims.
Paul Njoroge says his family died because of Boeing's "negligence" | /news/business-63003632 | eng |
business | National Living Wage: The truth about food courier pay | A rise in the popularity of app-based food delivery companies has led to an increasingly competitive food courier workforce, a new BBC documentary has found.
Life in the Fast-Food Lane follows three food couriers as they embark on delivery shifts across Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield.
Food couriers are generally self-employed meaning they only get paid for the deliveries they make and do not get paid a guaranteed hourly wage.
Henry Dean, 23, works full-time as an apprentice in Liverpool but also delivers food on his bicycle for Deliveroo in the evenings.
He said: "Deliveroo is something I do on a weekend to supplement the income I make from work, which as an apprentice is quite a low wage. I tend to use it [the Deliveroo income] for food shopping."
At the firm Mr Dean is self-employed and can earn several pounds for each delivery he makes, with longer journeys earning him more.
During filming, Henry was on shift for two-and-a-half-hours and delivered four orders.
He made £18 in that time, which equates to £7.20 per hour, below the UK National Living Wage of £9.50 an hour.
His first order of the night took him 25 minutes to complete and earned him £3.42, which was the smallest fee he received all evening.
Later another delivery paid £6.96, his largest fee of the night, and also took 25 minutes.
Despite the potential of earning higher fees for orders, Mr Dean does not earn anything whilst waiting in-between deliveries.
"You'll be waiting around for like an hour, two hours and nothing. You want to be out there delivering orders and you're not able to - it gets a bit frustrating," he explained.
In a statement, Deliveroo said it had recently announced a "voluntary partnership agreement" with GMB Union which makes clear riders are guaranteed to earn at least the National Living Wage plus costs while on an order.
: "Our objective is to work with enough riders to be able to deliver the expected number of orders while making sure we don't have too many riders in any one area, so riders maintain attractive earnings."
Bassam Qaid, 44, a father-of-two from Sheffield, also works as a self-employed food delivery driver. He works for delivery firm Stuart, who are a sub-contractor to Just Eat.
He works full-time and since starting in the industry has noticed how excessive his hours have been.
"I'm working seven days now, sometimes I'm working 70 hours," Mr Qaid said.
During filming, he earned £65.85 in eight-and-a-half hours. His earnings equated to £7.75 an hour, so also fell under the National Living Wage.
f living crisis is also having a big impact on couriers and the recent rise in fuel costs means Mr Qaid spends about a fifth of his average income on fuel alone.
"Before you can fill the tank twice a week on £80. The fuel for every week now is between £125 and £120," he said.
In a statement Stuart said their pay exceeds the National Living Wage for the time couriers spend on a delivery, adding: "Stuart is committed to paying the equivalent of the National Living Wage for couriers while they are actively working on the platform."
Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) said during the cost of living crisis "courier companies continue to over hire workers while paying very low fees".
IWGB President Alex Marshall said: "Most companies do not pay anything for time couriers spend waiting for jobs."
He added the workforce often "struggle to take home minimum wage pay in real terms".
However, some delivery firms are attempting to disrupt the industry and offer more security to couriers.
Viktória Klimentová, 28, is a Manchester-based food courier employed by food delivery platform Foodstuff.
She works on a casual basis on top of her full-time day job and gets paid a guaranteed £10-an-hour, regardless of the number of deliveries she makes on a shift.
"We get paid whether we deliver or not. So, if it's a quiet night we still do get paid for it, which is good for us," she said.
When the BBC's We Are England team filmed Ms Klimentová, she earned about £25 and that security of earning a guaranteed wage through food couriering was one she would like to see replicated elsewhere.
She said: "It would be good for all food couriers to have a contract - [it] gives them a little bit more stability and security."
In a statement to the BBC, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: "The government has a strong track record in protecting and enhancing workers' rights across the UK.
"We are committed to building a high skilled, high productivity, high wage economy that delivers on our ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to work. This includes ensuring workers' rights are robustly protected while also fostering a dynamic and flexible labour market."
Life in the Fast-Food Lane will broadcast on 28 October at 19:30 BST on BBC One and will then be available on BBC iPlayer
Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-63391400 | eng |
business | Petrol prices: Calls for more help as cost to fill a tank hits £100 | Driving groups have called for more support to help drivers after the cost of filling an average family car with petrol hit £100 for the first time.
RAC motoring group called it "a truly dark day" as the cost of filling a 55-litre tank reached £100.27 for petrol and £103.43 for diesel.
RAC and its rival the AA urged the chancellor to cut VAT on fuel or to reduce fuel duty further.
reasury said it had provided £37bn to ease the cost of living already.
Rising petrol prices are putting pressure on household budgets, with energy bills and food prices also now at multi-year highs.
Pump prices began to soar after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February led to oil supply fears. However, there are concerns that petrol retailers are not passing on a recent 5p cut in fuel duty to consumers.
According to the RAC, the average pump price of a litre of unleaded petrol is now 182.31p while for diesel it is 188.05p. However, the motoring group has warned this could rise to over £2 a litre soon.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: "While fuel prices have been setting new records on a daily basis, households up and down the country may never have expected to see the cost of filling an average-sized family car reach three figures.
"A further duty cut or a temporary reduction in VAT would go a long way towards helping drivers, especially those on lower incomes who have no choice other than to drive."
AA called on the government to cut fuel duty by 10p per litre immediately and introduce a "fuel price stabiliser", which would reduce fuel duty when petrol prices go up and increase it when they drop.
wholesale price of petrol - the price at which supermarkets and independent forecourts buy it at - has actually dropped by 5p since 1 June, when it was £1.55 a litre, to £1.50 on Wednesday.
But motoring groups say it takes time for changes in the wholesale price to feed through to the pumps due to the way retailers buy fuel in advance.
It comes as some UK forecourts are already selling petrol above £2 a litre, according to price comparison website PetrolPrices.
On Wednesday, the highest price was found to be 202.9p a litre at BP sites on the A1 near Sunderland, the M4 near Chippenham in Wiltshire and the M6 near Burton-in-Kendal, Cumbria.
Ewan, 31, told the BBC he needed a car to get to work in centre of Aberdeen, otherwise it was a one-and-a-half hour bus journey. But he said he was now paying up to £90 to fill a tank and the petrol expenses he could claim through work were no longer enough.
rvant, who lives alone, said it was just one more thing pushing up the cost of living and he was now "barely" getting by.
"I used to be able to save about £200 a month but now I am dipping into savings," he said. "It makes me quite stressed out."
RAC argues the Treasury could afford to offer more help, as the higher fuel prices rise, the more it collects in VAT receipts - currently around 30p per litre.
It added that despite March's fuel duty cut, the government still collects 53p in duty on every litre sold.
government has so far ruled out cutting VAT, arguing that any increases in receipts it gets from higher fuel prices will be largely offset by reduced household spending and VAT on other items. It has no plans to cut fuel duty either.
Instead, Downing Street has indicated that fuel retailers failing to pass on the 5p duty cut could be named and shamed.
Answering questions from journalists in Blackpool, Boris Johnson said: "What I want to see is those cuts in taxation not just swallowed up in one gulp, without touching the gullet of the fuel companies, I want to see those cuts having an impact on the pumps.
"And we are watching very closely to see what happens."
Lisa Stevenson, who owns Tolladine service station near Worcester, told the BBC her prices per litre - at 197.9p for unleaded and 194.9p for diesel - were purely the result of volatile wholesale fuel prices driven by the Ukraine war.
She added that customers were now buying less fuel because of the soaring costs: "A delivery of fuel would previously have lasted me a week to 10 days, now its 2-3 weeks."
Alasdair Locke, chairman of Motor Fuel Group, the UK's largest independent forecourt operator, told the BBC's Today programme that his business had passed on the 5p duty cut to consumers "immediately".
"It would be easy if there was evidence we're just profiteering but there is no evidence of that, in fact rather the opposite. Our margins are under pressure, along with everyone else's."
Commenting on the rising pump prices, a government spokesperson said: "We understand that people are struggling with rising prices which is why we have acted to protect the eight million most vulnerable British families through at least £1,200 of direct payments this year with additional support for pensioners and those claiming disability benefits."
mployee would save more than £330 a year through a tax cut in July, while the 5p cut to fuel duty would save a typical family £100. | /news/business-61743734 | eng |
business | Norwich puppets benefitting from other people's waste | A theatre's puppets are being made from waste paper and card that would otherwise have been thrown away.
Norwich Puppet Theatre is the recipient of waste created by a greetings card company in the city.
Company Dynamic Print's waste is being turned into papier mache puppets and scenery at the venue.
Print company director Sarah Smith, said it was "common sense" to use their waste to help other people, and added, "it doesn't cost anything for me".
Upcycle Your Waste is a scheme being run by Norwich Business Improvement Business (BID) and is designed to take waste produced by Norwich businesses, and turn it in to something new.
Companies taking part are trying to show that if you pull the right strings, what might seem useless to one business, can be more than useful to another.
Dynamic Print had been turning its waste cardboard into recyclable bubble wrap and now its scrap paper is also being upcycled.
Instead of paying £60 each month to dispose of it, it is being given to local businesses.
"It's common sense. Upcycling, recycling - is a key ingredient going forward and to be able to help other people with my waste - it doesn't cost anything for me," said Ms Smith.
Puppet Theatre administrator, Molly Farley, said: "It's amazing that all these people are coming out of the woodwork; all these businesses have been here all along but we've always needed a link-up to make things happen."
BBC TV adventurer, presenter and author, Simon Reeve, was at Norwich City's Carrow Road stadium giving a talk to the BID organisation about his career and sustainability.
"It can mean lots of things, but basically it means creating a society and community that can survive and flourish and be a lovely place for people to exist in," he said.
"The idea that you produce where you consume is a very sustainable idea.
"What I've heard about Norwich is pretty damned impressive.
"We've got to waste less - that is absolutely critical."
Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-norfolk-61571808 | eng |
business | Eurostar security staff to strike in run-up to Christmas | Security staff who work on the Eurostar train service are to strike for four days in the run-up to Christmas in a dispute over pay.
walkouts are planned to take place on 16, 18, 22 and 23 December.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, employed by a private contractor, voted overwhelmingly in favour of the action.
Eurostar said it would update customers as soon as possible if there was any impact on services.
However, the union said the strike would "severely affect" passengers.
More than 100 security staff employed by facilities management company Mitie are due to walk out, following a 4-1 vote in favour of strike action.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the security staff were "essential" to the running of Eurostar, and "it is disgraceful they are not being paid a decent wage".
"They work long, unsocial hours and a multimillion-pound company like Mitie can easily afford to pay them decently for the essential work they do."
However, Mitie said that on Tuesday it had offered staff a "significant" 10% pay increase, and that it was "disappointed" that RMT had decided to take strike action.
"As always, our priority is to ensure that exceptional services are delivered as normal so that passengers are able to continue their journeys with minimal disruption," a Mitie spokesperson said.
A wave of strikes have hit the UK's railways in the past few months as workers demand better pay deals and try to stop job cuts and changes to working conditions.
More action is planned in the coming weeks.
RMT has announced strikes at Network Rail and 14 train companies on 13-14 December, 16-17 December, 3-4 January and 6-7 January.
rain drivers' union Aslef has also staged walkouts in a dispute over pay, although no further strikes are planned at the moment.
Workers in other sectors of the economy have also either taken industrial action or planned it, in protest about working conditions, pensions and pay.
Royal Mail staff, members of the University and College Union and airline ground handlers are among those who have already been on strike, while nurses and paramedics are planning walkouts in the future.
ustrial action has been prompted by soaring prices - inflation is running at more than 11% a year - meaning workers are being squeezed as living costs rise faster than wages.
Many workers are now calling for pay increases in line with the higher cost of living.
Energy and food prices have been rising since last year because of the war in Ukraine and the impact of the Covid pandemic. | /news/business-63808685 | eng |
business | Royal Mail warns it will put prices up again | rices of parcels and stamps are likely to rise again as Royal Mail tries to cover higher costs, including wages, energy and fuel expenses.
firm said it would try to "mitigate" the costs through "price increases and growth initiatives".
Earlier this year, the firm hiked first class stamp prices by 10p to 95p and second class stamps by 2p to 68p.
warning comes after Royal Mail warned it was facing "significant headwinds" from rising costs.
It said it will need to cut costs more as a result, increasing its target to over £350m from £290m previously.
A spokeswoman said: "We haven't made decisions on future prices, but we always carefully consider the impact on our customers and ensure that any changes help to secure the sustainability of the Universal Service."
Royal Mail said it was also continuing to change the business to cope better as its parcel business becomes more important than letter delivery.
Letter volumes have fallen by more than 60% since their peak in 2004-05 and by about 20% since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, parcel deliveries increased during the pandemic.
Simon Thompson, chief executive of Royal Mail, said: "As we emerge from the pandemic, the need to accelerate the transformation of our business, particularly in delivery, has become more urgent.
"Our future is as a parcels business, so we need to adapt old ways of working designed for letters and do it much more quickly to a world increasingly dominated by parcels."
Mr Thompson said that the focus would now be to "work at pace" with staff and trade unions to "reinvent this British icon for the next generations", give customers "what they want" grow the business sustainably and "deliver long-term job security".
rice hike warning came as the business reported an 8.8% drop in pre-tax profit to £662m for the year to the end of March.
Royal Mail is also facing an ongoing pay dispute with its largest labour union.
In January it said around 700 management roles would be cut. The company also axed a fifth of its managers - around 2,000 posts - in June 2020, shortly after the start of the pandemic.
Earlier this year the company was heavily criticised for delivery disruptions over Christmas and January. Citizens Advice estimated that 2.5 million Royal Mail customers didn't receive important documents such as health appointments, fines or bills.
Royal Mail said the wave of Omicron infections meant that thousands of staff members had to take time off over Christmas and January. But it said the "vast majority" of post was delivered on time. | /news/business-61505862 | eng |
business | Chicken rice: Why Singapore's much-loved dish is under threat | Rachel Chong loves chicken rice so much she eats it three times a week.
"It is number one on my list. It's comfort food [and] it's easily accessible," she says. A standard order at Ah Keat Chicken Rice, a stall where she eats, costs S$4 ($2.90; £2.30).
For many Singaporeans, a plate of poached or roasted chicken on a bed of fragrant rice is a favourite meal. It's often referred to as the country's national dish. As one stallholder told the BBC: "I don't think Singapore cannot have chicken rice. It's like not having pizza in New York."
But this much-loved and affordable meal may soon become harder to get - and more expensive.
's because its key ingredient - chicken - has been hit by export curbs.
As prices soar around the world, some Asian nations have banned or limited exports of key foods as they try to protect supplies at home. This week, Malaysia cut the number of chickens that could be exported.
mes after India banned wheat exports and limited overseas sales of sugar, while Indonesia blocked exports of palm oil in a bid to rein in domestic cooking oil prices.
moves have raised concerns in countries that rely on food imports that the cost of essential items will continue to rise. For Singapore, which imports more than 90% of its food, the curbs are especially worrying. The island nation relies on Malaysia for a third of the chicken it consumes.
Unsurprisingly, news of the export curb spurred queues at chicken rice stalls, which are found at almost every food court and hawker centre in Singapore.
"This time it is chicken, next time it may be something else. We have to be prepared for this," Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.
rds used in chicken rice are usually exported live from Malaysia to Singapore where they are slaughtered, cooked and served.
ger been possible since Malaysia blocked chicken exports, and its government said the ban would stay in place "until domestic prices and production stabilise".
Lim Wei Keat, the owner of Ah Keat Chicken Rice, said he was not keen to raise prices even though his Malaysian chicken supplier started charging him around 20% more this year, as the war in Ukraine drove up costs of fuel and corn feed.
"We don't want to increase the price of our chicken rice because it might drive away customers," Mr Lim said. "What we are expecting is maybe we can absorb the price for about a month. Worse come to worse, we have to actually start increasing prices by 50 cents per plate."
But he also worries that he may not be able to get enough chicken in the days ahead.
make up the shortfall, he said he may have to use frozen meat, which may not be appetising to his customers.
"The perception of frozen is... there is the freezer smell or the texture is different," Mr Lim said. "But honestly I've not seen a big difference. We eat the chickens in [fast food] restaurants and they taste pretty good."
Meat sellers however have fewer options. Hamid bin Buang has been selling chicken at one of the city's thriving wet markets for more than a decade.
He said his customers have been buying more of the meat in recent days but now he plans to shut his stall until Malaysia lifts its export ban - he is not sure when he can replenish his stocks.
"Everybody is worried now. Everybody is in difficulty when there is no chicken," he said.
When countries limit exports, the effects are felt throughout the supply chains of producers, retailers and customers, said Paul Teng, a professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
Some producers "worry about surviving, livelihoods and also about future contracts", Mr Teng said in a recent interview with the BBC's Asia Business Report.
"At the retail level, if you increase prices, you might send customers away," Mr Teng said.
He added that he expects inflation, which is the rate prices of food and other essentials rise, to continue due to the Ukraine war.
It is partly why chicken - the most consumed meat in countries like Singapore and the UK - is becoming more expensive.
Cost of living: Singapore chicken rice hit by export curbs
Elsewhere in Asia, India has banned wheat exports and capped its sugar exports at 10 million tonnes.
untry is the world's largest sugar producer and ranks number two for global exports of the commodity.
As Ukraine's exports of wheat plunged after the start of the war and other major producers faced droughts and floods, commodity traders were expecting India to make up for part of the shortfall.
"The example set by India currently is very problematic and a lot of smaller economies are thinking if India does it, so should we," said David Laborde, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington DC.
Meanwhile, palm oil prices surged this year when Indonesia, the top producer of the ingredient used in everything from processed food to soap, stopped exports for three weeks to bring down local cooking oil prices.
Mr Laborde also warned about the severe impact of the export curbs on consumers, especially those on low incomes.
"While food is still around, it is more expensive and the poor are the first victims. In some cases, they even have to cut health or education expenditures," he said.
Over a plate of her favourite dish, Ms Chong said she hopes price increases will not keep her from eating chicken rice.
"If we are able to afford that, we should still support businesses like coffeeshops or restaurants. We shouldn't hold back because it went up by a few cents," she said. | /news/business-61589222 | eng |
business | EasyJet cancels 80 flights as travel disruption continues | Airlines including EasyJet and Wizz Air have cancelled dozens of flights as UK air travel disruption continues.
EasyJet said it had cut 80 flights on Sunday, and apologised to customers for the disruption.
ransport Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC the aviation industry cut too many jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and it must not oversell flights.
He said he wanted airlines to automatically compensate passengers.
Passengers have faced a raft of UK flight cancellations causing disruptions for many families on half-term holidays.
-year-old Noah and his younger sister Beau won't be in school on Monday morning after a cancelled EasyJet flight left their family stranded in Dalyan, Turkey.
r mother, Emma, a hairdresser has had to cancel clients by text.
family of six, including Emma's parents, spent 10 hours on Saturday night at the airport waiting to see if they would be able to fly out as planned, before finally being bussed back to the hotel at 4.30am.
EasyJet offered them a flight on Thursday to Liverpool, but their car is parked at Gatwick.
"The [EasyJet] app literally says rearrange your flight or get a refund," says father Scott. "So we've just spend £3,000 on a flight home tomorrow night... flying to Stanstead."
EasyJet said it had cancelled about 80 flights on Sunday "due to the ongoing challenging operating environment".
"We are very sorry and fully understand the disruption this will have caused for our customers," the airline said, adding it was doing everything possible to get passengers to their destinations.
It said it had extended its customer service opening hours from 07:00 to 23:00, and was helping those affected find hotel accommodation.
Mr Shapps told BBC One's Sunday Morning programme that labour shortages were behind the travel disruption, resulting in airlines "finding it difficult to get people on board".
"When someone has bought a ticket for a flight, they've every right to expect that flight will take off, and not find that flight has been cancelled," he said.
"Airlines should be cautious about not overselling those flights, [and] where there are problems they need to fix them quickly."
He said the government had provided £8bn of support to the sector during the pandemic, along with furlough support, so decisions to cut staff had been made by the industry.
Mr Shapps added that airlines had "cut too deep" during the coronavirus pandemic.
"Clearly [the airlines] have been taken by surprise by the way in which people have returned to travel after two years of being locked down," he said.
He added that he wanted a "proper charter" for passengers so they could get "quick and straightforward compensation or be put on other flights".
Mr Shapps said he wanted a similar system to "Delay Repay" train passenger refunds "where it's an automated process".
However, he again rejected the idea of easing aviation labour shortages by relaxing immigration requirements.
Airlines have called on the government to issue special immigration visas to allow them to recruit overseas workers in the short term, as was done for the haulage and meat processing industries.
was backed by London's Labour mayor Sadiq Khan who said airport jobs should be opened up to people from the European Union.
"This is self-inflicted from the government. This is about Brexit plus Covid."
"What we don't want is this spring misery turned into summer misery," he said.
However, Mr Shapps said after the government eased immigration rules in the haulage industry only 27 lorry drivers had come over from the European Union to help ease the chronic shortage, which instead had been alleviated by government measures.
Gatwick Airport said that 52 departures and 30 arrivals were cancelled on Sunday.
majority were EasyJet flights, but British Airways, Wizz Air and Vueling were also affected.
Flights from Barcelona, Nice, Madrid, Belfast, Geneva, Corfu, Faro in Portugal and Glasgow were among those cancelled.
A Gatwick spokesperson said the airport was "operating normally" but would be busy with 830 flights.
ravel expert Simon Calder said that on a typical day you would expect to see half a dozen flights being cancelled to and from the UK, with those spread over all airlines.
He said in addition about 3,000 passengers heading for Luton on Sunday had been diverted after a power failure affected air traffic control systems.
British Airways declined to comment.
Wizz Air issued a statement saying it was doing as much as it could to help passengers reach their destinations. It said several things were causing "operational instability" in the travel industry, including staff shortages within air traffic control, ground operations and baggage handling, security and across airports.
It offered customers affected its "sincere apologies" and said they would be offered alternative flights with Wizz Air, a full refund or 120% in airline credit, which it aimed to process within one week.
Has your flight been cancelled at the last minute? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | /news/business-61607531 | eng |
business | EasyJet executive quits after major flight disruption | EasyJet's chief operating officer has resigned after a series of flight cancellations and disruption at the airline in recent weeks.
rline said Peter Bellew had left "to pursue other business opportunities" and wished him well.
It comes after thousands of EasyJet flights have been cancelled - some at short notice.
rade union Unite last month criticised a "lack of leadership" at the airline and urged Mr Bellew to "take control".
Announcing Mr Bellew's resignation, EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said the airline was "absolutely focused on delivering a safe and reliable operation this summer".
He said the role of interim chief operations officer would be in the "very capable hands of" David Morgan "who will provide strong leadership for the airline this summer".
Mr Morgan has been with EasyJet since 2016 and is currently director of flight operations. He had previously led overall operations at the airline, as interim chief operating officer in 2019.
r shed thousands of jobs during the pandemic, but is now struggling to meet the rebound in demand for travel.
EasyJet has been one of the worst hit for cancellations in recent months. It has axed thousands of flights, including many on the day they were due to depart.
Late last month it said it would be making some cancellations over the summer, to build in more resilience and in response to caps imposed by London Gatwick and Amsterdam Schiphol airports.
It said this gave customers advance notice and potential to re-book.
While it will have made use of the government's landing slot "amnesty" as part of this plan, EasyJet said it would not be announcing any further cancellations this week. It said the last affected customers would be told on Monday.
In optimistic quotes in EasyJet's late January trading update, its boss Johan Lundgren predicted "a strong summer ahead", with demand pushing capacity near to 2019 levels.
Six months later, with Covid restrictions largely behind them, people want to go on holiday again. Demand doesn't appear to have been a problem.
But ambitions have evidently had to be scaled back. Thousands of flights have had to be cancelled.
, the airline's boss says a "safe and reliable" operation is the "absolute" focus.
EasyJet is far from the only business affected by widespread issues hitting aviation at the moment - from staff shortages to industrial action.
It hopes not to have to issue any further waves of cancellations, and points out it's still running up to 1,700 flights each day.
However, it has undeniably been through a challenging time of late and must be hoping that a change at the top can herald a change in performance.
It is understood just over 150,000 of the 160,000 EasyJet flights initially scheduled to run over July, August and September, will go ahead. This means roughly 10,000 have been cancelled - or about 6%.
rline said the majority of its flights were unaffected by the cancellations, with it continuing to operate up to 1,700 flights a day.
However, unions representing EasyJet cabin crew in Spain have called a series of 24-hour strikes for July in a dispute over pay.
first of the strikes took place over the weekend, and a further six days of action are due later this month.
Shares in EasyJet, which have fallen back to the lows of March 2020 at the start of the pandemic, were trading down almost 3% after news of Mr Bellew's departure - making it one of the biggest fallers on the FTSE 250 index.
More cancellations from a raft of airlines are expected this week as the government has given carriers until Friday to announce changes to their schedules without facing a potential penalty.
move is an attempt to minimise disruption during the peak summer holiday season.
Do you work at an airport? Do you have a summer holiday coming up? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | /news/business-62038384 | eng |
business | Waitrose changes Christmas advert after complaints | Waitrose has changed a part of its Christmas advert that showed two farmers comparing sun tans after it was criticised by skin cancer patients.
upermarket apologised last week after it received a backlash to its video on social media.
Critics said a section of the advert glorified sun tans and failed to highlight the dangers of sunlight.
Waitrose told the BBC it would now be using an "updated version of the ad to address these concerns".
"While we included some light-hearted and 'true to life' moments, we've listened to the comments made about the serious message of sun safety," a spokesperson said.
"Our ad celebrates the care and effort that our partners and real farmers - who work in all weathers - put in to make sure our customers have what they need for Christmas."
upermarket's advert features clips of farmers working all year round to create the produce for festive food.
In the original version, two farmers could be seen comparing sun tans as they worked in the summer sunshine.
Now the farmers pass each other in the field, without showing off their tans.
One person who has melanoma commented on Waitrose's Facebook post of the advert, saying she found it "absolutely astonishing that a company like yourselves should be showing farmers glorifying in their sun tans".
"This is a kick in the teeth for all melanoma patients and for all the organisations trying to educate everyone into the dangers of sun tans," she added. "What on earth were you thinking to include this in a Christmas advert? Words fail me."
Skin cancer charity Melanoma UK also criticised the advert, saying: "Waitrose can do better than this."
Waitrose apologised after the backlash, saying it was "sorry for the upset caused".
Source: NHS | /news/business-63732117 | eng |
business | Cost of living: Pubs face bleak future, boss warns | Pub bosses say they fear for the industry amid rising bills and customers spending less
Pubs face a "bleak" future as costs climb and customers rein in their spending, a pub chain boss has warned.
Clive Watson said refurbishment plans were on hold and some kitchens may have to close at quiet times because of the rising price of food and energy.
monthly inflation figure, published on Wednesday, was 10.7% in November, down from 11.1% in October.
It means prices are still rising, but the rate at which they are going up is slowing.
"I don't want to be sensationalist about it, but it is bleak," said Mr Watson, co-founder of City Pub Company, which runs 45 bars, with four in Wales.
"After Christmas, trade is always very quiet and, I think, it is going to be a long haul for operators who, let's face it, have had two years of Covid challenges.
"These are businesses who have been through a lot of pain already," he said, while speaking from the company's Newport bar, the Potters Pub.
"To go into the new year with all the high costs we have talked about, plus consumers feeling the pinch as well, I genuinely fear for a lot of pubs' long-term survival."
He said Christmas bookings were ahead of the same period in 2019, but spending per head was down as "the office credit card isn't as flexible as it has been in the past".
mbination of staff shortages, higher running costs and lower customer spending meant pubs were reluctant to invest in expanding their businesses.
"Why would I open a new pub in Cardiff for Newport if I am struggling to get the staff into existing pubs?" he said.
"We are curtailing our expansion and refurbishment [plans], and really just focusing on what we have got."
Businesses which supply the hospitality sector are also facing tough trading conditions.
mos and Lilford Brewery, in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, employed seven people this time last year, but now managing director Rob Lilford is the only full-time staff member.
He said pubs were ordering less beer, and the costs of producing it had increased significantly this year.
"We faced a 30% rise in the price of the raw material, the grain that beer is made from," he said.
flict in Ukraine, as well as increased gas and electricity costs, are thought to have pushed prices higher.
"That was in January, and we are now expecting a higher rise than that this January - something in the region of 40 to 45%, and that is Ukraine-driven, as well as energy," he said.
Mr Lilford sells his beer to the Rising Sun in Abersychan, Torfaen, where owner and landlord Gerwyn Evans said it was "a scary time" to run a hospitality business.
"It's a rollercoaster," he added.
"When you hear on the news that the price of a pint has gone up 5p or 10p, that's the brewer's cost.
"That's not necessarily our costs for electric, gas, staff costs and wages.
"There are many other aspects to the price of a pint of beer and how much you can safely charge and still get people through the door."
Mr Evans, who is secretary of a group representing local landlords, said the trend was for pubs to open for only a few days a week.
"They are shortening their weeks, they are opening later in the day because the trade simply isn't there," he said.
Rising Sun has diversified to offer specials such as a pie and pint night, quizzes and curry nights to entice new customers.
"We are quite fortunate that the locals do support the pub, but it's either use it or lose it," he said.
"So many pubs are closing, it's so sad that part of our national heritage and traditions are sadly going down, one by one."
Last month, Michelle Knight, who runs the Six Bells in Coity, Bridgend, told BBC Wales how she had halved draught beer and cider selections to keep costs down while running the pub's cooling system.
Dr Siwan Mitchelmore, a university lecturer at Bangor Business School, said pubs were "being squeezed from both ends".
"They are facing their customers directly and, as the cost of living has increased, it has also risen for businesses as well as their customers," she said.
"And we see that the number of people spending in these areas is falling because they are worrying more about heating their homes than about non-essential spending." | /news/uk-wales-63948471 | eng |
business | Heating oil: Tory MPs worried about off-grid energy support | Some Tory MPs in rural areas have raised concerns about the support given to households who use oil or liquefied petroleum gas to heat their homes.
Ministers said off-grid energy consumers would receive an extra payment of £100 as they announced support for businesses on Wednesday.
£100 is a top-up to a £400 payment, which is going to all UK households.
But off-grid energy consumers will not benefit from the two-year cap on typical household bills.
Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said there was "equivalence" in the level of support offered because the price of heating oil had not risen as much as the price of gas.
But many MPs questioned whether the support was comparable.
Several Tories told the BBC that they would raise the issue in a meeting with Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
Around 1.1 million fossil-fuel heated homes in England are not connected to the gas grid.
BBC understands the government is keeping support for alternative fuels under review should there be further price increases.
Conservative MP for Clwyd West, David Jones, said: "I and my colleagues will be watching carefully to assess whether the support is truly comparable and will be making such representations as we consider necessary."
ry MP for Buckingham, Greg Smith, said: "I'm happy there's been movement, but we've got to polish this."
Another Conservative representing a rural constituency in Wales added: "£100 is unlikely to be enough for this coming winter and I will be exploring this further with government ministers."
In the Commons, Tory MP Fay Jones, who represents Brecon and Radnorshire, was one of several MPs to raise the issue, saying the £100 payment would "not touch the sides".
Former Conservative minister Mark Harper, who represents the Forest of Dean, also said the payment "doesn't seem like a comparable level of support".
In response, Mr Rees-Mogg said: "The price of heating oil has not risen as much as the price of gas, and therefore the aim of government policy is to ensure equivalence, and therefore inevitably the support given for those on heating oil will need a lower actual amount than those connected to the gas grid, but that will give them equivalence."
Opposition politicians have also criticised the support for heating oil and liquefied petroleum gas users.
former Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, who represents Westmorland and Lonsdale, said: "It seems only to be £100 - which is woeful when you think that oil users are paying £1k a year more at least."
Plaid Cymru MP for Ceredigion, Ben Lake, added: "I fear that Jacob Rees-Mogg's offer of £100 will leave many struggling to make ends meet."
In Northern Ireland, where two-thirds of households use heating oil, the level of support for off-grid customers has also been criticised.
Stormont Economy Minister Gordon Lyons said he did not believe the offer of £100 would "cut it in any way, shape or form", while SDLP leader Colum Eastwood described the payment as an "insult".
Vicky Saynor, 46, uses heating oil to heat her home in Hertfordshire, where she lives with her partner and four children.
family have to fill their tank up three times a year, which cost £750 in 2020 but now costs £3,325.
Vicky said it had been a "massive" struggle to afford the increase and the family had stopped eating out and going on holiday to make up for it.
She described the £100 additional payment as "ridiculous" and "an insult", adding that it was 2% of the cost of one tank of oil for her house.
Vicky also owns three holiday homes, which are the family's only income and are also heated by oil. These have been hit by huge price increases and are not protected by the energy price cap for businesses.
A government spokesperson said households who are off the gas grid, such as those using heating oil or those who do not benefit from the gas element of the cap on household energy bills, would get a payment of £100.
£400 payment for all UK households to help with energy bills and other support such as the Warm Home Discount, the spokesperson said.
Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced energy bills for on-grid households will be capped for two years, with a typical household bill limited to £2,500 annually until 2024.
Additional reporting by Oscar Bentley | /news/uk-politics-62989499 | eng |
business | Record numbers not looking for work due to long-term illness | umber of people not looking for work because they are suffering from a long-term illness has hit a record high, latest official figures show.
fall in the number looking for work has helped to push the unemployment rate to its lowest for nearly 50 years.
jobless rate fell to 3.5% in the three months to August, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
umber of job vacancies fell again, although the level still remains high with many firms struggling to recruit.
However, the squeeze on pay remains, with rises in regular wages failing to keep up with the rising cost of living.
Have you left work due to illness?
ONS head of labour market and household statistics David Freeman said the number of people neither working nor looking for work had continued to rise over the past few months.
mic inactivity rate - which measures the proportion of people aged between 16 and 64 not looking for work - increased to 21.7% in the June to August period, the ONS said. The number of those inactive because they are long-term sick hit a record high of nearly 2.5 million.
Mr Freeman added: "While the number of job vacancies remains high after its long period of rapid growth, it has now dropped back a little, with a number of employers telling us they've reduced recruitment due to a variety of economic pressures."
mated number of vacancies in the three months to September fell by 46,000 to 1,246,000, the largest fall since mid-2020 during the Covid pandemic.
Ruth Gregory at Capital Economics said that while there were "tentative signs that the labour market is cooling from the red-hot conditions seen in recent months, the shortfall in labour supply is keeping it exceptionally tight".
"That will maintain intense pressure on the Bank of England to raise rates aggressively over the coming months," she added.
One company still struggling to recruit enough staff is PMG Services, a waste management business based in Bristol. It employs 50 people, but has a vacancies for a wide range of roles.
"We get a lot of interested candidates, we offer interviews, and then we get a lot of no-shows which is really disheartening and wastes so much time," says PMG's Clare McGuinness.
"Some people are offered jobs and don't even show up for work. It's a real challenge," she adds.
mpany has also raised salaries to try to help recruitment, as well hold on to its current workers.
She says the ongoing vacancies are making it difficult for the company to take on extra work.
"We've become very lean. We've increased our efficiencies but there's only so much we can do, and it really limits our ability to grow."
ONS data showed that while wages were seeing strong rises, they were still failing to keep with rising prices.
Regular pay - which excludes bonuses - grew at an annual rate of 5.4% in the June to August period, the ONS said, which is the strongest growth seen outside of the coronavirus pandemic period.
However, inflation - the rate at which prices rise - currently stands at a near 40-year high of 9.9%.
When taking the rise in prices into account, the value of regular pay fell by 2.9% in the three months to August, the ONS said.
Reacting to the figures, the Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, said "the fundamentals of the UK economy remain resilient".
"Our ambitious Growth Plan will drive sustainable long term growth, meaning higher wages and better living standards for everyone, and we are cutting taxes so people can keep more of what they earn," he added. | /news/business-63204333 | eng |
business | IMF: UK set for slowest growth of G7 countries in 2023 | UK is set for the slowest growth of the G7 richest economies next year, the International Monetary Fund has warned.
It is predicting UK growth will fall to just 0.5% in 2023, much lower than its forecast in April of 1.2%.
global economy has shrunk for the first time since 2020, the IMF said, hit by the Ukraine war and Covid-19.
With growth stalling in the UK, US, China and Europe, the world "may soon be teetering on the edge of a global recession", it said.
"We know that people are feeling the impact of rising prices, caused by global economic factors, triggered by the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine," a HM Treasury spokesperson said in a statement, adding that help for households included £400 off energy bills plus personal tax cuts worth up to £330 a year.
IMF has cut its 2022 global growth forecast to just 3.2% and warned the slowdown risks being even more severe.
It said fast-rising prices were to blame for much of the slowdown, with households and businesses squeezed by a combination of higher prices and higher borrowing costs as policymakers raise interest rates to try to counter inflation.
"The global economy, still reeling from the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, is facing an increasingly gloomy and uncertain outlook," economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas wrote in a blog outlining the international lending body's latest economic forecast.
"The outlook has darkened significantly" since April, the last time the IMF issued forecasts, he added.
global economy contracted in the three months to July, which was the first decline since the pandemic hit, the IMF said.
robability of a recession in the G7 economies - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and UK - now stands at roughly 15% - nearly four times higher than usual.
While UK growth is expected to remain relatively strong this year, Mr Gourinchas said unusually high inflation - faster than in Europe or the US - is expected to take a toll in 2023.
"If you were to look at both years together, it's actually not very far from where the other advanced economies are," he told the BBC. "The one thing that worries me more about the UK economy is that their inflation numbers seem to be quite high. There is a fairly high pass through from high gas prices to broader prices in the economy.
"That would signal even further monetary policy tightening by the Bank of England and that would also weigh down on growth going forward."
IMF now expects inflation to reach 6.6% in advanced economies and 9.5% in emerging market and developing economies - nearly a full percentage point higher than it expected in April.
"Inflation at current levels represents a clear risk for current and future macroeconomic stability and bringing it back to central bank targets should be the top priority for policymakers," Mr Gourinchas said.
"Tighter monetary policy will inevitably have real economic costs, but delaying it will only exacerbate the hardship."
fallout from the war in Ukraine is being felt in pockets across the world. Soaring food and fuel prices and higher interest rates means the IMF sees more gloomy prospects for all major economies - but it's the UK that, Russia apart, remains bottom of the pile for 2023.
Brexit may not have helped but it's our reliance on fossil fuels - they make up 75% of our energy mix, more than in the EU - that's made us particularly vulnerable to this shock. Those prices are determined on international markets but affect us all. This report comes on the day that, with the energy price cap set to top £3,000 in October, a committee of MPs warns that further government help for households may be needed.
But the IMF is among those economists who've noted that the UK faces more fundamental issues than the current crisis, with living standards having dropped behind many competitors over the last 15 years, something many attribute to a lack of investment in skills, equipment and infrastructure. Officials from the IMF have previously told me that one way to remedy that would be to raise, not lower taxes, to fund more investment.
US saw the steepest downgrade of any country for 2022. The IMF cut its growth forecast for the world's largest economy to 2.3% this year, from 3.7% previously, and to just 1% in 2023.
Meanwhile growth in China is expected to fall to 3.3% this year, the slowest rate in nearly four decades, as the country wrestles with new Covid lockdowns and a property crisis.
Questions about the reliability of Europe's natural gas supplies from Russia, as well as political unrest generated by high food and fuel prices, are among the risks the global economy is facing in the months ahead, the IMF said.
"We can be reasonably hopeful that China might be rebound," Mr Gourinchas said, adding that he was "much more concerned about both the inflation path and the tightening of monetary policy leading to a slowdown going ahead".
It warned that in a "plausible" scenario, in which only some of those risks materialise, like a shutdown of Russian gas flows to Europe, global economic growth could fall to 2% next year - a pace the world has fallen below just five times since 1970. | /news/business-62299490 | eng |
business | Sri Lanka crisis: Prime minister says $5bn needed this year | Sri Lanka's prime minister says the country needs at least $5bn (£4bn) over the next six months to pay for essential goods as it faces its worst economic crisis in more than 70 years.
Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament the money is needed for basic items such as food, fuel and fertiliser.
In May, Sri Lanka defaulted on its debts with international lenders for the first time in its history.
untry has held bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund.
On Tuesday, Mr Wickremesinghe, who is also the country's finance minister, told parliament that more money was required this year to meet Sri Lanka's basic needs.
He said the island nation, which has a population of around 22 million, requires $3.3bn for fuel imports, $900m for food, $600m for fertiliser, and $250m for cooking gas.
It comes as Sri Lankan lawmakers accepted a $55m loan for fertilisers from India's Exim Bank.
United Nations also plans to make a worldwide appeal for Sri Lanka, and has pledged $48m for food, agriculture and healthcare, Mr Wickremesinghe added.
He also warned of a slowdown in government payments to businesses and workers across the country, as funds are redirected to pay for food supplies.
"A lot of people will be without food, so the food programme we are initiating will ensure that all families, even if they have no income, they will have food," Mr Wickremesinghe said.
"We can have community kitchens in temples [and] churches to supply the food. The community has to get involved," he added.
South Asian nation will also try to renegotiate a $1.5bn financial support deal with China, Mr Wickremesinghe said.
PM Ranil Wickramasinghe: "There won't be a hunger crisis"
Sri Lanka is struggling with its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from the UK in 1948.
untry's economy has been hit hard by the pandemic, rising energy prices, and populist tax cuts.
A shortage of medicines, fuel and other essentials has also helped to push the cost of living to record highs.
Sri Lanka's official rate of inflation, the pace at which prices rise, rose by 39.1% year-on-year in May. At the same time, food prices in its largest city Colombo increased by 57.4%.
Mr Wickremesinghe is set to unveil an interim budget next month, as he faces the challenge of slashing overall government spending while still providing social welfare payments.
Last week, Sri Lanka's agriculture minister called on farmers to grow more rice as he said the country's "food situation is becoming worse".
government also announced an immediate increase to value added tax (VAT) from 8% to 12%. The move was expected to boost revenue by 65bn Sri Lankan rupees ($181m; £144m). It also said corporate tax would rise in October from 24% to 30%. | /news/business-61727801 | eng |
business | Recession: Was the Bank of England right to raise interest rates? | It is the most piercing of warning sirens set off by the Bank of England.
It announced the largest interest rate rise in a quarter of a century, in an attempt to temper a peak in inflation of 13%.
But it is its prediction of a recession as long as the great financial crisis and as deep as that seen in the early 1990s that is the big shock here.
Bank thinks that energy bills hitting nearly £300 per month on average, treble their level of a year before, will plunge the economy in the final quarter of this year into a recession.
If global energy costs remain where they are, that recession will then last the whole of next year, with inflation barely below 10% even in a year's time.
roper full fat recession now being predicted by the Bank, and at the same time a 42-year high in the rate of inflation.
It is a textbook example of the combination of stagnation of the economy and high inflation - stagflation.
It obviously will raise questions as to why rates are being hiked into a recession, at a time when consumers are already pulling back from spending.
Mortgage costs are now soaring. Markets expect further rises in the base rate - taking it up to 3% - even during this predicted recession.
ffects those on variable rates, and about half of those set to come off their fixed rate mortgages in the coming couple of years.
Bank's answer will be that rates are still low by historic standards, and they just cannot provide further fuel for these extraordinary but hopefully temporary high inflation rates, to last for years.
But make no mistake, a forecast such as this, would mean a wrecking ball to the forecasts for government borrowing. Tax revenues would plummet, and spending would increase naturally.
Forget about the £30bn room for manoeuvre or "fiscal headroom" we heard so much about.
But with this level of energy shock, whoever is in power, would need to prepare further massive consumer support, and feasibly, rescue schemes for the energy sector too.
I cannot recall the Bank of England predicting a recession of this length in advance of the event.
And that certainly has not happened in the middle of the selection of a new prime minister. It is the sort of forecast that in other circumstances might have prompted an immediate emergency Budget.
It may just upend all the plans we have heard so much about. | /news/business-62408117 | eng |
business | Bank of England boosts plan to calm market turmoil | Bank of England has announced new measures aimed at ensuring an "orderly end" to its emergency bond buying scheme which was introduced to stop a collapse of some pension funds.
Bank will increase the amount of bonds it can buy in the final week of the scheme, which ends on Friday.
It will also introduce extra support to ease future strains on pension funds.
Bank initially stepped in after the government's mini-budget sparked turmoil on financial markets.
With the deadline for the Bank's bond-buying programme fast approaching, there have been concerns volatility would return once the scheme ends.
However, Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said the Bank was taking the approach of "talking loudly and carrying a big stick" in its attempt to calm concerns,
He said the measures are "designed to reassure pension managers - and pension holders - that help will be provided".
He added that the Bank's announcement reaffirms that the bond purchases were a short-term measure and "it remains committed to withdrawing monetary stimulus and tightening monetary policy as it fights inflation".
mini-budget - which was announced on 23 September - pledged £45bn of tax cuts as part of a plan to boost economic growth, but the level of government borrowing required shocked investors who questioned the sustainability of the public finances.
In the aftermath of the statement, the pound hit a record low and investors demanded a much higher return for investing in government bonds, causing some to drop sharply in value.
Certain types of funds in the pension industry, which invest in bonds, were forced to start selling, sparking fears of a fresh market downturn.
On 28 September, the Bank stepped in to buy government bonds saying its decision was driven by concern over "a material risk to UK financial stability".
It said it would buy up to £65bn bonds, with a limit of £5bn a day.
So far, the Bank has bought only around £5bn bonds in total under the programme and in its latest announcement it said stood ready to increase the size of its daily purchases. On Monday, it doubled the limit to £10bn.
rvention is about a transition off the Bank of England emergency support offered in government bond markets, in the aftermath of the mini-budget.
Bank of England is trying to leave no stone unturned in making sure the withdrawal of this support occurs in an orderly manner. But the Bank is also committing to the timetable to phase out the support this week. Some in the markets had anticipated it would need to be extended.
Bank is demonstrating that this intervention is not intended to limit the rise in government costs, but instead was a temporary and targeted effort aimed at maintaining financial stability.
message heard in markets on Monday, with effective borrowing costs, or yields, on government debt on the rise again. These rates were over 4.5% for borrowing over 30 years and five years.
g picture is this: if the Treasury wants to bring down now rising government borrowing costs - which have an effect on mortgages and business lending too - it is up to it to present a credible set of tax and spending plans and independent forecasts, which are now promised for the end of October.
forecasts and the plan will now feed into the Bank of England's interest rate decision in early November.
Bank of England's intervention was a temporary bridge over a specific crisis. The solution here is for the government.
government borrows money to fund its spending plans by selling bonds, or "gilts", to investors such as pension funds and big banks on international markets.
But a collapse in the price of those bonds in the aftermath of the mini-budget was forcing some funds to rush to sell bonds further forcing down the price.
If that process had continued, there was a risk that those pension funds could have got to a position where they could not pay their debts.
In its latest statement, the Bank said there had been "substantial progress" in addressing the financial problems facing these funds, which had faced the prospect of having to make forced sales of £50bn of bonds.
As well as increasing the daily limit on bond purchases this week, the Bank also announced a further measure to help the funds affected by the recent market volatility.
Under the measure, these funds will be able to use a wider range of assets - such as company bonds - to access money to help meet any short-term financial demands.
It is hoped this means these funds will not be forced to sell government bonds to raise cash, which was what they had to do in the immediate aftermath of the mini-budget.
measure will continue after the emergency bond-buying programme has finished.
Before the mini-budget, the yield on government borrowing over a 30-year period stood at about 3.7%. The yield is effectively the interest rate.
After the mini-budget it jumped to 5.1% until the Bank's intervention pushed the rate back down. However, in recent days it has crept back up again to around 4.5%. | /news/business-63198341 | eng |
business | North Sea workers begin strike action over pay | Strike action is taking place on a number of North Sea oil and gas installations in a row over pay.
Unite union said nearly 150 members employed by Petrofac on Repsol-Sinopec operated assets were involved.
uous overtime ban and a 48-hour stoppage on Wednesday and Thursday. Another two day strike is due to begin on 30 November.
Unite said the action, involving roles such as technicians, would cause "significant disruption".
A Petrofac spokeswoman said: "We continue to work closely with our teams and our client to ensure there is no increased risk to safety during periods of industrial action.
"Through regular reviews of the remuneration of our offshore workforce, we ensure fair compensation aligned with the market.
"Our latest review resulted in enhancements, including: a salary increase and commitment to an additional increase in January 2023, an equal time allowance and increased additional and training day payments."
Meanwhile, Unite also announced members had accepted an improved pay offer from the Catering Offshore Trade Association (Cota).
union said the deal covered 3,000 workers in offshore catering. | /news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-63642240 | eng |
business | Train strikes could impact the London Marathon | rain drivers and railway workers are set to stage the largest strike to date as part of a long-running row over pay.
Members of the Aslef and RMT unions will walk out on 1 October in order to bring the rail network to an "effective standstill", union bosses said.
Just 10% of services are likely to run on Saturday, with travel to and from the London Marathon as well as the Tory Party conference potentially affected.
rain drivers will then take a second day of industrial action on 5 October.
Aslef, which is the union for train drivers, has confirmed that 9,000 drivers at 12 train companies across the country will walk out on both 1 and 5 October.
Meanwhile the RMT, which represents rail workers including guards and signalling staff, said it has given notice to Network Rail, which maintains the country's railways, as well as to 14 train companies that its 40,000 members will strike on 1 October.
Rail Delivery Group, the industry body representing train operators, claimed that "thousands" of runners taking part in the London Marathon could have their journeys disrupted.
race is on 2 October which is not a strike day but services could be disrupted following industrial action because trains are not in the correct locations.
Many participants may also travel ahead of the event.
"These strikes will once again hugely inconvenience the very passengers the industry needs to support its recovery from the ongoing impact of the pandemic," said the Rail Delivery Group.
Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, from 2 October to 5 October, is also expected to be hit by disruption and cancelled services.
rike action comes after a series of large-scale walk outs in recent months as unions seek pay increases in line with the rising cost of living.
Rail bosses claim they want to give workers pay rises but they and the government insist changes are needed to "modernise" the railway, to end some working practices and to save money.
RMT said its decision to hold further strikes was due to "no further offers from the rail industry to help come to a negotiated settlement".
Mick Lynch, the union's general secretary, said the large-scale action would send a "clear message to the government and employers that working people will not accept continued attacks on pay and working conditions at a time when big business profits are at an all-time high".
"We want a settlement to these disputes where our members and their families can get a square deal. And we will not rest until we get a satisfactory outcome," he added
rain drivers' union Aslef, gave notice of the latest strike to the train companies on Friday, but did not make a a public announcement at the time now "as a mark of respect for the monarch".
A strike had been planned for 15 September, but was postponed following the announcement of the Queen's death
union said it had successfully negotiated pay deals with nine train companies this year, but remained in dispute with some firms which it claimed hadn't offered any deal and where drivers hadn't had a pay increase since 2019.
"We would much rather not be in this position. We don't want to go on strike - withdrawing your labour, although a fundamental human right, is always a last resort for this trade union - but the train companies have been determined to force our hand, said Mick Whelan, Aslef's general secretary.
BBC understands members of the TSSA union are also expected to strike on 1 October, but this has not been officially confirmed.
In separate disputes, Arriva Rail London members, Hull Trains and bus workers at First Group Southwest will also take strike action on October 1st.
It's likely that about 10% of usual Saturday services will be able to run on 1 October. For the first time in the ongoing wave of strike action, both Aslef and the RMT will strike on the same day, meaning the number of trains running could be half of previous RMT strikes.
rail industry will now be putting together their contingency plans, with more detail expected at the end of the week.
What gives the RMT strikes such nation-wide impact is the involvement of Network Rail signallers, which means a fraction of usual trains can run even in areas where train companies are not directly involved in strike action. When Aslef's train drivers get involved, few or no trains at all can run on affected train operators' routes.
If the strikes go ahead, these will also be the first train strikes since Anne-Marie Trevelyan replaced Grant Shapps as Transport Secretary.
She has already invited the general secretaries of Aslef, RMT and TSSA for meetings. This signals a desire to be seen to take a less adversarial approach than her predecessor. However, it doesn't mean the substance of the government's position has changed.
How will you be affected by the rail strikes? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | /news/business-62969423 | eng |
business | Solve worker shortages with immigration - CBI boss | UK should use immigration to solve worker shortages and boost economic growth, the boss of the UK's biggest business group has said.
Danker called on politicians to be "practical" about immigration at the CBI's conference in Birmingham.
His speech comes as many firms struggle to recruit staff.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he wanted to attract the best talent from around the world, but also tackle illegal immigration.
Recent official figures show the UK's unemployment rate has edged up, and the Bank of England has forecast it will nearly double by 2025 as the country goes through a tough recession.
Meanwhile job vacancies remain near record levels.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) has also said UK business investment has dropped in recent months and remains below pre-pandemic levels.
Mr Danker said in his speech that the UK should enable "economic migration" in areas where skilled workers cannot be found.
He urged leaders to "be honest with people" over the country's "vast" labour shortages, adding "we don't have the people we need nor do we have the productivity".
"First, we have lost hundreds of thousands of people to economic inactivity post Covid," he said. "And anyone who thinks they'll all be back any day now - with the NHS under the pressure it is - is kidding themselves.
"Secondly, we don't have enough Brits to go round for the vacancies that exist, and there's a skills mismatch in any case. And third, believing automation can step in to do the job in most cases is unrealistic."
Mr Danker is calling for more fixed-term visas for overseas workers in shortage occupations.
In a speech to the CBI conference, Rishi Sunak said he wanted to attract "the best and brightest from around the world" to work in the UK.
He said the UK would create "one of the world's most attractive visa regimes for entrepreneurs and highly-skilled people", as he outlined plans to attract experts in artificial intelligence to the country,
But he said the UK's "number one priority right now, when it comes to migration, is tackling illegal immigration", adding that he is determined to do that.
"If we're going to have a system that allows businesses to access the best and brightest from around the world, we need to do more to give the British people trust and confidence that the system works and is fair," Mr Sunak said.
Earlier, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told TalkTV that if bosses needed "lower-skilled" staff, the domestic workforce should be their "first port of call".
"We want to bring down net migration. It's something that is... very important to the British people and we're on the side of the British people," he said.
On Friday, the chancellor said immigration would be important for the UK economy in the years ahead, but the government still wanted to bring numbers down.
He said he wanted to improve skills "at home" to lower dependence on foreign workers.
Mr Danker praised some of the government's Autumn Statement, which saw Chancellor Jeremy Hunt set out £55bn of spending cuts and tax rises in a bid to curb rising prices while also protecting public services.
But he warned the UK must go further in order to solve years of stagnating growth and urged the government to make "tough choices" to help.
UK's economy is performing worse than other major nations and is smaller than it was before the Covid pandemic.
government has said the country is already in recession, which is defined as when an economy shrinks for two three-month periods in a row. It's a sign an economy is performing badly, with companies often making less money and unemployment rising.
Global factors are partly to blame, with energy and food prices soaring this year due to the war in Ukraine and Covid.
But the UK also faces significant labour supply challenges due to it being more difficult for small businesses to trade with Europe or recruit workers due to Brexit, which ended freedom of movement for EU citizens coming to the UK and vice versa.
According to figures from the ONS, net migration to the UK was estimated to be about 239,000 in the year ending June 2021, a slight fall from the previous year's figure of 260,000. The figure was driven by immigration from non-EU countries.
Last month a survey by the CBI, which represents 190,000 UK businesses, said almost three-quarters of UK companies had suffered from labour shortages in the past year and nearly half surveyed wanted the government to grant temporary visas for roles that were in "obvious shortage".
f retailer Next has urged the government to let more foreign workers into the UK to ease labour shortages.
Lord Wolfson, who was a prominent advocate of Brexit, said the UK's current immigration policy was crippling economic growth.
government has introduced a skilled worker visa scheme for some occupations facing shortages. It also has a seasonal workers scheme to cover jobs such as fruit pickers, and a health and care visa for medical staff.
Mr Danker said people might be "arguing against immigration but it's the only thing that's increased the potential growth of our economy since March".
"Growth is a precondition to a stable society. Without growth the NHS gets worse, not better. People's lives get worse, not better. And we lack the resources we need to transform ourselves to a zero-carbon world," he said.
"Yet Britain's had 15 years of low growth and flatlining productivity. We can't afford a repeat."
Mr Danker also called for trading regulations to be reformed, saying politicians could no longer blame EU rules.
"The biggest regulatory barriers facing businesses today are based on British laws, created by a British Parliament, and administered by British regulators," he said.
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business | Cost of living: Glassblowers counting cost of rising energy bills | rise in energy prices has impacted businesses everywhere and glassblowing is among the trades which have felt it sharply.
Glassblowers rely on their furnaces being kept lit which has led to a large increase in energy bills.
ue has contributed to one glassblower being put out of business and some fear for the future of the trade in the face of prohibitive costs.
We spoke to West Country glassblowers to see how they are coping.
After 20 years of trade, the furnace has been switched off at Silver Tree Crystal in Moorlinch, Somerset.
glassblowers made the "heartbreaking" decision to close down after seeing their energy bills almost double.
Combined with the rise in import costs after Brexit and the impact of the pandemic, manager Janey Pointing said they had tried to keep going but were faced with no option but to close.
"We turned off the furnace in early September and it won't be going back on again. It is primarily the cost of energy which almost doubled.
"It's also down to the cost of importing raw materials as the prices went up and have kept going up. The cost of bringing it in is unbelievable.
"Christmas is a majorly busy period but our orders fell off a cliff. We have been trying but the situation hasn't got any better," added the 43-year-old.
Ms Pointing said she is worried about the future of the industry as a whole as businesses are forced to close down and with people being unable to learn their trade.
"I am terrified for the future of the glassblowing industry. It doesn't pay brilliantly but you don't do it for the money you do it for the passion. It's a lifelong career.
"We had to let our apprentice go which was very sad and I worry that there will be nowhere for apprentices to go. It's the sort of job where it takes years to master. It's a huge shame that our time has been cut short," she added.
Annette Dolan, who runs Bath Aqua Glass, told the BBC in August that she was enduring sleepless nights over her rising costs.
Ms Dolan has worked in the glassblowing business for 26 years and says she will do all she can to keep the firm running.
"Whether I'm going to save this business or not only the future will tell me, but I will do my damndest for all my staff and myself," she added.
One man to recently enter the industry is Chris Day, a heating and plumbing engineer who went back to university to pursue his dream of becoming a glassblower.
Mr Day has not given up on his engineering day job just yet as it helps him subsidise his glass work.
He said rising energy bills were an issue facing the entire glass industry and is concerned at university glassblowing courses being cut.
"What happens to the new people that want to come in and do glass? They can't do it or they haven't got the facilities or even the money now," he said.
Meanwhile, a glassblower from Langport, Somerset, says that being versatile and adapting to change has helped keep his business afloat.
Will Shakspeare said the rise in energy prices had led to some "eye-watering" gas bills but he is busier than ever, working six days a week to fulfil orders, including about 2,000 glass baubles ahead of Christmas.
"It is frightening at times but you control what you can," he said.
Mr Shakspeare works with one assistant, Johnny Allen, and says being a small team allows them to freedom to adapt their way of working quickly, as they did when the pandemic hit in 2020.
"It's not been an easy few years for anyone. People don't have a lot of money to spend.
"When Covid started we could have just gone into our shell and turned everything off.
"But we used the quieter time to try something new, making new things in our product range as we had the time to get things wrong and do it again.
"We started making things like lampshades and drinking glasses. We tried to make the most of it and did what we could," he said.
61-year-old has an energy consultant and although the nature of the work means large gas bills, their advice has helped mitigate the huge increase in costs some businesses have seen as his current deal runs until 2024.
He said he was unsure what his bill might look like in two years' time but for now was concentrating on a busy few weeks as orders arrived for the Christmas period.
"My gas bill is eye-watering at times. Even if I turned it off I would still get a hefty bill, so I might as well leave it on.
"We got a bit lucky when our energy contracts runs out. It's not easy if your contract ran out at the wrong time."
Mr Shakspeare began working with glass aged 20 and set up his first workshop at 30.
He said he thought there were about 40 glassblowers like him working in the UK but rising energy costs would make him "think twice" about setting up in the UK now.
"I might think very carefully about it as these are difficult times and there are lots of calls on peoples' money, but it is a global trade.
"I'm not sure it will die out.
"Being a small business we have the freedom to change quite quickly and that desire to change has kept us afloat.
"We can be versatile, think about what is going to work and concentrate on our strengths," he added.
Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-somerset-63232543 | eng |
business | Steel import tariffs extended for two years | riffs on steel imports that were due to expire will be retained for a further two years, the government said.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the plans departed from the UK's "international legal obligations" but was in the "national interest" to protect steel makers.
She added the decision was made due to "global disruptions" to energy markets and supply chains.
British steel producers are under pressure from soaring energy prices.
Steelmaking is a key industry for some parts of the UK, where it employs 34,000 people and turns over £2bn annually.
Without controls the government has warned the supply of steel into the UK could rise substantially, harming local manufacturers.
UK Steel previously said ending the import controls could cause as much as £150m a year in damage.
Speaking at the G7 summit in Germany at the weekend, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said keeping the import controls on foreign steel would protect metal manufacturers.
But there were concerns such a decision could breach international law as the question of extending tariffs on steel imports is seen as potentially breaking World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments.
Ms Trevelyan said the decision "departs from our international legal obligations" of a WTO agreement.
"However, from time to time, issues may arise where the national interest requires action to be taken," she added.
mits on steel imports were first introduced by the European Union in 2018 in response to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. The controls were mirrored by the UK after Brexit.
restrictions, which add a tax to steel imports once a certain quota has been reached, are known as "steel safeguards" because they are designed to protect the domestic market from surges of cheap steel from overseas.
Mr Johnson said: "We need British steel to be provided with much cheaper energy."
rols are currently in place for 15 categories of steel. While controls protecting 10 of those categories have already been extended to 2024, import limits on five categories were set to expire on 30 June, before the government extended them for two years.
Steelmaking accounts for just 0.1% of the UK economy - but the material being used in crucial sectors, from defence to transport, means that it's considered an important industry to shelter from cheaper imports.
's why the EU applied tariffs to some types of foreign steel, primarily on steel from China, in 2018, when the UK was a member.
Now the UK has chosen to roll over many of those controls.
move, which has been expected for some months, was reported as one reason for the resignation of the Prime Minister's ethics adviser Lord Geidt - but he later dismissed the issue as a "distraction".
rade Secretary Anne Marie Trevelyan admits the extension of tariffs could be at odds with World Trade Organization rules - but claims it reflects exceptionally challenging times for the industry, especially in light of high energy costs.
She has consulted other countries in the hope of avoiding a challenge, in the process attracting controversy for missing a parliamentary hearing on the Australian trade deal.
With the EU and US also retaining similar tariffs, it underlines the tough choices between removing trade barriers, and protecting national businesses.
Alasdair McDiarmid, operations director of the steelworkers' union Community, welcomed the extension saying it was "extremely important".
"Government made the right call because giving up our safeguards, when the EU and US are maintaining theirs, would leave us exposed to import surges threatening thousands of jobs," he said.
Ms Trevelyan said maintaining tariffs would help defend a strategic industry and that British steel producers could face "serious injury" were the measures not maintained.
"The government is therefore actively engaged with interested parties, including those outside the UK on the future of the UK safeguards and has listened to the concerns raised," she added.
rgest British trade body representing the industry, UK Steel, said the measures were "absolutely vital to the long-term health of the steel industry in the UK".
"Deficient or absent safeguards measures risk trade diversion away from shielded markets elsewhere, resulting in surges of imports into the UK," said Richard Warren, head of policy and external affairs at UK Steel.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labour's shadow international trade secretary, said: "The extension of safeguards will come as a welcome relief to the steel sector.
"It is not anti-competitive to provide a level playing field for our steel industry," he said. "I also support the decision to exclude Ukrainian steel."
But some criticised the move, saying it would stifle the supply of much-needed steel not produced in the UK.
Despite being a "step in the right direction," the Confederation of British Metalworkers boss Steve Morley said, the tariffs raise the "very real prospect of lost orders and production being moved away from the UK."
"British steel mills have not been able to supply the... materials our members need to support critical domestic and export supply chains, nor are they likely to be able to do so in the near future," he said. | /news/business-61982431 | eng |
business | Fuel prices surged over bank holiday break, says RAC | rice of petrol surged by nearly 5p a litre in the week that included the bank holiday break, the RAC says, and could soon hit 180p a litre.
motoring body said the average cost of a litre of petrol had hit a "frightening" 177.88p by Sunday.
Oil prices remain high due to the war in Ukraine and sanctions to reduce Europe's dependence on Russia.
In March, the government cut fuel duty by 5p a litre for a year, but the RAC called for more help for motorists.
RAC spokesperson Simon Williams, said: "More radical government intervention is urgently needed, whether that's in the form of a further reduction in fuel duty or a VAT cut."
Over the week from 30 May to 5 June, average diesel prices also rose from 182.58p a litre to 185.01p.
"Sadly, we expect to see the average price of petrol break through the 180p mark this week with diesel moving further towards 190p," said Mr Williams.
AA fuel price spokesman Luke Bosdet said: "Shock and awe is the only way to describe what has been happening at the pump during the half-term break."
He added: "The forces behind the surge have been oil jumping back above $120 a barrel for the first time since late March, combined with petrol commodity prices being boosted by summer motoring demand."
Many UK households are struggling with the rising cost of living and the consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation reached 9% in the year to April. The rise in the price of petrol and diesel was a major contributor to the increase in inflation.
As well as the war in Ukraine, Brent crude prices remain elevated after major oil producer Saudi Arabia said on Monday that it would increase its selling price from July. | /news/business-61704113 | eng |
business | Bitcoin value drops by 50% since November peak | ue of Bitcoin has dropped below $31,000 (£25,140) - less than half of what it was at its peak last November, according to the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange.
fall of the world's largest cryptocurrency by market value comes as stock markets around the world have also tumbled in recent days.
On Monday, key European, Asian and US indexes slid lower again.
Investors are fleeing riskier assets for safe havens like the dollar.
On Monday, Japan's Nikkei index dropped 2.5%, while London's FTSE 100 closed down more than 2%. In the US, the Dow fell nearly 2%, the S&P 500 dropped 3.2% and Nasdaq lost 4.3%, deepening the falls in recent weeks.
Uber was among the companies driving the declines.
Shares in the company dropped more than 11% on Monday after media outlets reported that chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi had warned staff that investors were becoming more cautious about investments. He said Uber would respond by cutting costs and slowing its hiring.
"It's clear that the market is experiencing a seismic shift and we need to react accordingly," he wrote in the letter.
"The average employee at Uber is barely over 30, which means you've spent your career in a long and unprecedented bull run. This next period will be different, and it will require a different approach."
In times of market uncertainty traditional investors will often sell what they see as riskier assets - like digital currency - and move their money into safer investments.
Moves in cryptocurrency markets have increasingly followed wider trends, as professional investors, such as hedge funds and money managers, become more active in trading what was once the domain of individual investors and enthusiasts.
Bitcoin, which accounts for about a third of the cryptocurrency market with a total value of close to $570bn, has seen its price plunge more than 10% in the last day and more than 20% in the last week.
Ethereum, the second biggest cryptocurrency in the world, has also fallen in value, down by more than 20% in the last week.
Volatile trading in digital assets has not been unusual in previous years, but much of 2022 had been relatively quiet for the cryptocurrency market.
Last week, central banks around the world, including the US, UK and Australia, raised interest rates as they attempt to tackle rising prices.
US Federal Reserve raised its key lending rate by half a percentage point, marking its biggest rate hike in more than 20 years.
riggered more concerns among some investors that inflation and the higher cost of borrowing could have a major impact on global economic growth.
Investors are also worried about the impact of the war in Ukraine on the world economy.
Meanwhile, in the last year Bitcoin has become legal tender in two countries - El Salvador and the Central African Republic.
Since El Salvador said it would allow consumers to use the cryptocurrency in all transactions, alongside the US dollar, the International Monetary Fund has urged it to reverse its decision.
Bitcoin explained: How do cryptocurrencies work? | /news/business-61375152 | eng |
business | Hong Kong shares hit lowest level since 2009 | Shares in Hong Kong have slumped to the lowest level since the global financial crisis, after a major speech by the city's leader on Wednesday.
mark Hang Seng index fell by more than 3% to its lowest level since May 2009, before regaining some ground.
Investors are also concerned about the threat of a global economic slowdown as central banks around the world raise interest rates to tackle rising prices.
One financial expert told the BBC that the "panic selling is ridiculous".
In his first policy address yesterday, Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee announced measures to boost security and plans to attract more overseas talent to the territory.
However, he did not elaborate on economic targets for the city, which has lost ground to rival Asian financial centres like Singapore.
Hong Kong's economy is currently in a technical recession, after seeing two three-month periods in a row of contraction this year.
Until recently the city had some of the world's toughest coronavirus rules as it followed China's zero Covid policies.
"The Hang Seng has hit a 13-year low and nothing is really helping the fragile sentiment," Dickie Wong, executive director of Kingston Securities said.
"There's also a sense that tax rebates are not enough to draw foreigners back to Hong Kong," he added.
raders were also concerned about the Hong Kong government's "unprecedented silence on key economic indicators," Kelvin Tay, regional chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management said.
However, Mr Tay added that investors were mostly concerned about "the economic outlook [of China] and a rise of Covid cases in the middle of the party congress in Beijing".
More than 2,000 delegates have gathered this week in Beijing to elect leaders and debate key policies at the Communist Party congress.
On Sunday, President Xi Jinping is expected to be confirmed for a historic third term as party chief.
Other stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region were also lower on Thursday, with benchmark share indexes in Japan, South Korea and Australia losing ground.
Meanwhile, the Japanese yen weakened to a fresh 32-year low of more than 150 to the US dollar.
riggered further speculation that Japanese authorities will attempt to prop up the currency for the second time in the space of just a few weeks.
Watch: Xi Jinping - Hong Kong has gone from chaos to governance | /news/business-63324124 | eng |
business | Rail strikes: What do passengers in Ipswich and Stevenage think? | Millions of people are facing travel disruption this week as the biggest walkout on the railways in 30 years takes place in a row over pay and conditions. With limited services running, what does this mean for passengers using stations in Ipswich and Stevenage?
Divya Kasturi is travelling from Stevenage to Cambridge but says the disruption is going to affect her planned journeys to London for the rest of the week.
"I'm really bracing myself and thinking of other options. I'm a bit anxious and I'm really panicking about tomorrow and the week ahead," she says.
She says the strike action is "not a good decision because it's affecting so many people".
"I would have really appreciated if they had come up with an alternative solution."
She says wanting fairer pay and conditions is the "same for all of us in our world of work", adding: "I wish I could go on a strike but I can't."
Jill Tuck, who has been visiting her mum in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, is heading home to Bingley in West Yorkshire early to avoid the disruption.
She says she is feeling "annoyed" by the industrial action.
"It's not going to hurt anybody but the public," she says.
"Everyone is having a struggle and it's bad that they are doing this at this time."
Iain Addy is on holiday with his family from Australia and says they have had to change their plans due to the strikes.
re travelling up to Edinburgh earlier than planned as they "didn't want to be stuck or delayed".
Mr Addy, who is from Linlithgow originally but now lives in Melbourne, says: "It's a bit of a pain, we're from Australia so we're actually on holiday and it's caused a bit of a change to our plans, which is frustrating."
He adds: "There are other ways to achieve what they are after, I don't know what the answer is but it's putting millions of people under a bit of inconvenience and I think there are others ways that we can go about solving problems like this."
Christina Holmes is travelling two days earlier than originally planned from her home town of Stevenage to Portsmouth to see relatives due to the industrial action.
She has had to rebook twice but "luckily I went back online and I got a ticket for today".
"I'm not a regular traveller but when I do, normally it's smooth," she says.
She says three days of strikes seems "too long because it's disrupted the whole week".
Read more here.
Denise Walton is heading out on a day trip from Ipswich.
She says if her train got changed later ahead of the strikes "it is what it is".
She says she is not planning on travelling anymore this week but supports the industrial action.
"It's going to affect a lot of people in a lot of ways but sometimes you've got to put your head above the parapet and say 'enough is enough' and 'we've got to do what we've got to do'," she says.
"It's a complete pain in the neck really," says Belinda Moore of the strikes.
She says she does not "have a lot of sympathy" for the workers.
"For me it's fine, I can work from home, but for people with medical appointments and so on, it's much more challenging," she adds.
Gary Hughes, at Ipswich rail station, says: "I think it's good, they need wage increases, they need looking after, everybody needs to earn bit more money, they work really hard so I'm all for it."
He says he will end up working from home but "it's not a problem".
"I'm sorry for people who will get caught up in it but they are striking for a reason."
Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-61868050 | eng |
business | Grocery bills forecast to rise by £12 a week on average | rage annual grocery bill across Great Britain is forecast to rise by £643 this year, according to research firm Kantar.
means shoppers could be paying on average an extra £12 a week for food and other groceries.
Back in June, the firm predicted the cost of the average annual supermarket shop would go up by £380 in 2022.
Food prices have soared this year, with the war in Ukraine helping to drive up prices at supermarket tills.
urvey also showed the price of a weekly shop rose 13.9% in September, compared with the year before. That marks another record high since Kantar first started tracking the sector in 2008.
"The cost-of-living crisis is still hitting people hard at the checkouts and this latest data will make tough reading for many," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.
"Based on our numbers, the average household is facing a £643 jump in their annual grocery bill to £5,265 if they continue to buy the same items. Taking that at a basket level, that's an extra £3.04 on top of the cost of the average shopping trip last year which was £21.89."
However, the firm also said that people are looking for ways to manage their budgets to avoid paying more for their shopping, amid soaring living costs.
Sales of supermarket own-label products continue to grow as customers switch from branded products.
Inflation - the rate at which prices are rising - is currently near a 40-year high, at 9.9%.
Increasing costs are eating into household budgets, with new figures on Tuesday showing rises in regular wages are failing to keep up with the rising cost of living.
Food prices went up around the world following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has been one of the factors pushing up prices at supermarket tills.
war has disrupted supplies from the two countries, which are major exporters of goods such as sunflower oil, wheat and fertiliser.
Kantar said grocery inflation now stands at 12.3% for the 12-week period ending 2 October. Items such as milk, margarine and dog food are seeing the fastest price rises.
However, there isn't strong evidence of diets changing despite rising prices, Mr McKevitt said.
"We're generally reluctant to change what we eat, so this is more about sticking to the food we know and love while hunting for cheaper alternatives," he said.
"For example, while frozen veg sales have gone up slightly, there hasn't been a big switch away from fresh products, which are still worth 10 times more."
ut exception to this was a surge in marmalade sales, which were up by 18% in September as the country commemorated the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Shoppers are also hunting out products to help manage their energy bills, the data suggests.
Energy bills rose for millions of households on 1 October, although the increase was cushioned by a government cap on the cost per unit as well as cost-of-living payments.
A typical household annual bill rose from £1,971 to £2,500 - which is twice as high as last winter.
Sales of cooking appliances including slow cookers, air fryers and sandwich makers, which tend to use less energy, rose by 53%, suggesting people are searching out cheaper ways to cook as they try to avoid using their ovens.
Meanwhile, sales of duvets and electric blankets grew by 8%, while candles are up by 9%, suggesting that people may be preparing for possible winter blackouts.
report by Kantar also showed that the discounters are once again the fastest growing grocers.
Lidl's sales were up 21% over the last 12 weeks, closely followed by Aldi.
Asda was the best performing of the traditional big supermarkets, with its new Just Essentials basic range helping to boost sales. | /news/business-63212669 | eng |
business | Ethnic pay gap: MPs criticise government's 'lack of care' | government's decision to reject mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting for firms has been criticised as "nonsensical" by MPs.
Conservative MP Caroline Nokes said it also showed a lack of will "to foster a fairer and more equal society".
She chairs a parliamentary committee which has called for pay gap rules to be extended to include race.
But the government has said it does not want to impose any new reporting burdens on business.
Companies with more than 250 employees have been required to publish their gender pay gap statistics since 2017, revealing stark differences at some firms between the amount women and men are paid per hour on average.
Earlier this year the cross-party Commons women and equalities committee called on those firms to also publish pay differences between ethnic groups in their employment.
government rejected the proposal, pointing to a report that found publishing statistics on the ethnicity pay gap "may not" be the "most appropriate tool for every type of employer seeking to ensure fairness in the workplace".
"There are significant statistical and data issues that would arise as a result of substituting a binary-protected characteristic (male or female) with a characteristic that has multiple categories," the government said.
Ms Nokes condemned the government's decision, saying in a statement: "What is lacking in this administration is not resource or know-how, but the will or care to foster a fairer and more equal society".
"Introducing mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting for larger businesses would set the ball rolling, reducing inequalities between different ethnic groups," she said.
mmittee said research suggested that addressing race inequality in the UK labour market could boost the UK economy by £24bn a year.
Companies already reporting gender pay gap figures were "already well resourced" to gather data on ethnicity and pay, the committee added, noting the government was providing detailed information on how firms could publish these statistics on a voluntary basis.
Dianne Greyson, founder of the #EthnicityPayGap campaign group, told the BBC that the government's decision was "not acceptable".
Previously, the trade union Unison has called for mandatory ethnic pay gap reporting, saying it is "essential to recognise the interrelation between the ethnic pay gap and career progression." | /news/business-61443538 | eng |
business | Russian gas firm Gazprom to cut some supply to Shell | Shell has said it will work to keep gas flowing to its customers in Europe after Russian energy firm Gazprom said it would cut supplies from tomorrow.
Gazprom said it would halt gas to Denmark's Orsted and to Shell for its contract to supply gas to Germany, after both refused to make payments in roubles, Reuters reported.
Shell told the BBC it would continue to get gas from its other sources.
gas giant said it would continue to phase out Russian fossil fuels.
move by Gazprom comes after European Union leaders said they will block most Russian oil imports by the end of 2022 to punish Moscow for invading Ukraine.
In response to Western sanctions, Russia has already cut off gas supplies to Poland, Bulgaria, Finland and the Netherlands, after the countries refused to comply with Russian demands to switch to payment in roubles.
move expands that retaliation to Germany and Denmark.
Vladimir Putin's decree has been seen as an attempt to boost the Russian currency, which has been hit by sanctions, as more foreign exchange demand for roubles is likely to increase demand and push up its value.
Shell told the BBC it had not agreed to "new payment terms set out by Gazprom", which included the creation of Russian bank accounts.
"We will work to continue supplying our customers in Europe through our diverse portfolio of gas supply," a spokesman said.
"Shell continues to work on a phased withdrawal from Russian hydrocarbons, in compliance with applicable laws and regulations."
Meanwhile, Orsted said on Monday that Gazprom stopping gas flows would put Denmark's supplies at risk.
Shell has taken a hit of $5bn (£3.8bn) from offloading its Russian assets as part of its plans to withdraw sever ties with the country. It also confirmed it had quit its joint ventures with Gazprom.
firm pledged in April to no longer buy oil from Russia, but said contracts signed before the invasion of Ukraine would be fulfilled.
Shell was criticised when it bought Russian crude oil at a cheap price shortly after the war began.
war in Ukraine has pushed countries in the West to phase out Russian energy supplies.
Europe gets about 40% of its natural gas from Russia, which is also the bloc's main oil supplier, but some countries are more dependent Russian fossil fuels than others, so sudden supply cuts could have huge economic impact.
Nathan Piper, head of oil and gas research at Investec, said it was "clear" that European countries and companies was want to reduce imports of Russian fossil fuels.
However he warned of the "ongoing risk that efforts to reduce Russian oil and gas imports results in higher oil and gas prices", limiting the impact on Russia.
"Russian volumes may gradually be reduced but they are 'compensated' by higher overall prices," he added.
He said the geopolitical tensions were set against "an already tight oil and gas market prior to the invasion of Ukraine".
Countries have been filling gas storage sites ahead of winter due to the threats of Russian supply cuts.
So far, no sanctions on Russian gas exports to the EU have been put in place, although plans to open a new gas pipeline from Russia to Germany have been frozen.
Meanwhile the EU leaders have agreed an immediate ban on Russian oil being transported into the bloc by sea.
In late March, Russia said "unfriendly countries" would have to start paying for its oil and gas in roubles after Western allies froze billions of dollars it held in foreign currencies overseas.
Under the decree, European importers must pay euros or dollars into an account at Gazprombank, the Swiss-based trading arm of Gazprom, and then convert this into roubles in a second account in Russia.
majority - 97% - of EU companies' gas supply contracts with Gazprom stipulate payment in euros or dollars. | /news/business-61652931 | eng |
business | Usain Bolt moves to trademark signature victory pose | Athletics icon Usain Bolt has moved to trademark a logo showing his signature victory celebration pose.
retired Jamaican sprinter submitted an application in the US last week.
He is known globally for the move - in which he leans back and gestures to the sky - as he routinely struck the pose after winning gold medals and setting world records.
Mr Bolt still holds the world records for the 100m and 200m, making him the fastest man in history.
According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, Mr Bolt filed his application for the trademark on 17 August.
It depicts "The silhouette of a man in a distinctive pose, with one arm bent and pointing to the head, and the other arm raised and pointing upward".
He intends to use the image on items including clothing, jewellery and shoes, as well as restaurants and sports bars, the filing shows.
"Given that Bolt is now retired from racing, it makes sense that he would look to expand his business empire," Josh Gerben, a Washington DC-based trademark lawyer, told the BBC.
"The silhouette of his victory pose is recognised around the world. This trademark registration would enable him to offer the items listed in the application himself, or license the right to use the trademark to third parties," Mr Gerben said.
Mr Bolt applied to register a similar trademark 12 years ago, but this has since lapsed under US law.
ght-time Olympic gold medallist retired from athletics at the 2017 World Championships in London.
He could only manage bronze in his penultimate race - the men's 100m - before pulling up injured just as he began to hit top speed at his final event, the 4x100m relay.
When asked if he would consider a return to racing, he replied: "I've seen too many people retire and come back just to make it worse or to shame themselves. I won't be one of those people."
'Usain Bolt inspired me to do sport' | /news/business-62641887 | eng |
business | Fears for UK economy grow as higher prices bite | Fears over the prospects for the UK economy have grown after it shrank again in April, with businesses feeling the impact of rising prices.
my contracted by 0.3% in April after it shrank by 0.1% in March, the Office for National Statistics said.
April's figure was weaker than expected, and it was the first time the economy has contracted for two months in a row since Covid struck.
Some analysts have warned the UK risks falling into a recession.
Both households and businesses have been hit by rising prices, which are surging at their fastest rate for 40 years due to record-high fuel and energy costs.
f filling up an average family car with petrol recently hit £100, and there have been signs that people are cutting back spending as costs rise.
Bank of England has warned the UK faces a "sharp economic slowdown", and has forecast that inflation - the rate at which prices rise - could reach more than 10% by the end of the year.
April was the first time all main sectors of the economy - services, manufacturing and production - had shrunk since January 2021.
ONS said the main driver of April's contraction was in the services sector, due to the winding down of the NHS's Covid Test and Trace operation.
It also said some businesses were continuing to struggle with the impact of price increases and supply chain shortages.
JJ Foodservice, a wholesale food and catering company, supplies food products and ingredients from restaurants and takeaways to schools and private customers.
Kaan Hendekli, the firm's Head of Operations, told the BBC energy prices and skill shortages were hurting the businesses, but said the price of fuel was having the biggest impact because "it affects everything".
"Every product essentially hits a lorry - whether we deliver or we receive it from suppliers or our suppliers receive it from the manufactures," he said.
Mr Hendekli said the business was trying to be "creative" to reduce its outgoings, which included offering its customers good deals for collections and ordering in advance, as well as selling its own brand ingredients.
"Nobody wants to increase their prices but we've got no choice but to increase at the moment," he added.
"We are trying to find our own ways [to manage the situation]."
Melanie Baker, senior economist at Royal London Asset Management, said the UK looked "at increased risk of a technical recession", which is defined as the economy contracting for two consecutive three-month periods.
Danker, director-general of the CBI, said the business group was "expecting the economy to be pretty much stagnant".
"It won't take much to tip us into a recession, and even if we don't, it will feel like one for too many people," he added.
"Times are tough for businesses dealing with rising costs, and for people on lower incomes concerned about paying bills and putting food on the table."
But Samuel Tombs, of Pantheon Macroeconomics, said a recession "remains unlikely", due to the government's recently announcement support package, which includes a £400 energy bill discount for all UK households.
Responding to the latest GDP figures, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the UK was not immune from global economic shocks, but added the government was "fully focussed on growing the economy to address the cost of living in the longer term, while supporting families and businesses with the immediate pressures they're facing".
Labour's shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said the figures were "extremely worrying" and would "add to growing concern about abysmal growth and plummeting living standards under the Conservatives".
fall in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in April was worse than expectations, but given the circumstances, can come as no surprise.
was the month of the record 54% hike in domestic energy bills, continued pressure at the pumps, the National Insurance hikes, and ongoing uncertainty from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Government sources pointed to the fact that the economy would have just about grown were it not for the one off effect of the winding down of pandemic test and trace services. However, by that logic, a number of previous GDP figures were also flattered by such figures.
re have been three months on the trot now of zero growth. Only in January has the UK economy grown this year. While May should break that pattern, the chances are that the economy is contracting over this quarter.
Current forecasts suggest this should not be the start of a technical recession, especially given the support to household incomes from the energy package last month, but that risk certainly hangs over the economy. Though the jobs figures continue to impress, interest rates and inflation continue to rise.
risk of a UK-EU trade war is now material, which could push up inflation more and risk investment. And there are further pressures on tax and spend from businesses calling for tax cuts, to public sector workers seeking pay rises matching double-digit inflation.
ONS said there were "some common themes" being reported by firms that were having a negative impact across different industries.
It said many firms reported how the soaring costs of petrol and diesel meant they had to pay more for materials or "had to raise the price of the products they sold".
"Other respondents also reported that large increases in utility bills, particularly for gas and electricity, had affected them," the ONS said.
Elsewhere, other firms reported price rises to other inputs such as animal feed, chemicals, aluminium, steel, cooking oil and fertiliser, while some respondents said they had "difficulties" in sourcing machinery, electronic components, kitchen appliances, and wire harnesses for cars. | /news/business-61780450 | eng |
business | Mark Carney: Government working at cross-purposes with Bank | Former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said there was an "undercutting" of institutions in last week's mini-budget.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said there were "inconsistencies" in the government's strategy to improve growth. | /news/business-63071638 | eng |
business | Every household to get energy bill discounts of £400 this autumn | BBC Political Editor Chris Mason asks the chancellor why he uses “energy profits levy" phrase - and not say windfall tax.
Every household in the UK is to get an energy bill discount of £400 this October as part of a package of new measures to tackle soaring prices.
rest households will also get a payment of £650 to help with the cost of living, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said.
It follows warnings that millions could be left struggling if energy prices rise again in October as expected.
Mr Sunak said he had offered "significant support" for households who were facing "acute distress".
kage of new measures, worth £15bn in total, will also offer more targeted help to pensioners and the disabled.
will be partly offset by 25% windfall tax on oil and gas firms' profits, which have soared in recent months.
It comes a day after Sue Gray's critical report into lockdown parties in Downing Street and follows intense pressure on the government to do more to help people with the cost of living crisis.
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, said the support was a "genuinely big package".
"Put these benefit increases alongside the tax rises just implemented, and Mr Sunak is engaging in some serious redistribution from rich to poor - albeit against a backdrop of rising inequality."
Mr Sunak said the government had "a collective responsibility to help those who are paying the highest price for the high inflation we face."
r also announced:
Earlier this week, UK energy regulator Ofgem said the typical household energy bill was set to rise by £800 in October, bringing it to £2,800 a year. Bills had already risen by £700 on average in April.
Households will still face rises in bills even with the further government support.
Mr Sunak told the BBC the new measures will have a "minimal impact" on inflation.
rices of food, fuel and other goods have surged in recent months, pushing inflation - the rate at which prices rise - to a 40-year high.
Rachel Reeves says the Conservative windfall tax is a "policy that dare not speak its name".
Mr Sunak blamed the war in Ukraine, recent lockdowns in China and the post-pandemic recovery for the surging prices. But he said the situation had "evolved and become more serious" pushing the government to act.
Under the new measures, the government will scrap a plan to give everyone in England, Scotland and Wales £200 off bills from October which would be repaid over five years.
Instead, that sum will be doubled to £400 and will not need to be paid back. Direct debit and credit customers will have the money credited to their accounts, while customers with pre-payment meters will have the money applied to their meter or paid via a voucher.
While the £400 discount should be UK wide, the lack of an Executive at Stormont in Northern Ireland means people there must wait before they find out when will they receive the discount.
measures add to around £17bn of support already given by the government, including one-off £150 council tax rebates for most homes in England and Wales.
government had until now rejected the idea of a windfall tax on energy firms' profits, saying it could deter investment in the UK.
But Mr Sunak said the oil and gas sector was "making extraordinary profits" and that he was "sympathetic to the argument to tax those profits fairly".
He said the tax would raise about £5bn this year and be scrapped when oil and gas prices - which have surged recently - return to normal levels.
However, in seeking a "sensible middle ground" energy suppliers will be able to apply for tax relief of 90p for every pound they invest in UK oil and gas projects.
Mr Sunak also said he believed there was a case for taxing electricity suppliers more, announcing a consultation on the idea.
Rachel Reeves, Labour's shadow chancellor, said: "After five months of being dragged kicking and screaming, the chancellor has finally come to his senses, U-turned, and adopted Labour's plan for a windfall tax on oil and gas producer profits to lower bills."
But business lobby group the CBI warned the windfall tax would be damaging to investment needed for Britain's "energy security and net zero ambitions".
Oil giant BP said the new tax was "a multi-year proposal" rather than a "one-off tax". "Naturally we will now need to look at the impact of both the new levy and the tax relief on our North Sea investment plans," it warned.
Zoe, a single mum who lives on The Wirral with her four year old daughter, and who receives universal credit will get £400 off her energy bills and also the £650 one-off payment.
She said she was "over the moon that the government is finally making us feel like we're being listened to".
"My big worry was going through the summer holidays with a young one and obviously not having the money to take them out too much," she told the BBC.
"With that payment coming through that has lifted a lot of stress and anxiety, because I was really panicked about this."
Debt charity Turn2Us called the support package "a much-needed step in the right direction in making sure people on the lowest incomes are able to weather this financial crisis".
But Michael Clarke, its head of information programmes, added: "For people who are in crisis currently, one-off payments will only act as a sticking plaster until longer term investment is made to boost their overall income."
k tank the Resolution Foundation, which campaigns to end poverty, called the measures "progressive", adding that twice as much of the £15bn package would go to low-income households than high income ones.
Chief executive Torsten Bell said: "The decision to provide one-off payments this year to poorer households, pensioners and those with a disability is a good attempt to target those with higher energy bills - although the relative lack of support for larger families stands out." | /news/business-61583651 | eng |
business | Non-essential petrol sales halted for two weeks in Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka has suspended sales of fuel for non-essential vehicles as it faces its worst economic crisis in decades.
For the next two weeks, only buses, trains and vehicles used for medical services and transporting food will be allowed to fill up with fuel.
Schools in urban areas have shut, while officials have told the country's 22 million residents to work from home.
South Asian nation is in talks over a bailout deal as it struggles to pay for imports such as fuel and food.
Sri Lanka is the first country to take the drastic step in halting sales of fuel to ordinary people "since the 1970s oil crisis, when fuel was rationed in the US and Europe and speed limits introduced to reduce demand", Nathan Piper, head of oil and gas research at Investec, told the BBC.
He said the ban underlined the steep rise in oil pricing and limited foreign exchange reserves in Sri Lanka.
Many of the island's residents don't know how they will cope without fuel. There have been long queues at filling stations across Sri Lanka for months.
Chinthaka Kumara, a 29-year-old taxi driver in Colombo, thought the ban would "create more problems for people".
"I'm a daily wage earner. I've been in this queue for three days and I don't know when we will get petrol," he told BBC Sinhala.
Drivers have been asked to go home, with tokens distributed aimed at rationing scarce fuel stocks. Some kept queuing, but others couldn't.
"I was in a queue for two days. I got a token - number 11 - but I don't know when I will get fuel," S Wijetunga, a 52-year-old private sector executive, told the BBC.
"I need to go to the office now, so I have no option but to leave my vehicle here and go in a three-wheeler."
Kenat, a motorised rickshaw driver in the Colombo suburb of Kotahena, said people like him were being "destroyed".
"Our family used to have three meals a day. Now we eat only twice a day. If this continues, it will come down to one meal," he told BBC Tamil.
With an economy hit hard by the pandemic, rising energy prices and populist tax cuts, Sri Lanka lacks enough foreign currency to pay for imports of essential goods.
Acute shortages of fuel, food and medicines have helped to push the cost of living to record highs in the country, where many people rely on motor vehicles for their livelihoods.
On Monday, the government said it would ban private vehicles from buying petrol and diesel until 10 July.
Cabinet spokesperson Bandula Gunewardena said Sri Lanka had "never faced such a severe economic crisis in its history".
-strapped country has also sent officials to the major energy producers Russia and Qatar in a bid to secure cheap oil supplies.
Over the weekend, officials said the country had only 9,000 tonnes of diesel and 6,000 tonnes of petrol to fuel essential services in the coming days.
It has been estimated that the stocks would last for less than a week under regular demand.
"We are doing everything we can to get new stocks, but we don't know when that will be," power and energy minister Kanchana Wijesekera told reporters on Sunday.
In May, the country defaulted on its debts with international lenders for the first time in its history. That followed weeks of protests against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's government. His brother Mahinda quit as prime minister, but the president is still under pressure to resign.
"The government seems to take no action at all," Kannan, another driver seeking fuel in the capital, told BBC Tamil.
"They are asking us to be patient. They say they don't have dollars. But I ask the government - who is responsible for this?"
He suggested "educated youngsters" should lead the country instead.
Last week, an International Monetary Fund team arrived in Sri Lanka for talks over a $3bn (£2.4bn) bailout deal.
government is also seeking assistance from India and China to import essential items. New Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said earlier this month the country needed at least $5bn over the next six months to pay for essential goods such as food, fuel and fertiliser.
In recent weeks, ministers also called on farmers to grow more rice and gave government officials an extra day off a week to grow food, amid fears of shortages.
Watch: Shot dead by Sri Lankan police while trying to get fuel
government blames the crisis on the Covid pandemic, which affected Sri Lanka's tourist trade - one of its biggest foreign currency earners.
But many experts say mismanagement is the main cause of the economic collapse.
Sri Lanka's foreign currency reserves dwindled to almost nothing after years during which it imported much more than it exported and racked up huge debts with China on controversial infrastructure projects.
When Sri Lanka's foreign currency shortages became a serious problem in early 2021, the government tried to limit the outflow by banning imports of chemical fertiliser, telling farmers to use locally sourced organic fertilisers instead.
widespread crop failure. Sri Lanka had to supplement its food stocks from abroad, which made its foreign currency shortage even worse.
Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal, Ranjan Arun Prasad, Simon Fraser and Michael Race.
Are you in Sri Lanka? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | /news/business-61961821 | eng |
business | Pound hits fresh 37-year low against dollar | und has hit a new 37-year low against the dollar after Russia accused the West of "nuclear blackmail" raising fears the Ukraine war could escalate.
mments unnerved traders, pushing them towards safer investments such as the dollar.
und briefly touched $1.13040 - its lowest level since 1985 - before regaining ground.
fall also came after UK figures showed borrowing costs hit a fresh record for August as inflation soared.
In a televised address, the Russian president said he had signed a decree on partial mobilisation - the first since World War Two - as he seeks to send up to 300,000 more soldiers into battle.
He also accused the West of wanting to destroy Russia, adding the country had "lots of weapons to reply".
mments rattled investors who bought the dollar, gold and bonds, all of which are seen as less risky investments.
raders in sterling - which has been at low levels for weeks - were also looking ahead to a widely anticipated interest rate rise by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.
US central bank has already raised interest rates four times this year to battle inflation. The Bank of England (BoE) is meanwhile expected to put up interest rates again on Thursday.
Raising rates increases the cost of borrowing and encourages people to spend less, which can cool rising prices. However, central banks face a tough balancing act because higher rates may also slow the economy.
Sterling investors are also nervous about the policy implications of a planned mini-budget from the government on Friday, which will reportedly contain £30bn of tax cuts.
It comes as the UK borrows billions of pounds to cap energy bills for households and businesses, adding to the UK's already large debt pile.
Official figures on Wednesday showed the government is also facing soaring interest payments on that debt due to rising inflation.
use much of the interest paid on government bonds rises in line with the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation, which hit 12.3% in August.
Interest due on public debt reached £8.2bn during the month - £1.5bn more than last year and the highest August figure since records began in 1997, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Meanwhile, total government borrowing - the difference between spending and tax income - was £11.8bn.
wice the level forecast for August by the Office for Budget Responsibility, the government's independent fiscal watchdog.
If you're a half-empty sort of analyst, you'll point out that the amount of interest payable on the government's debt was £8.2bn in August - the highest August figure since records began 25 years ago.
However, much of that was not so much because of rises in the Bank of England's official interest rate - which is likely to rise again on Thursday - but because about a quarter of the government's outstanding debt pays interest linked to the Retail Prices Index, which hit 12.3% in August.
However, RPI is widely predicted to come down towards the second half of next year.
Overall, UK debt as a proportion of economic output also fell by 0.8 percentage points to 83.8%. That's well below the historic average of around 100%.
As in the early stages of the pandemic, the question to ask is not so much: Can the government afford to borrow more?
Instead, it's more whether, given what government inaction might do to household borrowing and debt - which could have far more serious economic consequences - it can afford not to.
Martyn Beck, chief economic advisor to the EY Item Club and former Treasury economist, said the UK economy had been "pretty weak over the last few months".
meant less was being generated in taxes, while the government had to spend more on debt interest payments, he added.
But he said he was "not particularly" worried about the high debt levels, as the UK's borrowing costs were "still pretty low" compared to long-term historical records.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng defended the government's decision to spend billions on helping families and businesses with their bills.
He added that government's priority was to "grow the economy and improve living standards for everyone - with strong economic growth and sustainable public finances going hand in hand".
"As chancellor, I have pledged to get debt down in the medium term," he added. "However, in the face of a major economic shock, it is absolutely right that the government takes action now to help families and businesses, just as we did during the pandemic." | /news/business-62977832 | eng |
business | US stocks see worst first half drop in more than 50 years | US stocks have seen their worst first half of a year since 1970, as concerns grow over how steps to curb inflation will affect economic growth.
In the last six months, the benchmark S&P 500 index fell 20.6%, while other major US indexes also dropped sharply.
Stocks in the UK, mainland Europe and Asia have also suffered steep losses.
It comes as central banks around the world are trying to rein in soaring living costs, with prices of essential goods like food and fuel jumping.
Some economists expect the US, which is the world's biggest economy, to go into a recession as early as this year as interest rates continue to rise.
"If the US Federal Reserve continues hiking rates the stock market will react quite negatively," Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China, told the BBC.
Shane Oliver at AMP Capital said: "Shares are likely to see continued short-term volatility as central banks continue to tighten to combat high inflation, the war in Ukraine continues and fears of recession remain high."
Another major US stock index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, fell by more than 15% in the first half of this year, the biggest drop for the period since 1962.
At the same time the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite lost almost 30%, marking its largest percentage drop for the first half of a year.
Major stock market indexes outside the US have also fallen sharply this year.
UK's FTSE 250 has dropped by more than 20%, while Europe's Stoxx 600 index has slipped by almost 17% and the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific markets has fallen by more than 18%.
It comes as many of the world's biggest central banks take steps to slow the rising cost of living, including raising interest rates.
Earlier this week, the bosses of three of the world's biggest central banks warned that the era of moderate inflation and low interest rates had ended.
At an annual meeting in Portugal, the heads of the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England said action must be taken quickly to prevent price rises from getting out of control.
However, they also cautioned that measures to rein in an inflation shock caused by the Ukraine war and pandemic may have a significant negative impact on global growth.
"Is there a risk that we would go too far? Certainly there's a risk, but I wouldn't agree that it's the biggest risk to the economy," Fed chairman Jerome Powell said.
"The bigger mistake to make, let's put it that way, would be to fail to restore price stability," he added.
Last month, the Fed announced its biggest rate rise in nearly 30 years as it ramped up its fight to rein in soaring consumer prices.
Bank of England also raised its key interest rate to the highest level in 13 years, from 1% to 1.25%.
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Watch: Ros Atkins on why the war in Ukraine is pushing up food prices - and the likely impact on poorer countries | /news/business-62005360 | eng |
business | Rolls-Royce car workers win record pay package worth up to 17.6% | Workers at luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce have secured a pay deal worth 17.6%, unions say, averting the possibility of industrial action.
About 1,200 workers at the firm's plant in West Sussex will receive a 10% pay rise and one-off bonus of £2,000.
Many industries are being hit by strikes as workers seek pay increases to keep up with rising living costs.
Rail workers began another 48-hour walkout on Friday and more strikes in other industries will start next week.
Figures out this week showed that prices increased by 10.7% in the year to November, the fastest rate for about 40 years.
Separate data showed that the gap between wage growth in the public and private sector remained near a record high.
Workers in the private sector saw their average pay rise at an annual rate of 6.9% between August and October, according to official figures, compared with wage growth of just 2.7% for public sector employees.
Unite union said Rolls workers at the Goodwood factory, which builds some of the world's most expensive luxury cars, had been "repeatedly denied... a proper pay rise".
A consultative ballot by the union had seen a 98% vote in favour of industrial action if the demand for a pay rise in line with inflation was not met.
Unite said the agreement was the largest single pay deal in the history of the Goodwood plant.
"This is a top-notch pay deal for the Rolls-Royce workforce," said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham.
"Rolls-Royce Motor Cars are famous and iconic because of the workers' craft and expertise. For years the workers had been underpaid and undervalued but that's changing. The union has won the best pay deal since the site opened."
union added that the agreement closed the gap "considerably" between workers at Rolls-Royce and its competitor Aston Martin.
Rolls-Royce, which is owned by Germany's BMW, said it was "pleased" Unite had recommended the agreement to its members.
"A pay rise of 10% will be awarded to all those covered by our collective bargaining agreement from January 2023." | /news/business-64001956 | eng |
business | Isle of Man TT's 2022 return a welcome boost for Manx businesses | return of the Isle of Man TT has brought a much need financial boost after the disruption caused by Covid, Manx hospitality firms have said.
An influx of thousands of visiting fans across the two-week road racing festival has seen local businesses benefit from increased trade.
Martin Brunnschweiler of Bushy's Brewery said the event's cancellation for two years had been a "huge blow".
It has been "wonderful" to see the "massive" event return, he added.
Ferry bookings from before the festival began on 29 May showed more than 30,000 people were expected to arrive.
In 2019 more than 46,000 people travelled to the island with the total spend across the fortnight at about £37.5m.
Andrew Clague of the Manx Fun Farm campsite in Onchan said he had found the first week of the 2022 event "busier than ever", with many repeat customers returning after the disruption caused by Covid.
wo years we missed was a loss as the festival made a "big difference" by helping with the reinvestment in facilities, he added.
Douglas hotelier Michael George said the TT had a "huge impact financially", which helped his business for the rest of the year.
Welbeck Hotel was one of the firms to receive Covid support payments from the government, which Mr George said "enabled us to get ready for this TT and the future".
"It is hard work but it is exciting," he added.
Owner of the Wine Cellar on Peel Road, JJ Moore, said the last three years had been "challenging in every aspect of business", but the return of TT had been "such a big thing".
His firm has been supplying the hotels, restaurants and clubs, which had benefiting from "a real positive buzz around the island", he added.
Why not follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and Twitter? You can also send story ideas to IsleofMan@bbc.co.uk | /news/world-europe-isle-of-man-61759912 | eng |
business | Flight cancellations: Children and teachers stranded abroad as school starts | Ben, 17, was due home on Saturday in plenty of time to take his maths GCSE on Tuesday, but after a cancelled flight and a frantic scrabble for train tickets, he will only just make it.
He is one of thousands of British holiday-makers thought to be stranded abroad, after the cancellation of more than 100 flights over the weekend.
Among them are hundreds of school pupils and some teachers set to miss school on Monday after half-term.
And they face an anxious journey home.
"Ben was going to have a couple of days at home to get his revision in, prepare mentally for it," said his mother Emma, who did not want their surnames used.
After their EasyJet flight home from Paris was cancelled, the earliest flight back that the airline could provide was on Tuesday - too late.
So after spending hundreds of pounds on Eurostar tickets, they are now due to arrive back at home in Stockport by 11:30 BST on Monday evening, in time for the exam on Tuesday morning.
"Hopefully he'll get there. But there's no guarantee," she said. And EasyJet had been "impossible to contact and completely unhelpful", she added.
re are reports that others are even less lucky and are missing GCSE or A-level exams altogether.
Airlines are being blamed for taking more bookings than they can manage with lower post-Covid staffing levels.
But the airlines themselves say the government could also have done more to support the industry during the pandemic and to speed up the process of security checks for new staff now.
Andrew Crawley, chief commercial officer at American Express Global Business Travel, told the BBC's Today programme said it would be "sensible" for the government to temporarily change immigration rules to allow airlines to recruit overseas workers to plug staff shortages.
"Some airlines relied on EU citizens for up to 30% of their workforce, pre-Brexit, so that labour pool no longer being available adds to the challenge that we have here," he said.
However, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has rejected such a request from the aviation industry.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled over the past week. While some families never reached their destination or arrived late, others are now finding their return flights are not operating.
It is not just exam students - younger children are missing the start of the new half-term too.
"The curriculum is packed and losing three days from school post-Covid isn't good," said father-of-four Joe Murray from Milton Keynes. "There isn't time to really catch up."
family had booked return flights from Tenerife to be back in time for the Jubilee celebrations but missed the whole four-day weekend after Wizz Air cancelled their return twice.
"Wizz Air have had since last Wednesday to get us home, have cancelled once whilst we had checked in and were waiting at the gate, and the other four hours before the flight," Mr Murray said.
"It's not good enough," he added.
Holiday-makers who spoke to the BBC said they were shocked at the lack of communication from the airlines.
EasyJet apologised for the disruption, saying it was doing everything it could to support passengers. It has extended its customer service opening hours from 07:00 to 23:00, and said it was helping those affected find hotel accommodation.
Wizz Air also apologised and said passengers would be offered alternative flights, a full refund or 120% in airline credit, which it aimed to process within one week.
But the ongoing upheaval will affect children who have not even left home, with some school staff also stranded and unable to get back in time.
Kelly and her husband are making their way as fast as they can from Montenegro back to Lincolnshire. After their flight home was cancelled on Sunday, EasyJet offered them an alternative flight on Thursday.
"We are both teachers so have to get back," says Kelly. So instead they took a bus to Dubrovnik, Croatia, where they waited for more than four hours in the bus station for EasyJet to confirm their accommodation.
will take a four-hour bus trip to Split on Monday so they can fly from there to Bristol on Tuesday. They will then get a train from Bristol to Gatwick to pick up their car and with a bit of luck be back in the classroom by Wednesday.
"We do feel really let down by EasyJet," said Kelly. "We wanted to get back to work as soon as we possibly could and they didn't help with that at all."
Pol, who teaches in a special educational needs school in west London has had a similar experience trying to get home from Bodrum, Turkey.
udents at his school find changes to their teaching schedule particularly upsetting, he said. So he does not want want to be away longer than he can avoid.
"People from home think a couple more days in the sun, it can't be that bad being in the Mediterranean by the sea, but the point is we're all uptight and upset and to a certain degree disgusted that in the 21st century we're dealing with a company that prides itself on being digital but there's no information."
EasyJet said it had cancelled about 80 flights on Sunday "due to the ongoing challenging operating environment".
"We are very sorry and fully understand the disruption this will have caused for our customers," the airline said, adding it was doing everything possible to get passengers to their destinations.
How have you been affected by a recent flight cancellation? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | /news/business-61699071 | eng |
business | Black Friday fails to lift sales in November | Retail sales saw a surprise fall last month after Black Friday failed to give its expected boost to online shopping.
With household budgets remaining under pressure from rising prices, sales volumes dropped 0.4% in November, official figures showed.
fall could be bad news for some stores, which are entering a crucial time of the year for sales.
However, there were signs people were buying Christmas food early in order to spread the cost of the festive season.
Sales at food stores rose 0.9% last month with people "stocking up early" for Christmas, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Research carried out for the BBC has suggested Christmas dinner will be nearly 22% more expensive this year than in 2021.
"Retail sales fell overall in November, driven by a notable drop for online retailers, with Black Friday offers failing to provide their usual lift in this sector," said ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan.
But he pointed out that department stores had reported better sales, with bosses saying a longer Black Friday sales period had drawn in more customers.
Sales at clothing stores rose by 2.1%, the ONS said, mainly due to a better performance from shoe stores.
figures suggest shoppers are "focusing on essentials like food and footwear", said Kevin Bright, an analyst at McKinsey & Co.
UK is predicted to face its biggest drop in living standards on record as wages struggle to keep up with rising prices.
Figures out this week showed prices went up by 10.7% in the year to November, indicating the cost of living is still rising at its fastest pace for about 40 years.
Melanie Thompson, who runs a wine and cheese shop at the Piece Hall in Halifax, said people were being more careful about what they spend.
"Before, people might have bought a full case of wine. Now they're buying one or two bottles and using up some of the spirits they have at home," she added.
mixed effect from the recent train strikes, with fewer customers from further away, but more locals visiting.
Retail analyst Natalie Berg said it was no surprise that Black Friday had been a "damp squib".
"The appeal of Black Friday has also been diluted because shoppers have cottoned on to the fact that it's a manufactured event and prices are not always at their lowest on the day," she said.
"The problem is exacerbated by the fact that retailers are sitting on a lot of inventory right now, so we've seen a constant stream of discounts since September."
Sales volumes are still below pre-Covid levels, according to the ONS, and the boss of the Waterstones bookshop chain, James Daunt, told the BBC most retailers were still "probably expecting 2023 to be a time to batten down and concentrate on the basics because it is going to be tough".
Shoppers have less money to spend because they are dealing with higher energy bills and higher interest rates, he added.
"In our case, books do very well and continue to be resilient, but we also rely on our neighbours being full of people and the general health of retail footfall. When everything is going down, everyone suffers a bit," Mr Daunt told the BBC's Today programme.
Non-store sales - which mainly covers online retailers - fell by 2.8% last month, the ONS said. This figure has been declining for some time since Covid restrictions were lifted and people could return to shops, although online sales still remain well above pre-pandemic levels.
But the chairman of toy retailer The Entertainer, Gary Grant, told the BBC that worries over postal strikes and the weather had led to "a swing from the web sales to our shops".
"If I was buying anything for my grandchildren this Christmas, I think I'd be strolling down the High Street and walking out of the shop with it under my arm knowing there's no worry about the carton arriving," he said.
Earlier this week, a retail group and Waterstones advised people to use stores rather than rely on online shopping if they want to get Christmas gifts on time.
Retail sales had been expected to rise last month, so the surprise fall is not a good sign for the Christmas trading period, which is the most important time for many shops.
Mr Grant said a quarter of The Entertainer's annual sales take place in one month, and next week will account for 8% of its entire year's turnover.
Jacqui Baker, head of retail at consultancy firm RSM, said industrial strikes and extreme weather had created "further barriers for consumers to splurge".
"It's likely to be a disappointing end to the year for the retail sector," she added.
Additional reporting by Adam Woods | /news/business-63993178 | eng |
business | Audit reforms aim to prevent accounting scandals | A review into how company books are inspected has been announced in a bid to prevent future accounting scandals and business collapses.
Ministers have been under pressure to overhaul auditing rules after failures like Carillion, BHS and Thomas Cook.
government has created a new watchdog, the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA).
But critics called the plan "watered down" and said auditors should be doing their jobs properly in the first place.
government said the reforms "will help prevent sudden large-scale collapses like Carillion and BHS, which hurt countless small businesses and led to job losses."
f Carillion and BHS cost in excess of 20,000 jobs and saw their auditors fined more than £25m in total.
mpanies failed despite their accounts being signed off by one of the so-called "Big Four" globally recognised auditors - EY, KMPG, PWC and Deloitte.
government promised change and after several independent investigations, it has finally announced a revamp.
w ARGA will replace the Financial Reporting Council. It will now cover unlisted companies with more than 750 employees and a greater than £750 million annual turnover.
reak up the dominance of the Big Four auditors companies listed on the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 will be forced to assign at least part of their audits to smaller firms.
ARGA will also have new powers to be able to investigate and fine directors of large companies if they breach their duties around corporate reporting and audit.
Meanwhile, rules for small businesses will be relaxed as the government said they could be "forcing too many of Britain's smallest businesses to spend time and money preparing accounts to a level of detail only needed for larger companies, distracting them from focussing on growth and creating jobs. "
Accounting is not the sexiest subject in the world. But a sense of trust in the financial information presented to regulators, investors and customers is important particularly after it has been shattered by big companies suddenly going bust.
government will establish a new watchdog, a requirement that larger companies have to employ an auditor outside of the Big Four and bringing large privately owned firms and some local authorities onto the regulators radar.
However, in a post-Brexit world the government is keen not to be seen to be imposing new burdens on business and has watered down its initial proposals thereby excluding hundreds of large private companies and smaller businesses from the additional requirements.
When plans for an audit reform were put in a government white paper last year the threshold had been all private companies with more than 500 employees and a turnover of more than £500m.
roposal would have almost doubled the number of companies deemed "public interest entities" that are subject to stricter reporting requirements to about 4,000.
m Bush, head of governance and financial analysis at Pensions and Investment Research Consultants (Pirc) said: "The key message is that reform needs to be tasking auditors with the product they are supposed to be delivering already, not lobbying for watered down products that are useless."
Minister for corporate responsibility Lord Callanan said: "Collapses like Carillion have made it clear that audit needs to improve, and these reforms will ensure the UK sets a global standard.
"By restoring confidence in audit and corporate reporting we will strengthen the foundations of UK plc, so it can drive growth and job creation across the country." | /news/business-61637032 | eng |
business | What can be done to tackle the energy crisis? | A sense of scale is important when considering the size of the energy crisis now facing every household in the country - and what the government will have to do about it.
Average energy bills of nearly £300 per month are unthinkable and unmanageable for several million households.
Friday's energy price cap announcement from Ofgem puts them at this level from October onwards.
But some predictions have that number at £550 per month by April - closer to the average cost of a mortgage - as wholesale gas prices have surged yet higher in recent days.
For an average household on £31,000 income per year, energy costs are set to exceed income tax bills. Or alternatively, the energy rise we will have seen since last year, is the equivalent of adding 15p to 20p to the basic rate of tax.
It will drain the disposable income of several million households.
And it is not just an issue which will transform the path of the economy. These rises are so large and so widespread that they could test the nation's social resilience too.
Even the energy industry itself doesn't think these rises are possible.
At a recent meeting with the government to discuss the Energy Tariff Deficit Fund, a key takeaway was that not one energy firm believed that it is feasible to charge the nation what the companies themselves are having to pay to purchase gas.
mazing and remarkable situation.
So that gaping hole, that is getting larger every day, week and month is now in the hands of the government.
Ultimately, the government must choose who needs help. It will be over half of households at least.
Extending it to everyone will cost much more, but will also rein in the overall inflation rate, and be far simpler. There is a vein of thinking that wealthier households that accumulated savings during the pandemic should pay their own way.
It comes down to a choice between tens of billions of pounds and several tens of billions.
And so far, we are getting very little of the relevant detail from the Conservative leadership, and future Prime Minister, candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
re is also the question of who should pay eventually. Government borrowing will go up at first. But the energy industry has suggested that customers essentially repay this back with higher bills for the next decade through the Energy Tariff Deficit Fund.
result would be to keep bills from rising much above £2,000 on average, but there would have to be acceptance that they would come down only very slowly into the 2030s, even if the war in Ukraine is over.
may not work. So those parts of the energy industry making even greater profits from exactly the same gas extraction might face a further tax grab. Or general taxes might have to increase. This would require a breaking of some of the promises in the Conservative leadership campaign even before it is over.
Extra borrowing could take the strain.
But market interest rates are already surging and high inflation is also fast increasing the price of government borrowing. The Bank of England also faces even higher inflation and even higher government borrowing.
It is a potent mix: inflation, recession, high debts, and the core reason for it all, a wartime energy shock
And perhaps that is the point. It is not the market driving this. It is geopolitics, diplomacy and conflict.
Margaret Thatcher's former energy secretary Lord David Howell, told the BBC this week the country needed to be on "a war-footing" as regards energy and that these bills were simply "impossible".
At the very moment that most households come to see that the "energy price cap" is not really a cap on the price they pay for energy, it seems likely that the government may have to encourage immediate measures to save energy.
w Prime Minister will have to make an ominous judgement even before they get the keys to Downing Street. | /news/business-62689389 | eng |
business | AstraZeneca boss: I don't think I would do anything differently | f the drugs giant behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine says the jab managed to save a million lives despite facing "setbacks".
AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot also addressed studies linking the vaccine to rare but dangerous blood clots.
Looking back on its development, he said: "I don't think I would do anything differently from what we did."
Many countries in Europe and Asia have placed age restrictions on the vaccine and the US has yet to approve it.
Mr Soriot received a knighthood in the Queen's Jubilee birthday honours last week for his contributions to science.
He was honoured for services to the UK in "life sciences and leadership in the global response to the Covid pandemic", AstraZeneca said in a statement on Wednesday.
Mr Soriot, who is chief executive of the British-Swedish firm, told the BBC during a recent visit to Singapore that the vaccine's quick development and distribution prevented a million people from dying of Covid-19.
He said this came despite "setbacks" including concerns around rare but dangerous blood clots, which emerged last year.
"We decided to do it at no profit, we decided to partner with a network of partners around the world to scale up manufacturing. Despite the setbacks, we delivered three billion doses [of the vaccine] and saved a million lives," he said.
"When you launch yourself in something like this, which is a huge undertaking, you have to accept that you will have setbacks," he added.
AstraZeneca developed the vaccine in collaboration with the University of Oxford. It was first approved by the UK in December 2020 as countries raced to contain the growing numbers of coronavirus infections.
Nearly half of the adult population in the UK has received two doses of the vaccine, where it is believed to have saved more lives to date than the Pfizer and Moderna jabs combined.
Last year, UK regulators recommended the AstraZeneca jab for over-40s after its use was linked to extremely rare blood clots.
According to the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the risk of developing a blood clot was about four in one million.
However, many other European countries suspended their use of the vaccine. They only lifted their curbs and put age restrictions on the jab when European Union (EU) regulators declared that the benefits outweighed the risks.
restrictions mean AstraZeneca's vaccine is now approved for use for a smaller segment of the population than several other Covid vaccines.
Mr Soriot said: "It is important to remember that those side effects are extremely rare. When you start vaccinating millions of people, very rare side effects will emerge that remain very rare. And this is common to all vaccines."
EU regulators only approved the vaccine's use as a "third dose booster" for adults last month.
Although the vaccine can be safely refrigerated for up to six months, several African states have destroyed or returned their stocks, as they said they could not use the jabs before they expired.
Meanwhile, Mr Soriot said in less developed economies - including in Asia - some people were reluctant to get vaccinated.
"In the emerging, developing countries, there's quite a bit of hesitancy. Of course, China is a different story where they're still managing a 'zero-Covid' policy. So it depends where you are in the world," he added.
Why do some vaccines protect you longer than others?
Mr Soriot said the firm was still in discussions with US authorities about submitting the vaccine for approval in the country, as the "need for a new vaccine is much less in the US than it was".
"Today, there is [an] over supply. We do have too many vaccines. So the question is how do we deliver? How do we administer those vaccines and how do we manage vaccine hesitancy? So we are in a very different place," Mr Soriot said.
In November, AstraZeneca said it will move away from providing its Covid vaccine to countries on a not-for-profit basis, as the disease was becoming endemic.
It said it expected to make a modest income from the vaccine from a series of for-profit agreements.
jab will continue to be supplied on a not-for-profit basis to poorer countries. | /news/business-61671715 | eng |
business | 'We are chasing never-ending debt to pay for basics' | David McGinley and his wife Ashlie are both working, but the rising cost of living means they are struggling financially.
"It angers me," says Mr McGinley, from Bamber Bridge, Lancashire. "We feel like we are doing the right thing but are being punished."
He says the family are in emergency credit on the electricity meter "every other day", their grocery bill has risen by 50%, and sometimes a meal is beans on toast. That is adding to the pressure of existing debts.
"Once you start falling behind, you are chasing a never-ending debt," he says.
People like Mr McGinley are slipping further into debt to pay for basics like rent and bills, Citizens Advice has warned.
Half of the charity's debt assessment clients have a negative budget - meaning they are left in the red after paying for essentials. This is up from 36% in early 2019, it says.
Groups who rarely asked the charity for help, like homeowners and pensioners, are now seeking debt advice.
ring cost of living seems to be changing the nature of problem debt. Whereas once ballooning credit card bills were the norm, now more and more people face long-term financial issues because they do not have enough for the basics such as heating, food and council tax bills.
Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, says: "With costs skyrocketing, we are seeing people who are saddled with debt sinking further into hardship. More people are seeking debt support who have never had to turn to us before - like homeowners who are living in one room to save on heating costs.
"This alarming trend is creating a ticking time bomb. Every day our advisers hear from people left with less than zero each month, unable to repay debts and slipping further into the red to afford the basics."
Citizens Advice carries out debt assessments for people seeking help from the charity. Data from these cases shows that the amounts people owe are less than the past, but an increasing proportion are in the red after covering their basic outgoings, known as a negative budget.
Groups already in debt - primarily renters, single parents and the self-employed - are now less likely to be able to pay that off.
As a whole, those going through debt assessments typically have 1p left at the end of the month after essential spending, reflecting the impact of rising prices and bills.
may cause extra issues at this time of year. Mr McGinley says he is "feeling guilty" about Christmas.
government has stepped in to help millions of people like him on universal credit and other benefits with a huge package of cost-of-living payments, as well as a cap on energy bills.
ments will be repeated and, in some cases, extended next year, although the cap will become less generous.
Debt charity StepChange says the support has been reflected in a fall in the proportion of new clients who had gas and electricity bill arrears.
It says soaring prices meant next year is "looking precarious for millions of households".
Source: Citizens Advice
StepChange says a fifth of new clients are still citing the cost of living as their main reason for debt, and seven in 10 of them are women.
Credit report company Clearscore says that its data suggests use of overdrafts has increased by 7.1% since August 2021, as people dip into this debt to pay for everyday costs.
Meanwhile, charity National Energy Action estimates that the number of UK households in fuel poverty will increase from 4.5 million last October to 8.4 million in April. | /news/business-63811484 | eng |
business | Unions branded selfish by No 10 over June rail strike plans | Unions have been branded selfish by No 10 over rail strikes which threaten major disruption to passengers.
RMT Union said it will shut down the country's railway network on 21, 23 and 25 June after talks over pay and redundancies fell through.
Downing Street warned the plans would inflict pain on passengers and cause disruption and said it was determined to make railways more efficient.
But RMT hit back saying the government itself was being selfish.
Both train operators and the union have said they want more talks to avoid the strikes.
If industrial action goes ahead, more than 40,000 staff from Network Rail and 13 train operators are expected to take part in what is dubbed the "biggest rail strike in modern history".
On the first day of the planned strike on 21 June, London Underground RMT workers plan to walk out in a separate dispute over pensions and job losses.
On Wednesday, Unite members who work at Transport for London and London Underground announced they will join their RMT member colleagues in walking out on 21 June.
rikes fall during music and sporting events including the Glastonbury Festival and an England cricket Test match against New Zealand, and are expected to affect thousands of passengers.
will leave around a fifth of mainline rail services running on the strike days, but due to each walk out being 24 hours long, disruption is expected to spill over to non-strike days leading to a week of disruption.
According to the Department for Transport, the average salary rail worker salary is £44,000. This is more than the median pay of other public sector workers, such as nurses (£31,000), teachers (£37,000), and care workers (£17,000).
However, RMT said the salary figure was "unrepresentative" as it included higher-earning train drivers, who did not take part in the ballot as most are part of a different union. The union claims its members earn £33,000 a year on average.
Prime Minister described the planned strike as "reckless and wanton" and demanded condemnation of the strike from the Labour Party in Prime Minister's Questions.
A No 10 source said the move was "thoroughly irresponsible" and warned it would inflict "pain and economic disruption on their fellow citizens in really tough times".
However, Mick Lynch, secretary general of the RMT union, hit back at the government saying they were "experts at being selfish and irresponsible".
He told the BBC his members needed a pay deal, job security and "decent terms and conditions".
"The government have the key to unlock that," he added.
Mr Lynch claimed Network Rail had told union reps they were planning to cut 3,000 maintenance jobs out of 11,000, which he said would pose safety risks.
But Network Rail insisted no proposals were on the table, talks were under way about modernising maintenance and how compulsory redundancies could be avoided. It rejected claims it would do anything to compromise safety.
Graham Purdy, from Cramlington in Northumberland is one of many learning that his plans will be affected if the June strikes go ahead.
He and his wife have tickets to see the Eagles at Murrayfield, Edinburgh, on 22 June and to a Barry Manilow concert the following day in Glasgow.
63-year-old, whose travel plans involve his first overnight stay since the pandemic, said he was against the strike and now faced having to drive and book car parking he may not have to use, but pay for.
"It's annoying and frustrating," he said. "I've worked all my life in the construction industry; If you don't like what they are paying, you get another job, don't withdraw your services."
However, Alastair Webster, from Birmingham, said he supported the stance of the rail workers, despite his plans to go on holiday being "massively" disrupted by the proposed action.
"There has been under-investment and mismanagement, millions wasted on HS2. People want the railways nationalised," he said.
"I'd always side with the people on the coal face. Even if its massively disruptive I support the strikers. With the cost of living crisis and everything else the government needs to constructively engage with them."
Steve Montgomery, of the Rail Delivery Group, said the industry body was "extremely disappointed" with the prospect of strike action. "It's really important we ask RMT to get back round the table," he said.
He said that the industry had received £16bn in subsidies over the pandemic, but that level of funding could not continue.
"We have to look how we can reform," he said.
Rail firms "are looking at all options" to modernise, including job losses, he said.
ustry group said rail industry revenue is currently at 82% of 2019 levels, which is the same as a £38m shortfall on pre-Covid revenue levels every week.
ransport Secretary Grant Shapps said Covid "changed travel habits" - with 25% fewer ticket sales and the taxpayer stepping in to keep the railways running at a cost equivalent to £600 per household.
People working for 13 train operating companies, which each run services in different parts of the country, will take part in the strike. These are:
In addition, workers at Network Rail, which maintains the railways throughout Britain, also voted to strike. So the impact of the action would be felt across England, Scotland, and Wales.
Read more on how the strikes will affect you here
However, Mr Lynch said railway firms "can easily afford a pay rise for our members, it'll just mean they have to cut back on their profits".
"They are ripping off the passenger, they are ripping off the taxpayer. The government needs to fund the railway properly, and we need the companies to give up some of their profits to give our members a pay rise," he added.
But the Rail Delivery Group spokesman said the RMT was "using inflated figures" on profits to "disguise the real issue".
Mr Lynch said the union doesn't want disruption for thousands of commuters, but had been talking to rail firms for two years trying to get pay deals.
"We've got another two weeks before this action starts. There's plenty of time to get proposals forward," he added.
Additional reporting by Kris Bramwell and the BBC's UGC team.
How will you be affected by the planned rail strikes? Tell us by emailing: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | /news/business-61726567 | eng |
business | Cost of living: Small garages want petrol prices cut at chains | Independent garages are calling on big chains to slash petrol prices as the cost of living crisis continues.
RAC figures show unleaded dropped nearly 9p in July to 182.69p per litre, while diesel fell almost 7p to 192.38p.
Wrexham's Plas Acton Garage has dropped petrol below 167p, claiming it makes just pennies in profit on each litre.
Energy industry expert Carol Bell said drivers could expect petrol prices to fall as the effect of higher prices on global demand began to take hold.
Plas Acton's Marcus Ansloos said: "Unfortunately the bigger people in the industry haven't been bringing their prices down.
"With us doing this, it has forced everybody in north Wales to start looking at these prices and bringing them down.
"We are literally having a tanker delivering every day of the week to our forecourt and we are selling out on a daily basis, so it is sustainable."
Wholesale prices peaked at the start of June, but have fallen with oil costs while recession fears in the US and elsewhere have hit demand for oil.
rice of Brent crude - the international benchmark for oil - has slipped to about $100 a barrel, after soaring when Russia invaded Ukraine.
Abergavenny's Bailey's Garage said it had cut prices in line with falling fuel costs, dropping them to 167.9p a litre on Friday.
Ian Bailey said: "Because we're independent, we get the prices every morning. We work on a margin and we tap that in and that's what we sell it for."
Because chains buy in bulk, there is a time gap between the price of oil dropping and their selling off old stock.
Mr Bailey said: "The supermarkets are on a one-month lag, so when we were most expensive seven weeks ago, they had the old stock they could sell cheaper.
"But now since they've still got the old stock, they have to sell it dearer."
RAC warned reductions at many pumps still did not fairly reflect the drop in fuel's wholesale price.
Dr Bell said: "When the price of diesel and petrol in a garage will change typically is when the garage owner receives a bulk delivery.
"So, there'll be a lag. If the tanks are fuller in the garage, then they will be charging a margin on what they've paid for it in the first place."
She added that it was a comparatively thin margin for garages of about 10%, once VAT, duty and costs of bringing fuel in were included. | /news/uk-wales-62412616 | eng |
business | UK inflation hits 40-year high of 9% as energy bills soar | Prices are rising at their fastest rate for 40 years as higher energy bills hit millions of households.
UK inflation, the rate at which prices rise, jumped to 9% in the 12 months to April, up from 7% in March.
urge came as millions of people saw an unprecedented £700-a-year increase in energy costs last month.
Higher fuel and food prices, driven by the Ukraine war, are also pushing the cost of living up, with inflation expected to continue to rise this year.
Citizens Advice said "the warning lights could not be flashing brighter" for the government to offer more support for households, and debt charities urged anyone finding it difficult to pay bills to seek help earlier rather than later in the year.
Around three quarters of the rise in inflation in April came from higher electricity and gas bills, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
"There are desperate stories behind these figures," said Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice. "People washing in their kitchen sinks because they can't afford a hot shower; parents skipping meals to feed their kids; disabled people who can't afford to use vital equipment because of soaring energy bills."
Health analyst Cheryl Holmes, a mother-of-two, said she was trying to keep her living costs down to "as low as possible" by spending less on food and clothes, and cancelling TV subscriptions.
"I've already for several years been turning the lights off in each room, setting the heating on a timer, making sure I'm using a full dishwasher and washing machine and I'm running out of ideas.
"It's a battle and it seems like there's not really much more that I can do."
A higher energy price cap - which is the maximum price per unit that suppliers can charge customers - kicked in last month, meaning homes using a typical amount of gas and electricity are now paying £1,971 per year on average.
Up until now households of all incomes had faced similar rates of inflation, but the poorest are now being hit hardest by rising prices because they have to spend far more of their household budgets on gas and electricity, think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies said.
ONS, which publishes the UK's inflation rate, said the costs of food, machinery, furniture and other household goods also rose in April.
"All items" on the menus of restaurants and cafes went up too, due to the VAT rate for hospitality returning to 20% after being cut during the pandemic to help businesses.
Meanwhile, average petrol prices stood at £1.62 per litre in April 2022, the highest on record, compared with £1.26 per litre a year earlier.
Inflation is the rate at which prices are rising. For example, if a bottle of milk costs £1 and that rises by 9p, then milk inflation is 9%.
Prices have been rising for months, as fuel, energy and food prices surge higher due to the pandemic and the Ukraine war, and wages are failing to keep pace.
ONS estimated inflation is now at its highest level since March 1982, when it stood at 9.1%.
Bank of England warned earlier this month that the cost crunch could leave the UK on the brink of recession, with inflation peaking at over 10% later this year amid further expected rises in energy bills.
UK inflation is simply not supposed to hit levels this high. And as the Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has said, these sorts of rises hit the poorest the hardest.
9% is an average across the population. The older Retail Prices Index measure is already at 11%.
But Mr Bailey's institution has a battle on now to get this under control. The really painful issue is that this rate will sustain and is on course to get higher over the course of this year.
And only this week he acknowledged that there was "not a lot" the Bank could do about four-fifths of the anticipated rise, as it is being imported from globally rising prices for energy and food .
Read more here.
With households under increasing pressure, the government faces growing calls to offer more help.
Commenting on the latest figures, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he "cannot protect people completely" from rising inflation as it was a global problem.
Mr Sunak is expected to call on businesses at the CBI's annual dinner later to boost investment and training in order to grow the economy and help ease the cost of living crunch.
He will pledge that he will cut taxes on firms in the Autumn to "invest more, train more, and innovate more".
Meanwhile, at Prime Minister's Questions, Boris Johnson said he would "look at all the measures" needed to help people struggling with rising bills.
Sir Keir Starmer pressed the PM on Labour's call for a one-off tax on oil and gas profits, arguing it would raise "billions" to help.
PM replied that the government was "not in principle in favour of higher taxation".
rising cost of living is already seeing people spending less money and cutting down on car journeys due to high fuel costs.
It's impacting the economy, which shrank in March and risks falling into recession next year, according to the Bank of England.
Bank's response has been to raise interest rates to try and cool prices. The idea is that when borrowing is more expensive, people will have less money to spend which dampens demand.
However, it the Bank has faced criticism from MPs for not doing enough to tackle the crisis. This week Governor Andrew Bailey defended its response, insisting inflation was being driven by global forces that limited what the Bank could do.
But UK now has the highest rate of inflation (9%) of any G7 country, including Germany (7.4%) and France (4.8%).
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said higher prices in the UK risked becoming embedded due to wages "spiralling upwards" as firms fought for talent.
re are currently more job vacancies than unemployed people in the UK for the first time since records began, partly because many people dropped out of the labour market during the pandemic.
Ms Streeter said prices across the hospitality and leisure industries were now at a 30-year high.
"So far companies have succeeded in passing on higher costs to customers keeping margins resilient, but worries do linger about just how long consumers will continue to pay the price," she added. | /news/business-61483175 | eng |
business | Brexit: UK signs first US state-level trade agreement with Indiana | UK is to sign its first trade agreement with an individual US state, with more expected this year as it attempts to show post-Brexit progress.
Memorandum of Understanding with Indiana seeks to boost the £1.1bn ($1.4bn) worth of goods the state already buys from the UK.
rade Minister Ranil Jayawardena will sign the agreement with the Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb on Friday.
But opposition parties said it was no substitute for a UK-US trade deal.
UK government is looking to strike agreements with about 20 states after talks on a broader US-wide trade deal stalled.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the Indiana agreement "will help deliver value to UK businesses and support our areas of shared interest, such as levelling up".
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government once saw the prospect of a trade deal with the US as a whole as one of the biggest prizes of leaving the European Union.
But hopes of a quick deal have faded since US President Joe Biden took office and raised concerns about the UK's handling of post-Brexit trade arrangements in Northern Ireland.
Instead, the UK's Department for International Trade is pushing for agreements with individual US states and cities, to help improve trade relations.
greement with Indiana is a memorandum of understanding (MoU), which is a document that sets out the key points of a non-binding economic partnership between two parties.
UK says its agreement with Indiana - a Midwestern state - will remove barriers to trade and pave the way for businesses to invest, export and create jobs.
Opportunities in areas such as renewable energy, advanced manufacturing and pharmaceuticals will be available to businesses under the agreement, the UK says.
It says the agreement would also streamline procurement processes, enable academics to collaborate more easily, and ensure that professional qualifications were recognized on both sides.
In 2019, the UK was the seventh largest export market for Indiana, which has a gross domestic product (GDP) of about $350bn and a large manufacturing sector.
greement was the "first of many" the UK would sign "as we look to bolster our £200bn trading relationship with the US", Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt said.
Writing for the Conservative Home website, she said agreements with almost half of the 50 US states would follow, including Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.
Usually trade deals with the US are signed at a national level, between central governments.
But the US government under President Biden has not made a firm commitment to a full free-trade deal with the UK, despite historic ties between the two countries.
Labour's Shadow International Trade Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said the Conservatives had promised a comprehensive US-UK free-trade agreement by the end of 2022.
"With less than seven months to go it seems that this will be another broken promise from this government," he said.
Sarah Olney, Liberal Democrat MP and party spokesperson for trade, said the Indiana agreement "makes a mockery of the government's promise for Global Britain".
She said Mr Johnson had "utterly failed to secure the US trade deal he said he would, being left to negotiate with one state at a time with his tail between his legs".
SNP international trade spokesperson Drew Hendry said the PM had no chance of striking a US-wide deal while he continued his "reckless games" over post-Brexit trade in Northern Ireland.
He added that "piecemeal" agreements with individual US states would do "little to mitigate the huge damage caused by the Tories' chaotic Brexit".
uation in Northern Ireland, where a dispute over a post-Brexit trade deal has created a block on forming its devolved government, has been a source on tension between the UK and US.
- known as the protocol - is a special arrangement that keeps Northern Ireland aligned with the EU single market for goods, avoiding a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.
UK has proposed legislation that would allow ministers to scrap some of the rules governing trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
But some US lawmakers, who must approve trade agreements, have said they would not support one with the UK if its actions jeopardised the peace process in Northern Ireland.
Last week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was "deeply concerned" that the UK was seeking to "unilaterally discard" the protocol. | /news/uk-politics-61604784 | eng |
business | Bank of England's warning pension help to end worries investors | Bank boss tells the BBC it is doing 'everything' to ensure financial stability
Investors remained nervous after the Bank of England insisted its emergency bond-buying scheme would end this week, dismissing reports it may be extended.
It said the help would end on Friday "as it made clear from the outset".
Bank is buying bonds to stabilise their price and prevent a sale which could put some pension schemes at risk.
Bond sales rose after the statement, with borrowing costs almost as high as when the Bank first stepped in to calm market turmoil after the mini-budget.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's plans for huge tax cuts without a clear indication of how they would be paid for sparked a dramatic reaction on financial markets last month. The pound fell to a record low and bond prices also fell sharply forcing the Bank of England to step in to stop their price falling further.
government raises money it needs for spending by selling bonds - a form of debt that is paid back plus interest in anywhere between five and 30 years.
Pension funds invest in bonds because they provide a low but usually reliable return over a long period of time.
However, the sharp fall in their value after the mini-budget forced pension funds to sell bonds, threatening to create a "downward spiral" in their prices as more were offloaded, which left some funds close to collapse.
On Tuesday evening Andrew Bailey told pension funds: "You've got three days left now and you've got to sort it out."
und initially fell sharply against the dollar before steadying, after Mr Bailey's surprisingly blunt statement, which dashed hopes the support could be extended.
Mr Bailey told the BBC he had stayed up all night to try and find a way to calm markets and said the Bank was doing everything it could to preserve financial stability, but said it had always been clear that the help would be temporary.
He said it was now down to financial firms to arrange their affairs, saying pension funds had "an important task" to ensure they are resilient.
"I'm afraid this has to be done, for the sake of financial stability," he said.
Do you have a question on how you might be affected by the Bank of England's decision?
Members of the Bank's Financial Policy Committee (FPC), which helps to protect UK financial stability, said on Wednesday that the governor was crystal clear the bond-buying programme would end, although other support measures would remain in place.
recent turmoil has already fed through to the mortgage market, where hundreds of products have been suspended as the volatility has made it difficult for lenders to know how to price these long-term loans.
Last week, interest rates on typical two and five-year fixed rate mortgages topped 6% for the first time in over a decade.
Bank's FPC said that this was likely to put households under severe pressure next year.
Earlier, pensions industry body the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association had warned against the help ending "too soon".
It suggested the support should be extended until 31 October, when chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is due to detail his economic plan explaining how he will balance the public finances. The statement will be accompanied by independent forecasts on the prospects for the UK economy.
government has said it remains confident in its tax cuts plan, with Mr Kwarteng telling MPs he was "relentlessly focused on growing the economy" and "raising living standards".
But Mr Bailey's words further increases the pressure on the government, and the chancellor, to come up with an economically credible and politically viable debt plan, and quickly.
Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "This is a Tory crisis that has been made in Downing Street, and that is being paid for by working people."
Former IMF deputy director Mohamed El-Erian told BBC News that the economy was on "shaky ground".
He said financial systems going into turmoil "can cause a lot of damage".
In its latest World Economic Outlook report on Tuesday, the IMF acknowledged the mini-budget would "lift growth somewhat in the near term", although it would "complicate the fight" against the cost-of-living crisis. | /news/business-63223894 | eng |
business | Ukraine war: Russia earns $97bn on energy exports since invasion | Russia earned nearly $100bn (£82.3bn) from oil and gas exports during the first 100 days of the war in Ukraine, according to a report.
Revenues have been falling since March, as many countries shunned Russian supplies, but remain high, the independent Centre For Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) found.
It also warned of potential loopholes in efforts to curb imports from Russia.
EU, US and UK are among those to have pledged to cut Russian imports.
But the CREA report found Russia still earned $97bn in revenue from fossil fuel exports in the first 100 days of the Ukraine conflict, from 24 February to 3 June.
European Union made up 61% of these imports, worth approximately $59bn.
Overall, exports of Russian oil and gas are falling and Moscow's revenue from energy sales has also declined from a peak of well over $1bn a day in March.
But revenues still exceeded the cost of the Ukraine war during the first 100 days - with the CREA estimating that Russia is spending around $876m per day on the invasion.
EU plans to ban Russian oil imports arriving by sea by the end of 2022, which would cut imports by two-thirds.
In March, the bloc also committed to reducing gas imports from Russia by two-thirds within a year.
However, so far it has been unable to agree on an outright ban.
Meanwhile, the US has declared a complete ban on Russian oil, gas and coal imports. The UK is to phase out Russian oil imports by the end of the year.
CREA report said the EU's planned oil embargo would have a significant impact.
But it warned large quantities of Russian crude oil were now being shipped to India, which increased its share of Russia's total crude exports from around 1% before the invasion of Ukraine to 18% in May.
report said a "significant share" of this was being refined and sold on - often to customers in the US and Europe - which it described as "an important loophole to close".
It added that strong sanctions against tankers transporting Russian crude would significantly limit the scope for this practice.
report points out that as Russia seeks new markets for oil, much of it is being transported by ship - and the majority of the vessels used are owned by European and US companies.
As well as India, other countries that increased imports of Russian fuel included France, China, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the report said.
On the face of it, this report contains a lot of bad news. Energy sales are still in effect funding the war in Ukraine, with high prices offsetting efforts to reduce demand.
But that doesn't mean pressure on Moscow won't tell in the end. The report's authors expect a partial EU embargo on Russian oil to cut revenues by some $36bn a year, for example. Exports of gas have already fallen dramatically - and there are plans to reduce Europe's reliance on Russia still further.
Yet embargoes have to be effective. The report points out that more and more Russian oil is being exported to India for refining. And some of those refined products are finding their way back onto European markets.
Since refined products are not covered by the EU ban, this is a clear potential loophole.
And with Russian oil being diverted from pipelines and onto ships as Moscow seeks new markets, there is growing demand for vessels to carry it. But the majority of the oil tankers currently being used are owned by European companies.
For pressure on Russia to be most effective, issues like these will have to be addressed. | /news/business-61785111 | eng |
business | South Africa turns to solar to help stop power cuts | Young engineer Nolwazi Zulu says that when she was a teenager she decided that she would "go out and do something" about the regular power cuts that bedevil her community.
Now 25 years old, Ms Zulu is from rural Kwazulu-Natal on the eastern coast of South Africa.
Like the rest of the country her home province has had to endure frequent blackouts, called "load-shedding", since 2008.
used by South Africa's aging, state-owned power grid, and its mainly coal-fuelled power stations, struggling to keep up with demand.
ry to help solve the problem, and boost its environmental credentials, the South African government is now continuing with efforts to boost the amount of solar-power generation in the country. To do this it is encouraging firms in the sector to tender for contracts.
It currently wants to secure an additional 1,000 megawatts from solar power, enough to provide electricity for approximately one million homes in the country. This is in addition to a desire to boost onshore wind power generation by 1,600 megawatts.
Currently only 11% of South Africa's power comes from renewables, and mostly wind. Just 0.9% so far comes from solar, in a country that gets an average eight to 10 hours of sun every day, compared with the UK's four.
One firm that has won one of the solar bids is Art Solar, the only South African-owned solar panel manufacturer. The word Art stands for "African Renewable Technology".
It is at this company that Ms Zulu works in the design team as she continues to study for a diploma in electrical power engineering at the Durban University of Technology.
In addition to helping the national power grid, she says that solar panels can bring power to the many rural homes that aren't connected to the mains.
"I want to open an Art Solar branch in Ulundi [where she grew up], and bring solar to my village," says Ms Zulu. "It is cheaper and better than how we are living through load-shedding, and will change so many lives."
Durban-based Art Solar started 12 years ago, building solar panels under licence from German firm Bosch. It now manufacturers panels in partnership with fellow German company Talesun for both the South African and international markets.
General manager Viren Gosai says that the government's solar push has given the company the confidence to open a new facility that is capable of producing 650,000 panels per year.
It also supplies private homes and businesses, despite its panels being more expensive than lower-quality imports that don't face any import tariffs.
"Covid-19 and lockdowns were bad in many ways," says Mr Gosai. "But the one positive I noticed is that it made people patriotic.
"People want to buy local, rely on the resources at home, and are loyal."
New Tech Economy is a series exploring how technological innovation is set to shape the new emerging economic landscape.
One high-profile recent contract for Art Solar was providing the solar panels last year for a private hospital in Durban. It means that the Ahmed Al-Kadi Hospital is protected from the risk of power cuts.
Up in East African countries including Tanzania, fellow solar energy firm Zola Electric has a solution to power supply that ignores national grids. Instead of connecting solar panel farms to nationwide power systems, it wants to create independent "mini-grids" for villages and other communities.
Zola's chief executive Bill Lenihan says we need to "move beyond legacy ways of thinking about energy access, especially in Africa".
He adds that in emerging markets, alongside moving from fossil fuels to renewables, people are thinking that having a single energy grid may not work.
"Everyone in their minds was saying: 'We're going to build a grid.' Well you are not building grids.
"One hundred years later in places like Africa people don't have access to working grids, and they are not going to get working grids, because it is a flawed technology for emerging markets. This isn't controversial to say this any more."
Back in South Africa, Jay Naidoo, a former government minister under Nelson Mandela, is a fan of the idea of such separate mini-grids for the 20% of South African households not connected to the grid of state energy firm Eskom.
rustee and resident of the Earthrise Trust, an eco-farming project in rural Free State province.
"Our aim is to empower rural communities, particularly women and the youth contributing to economic growth," says Mr Naidoo. "Power though is still an issue, halting the prospects and self-sufficient nature of the farm.
"Imagine if we could have a community-owned, micro-solar grid and meet our own needs? It could electrify so many communities and create community-owned assets."
South African environmental campaigning organisation Earthlife Africa has been calling for more renewable power in the country for some time.
"We've missed out on investing in solar," says Earthlife director Makoma Lekalakala. "We would be beyond the [power cuts] crisis if we had."
"Instead we have leaned into the narrative that we have coal, and coal is the baseline."
South Africa should have moved towards solar "long ago", she says, adding: "We have wasted a lot of time and disregarded the climate commitments we made in international spaces."
South Africa's Department of Mining Resources and Energy did not respond to a request for a comment.
As Art Solar plans a big increase in production, Ms Zulu says she is thrilled that the company is indeed now planning to open a branch in her local community.
Meanwhile, Mr Gosai says he is confident for the future of solar power in the country. "The light is amazing in South Africa, a lot of daylight hours means a high return on investment. [And] our people back us." | /news/business-63741041 | eng |