Author: WTX Business Team

Adidas unsure what to do with €1.2bn Yeezy goods Adidas is currently weighing its options for the €1.2bn (£1bn) worth of shoes from Kanye West’s Yeezy line that were left over after the sportswear company ended its partnership with the rapper last year. Kanye West now goes by the name Ye. Despite Ye’s anti-Semitic comments that led to the split, fans still want to purchase the shoes. Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden has said that the company is considering selling the footwear and donating the proceeds to charity, but ruled out other options such as burning the shoes or giving them…

Heathrow told to cut passenger charges again The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has told Heathrow Airport to reduce its passenger charges for airlines in 2024, as a result of passenger numbers rebounding faster than expected after the Covid pandemic. The average charge per passenger at Heathrow for 2023 is currently £31.57, but this is set to decrease to £25.43 in 2024 and remain stable until the end of 2026. Although airlines pay these charges, they may impact airfares if companies decide to pass on some of the costs to passengers. Lower costs for travellers Heathrow bosses want to see the…

Elon Musk apologises to sacked Twitter employee after online spat Elon Musk has apologised to a Twitter employee he had an exchange with on the platform, who was trying to work out if he had been fired. The incident began when the employee, Halli Thorleifsson, tweeted to Mr Musk that the head of HR at Twitter was unable to confirm his employment status. Musk responded by questioning what work Thorleifsson had been doing, leading to a series of back-and-forth tweets. Later, Thorleifsson received an email confirming that he had been fired, prompting Musk to call him “the worst” in a…

FT – Speaker McCarthy to meet Taiwan’s leader in US to avert Beijing backlash  The Financial Times reports that the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, is to meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen amid ongoing tensions between Beijing and Washington. The paper says McCarthy expressed a wish to visit Taiwan before becoming speaker, but that the pair have agreed to meet in the US because of Taiwanese security concerns. Following a visit to Taiwan by McCarthy’s predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, China dispatched warships and military aircraft to the waters surrounding the island. Read the story here

City AM – Tony Danker: CBI boss steps down amid sexual misconduct allegation City AM says The head of the Confederation of British Industry, Tony Danker, has stepped down from the role amid misconduct allegations. The announcement was made in the Guardian, after the publication reported that the CBI had hired lawyers to investigate alleged impropriety. The CBI insisted it takes all allegations “extremely seriously” but until an investigation in completed they “remain unproven”. It is understood that the director general of the organisation made unwanted contact with a female member of staff and considered it to be sexual harassment.…

Pret A Manger gives staff third pay rise in a year Pret A Manger has announced its plans to give employees another pay rise – that’ll be the third within a year!  The increase, set to begin in April, will result in a 19% boost in year-on-year pay for shop workers, making Pret A Manger’s baristas some of the highest-paid in the industry, with wages ranging from £11.80-£14.10 per hour based on experience and location. This announcement follows similar moves by other retailers such as Tesco, Asda, Aldi, and Lidl, all of which have raised their workers’ pay in response…

Financial Times – Northern Ireland trade deal eases post-Brexit tensions with Brussels Summary of the front page The Financial Times says the trade deal will ease post-Brexit tensions with Brussels. The paper describes the agreement as a “turning point” but says many Eurosceptic Tories may wait to take their lead from the DUP, whose leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, told the Commons on Monday that there remained some “key issues of concern”. Today’s top stories Like this article? Leave a comment UK National newspapers Previous Next

Eggs and margarine drive food inflation to record 17.1% According to research by Kantar, prices for food and drink in shops have hit record highs due to rising costs of milk, eggs, and margarine. Grocery prices rose by 17.1% compared to the same period last year, the highest rate since Kantar started keeping records in 2008. One in four shoppers is now struggling financially, and households may face an £811 increase in their annual grocery bill if they don’t alter their shopping habits. Rise in food prices due to war The conflict in Ukraine has disrupted the supply of grains,…

City AM – London set to power recovery CITYAM says Last year was one of great change: a year of two monarchs, and three prime ministers. There were some great historic events, such as the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. But to quote the late Queen’s words from 30 years ago, when we consider the political and economic volatility, 2022 may not be a year on which we “look back with undiluted pleasure”. Yet I am optimistic for the City of London and the wider UK in 2023. Despite the serious economic challenges that the UK faces, we can bounce back stronger…

Even the manager who encouraged staff to #SleepWhereYouWork wasn’t spared.

UK startup Britishvolt bought by Australian firm Recharge Industries, an Australian company, has acquired the bankrupt Britishvolt battery maker. Britishvolt had planned to construct a £4bn battery plant near the Port of Blyth in Northumberland, but it failed last month due to insufficient funds, battery expertise, reliable technology, customers, and revenue. Recharge Industries is a startup with limited manufacturing experience, and it shares similarities with Britishvolt in that regard. The parent company of Recharge Industries is Scale Facilitation, an investment fund based in New York. According to David Collard, the Australian CEO of the fund, they are bringing verified technology…

Starbucks launches olive oil coffee drinks in Italy Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain, is introducing a line of olive oil-infused drinks in Italy, according to CEO Howard Schultz. The Oleato range, featuring an iced shaken espresso and a latte with olive oil “steamed with oat milk”, will be launched on Wednesday in Italy, and is set to be available in Southern California in the US this spring, and in the UK, Middle East, and Japan later in the year. There will also be a cold brew coffee in which “a silky infusion of Partanna extra virgin oil with vanilla…

Councils get more money to help struggling households Starting in April, local authorities in England will receive a share of £842m from the Household Support Fund to assist households struggling the most with rising prices. Information about accessing the new funding will be updated on council websites in the coming weeks. Each council will decide how to use the money, resulting in a wide range of approaches, from ordering affordable food boxes to delivering energy-saving packs with air fryers and slow cookers. The funding has been provided every six months since October 2021 to fill in gaps in support for…

Record tax payments in January give UK unexpected boost In January, the UK government reported an unexpected surplus in its finances, despite significant spending on energy bills and EU payments. This was due to higher-than-anticipated self-assessed income tax receipts, which bolstered the country’s coffers and resulted in a surplus of £5.4bn. Although the government is due to present its Budget next month, economists noted that the public finances are still weaker than they were at this time last year, so the figures present a “mixed picture.” Martin Beck, the chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, which is a…

City AM – A reit mess London’s business paper CITY AM reports on beleaguered housing investor Home REIT is set to be grilled by investors today over the state of its finances, its dilapidated property portfolio and the suitability of a recent takeover approach from a firm with links to its former investment advisor. The troubled former FTSE 250 firm is due to face shareholders at its annual general meeting in London this morning – the first time it will speak with shareholders publicly after a damning short seller report by Viceroy Research first raised concerns about its financial health…

Financial Times – Poland calls for Nato to guarantee Ukraine’s security after end of war The Financial Times reports Poland’s president has called on NATO to give Ukraine post-war security guarantees. FT says Polish president Andrzej Duda has called on Nato powers to give postwar security guarantees to Ukraine, on the eve of a visit to Warsaw by his US counterpart to reaffirm the west’s support for Kyiv a year into Russia’s war. Duda told the Financial Times that promises of security guarantees “would be important” for Ukraine and the morale of its soldiers by underscoring “this feeling that Nato…

Free school meals for all London primary schools A £130m initiative to provide free school meals to all primary school pupils for the 2023-24 academic year has been launched by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. The scheme is expected to benefit over 270,000 children in the capital and save families around £440 per child annually. The funding, which is one-off, is made possible through extra business rates income and will be run during term-time only. The mayor’s office has clarified that the scheme is implemented because council tax and business rates returns were higher than originally forecast in the…

UK craft beer giant Brewdog expands into China Scottish craft beer maker Brewdog is partnering with Budweiser China to expand in the world’s largest beer market. The joint venture will see Brewdog’s Punk IPA and other beers brewed in China at Budweiser’s Putian craft brewery, with plans to open more bars in the country. Although the company has faced controversies in recent years, including allegations of fostering a culture of fear among staff, founder James Watt said the Budweiser deal was “transformational”. China accounts for less than 1% of Brewdog’s overall sales, but the company sees the partnership as a…

Billionaire tech banker in China reported missing Boa Fan – a high-profile billionaire, has gone missing, his company has reported. Boa is the boss of China Renaissance Holdings. He has been unreachable in recent days according to the company.  He is a leading deal broker in China whose clients include tech companies Didi and Meituan. The announcement has renewed worries about a potential Beijing crackdown on finances and tech figures.  Shares in the investment firm plunged after the news of his disappearance was shared. Shareholders were told the company had “been unable to contact Mr Bao Fan”. The company has…

British Gas owner sees profits triple to £3.3bn British Gas owner Centrica has made huge profits, hitting £3.3bn for 2022, after oil and gas prices soared last year. The news has sparked calls for energy firms to pay more taxes.  The £3.3bn profits are more than triple the £948m it made in 2021. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, energy firms have seen record profits as oil and gas prices jumped. The newly released figures come after British Gas was criticised for using debt agents to force-fit prepayment metres in the homes of vulnerable customers. The calls for firms to pay…

Aldi to recruit 6,000 new staff across the UK Supermarket chain Aldi has announced its plans to create new jobs across the UK this year. Aldi will recruit 6,000 new staff members for its distribution centres, as well as a number of new stories including in Norwich and Newcastle/ The German-owned chain has 990 stores and 40,000 staff in Britain and last year it overtook Morrisons to become the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket chain. The company also said it had attracted 1.3 million new customers in the last three months. Most store assistants begin with a starting pay of £11.00 an…

Elon Musk donated almost $2bn of Tesla shares to charity Billionaire Elon Musk says he donated around $1.95bn worth of shares is his company Tesla to charity last year. Musk – once the world’s richest man, donated 11.6 million shares, which was described in a filing with US regulators as “a bona fide gift.” The filing did not name the recipient, or recipients, of the donation. On Wednesday, Musk also said that towards the end of the year it would be a “good time” to find someone to succeed him as the chief executive of Twitter. The donation was made…

City AM – Firms tell Hunt to fix job crisis CityAM says London’s economy is being hamstrung by a chronic worker shortage that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt needs to tackle at the 15 March budget, a new report from Britain’s biggest business lobby groups highlighted today. Nearly two in three of the capital’s firms are struggling to fill vacancies, according to research carried out by BusinessLDN, Federation of Small Businesses, Confederation of British Industry and the London Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The report indicates the capital’s economy risks missing an opportunity to keep unemployment low while the UK tips into…

Financial Times – Overseas bets on Vodafone mount as Liberty Global takes £1.2bn stake The Financial Times leads with an image from protests in Israel, where people have demonstrated against efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to curb the powers of the country’s judiciary. It also leads with a story saying that Amazon is planning to “go big” on the country’s struggling grocery stores business. Catch up on today’s UK newspapers and the sports back pages

Wages rise at fastest rate in 20 years but still fail to keep up with inflation Newly published figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show regular pay has grown at the fastest rate in more than 20 years, but it is still failing to keep up with rising prices. Pay (excluding bonuses) increased at an annual pace of 4.7% between October and December 2022, the ONS said. The increase is the strongest growth seen outside the pandemic, the ONS said.  However, when adjusted for inflation, regular pay fell by 2.5%. The ONS says the gap between private and…