Author: WTX Business Team

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. …

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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 –…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Ford to cut one in five jobs in the UK as it prepares for major transformation Ford will cut 1,300 jobs in the UK over the next two years – a fifth of its UK workforce, the car-making company announced. The job cuts come as part of a major restructuring programme that will see the company slash 3,800 jobs across Europe. Ford is cutting back on development staff as the company faces an uncertain economic…

City AM – Buy now pay later boom Exclusive: Brits turn to buy-now pay-later to fund spending amid cost of living crisis City AM says Brits are turning to buy-now pay-later products to fund online spending amid a cost of living squeeze that is eroding their disposable income rapidly, exclusive research shared with City A.M. reveals. Nearly £1 in every £8 spent online last month was sourced from buy-now pay-later providers, according to research by…

FT – Peltz calls off battle with Disney after claiming objectives met in shake-up The Financial Times leads on the corporate battle at Disney, which has resulted in restructuring and the loss of 7,000 jobs after action by an investor. The paper reports Nelson Peltz has declared “the proxy fight is over” after securing changes at the company. Read the full story here Catch up on the latest from the UK’s national newspapers and the…

UK economy narrowly avoided recession last year Newly released figures show the UK narrowly avoided falling into recession in 2022 after the economy saw zero growth between October and December. The economy shrank between July and September 2022. A recession is when the economy contracts for two consecutive three-month periods. In December the economy fell by 0.5% partly due to the mass striking across the country. The Bank of England expects the UK to still…

Disney to cut 7,000 jobs as streaming site records $.1.5bn loss Disney will be cutting 7,000 jobs in a massive shake-up to the company, the chief executive Bob Iger has said. The company’s mass job cuts come as subscriber numbers for its streaming service fall. The job cuts are part of a plan to save $5.5bn and make its Disney+ streaming service profitable. The changes have been announced alongside the latest quarterly figures. Commenting on…