Wednesday 16 November

UNION leaders have warned industrial action could hit the highest level this century by the end of the year, after new figures revealed more than half a million working days have already been lost to a wave of strikes.

Business leaders warned persistent walkouts would scar the UK economy at the worst possible time.

“During the cost of doing business crisis, the cumulative effect of these strikes

continues to be disastrous for business,”

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, told City A.M.

Firms including Royal Mail and BT have suffered from strike action this year and earlier this week even the factory producing Jacob’s Cream Crackers saw staff walk out.

Rail strikes have also been a constant thorn in the side of commuters and weekend leisure travellers.

The industrial action has been driven in large part by complaints on pay, with

inflation increasing the cost of living.

A Communication Workers Union spokesperson told City A.M.: “By the end of 2022, Britain will likely have seen the biggest number of days lost to strikes in this century so far.”

London’s consumer-facing businesses have been hit particularly hard by travel disruption, with one hotelier claiming he had seen around £500,000-worth of bookings across rooms and events cancelled as a result of recent industrial action.

Yesterday Rishi Sunak weighed into the row over pay, telling the bosses of the UK’s biggest firms to look at capping their pay due to tough economic times.

Speaking to broadcasters, Sunak said: “In a situation like this, I’m sure executives of most companies will be thinking about pay settlements for senior management, for their workers and making sure they’re fair.”

“Of course I would say to all executives to embrace pay restraint at a time like this,” the Prime Minister added.

STERLING RECOVERY

Pound hits three-month dollar high

JACK BARNETT

THE POUND climbed to its highest level against the US dollar in three months yesterday, driven higher by the prospect of the Federal Reserve cooling its aggressive interest rate hike campaign.

Sterling strengthened as much as 2.3 per cent against the greenback, up to its highest level since the summer. A string of consumer and business inflation figures across the pond have come in much lower than analysts expected, raising hopes Fed chair Jerome Powell and co will either slow the pace of rate rises or not send borrowing costs to a high peak.

Last week, numbers showed consumer prices climbed 7.7 per cent over the last year, while monthly core inflation halved to 0.3 per cent.

Yesterday, figures revealed US factory prices climbed eight per cent over the last year, the lowest level since July 2021 and below the 8.3 per cent consensus forecast.

“The market is now looking for the Fed to do the walking, having done some (dovish) talking,” Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index, told City A.M.

The pound’s gain marks a big turnaround after it fell to its lowest level ever against the dollar following September’s ill-fated mini-budget.

Russian missiles kill two people in Poland as crisis tips over the border - reports

Polish media.

RUSSIAN missiles are believed to have killed two in Poland, a NATO member, according to multiple reports on the ground.

Missiles reportedly hit a farm in Przewodów, Lublin, a village near the border with Ukraine, according to

Late last night it remained unclear whether the missiles were deliberately launched into Poland, whether they were aimed at Ukraine and had gone offcourse, or whether as some Polish journalists were reporting last night they

had been intercepted by Ukrainian air defence systems and had been diverted over the

The Russian defence ministry denied missiles had been fired at Ukraine and described reports as “provocation”.

An anonymous source

in the Polish Prime Minister’s office described the situation as “informational chaos” to the BBC.

It came at the end of a day in which Ukraine was the subject of a renewed wave of missile attacks from Russia with at least 100 hitting the capital Kyiv yesterday.

Poland is a member of NATO, and

a deliberate assault on Polish territory by Russian forces would force the western alliance to consider invoking what is known as Article 5, essentially a clause which considers an attack on one as an attack on all, potentially justifying a military response. However, Article 5 is not an automatic trigger.

EMILY HAWKINS

JACK BARNETT AND REPORTERS

STANDING UP FOR THE CITY

Hunt in danger of cementing high-tax, low-growth UK economy

WE ARE now less than 48 hours from knowing quite what medicine Jeremy Hunt feels it necessary for Brits to choke down to fix the so-called ‘black hole’ in the finances. Frankly, the move to can the energy price guarantee in April might probably have been enough. One hopes the rumours of higher council tax, a reversed bank surcharge reduction and a variety of other pocket-pinching measures remain just that. Above

THE CITY VIEW

all, it seems particularly perverse to see the chancellor seemingly pitch-rolling for an extension of an arbitrary windfall tax on energy companies.

On a point of principle, sensible economies and governments do not arbitrarily whack higher

taxes on companies because they happen to be doing well. We have already failed that test, thanks to the now-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to do just that earlier this year, abandoning the most basic of logic because of some negative press in the Daily Mirror. That should be particularly the case when the relevant sector –in this case, oil and gas –is a vital part of our foreign policy, ensuring our energy independence.

We have now heard from a variety of bodies –both the ‘dirty’ energy industry and shiny ‘green’ one –that an extension to the windfall tax would essentially put a halt on all new UK energy projects. It would also serve as a reminder to the world’s investors that coming to Britain no longer comes with it a guarantee of a stable, predictable tax regime. Two fallacies underpin the tax hikes coming up this week: one, that tax hikes and spending cuts

are the only way to improve the public finances, and two, that pedestrian economic growth can be tolerated as long as the bond markets don’t flap. Hunt and Sunak are in danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater: strangling economic growth (such as it is) in the middle of a recession, whilst also making the UK appear deeply uninvestable –even more so than Westminster’s chaotic past year has already managed.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES

ALPHABET FACES ACTIVIST CALL TO CUT HEADCOUNT

Google parent Alphabet yesterday faced a call from a large shareholder to cut its soaring headcount and slash high salaries paid to non-engineers, in the latest sign of the pressure building on US Big Tech.

THE TIMES

ACTIVIST

THE GUARDAIN

MURDOCH TELLS TRUMP HE WILL NOT BACK FRESH WHITE HOUSE BID - REPORTS

UK real pay eroded rapidly by inflation despite big wage rise from businesses

WORKERS’ pay is still being eroded at a historic pace by rampant inflation despite employers hiking wages by one of the greatest amounts since records began, figures revealed yesterday.

When taking off the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) preferred measure of inflation, pay excluding bonuses dropped 2.7 per cent over the last three months, one of the biggest falls since the organisation started tracking the data in 2001.

The sharp fall came despite employers hiking pay 5.7 per cent over the

three months to September, the biggest rise outside of the Covid-19 crisis, which muddied the numbers.

The new figures underscore how badly households are being squeezed by rising prices.

On some measures, wages have now trailed inflation for 11 months.

The Bank of England has predicted the UK economy is on course to plunge into the longest recession on record, at two years, driven by consumers and businesses cutting spending in response to inflation running at a 40year high 10.1 per cent, but only if rates hit five per cent.

Analysts said current wage growth may keep inflation elevated.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who tomorrow is likely to announce £55bn of spending cuts and tax hikes, said curbing inflation is his “absolute priority”.

The unemployment rate fell to 3.6 per cent, down from 3.8 per cent.

But, the number of people without a job and not looking for one climbed over 100,000 over the same period.

The ONS does not include economically inactive people in its unemployment estimate, meaning when more people stop looking for a job, it can push down the jobless rate.

High costs and end of Covid19 help sends firms to edge

JACK BARNETT

SWELLING costs, high inflation and the end of Covid-19 business protections has UK insolvencies up sharply, figures yesterday revealed.

Balance sheets are being toppled by the price of raw materials, wages and logistics all climbing rapidly this year, tipping companies over the edge.

Figures from the Insolvency Service showed company insolvencies climbed nearly 40 per cent over the last year to October, up to 1,948 from 1,410.

This time last year, the government protected companies from creditors forcing them into insolvency proceedings.

“A series of economic issues, the end of temporary insolvency legislation, and a lack of a postCovid bounce have hit all parts of the economy and the supply chain hard, and have resulted in more directors choosing to close their businesses and more creditors calling in debts as a means of balancing their own books,” Nicky Fisher, vice president of R3, a restructuring trade body, said.

HSBC LOSES SECOND SENIOR EXECUTIVE AMID FEUD WITH

A second senior executive at HSBC is leaving the bank in a potential setback to the FTSE 100 lender as it seeks to fend off an activist campaign by its biggest shareholder.

Rupert Murdoch has reportedly warned Donald Trump his media empire will not back any attempt to return to the White House, as former supporters turn to Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

JACK BARNETT

HAVING AN ICE TIME Christmas arrived in London last night with the opening of the Somerset House skating rink, complete with a 40ft Christmas tree and plenty of bubbly

Autumn budget to hike council tax, says Hunt

STEFAN BOSCIA

JEREMY HUNT has said he will hike council tax tomorrow, with the increase set to help pay for social care.

The Chancellor told MPs yesterday that he will “be asking people who have more, to contribute even more” in his fiscal statement and that this “will be reflected in our decisions on council tax”.

Tomorrow’s statement will have a mixture of spending cuts and tax hikes for everyone as the chancellor tries to raise £55bn to cut government borrowing.

The Telegraph reported yesterday that he is set to allow local authorities responsible for social care to hike council tax by five per cent without a local referendum.

Hunt said it’s “going to be a very difficult announcement on Thursday”.

It has been speculated the government will freeze Income Tax thresholds, in a stealth tax raid, while also reducing the top 45p bracket from £150,000 to £125,000. Hunt is expected to increase the windfall tax on energy companies from 25 to 35 per cent and extend it to

Hunt is expected to hike tax across the economy

2028, while also hiking capital gains tax.

Rishi Sunak said yesterday during the G20 summit in Indonesia that the fiscal statement would be done in a “compassionate way”, though some business figures have voiced scepticism at the scale of the proposals.

SOURCES told Sky News that Thomas Cook’s Chinese owner Fosun

was looking into either raising capital from external investors or selling the business. A Thomas Cook spokesperson told City A.M. its owner had “no plans” of selling the business.

Pensions regulatorto learn from LDI crisis

VICKY SHAW

LESSONS will be learned from the shock to pension funds which happened during recent market volatility, according to the boss of a regulator.

Charles Counsell, chief executive of the Pensions Regulator, yesterday said the speed at which bond yields

increased over a short time period was beyond what had been thought “reasonably plausible”.

Counsell told the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee yesterday: “What we had collectively looked for is the degree to which pension schemes and indeed LDI funds would be able to withstand a shock, being able to withstand

increases in bond yields.

“It’s not the fact that they are going up that caused the liquidity problems... it was the speed at which they went up.”

Counsell said that immediate work needs to focus on “the degree to whether there is sufficient collateral in the system to be able to support shocks such as this”.

Tourism Group

HMRC sues EY following dispute over property tycoon’s tax affairs

LOUIS GOSS

HMRC has filed a High Court lawsuit against EY over alleged misrepresentations to the UK tax authority in relation to British property investor Jamie Ritblat’s tax affairs.

The case relates to a broader dispute between HMRC and the Tory donor over taxes on £141m in

profits from Ritblat’s property investment firm Delancey, the Financial Times first reported.

Ritblat claims a £400 settlement paid to HMRC in 2015 blocks HMRC from collecting further taxes on £141m of Delancey’s profits paid into an employee benefit trust.

HMRC instead claims it agreed to the £400 settlement deal due to misrepresentations made by Delancey

and his advisors EY.

A HMRC spokesperson said: “Misrepresentations were made to us in 2015. Clearly, had appropriate disclosures been made, the settlement agreement would not have been entered into.”

HMRC filed the High Court claim on 28 July 2022. An EY spokesperson denied wrongdoing and vowed to “vigorously defend the claim”.

Vodafone slumps amid job layoffs and earnings cut

LEAH MONTEBELLO

VODAFONE shares hit their lowest point since 1998 yesterday, continuing the FTSE 100 firm’s downward spiral.

Not only did the telecoms giant slash its forecasts for the coming year, but it also announced a new cost savings target of over €1bn, aimed at “streamlining and further simplifying the group” over the next three years.

Chief executive Nick Read told reporters that this move would inevitably lead to job cuts, but refused to elaborate on the scale or where these culls would be made.

Shares were pushed down almost eight per cent by the news, making the telecoms firm the second biggest faller on the FTSE 100 yesterday.

Vodafone had already signalled a desperate grab for cash, selling a hefty stake in its phone mast business last week to KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners in a €16.2bn (£14.3bn) deal.

Read said the deal was a “landmark moment”, allowing his firm to retain co-control and dump Frankfurt-listed Vantage Towers off its balance sheet, reducing Vodafone’s debt.

Although revenue did climb a humble two per cent to €22.9bn for the telecoms group in its half year results, investors’ eyes yesterday were firmly on the company’s weak performance in Germany, its biggest market.

Vodafone has been struggling with broadband and TV losses following domestic regulatory changes, and the group confirmed that its expected earnings were likely to land at the bottom end of its expected range, battered by inflation and the growing threat of recession.

“Germany is definitely the big focus. If Germany sneezes, the Vodafone group gets a cold, and Germany is definitely under the weather right now,” telecoms expert at Enders Analysis Karen Egan told City A.M., explaining that it accounts for more than a third of group ebitda-al. She predicted that the German decline would only get worse as we head into the second half of the year, cementing the fact that the once “growth engine of the company continues to go into decline”.

Instead, it seems that Vodafone is now pinning its hopes on a potential tie-up with Three UK, which Read continued to back as a way to scale both businesses to keep up with the big dogs like BT and Sky.

BAE orders reach £28bn this year as global defence budgets balloon

MILLIE TURNER

BAE SYSTEMS, one of the UK’s largest defence companies, has been boosted by growing security budgets worldwide, having secured £10bn worth of orders in the second half of this year so far.

The London-listed defence firm, which builds military-grade jets, submarines and satellites, kept its guidance in place yesterday, as many other UK businesses nudge them lower amid the economic downturn.

The invasion of Ukraine has boosted defence and security companies, with government customers looking to act upon “elevated threat” levels, according to chief executive Charles Woodburn.

BAE secured £18bn in orders in the first half of the year, taking the total so far to £28bn, which includes £4.2bn from the British government for five war ships and Type 26 frigates for the Royal Navy, a deal announced by the Prime Minister yesterday.

BAE shares are up a third on the year.

GOING

said

Workspace: Not all doom and gloom in capital

LEAH MONTEBELLO

WORKSPACE said that despite the “economic doom and gloom”, the capital was still splashing the cash on office spaces.

The London-focused flexible working space company said profits after interest climbed 33.5 per cent to £29.1m in the half year, driven by a 36.8 per cent (£15.1m) increase in net rental income to £56.1m and ongoing demand for City setups.

Speaking with City A.M. chief finance officer Dave Benson said popularity had boomed across tech hubs like Shoreditch and riverside haunts like Southbank, as Londoners embrace hybrid working patterns.

Like-for-like rent roll was also up by 3.6 per cent to £94.5m, with occupancy stable at 89.6 per cent. The average rent jumped four per cent.

The firm backed its ability to ride out the wider macroeconomic challenges and said it was “focused on

tightly controlling our own costs and prudently managing our balance sheet”.

Unlike many counterparts, Benson said the firm had been able to weather the inflationary storm by hedging its energy costs until October 2024.

This sits in contrast to its US rival Wework, which said it would be ditching 40 underperforming sites in a bid to save cash last week.

Wework’s own chief finance officer Andre Fernandez said inflation was particularly challenging for its European business, especially when it came to energy bills.

However, serviced office provider IWG said earlier this month that hybrid work patterns were set to bolster the flexible working business.

The Jersey-registered company said it would be looking to capitalise on firms seeking to reduce their real estate costs amid macroeconomic uncertainty with flexible offerings.

Landsec books £200m loss as rate rises bite

BRITISH property investment trust Land Securities, known as Landsec, has booked a nearly £200m loss over the past six months as interest rates sting. It follows a £275m profit in the same period last year.

Landsec, one of the largest office leasers in London, has cut the capital’s share of its portfolio by nearly 40 per cent since the start of the year as it seeks to sell off £4bn worth of assets.

The company, which also invests in retail spaces, has sold £1.8bn worth of offices in the two years since it launched its turnaround strategy. However, the London-listed firm has continued to invest in the City while it undergoes its asset sale plan.

Around £55m is being injected into two office schemes in London, as the company seeks to take advantage of a “very supply-constrained market in 2025”, according to chief executive Mark Allan, who appeared bullish on

the trust’s outlook despite rising interest rates and inflation.

“The material increase in bond yields since March has started to put upward pressure on property yields,” he said.

“In the sectors we are in, this principally affected London offices, vindicating our decision to sell £1.8bn of mature assets over the past two years.”

Shares closed down 1.25 per cent yesterday, and have fallen more than 20 per cent since the start of the year.

Aston Martin shares put into reverse after firm downgraded by Jefferies

ILARIA GRASSO MACOLA

ASTON Martin’s shares slumped as low as 12.4 per cent yesterday, after the firm was downgraded by Jefferies.

While the carmaker clawed back some losses during the day, shares closed down almost seven per cent.

In an analyst note sent yesterday morning, the US investment bank demoted the luxury carmaker from

‘hold’ to ‘underperform’, while slashing the target price by 77 per cent to 120p per share. This was down from the previous target of 530p per share.

“Despite having just completed a major rights issue, Aston Martin Lagonda still screens as candidate for future recapitalisation by the time the business achieves a viable operating structure, possibly 2024,” the note read.

According to analysts, Aston Martin – which floated on the London Stock Exchange in October 2018 – has yet to achieve a sustainable operating structure and capital. The downgrade comes less than two weeks after the luxury marque was forced to lower its wholesale delivery volume forecasts due to supply chain issues.

Volumes were down by four per cent year-on-year to 4,060 cars.

Landsec, London’s largest office leaser, has cut the capital’s share of its portfolio by nearly 40 per cent

MILLIE TURNER

Imperial Brands’ profits dragged by near £400m hit from Russia exit

CHARLIE CONCHIE

TOBACCO giant Imperial Brands yesterday reported a sharp fall in profits for the year following a £399m hit from its exit from Russia in March.

Operating profits at the maker of Gauloises and Davidoff cigarettes tumbled 14.7 per cent to £2.68bn in the year to the end of September,

down from £3.15bn last year.

The fall was exacerbated by a boost last year from the £281m disposal of its cigar division.

However, adjusted operating profits rose 1.8 per cent to £3.69bn as growth in sales offset a slowdown in its distribution arm.

Swings in currency prices sent revenues down 0.7 per cent despite a 1.3 per cent rise in tobacco revenues to

£7.59bn and a 10.8 per cent rise in its “next generation products” to £208m.

In a statement, boss Stefan Bomhard said the firm was now wellplaced to weather a potential slowdown in consumer spending.

Shareholders have been delivered a boost in the past year with a 1.5 per cent growth in dividends alongside an ongoing £1bn share buyback programme.

Oil payouts surge as energy crisis drives up profits

CHARLIE CONCHIE

OIL FIRMS have been dishing out bumper sums to shareholders as a crisis in the energy sector drives profits to record levels, according to research released today.

Dividends from oil firms rose by 75.1 per cent to a record $46.4bn (£38.9bn) in the three months through September, bumping up the total figure paid out globally, according to the Global Dividend Index from Janus Henderson.

The total dividends dished out to investors rose by seven per cent on a headline basis to $415.9bn. More than 85 per cent of UK firms hiked their payout in the third quarter of the year, as dividends rose 2.5 per cent on an underlying basis to $28.7bn.

Analysts at Janus Henderson said the surge in oil payouts had helped offset a slump in mining dividends, which have been dishing out record sums to investors over the past 18 months.

“The surge in oil dividends has coincided with reductions from the miners, though payouts from the sector are nevertheless very high by comparison to history,” said Jane Shoemake, client

portfolio manager for global equity income. “Like other commodities, energy prices are cyclical, and the oil price is already lower than levels reached earlier this year, so the current exceptional level of payouts is unlikely to be permanent.”

She added that slower global economic growth is likely to choke off further growth in payouts and impact profits.

Oil companies around the world hiked their payouts largely via frothy special dividends, with emerging, Asian and North American firms ramping up payments. The biggest increase came from Petrobras in Brazil.

The bumper dividends are likely to raise eyebrows as campaigners call for more robust windfall tax as oil firms reap record profits in the wake of war in Ukraine.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is reportedly mulling a hike in the windfall tax on oil and gas firms to help plug a hefty gap in the country’s finances.

Shell’s chief Ben van Beurden has said the energy industry “should be prepared and accept” higher taxes to support society after it earned more than $9bn in the third quarter.

Wincanton profits rise to £28m as firms lean on supply chain support

CHARLIE CONCHIE

LOGISTICS firm Wincanton yesterday said profits had jumped 2.6 per cent in the first half of the year as it managed to shrug off rising costs and boost revenues.

Revenues at the supply chain specialist rose 9.2 per cent to £753.6m while underlying pre-tax profits hit £28m in the first six months of its financial year.

Companies have been leaning closely

on the services of firms like Wincanton as supply chains are snarled by labour and product shortages.

Wincanton bosses said the firm continued to win new business and had made “further progress” on its growth strategy.

“I am very satisfied with the progress we have made in the period and, while mindful of the challenging macro-economic pressures, I remain confident in our strategy,” Wincanton CEO James Wroath said.

BERKSHIRE Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s investment vehicle, revealed a $4.1bn (£3.4bn) stake in the world’s largest chipmaker in a regulatory filing yesterday. Shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) rose 7.8 per cent to $480 a piece.

BIG BERKSHIRE BET Warren Buffett’s investment giant reveals $4bn TSMC stake

Moet ‘running out of stock’ amid post-pandemic fizz

POST-PANDEMIC demand for champagne has seen Moet Hennessy running down its stock levels for some products.

Fans of the tipple have been so eager to buy bottles of top brands that the champagne seller said it was “running out of stock” yesterday.

Moet Hennessy chief executive

He said supply, however, would be replenished in the new year, meaning no bubbly fans would have to go without their favourite product.

It comes as demand for opulence shows no sign of slowing down despite the inflationary crunch.

The global luxury market is

anticipated to swell by 21 per cent in 2022, according to the latest edition of the Bain & Company–Altagamma Luxury Study. The market is set to hit €1.4 trillion (£1.2 trillion), the report said yesterday.

Despite gloomy headlines, demand to enjoy life post-pandemic is still resilient, according to hospitality operators.

“People want to go out and party,” Nightcap boss Sarah Willingham said.

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English wine has never been better and 2018 was a stunning vintage for our little island. Gusbourne is one of the most elegant producers in the country and the purity and finesse of this refined wine shines through. It would be a perfect pairing for your smoked salmon, oysters or seafood starter this season.

EMILY HAWKINS

Philippe Schaus said the current period was reminiscent of the “the roaring 20s” in an interview with Bloomberg.

Watchdog may not be fit for purpose in BNPL, argues Charlie Conchie

MILLIONS of people will be protected through strengthening regulation of interest-free Buy-Now Pay-Later (BNPL) credit agreements,” the Treasury proudly declared in June, as it rolled out a regulatory framework for the sector after a lengthy consultation process.

The catch, however, was that tailored rules likely won’t be introduced until 2024 - three years after former Financial Conduct Authority interim chief Chris Woolard warned of the need for “urgent” oversight of the deferred payment products.

And to add to the troubles of the Treasury, questions are already swirling over how fit for purpose the City’s watchdogs are to clampdown on a sector that is spooking debt campaigners and political figures alike.

The FCA has already irked BNPL firms by using its existing financial promotion powers to clip their wings, and the eyes of many providers are now looking elsewhere and picking holes in the framework proposed by the Treasury.

One of the headline measures, for example, was to give BNPL borrowers the power to take complaints to the City’s moderator-in-chief: the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Behind closed doors, firms are railing against a fundamental mismatch at the heart of the proposal.

The average spend of shoppers using the BNPL product from market-leader Klarna comes in at £80. For Laybuy it’s £75 and ClearPay £65, while the average outstanding balance of users stands at £254, according to research from Barclays Bank and debt charity StepChange.

But the case fee for firms to escalate a query over those debts with the FOS? £750.

The chasm between the figures raises the potentially dangerous prospect that BNPL firms will simply cut out the middleman and settle the complaints directly with their customers.

"Because the case fee is so high, there is a strong incentive to just give the customer £50 rather than see this go all the way up the chain,” a senior BNPL executive tells City A.M. on condition of anonymity.

"This isn't a bad outcome for the consumer, but it takes away a key element of the regulator's duty, which is visibility of problems in the market, because

OB F.O.S.CATION?

the FOS doesn't actually see any of the customers' complaints.”

He adds that there is a risk that “bad practices can be kept in the shadows” as disputes are settled directly between firms and their customers.

The chief of BNPL firm Zilch, which is one of few firms to win approval from the Financial Conduct Authority, similarly tells City A.M. that while the FOS in theory provides a safety net, in practice it needs work.

“We haven’t had a single complaint as of yet, so we feel that our process works. But the thing we regretted is of course the cost of this process,” Philip Belamont told City A.M. “For the smaller ticket items that needs to po-

tentially be reviewed.”

Another BNPL boss says that “chasing down a £75 debt that cost you £750 makes no rational economic sense”, while fintech group COADEC raises the prospect of market breakdown as consumers exploit the lofty case fees.

“This means it would be cheaper to refund the customer whenever a complaint was threatened, regardless of who is at fault - this could cause chaos,” Luke Kosky, COADEC’s fintech policy tells City A.M..

The FOS for its part says bringing the firms into its remit is an important step and it will reach a “fair and reasonable decision” based on all the circumstances of a particular case.

On the subject of the costs, it claims it reviews its plans and budget and consults on costs annually including the case fee. The Treasury meanwhile told this paper it would hold BNPL firms to the “high standards we expect of other loans and forms of credit” and “foster the safe growth of this innovative market in the UK.”

But with just over a year from the expected rollout of rules, the financial hole between FOS fees and BNPL firms raises questions over its suitability and structure.

And with a few smaller consultations left to run before regulation is finalised, it faces a scramble to make the sums start to add up.

Made.com

THEhistory of British retail is littered with once-beloved brands which eventually fell by the wayside.

From Ratners to Rumbelows and Barratts to Blockbuster, each demise comes with its own story of bad management, shifting economic winds or simply changes in fashion.

Made.com almost became part of that history this month, with the name eventually being bought by Next – even if the rest of the business didn’t survive.

And data from BrandIndex, which tracks consumers’ perceptions of hundreds of brands every day in the UK –suggests the Made.com brand really wasn’t ready for retail’s knackers yard.

Looking across the year, the brand’s health has remained robust among consumers. Its Index score, which is a

cocktail of a number of the metrics we track and reflects a brand’s overall health, was 4.8 exactly a year ago and was the same as recently as the end of October.

And if we poke around under the sofa cushions a bit more, we can see that it is only in the past month or so, perhaps as word has got out about the company’s financial woes, that some of its metrics have fallen away. Consumer Im-

pression of the brand, for example, has remained broadly steady in 11 of the past 12 months and only fallen away in the past 30 days. Consideration for Made.com has also been consistent in each of the past twelve month, even if Purchase Intent (which measures which brand a consumer would be MOST likely to purchase from) has more than halved in the past month.

If Made.com is no longer viable, our data suggests it’s not because customers fell out of love with the brand or its products. Given that’s the case, acquiring the brand name could well turn out to be a canny move by Next.

Stephan Shakespeare is the co-founder and CEO of YouGov.

Stephan Shakespeare

The regulator wouldn’t actually see any customer complaints

Soaring diesel prices could worsen Europe’s energy crisis, warns IEA

NICHOLAS EARL

EUROPE could be scrambling for diesel supplies over the winter, with the continent increasingly exposed to “exceptionally tight markets”, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned yesterday, The Paris-based climate group revealed diesel prices surged to record highs last month, 70 per

cent higher than this time last year, dwarfing even the historic gains in crude oil.

Diesel is currently priced 425 per cent higher than Brent Crude, which rose 11 per cent over the same 12 month period and has been subjected to OPEC measures to tame prices.

This has created further tensions in the economy, with the increases reflecting both resilient demand and

concerns over supply shortages.

“High diesel prices are fuelling inflation, adding pressure on the global economy and world oil demand,” the IEA said.

It predicts that when an EU embargo on imports of diesel and other refined products from Russia is implemented in February, the European market will tighten further.

Major water firms cough up £80m for customers

NICHOLAS EARL

TWO OF the UK’s leading water companies will have to return more than £80m to customers after missing key performance targets, Ofwat confirmed yesterday.

Thames Water will have to hand back over £50m to its customers and Southern Water almost £30m in time for next year’s water bills.

Both water suppliers will have to return the heavy sums to customers after failing to reach targets on water treatment works, pollution incidents and internal sewer flooding.

This follows Ofwat finalising the financial payments and penalties for all water companies next year .

While Thames Water and Southern Water will hand out the biggest payouts, a majority of firms will have to pay back customers after missing targets regarding sewage, leaks and customer service.

Overall, water companies will have to pay back £4.9m more to customers than they will be able to claim. The best performing company, Severn Trent Water,

will be able to take an extra £101.8m from customers, after meeting their targets.

David Black, Ofwat chief executive, said: “Too many water companies are failing to deliver for their customers. They need to take immediate action to improve their performance and rebuild trust with the people they serve.”

Last month, Thames Water boss Sarah Bentley told the House of Lords that storm overflows causing severe discharges of sewage were “unacceptable”.

Warren Buckley, customer experience director at Thames Water, said: “We’re determined to do better, and while we’re heading in the right direction, we know there is a long way to go.”

A Southern Water spokesperson added: “We recognise Southern Water has not always met expectations in recent years, but we are now in a position to deliver significant change for our customers and the environment.”

RAYS OF HOPE Countryside charity calls for rooftop solar revolution to ease energy crisis

Indonesia reaches £17bn climate deal to help reduce reliance on coal

NICHOLAS EARL

A GROUP of the world’s wealthiest nations has entered into a $20bn (£16.82bn) energy partnership with Indonesia, which is hosting the G20 summit this week, to help reduce the country’s reliance on coal and accelerate the ramp up of renewables.

President Joko Widodo of Indonesia and leaders of the International Partners Group (IPG) unveiled the Just Energy Transition Partnership

yesterday as countries scramble to keep the goals of the Paris Agreement in reach, such as limiting temperature rises to well below two degrees from pre-industrial levels.

The IPG is co-led by the US and Japan, and includes Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and the UK.

Indonesia hopes the total emissions from its power sector will peak by 2030, while aiming to cap the sector’s emissions at 290 megatons of CO2 by the end of decade.

How we reported on water companies behaving badly

CPRE has urged new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to turbocharge rooftop solar installations on brownfiled sites, car parks and rooftops to boost renewable energy generation and drive down household bills. It considers such installations to be less contentious than agricultural land and has urged the government to ease planning laws and provide more financial support.

Regulators circle FTX as it expects a million creditors

CHARLIE CONCHIE

COLLAPSED crypto exchange FTX expects to have more than one million creditors, the firm has revealed in bankruptcy filings, as regulators circle its founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

In filings to a US bankruptcy court, FTX outlined the “severe liquidity crisis” that sparked its downfall last week and said it was now speaking with financial regulators as it looked to wind up and pay creditors.

The implosion of FTX, one of the biggest exchanges in the sector and previously regarded as one of the most stable, has shaken the industry and sparked fears of contagion.

The filings showed there are expected to be 100,000 creditors involved in the bankruptcy but warned the figure could swell to more than one million.

Regulators across jurisdictions are now closing in on the firm amid accusations of mishandling up to $10bn of customer funds. FTX said in the filings it had been

in contact with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, “dozens of federal, state and international regulatory agencies” as well as federal prosecutors since its collapse.

Shockwaves are still rippling across the industry as the now disgraced former billionaire Bankman-Fried scrambles for ways to raise funds to pay customers.

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that

‘One-size-fits-all’ rules will not prevent FTX repeat, Ripple warns

CHARLIE CONCHIE

THE IMPLOSION of crypto exchange FTX has underscored the urgent need for a “comprehensive and nuanced regulatory framework” in the UK, crypto firm Ripple told City A.M. yesterday.

Regulators in the UK have been edging into the sector in the past 18 months and are set to take on

oversight of all cryptocurrencies after lawmakers tabled an amendment to the Financial Services and Markets Bill passing through parliament.

But speaking to City A.M., Ripple, which provides crypto services for businesses, said rushing into blanket regulation in the UK would not prevent another crisis in the sector.

“To rebuild trust and ensure this does not happen again, the industry needs the clarity that is provided by appropriate regulation,” said Andrew Whitworth, policy director at Ripple.

“This must include robust measures for consumer protection but also recognise the different risks posed by business-facing crypto companies. One size does not fit all.”

the 30-year old and several of his remaining FTX acolytes have been ringing round to firms in search of up to $8bn cash in the hope of repaying customers in full.

Regulators in the Bahamas, where FTX is headquartered, have already appointed liquidators to run its unit in the country, after saying they were looking for any “criminal misconduct” by the collapsed crypto exchange.

Cristiano Ronaldo teams up with Binance in new NFT collection

DARREN PARKIN

CRISTIANORonaldo is hoping to score big with his first NFT collection.

The range will become available this Friday as part of an exclusive, multiyear partnership with Binance.

The launch is supported by a global marketing campaign featuring Ronaldo, aiming to give his fans an introduction to Web3 through the world of NFTs.

“We believe the metaverse and

blockchain are the future of the internet,” said Binance co-founder and chief marketing officer He Yi.

He Yi said the firm was excited “to help more people understand blockchain” through the deal.

It will feature different rarity levels, with each one coming with its own set of exclusive perks, ranging from a personal message from Ronaldo, entry into giveaways for signed prizes from the footballer, and autographed Binance merchandise.

The Manchester United striker is the latest celebrity to endorse NFTs

Former crypto star Sam Bankman Fried founded FTX in 2019

SRA should reconsider increased fining powers, argues Law Society

LOUIS GOSS

THE SOLICITORS Regulation Authority (SRA) should “reconsider” plans to let itself serve fines equivalent to five per cent of a law firm’s annual revenues, the Law Society has said.

The Law Society said fines matching five per cent of a law firm’s annual revenues would be

“excessive and unjustified” as it urged the SRA to reconsider its plans.

The regulator has said increasing its maximum fines would let it resolve cases more quickly, by letting it avoid sending cases to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), which has the power to impose unlimited fines.

The UK government has previously noted that 90 per cent of fines handed out by the SDT amount to sums of less

than £25,000 and argued the reforms would let the SRA focus on “more significant” issues.

However, the Law Society has warned the plans could undermine the independence of judgements.

“Adjudicators, as SRA employees, have access to the regulator’s records... This could prejudice their views,” Law Society president Lubna Shuja said.

Gupta’s UK steel firm nears deal to stave off collapse

LOUIS GOSS

THE UK arm of Sanjeev Gupta’s steel empire has struck a deal with major creditors that could let it stave off insolvency proceedings by restructuring its debts.

Liberty Steel Group has reached a preliminary agreement with its top creditors, Credit Suisse Asset Management, Greensill Capital and Greensill Bank, to restructure its debts, the steelmaker said in a statement yesterday.

If finalised, the agreement in principle would see Liberty’s creditors adjourn their petitions to wind up Gupta’s embattled steelmaking firm.

“After several months of negotiations, we have now reached an agreement in principle that will provide recovery for the creditors and will significantly deleverage and derisk Liberty,” the steelmaker’s chief transformation officer, Jeffrey Kabel, said.

Gupta’s GFG Alliance – which was once praised as the saviour of Britain’s steel industry – was plunged into financial difficulties following the collapse of its largest creditor, Greensill, on whose money it heavily relied.

Liberty’s preliminary deal with creditors comes as the latest in a series of agreements struck by the British steel maker’s owner, GFG Alliance, to fend off bankruptcy across the conglomerate.

Most recently, Liberty signed a standstill agreement with Greensill Bank in June, to give it more time to refinance its debts.

However, the steelmaker’s refinancing efforts have been made harder by an investigation into the firm launched by French and British authorities, which saw the UK’s Serious Fraud Office seize documents from the company’s build-

Industry sources told the Financial Times the deal could see Liberty’s creditors recover up to 55 per cent of their debts.

With turbulent financial markets and geopolitical unrest, an investment in precious metals can provide you with the stability you need to weather any storm.

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Britain must sanction Hong Kong officials for human rights breaches

STEFAN BOSCIA

THE UK must slap sanctions on proChina Hong Kong officials guilty of human rights abuses, a group of crossparty MPs and peers has said.

The All Parliamentary Party Group on Hong Kong yesterday said the British government should financially sanction Hong Kong chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu, ex-chief executive Carrie Lam and other senior officials for “serious human rights abuses and

systematic breaches of the Sino-British Joint Declaration”.

The abuses occurred during Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests beginning in 2019, and the implementation of the National Security Law the following year has led to a further crackdown on freedom of speech and assembly in the city.

Many opposition politicians have been arrested or gone into exile, and thousands of ordinary Hongkongers have also left –many to London.

In a sea of uncertainty, search for a brighter investment.

China’s crackdown in the territory has imperilled Hong Kong’s global financial status

Liberty Steel boss Sanjeev Gupta

The Hot Tickets

Youtube bets on social shopping in Tiktok style videos to drive growth

LEAH MONTEBELLO

TECH giant Youtube is diving into the world of shopping in a bid to diversify recession-hit revenue streams.

While the tech firm, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, launched its short-form, Tiktok style video offering ‘Shorts’ in 2020, the firm is now testing how budding influencers can sell products through the platform.

This would allow its army of Gen Z users to scroll through video content

and snap up listed products –something that the Bytedance-owned Tiktok is also beginning to roll out in the market. The two firms are locked in a battle for young eyeballs.

In an interview with the Financial Times (FT), Youtube’s shopping’s general manager Michael Martin said the company’s goal was to “focus on the best monetisation opportunities for creators in the market”.

It comes as the video-sharing platform’s ad revenues continued to decline in Alphabet’s latest earnings,

echoing Facebook owner Meta’s own advertising slump amid macroeconomic uncertainty.

Martin told the FT that the tech giant plans to roll out two pilot shopping schemes next year, paying creators a commission on the products that they sell via Youtube.

The social commerce market has rocketed across China in recent years, and management consultancy firm McKinsey reckons the market could grow to more than $2 trillion by 2025.

Brits set for final hurrah in Black Friday spend up

dodging trade on Amazon and other large online marketplaces.

SHOPIFY’s European chief says that despite the cost of living crisis, Brits are still planning to spend big this Black Friday, calling it the “last cheat meal before you start a really big diet” for households.

In new data released today, the e-commerce platform revealed that although inflation was hitting hard and squeezing disposable spend, nearly half of Brits surveyed said they planned to do the majority of their Christmas shopping during the Black Friday / Cyber Monday period.

The same amount said that they intend to spend the same or more than previous years, and many have saved up to do so, the data found.

Shopify’s platform allows brands and retailers to sell directly through their own websites or social media,

Shopify EMEA general manager Shimona Mehta explained that consumers are still looking for a good bargain and deals – something that even a period of recession can’t stifle.

“They [shoppers] are looking right now to spend on really great, high quality and durable goods, as they look towards needing to scale back on spending next year

Mehta said consumers were still looking to spend on quality goods

as we get into a tougher economic time,” she told City A.M.

“So the store has kind of been seeing it as that last cheat meal before you start a really big diet.”

With this in mind, Mehta added that entrepreneurs and businesses were therefore shifting away from a “stack them high, sell them cheap” mindset, opting for quality over quantity.

Rampant inflation wipes out sales growth at bars and restaurants

EMILY HAWKINS

INFLATION has wiped out a boost in hospitality sales growth, as pubs and restaurants implore the government to issue further aid for the sector.

Sales across managed hospitality groups were up 4.3 per cent last month compared to October 2019, data from CGA and NielsenIQ

revealed this morning.

Double-digit inflation means sales are far behind 2021 and 2019 in real terms.

Pubs were the strongest performer last month, booking a 6.4 per cent year-on-year sales growth.

On the flip side, bars suffered as sales sank 12.7 per cent while sales at managed restaurant groups were

down 3.6 per cent.

Venues have said they are facing a “cost of doing business crisis” amid mounting costs across the board.

Industry leaders are hoping to see Chancellor Jeremy Hunt set out a support package, including business rates relief and a VAT cut.

Bosses also hope to see more details on a support scheme for energy bills.

Restaurants and other hospitality venues are facing a ‘cost of doing business crisis’

Youtube has trialled a number of fresh ideas in recent years, including live shopping

EXCLUSIVE LEAH MONTEBELLO

ONE-STOP SHOP FOR BROKER VIEWS AND MARKET REPORTS

LONDON REPORT BEST OF THE BROKERS

Awful day for Ocado and Vodafone drags FTSE 100 into the

LONDON’s FTSE 100 was dragged down yesterday by investors souring on middle-class favourite and online supermarket Ocado.

The capital’s premier index fell 0.21 per cent to 7,369.44 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index dropped 0.85 per cent to 19,455.88 points.

Ocado’s shares plummeted to the bottom of the FTSE 100, taking the index down with it, eventually finishing nearly 17 per cent lower.

It marks the end of a recent short-term boost to the firm’s shares after it announced it is entering the Asian market via a tie up with fellow supermarket Lotte.

“The recent rally of Ocado shares also appears to have come to a shuddering halt today. The shares have surged in recent days after the Lotte deal was an-

nounced, so a pullback was long overdue, given that over 20 per cent rise we’ve seen so far this month,” Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said.

Telecoms giant and FTSE 100-listed Vodafone also took a tumble yesterday after it slashed its full year performance forecasts.

The firm also warned of contract price rises, sparking fears among investors that consumers should shun its products amid high inflation.

Its shares closed 7.94 per cent lower, placing it second bottom of the premier index.

On the FTSE 250, online fashion retailer ASOS finished 4.67 per cent into the red, while furniture retailer Dunelm lost a shade over four per cent. The pound recovered to its highest level against the US dollar in three months. UK borrowing costs edged lower.

CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS

DWS German asset manager DWS has built out its London office with a new head of infrastructure research, poached from Fitch Solutions.

Richard Marshall will be responsible for supporting research on the global infrastructure market and the trends that can be translated into investment strategies.

Reporting to head of infrastructure Hamish

Landsec investors should hold onto their shares in the UK’s biggest property investor, even as the value of the London property firm’s portfolio has dropped by 2.9 per cent over the past six months, driven by a 4.4 per cent drop in the value of its central London properties, Peel Hunt’s analysts said, as they gave the firm a “Hold” rating with a price target of 775p.

WORKSPACE

Mackenzie, Marshall brings a decade of experience to the role.

“He is an experienced and established infrastructure research specialist who will play a vital role in leading our dedicated infrastructure research team,” said Mackenzie.

LIBERUM Investment bank Liberum has hired an industry veteran to head its investment banking division in London, as former lead Richard Crawley takes on the role of chairman.

Dru Danford, who boasts over 20 years of experience,

brings a wealth of public company M&A expertise. The incoming lead will be responsible for leadership and strategic direction for the investment banking franchise.

“Dru brings with him not only extensive experience, but also an entrepreneurial mindset which will bring value to our clients in all market conditions and help take our investment banking franchise to the next level,” CEO Bidhi Bhoma said.

VALOR

Valor Real Estate Partners has appointed a senior vice president to boost the firm’s investment activity outside

of its existing core markets.

Matt Ganas, who joins from Canadian asset management giant Brookfield, is set to focus on operations in the Netherlands and Italy.

Ganas brings over 10 years of real estate investment experience to the firm, having spent three years at Logicor as director of transactions prior to Brookfield.

“With a track record of being first movers into supply constrained and highly fragmented markets, there is an opportunity to replicate our success to date, leveraging Matt’s deep local market knowledge in more nascent markets including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Milan and Rome,” head of investment Cane Napolitano said.

WORK HARD, PLAY LESS Wages are rising and the three months to September delivered the ‘strongest growth in regular pay’ since the pandemic. But 5.7 per cent doesn’t cut it in today’s uber inflationary environment and real pay fell by 2.7 per cent. Hard work is paying less every month and life is becoming just that little bit harder.

DANNI HEWSON, AJ BELL

CATEGORY

CHECKOUT.COM

From the ecommerce boom and growing obsession with digital experiences, to the rise of web3 and cryptocurrency, the pace at which companies need to keep up with global digitization is only accelerating. Checkout.com equips merchants across a myriad of industries with innovative payment solutions that flex to their needs, helping them adjust to the ever evolving global market. In 2022 Checkout.com unveiled a stablecoin settlement solution, leveraging Fireblocks’ new crypto payouts technology. The solution offers merchants the flexibility of 24/7 settlement, including weekends and holidays –increasing access to cash flow and significantly reducing operational complexity. So far over $1bn has been settled using the solution to crypto companies and exchanges around the world.

BCB GROUP

BCB Group is a leading crypto-dedicated payment services provider, serving many of the industry’s largest clients including Bitstamp, FTX, Crypto.com, Fireblocks, Galaxy, Gemini, Huobi and Kraken. BCB Group provides payment services in over 30 currencies, FX, cryptocurrency liquidity, digital asset custody and BLINC, which is BCB’s free, instant settlements network for the BCB client ecosystem. As a crypto-native institution, the firm provides fully segregated and safeguarded crypto-friendly business accounts to the full spectrum of the industry, from incumbents such as Wintermute and FTX to high-growth enterprises and startups. The firm offers access to 27 currencies including USD, GBP, EUR and CHF. It also acts as an on/off-ramp for buying and selling crypto for fiat, and vice-versa, alongside a broad suite of complementary services.

WORLDPAY

Worldpay from FIS is a global acquirer with ~1.5m merchant customers and a leader in Card-to-Crypto and Crypto-to-Card processing. The firm has been re-designing traditional payment settlement models to unlock the full power of cryptocurrency assets and blockchain technology. It works with many of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets and brokerages worldwide and collaborates with a range of partners in the industry ecosystem. Worldpay from FIS plays a key role in enabling consumers to engage in the cryptocurrency economy, by facilitating the movement of fiat onto cryptocurrency platforms. As it progresses its strategy, Worldpay from FIS hopes to support the growth of the broader market by enabling crypto at checkout and allowing merchants to settle in new cryptocurrencies.

ONYX JP MORGAN

Onyx Digital Assets (ODA) is J.P. Morgan’s premier platform for tokenization and digital asset exchange. The platform utilises a permissioned blockchain network with a distributed participant set to drive value for a broad range of financial institutions and corporates. ODA’s mission is to transform global markets by leveraging blockchain technology to break down silos across assets (traditional and digitally native) and asset-centric use-cases. Since the launch of Onyx Digital Assets in 2020, Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas Group have joined the platform as external customers. JPM Triparty, Bank of New York Mellon and Euroclear have integrated with ODA, providing custodial services for the underlying assets that back tokens on the platform. Over $420bn+ volume has been exchanged on the network.

HEDERA

The Hedera network is the most innovative, sustainable public ledger for the decentralized economy. Hedera’s robust ecosystem is built by a global community, on a network governed by a diverse council of industry-leading organizations, including abrdn, Avery Dennison, Boeing, Chainlink Labs, Dentons, Deutsche Telekom, DLA Piper, EDF (Électricité de France), eftpos, FIS (WorldPay), Google, IBM, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), LG Electronics, Magalu, Nomura Holdings, ServiceNow, Shinhan Bank, Standard Bank Group, Swirlds, Tata Communications, Ubisoft, University College London (UCL), Wipro, and Zain Group.

R3

R3 began with customers first, creating a group of the world’s largest banks and financial services companies to explore DLT. These included Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Royal Bank of Scotland, and UBS.

Very quickly, the R3 team realised that what was required was an underlying distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform which would be suitable for enterprise use, on which multiple functionalities could be built. The team developed Corda, an open source DLT platform with a private and permissioned architecture, designed to give participants control over where their information is shared. This allows for users to gain the information sharing efficiencies of DLT without compromising the security of highly sensitive business information.

EDITED BY SASCHA O’SULLIVAN

Appease the markets and his own party? Jeremy Hunt has a frightful task

modestly but without indexation relief.

Without substantial changes to income tax, one of the other levers the chancellor is likely to pull is significant structural changes to dividend tax, with an increase of 1.25 per cent. The tax-free dividend allowance - currently £2,000 - is being considered.

TOMORROW, Jeremy Hunt needs to deliver a plan that both wins the confidence of the city - and the financial markets - and is politically palatable.

This comes off the back of a narrative which has converged around terms like “black holes” and “difficult decisions”.

The emerging theme is that there is a gap in the public finances of over £50bn that government is looking to fill using a mix of tax rises and spending cuts. As he has repeatedly said, everything must be paid for somehow.

Rishi Sunak is a prime minister who favours a return to the principles of the 2019 Conservative manifesto, which promised no increases in the rates of income tax, national insurance, or VAT.

These are the three major workhorses of the UK tax system, contributing approximately two-thirds of the total tax take. With these off the table, any other tax rises will have to work so much harder.

The chancellor needs to deliver tax rises that pluck the goose to the max without ruffling too many feathers.

The tax rises also need to feel “fair” to the voting public but not alienate the Conservative core voting base. A frightening task, in the best of times.

In terms of corporate tax, it will likely be a quiet statement for most businesses with no give-aways. How-

ever, there is always an exception to the rule and the most likely exception will be, of course, the energy sector.

Despite initial hesitance earlier this year, it is likely there will be an extension to the windfall tax on energy companies. Another avenue is the banking surcharge, with a reduction of as much as 3 per cent on the cards.

But the most significant tax announcements will fall on personal taxes, with plans to have those with “the broadest shoulders bearing the greatest burden”, a George Osborne quote oft cited by both Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak.

When it comes to income tax expect thresholds to be frozen for another two

years. In a bid to keep the manifesto pledge to keep income tax down, the chancellor is more likely to drop thresholds. A kind of magic trick which will keep rates at the same, but

bring more cash into the Treasury. The 1p basic tax rate reduction will remain a blip on the horizon.

There might also be an increase of 1.25 per cent to employer’s national insurance and we think this is possible. If it is introduced as a new levy (such as the Health and Social Care Levy) rather than an increase in national insurance it arguably does not breach the manifesto commitment to freeze the rate.

There is a strong likelihood an increase in the rate of the capital gains tax will be in the firing line. This will likely either be bringing the capital gains rate up to income tax rates but introducing indexation relief, or increasing the capital gains rate more

Politically the government will be under pressure to review the non-dom regime but it is more likely we will see a consultation before any radical changes are made.

The nil rate band for inheritance tax purposes, which currently stands at £325,000, has already been frozen until April 2026 and it would seem fairly easy for the chancellor to freeze it for a further two years.

Although Rishi Sunak did end up going to Cop27 in Egypt, we have yet to see any clear policy on how tax will help achieve net zero. Businesses want to see more incentives for green investment to encourage private sector innovation. Anything radical will likely gather dust until the prime minister has steadied the ship.

Business rates reform has been on the government’s agenda for several years but keeps getting kicked into the long grass, a place it will likely stay until the economy is stabilised.

Overall, the need to tackle the immediate issues in the public finances means that it is still early to judge what a Sunak/Hunt partnership might mean for tax policy longer term. This Autumn Statement is going to be about battening down the hatches and preparing for the stormy waters ahead.

£ Tim Sarson is Head of Tax Policy at KPMG

Rosie Beacon

OF ALL the things painted as nefarious threats to our civil liberties, digital identity combines a triangle of top targets: identity cards, technology and big government. Yesterday, Rishi Sunak ruled out identity cards on this very premise. The reality however, is far less threatening and in modern society, already part of our lives.

Digital identity has re-emerged as a solution to our burgeoning asylum processing crisis. One reason for the large number of people making the hazardous crossing to Dover is that it is easier to work in the informal economy in the UK, and thus fall off the radar.

This is a large contributor to the demand side of irregular migration. It is generally a result of employers avoiding compliance, enabling undocumented migrants to ‘disappear’ into the informal economy, where they are often paid below minimum agreed levels.

As surely as the sun rises in the east,

one can guarantee a storm of vitriolic criticism from a vocal minority of civil liberties groups and libertarian MPs as soon as the word “identity” is mentioned. But this is misguided: digital identity, and identity infrastructure in general, is mired by misconceptions and tropes that are worth scrutinising in slightly closer detail.

In contrast to common perceptions, digital identity is not merely a digitised version of an “ID card”. It can act in this capacity if designed to, but mostly it is a type of government infrastructure that allows people to prove they are who they say they are and connects public services together.

There are broadly two types of digital identity: foundational digital identities – which provide identity as a public good, not for a specific service. And functional digital identities, which exist to prove your identity to serve a specific function – like the one proposed for immigration policy.

I also hate to break this news, but we have had digital identities in the UK for several years now. Gov.uk Verify – a way to log in to government services, with a guarantee you are who you say you are – has existed since 2016. NHS login, which allows individuals to sign onto many health websites, apps and services, is also a form of functional digital identity. They are generally convenient and far less threatening than people imagine.

For many, the ideal situation would be to have a foundational digital identity. In the same way physical infrastructure, like bridges and roads, supports the existence of services and businesses, digital identity is core infrastructure that supports public systems and business activities.

Digitalisation of basic services is happening across the world, and numerous use cases have demonstrated that digital identity facilitates everything from emergency cash payments to voting online. Estonia uses theirs to check medical records, submit tax claims, and even as a legal travel ID.

There is actually broad consensus in the development community – the UN, World Bank, and USAID – that more digital identity is the right direction of travel, particularly when it comes to stateless citizens. Indeed, it is an almost certain one: ABI Research forecast over 850 million citizens will be equipped with a form of mobile iden-

tity by 2026.

A common criticism of digital identity, or identity infrastructure in general, is that it is a precarious, bureaucratic solution to a non existent problem. That is clearly no longer the case when it comes to border security, which is now a very tangible challenge.

Critics of digital identity would rightfully point to instances of data leaks and occasional misuse of surveillance and data retention powers. They might also focus on the potential targeting of minority groups by the authorities.

But these concerns are surmountable: foundational digital identity is used in pretty much every European country, as well as Canada, Australia and India. The reticence to it in the UK is increasingly becoming the outlier. Many of our public services in the UK remain uniquely cumbersome and mismatched to the digital world we live in. We need to start thinking more creatively about how we solve seemingly intractable problems, and thus stop looking at digital identity as a controversial policy idea that simply renews the debate on ID cards, but as a genuinely useful piece of infrastructure that improves how governments deliver.

Tim Sarson

Jeremy Hunt will deliver an Autumn Statement tomorrow

£ Rosie Beacon is a senior policy analyst at the Tony Blair Institute

We’ve been using digital identities for years without impinging on our civil liberties or freedom

One of the reasons for the Channel crossings is the informal labour market in the UK

Jeremy Hunt needs tax rises that pluck the goose to the max without ruffling too many feathers

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Easy targets for a windfall tax

[Re: Windfall tax hike risks no new investment in North Sea, warns analyst, yesterday]

In addition to a potential increase in the oil and gas energy profits levy to 35 per cent over an extended period, it is increasingly likely that the UK will also introduce a new “excess returns” tax on energy generators more widely. This could apply a 40 per cent tax rate to profits earned on excess returns above a designated price per megawatt hour. We are already seeing a destabilising impact on UK oil and gas investment arising from the potential energy profits

levy increase, which raises concerns regarding the impact of a wider energy generation tax on future investment in the UK energy sector. The energy sector is an easy and popularist target for tax revenue generation, but short-term gain must be balanced against the need for long-term investment in the full spectrum of the UK energy sector. In particular, the potential impact on renewable energy investment seems contrary to wider UK climate change and energy security commitments and it is hoped that any new tax is designed with continued incentives for the development of clean, long-term energy solutions in the UK.

Ben Jones Eversheds Sutherland

Everyone wants a pay rise, but we will have to pay with cuts to jobs or services

BREAD BASKET

Price of grain falls as Putin looks to extend Black

Sea deal

THE nation seems to be in the grip of an epidemic of cognitive dissonance. Where is Matt Hancock when we really need him to impose a lockdown and save us from this menace?

Two major events have put huge strain on the public finances.

The pandemic led to government borrowing of some £400bn, around 20 per cent of GDP. The energy price guarantee is in principle only meant to last until next April, at an estimated cost to the public finances of £40bn. But already industry and consumer groups are lobbying hard for it to be extended.

The bond markets have already pronounced their judgement. The UK needs to get the public finances under control. We will learn tomorrow the precise details of the Autumn Statement, but the general lesson of restraint has clearly been learned by both the prime minister and the chancellor.

The left of politics rejoiced at the massive discomfiture of the short-lived

Russia is set to extend a deal brokered earlier this year by the UN to allow grain and other farm products to be exported from the Black Sea. It saw the price of wheat fall by 1.5 per cent, as fears of shortages were quelled.

As he spends time with world leaders at the G20 in Bali this week, Rishi Sunak is having to unveil more of what his foreign policy could look like. One of the first cues to emerge is that he won’t commit to his predecessor’s policy of defining China as a “threat” in the Integrated Review, the UK’s strategy for defence, development and foreign policy.

Sunak’s stance towards China was a key dividing line during this summer’s leadership

election. Many in the party feared he would have been too “soft” on China compared to Liz Truss, who didn’t shy away from using strong rhetoric when talking publicly about Beijing. Sunak, given his background, is likely to pay more attention to the potential economic and trade benefits of a working relationship with China. He stressed that defining China as a threat wouldn’t be in line with the strategy of allies such as the US and Australia.

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Truss government and the sharp rise in interest rates its policies created.

Some of the more thoughtful, which fortunately appears to include the Labour leadership, now realise that the same constraints apply, both now and for some time to come, to any future government.

But many seem to believe that it was entirely the fault of the evil Tories, and their own proposals to boost public spending would be welcomed by the financial markets.

Indeed there are more and more impassioned demands for “Keynesian” policies of higher spending to be carried out to head off a recession. Yet the bond markets have shown time and again that one thing they actively dislike is increasing government borrow-

ing to spend on welfare, without a reasonable way of paying back the debt. The sentiment may be morally dubious. But it is how the world actually is.

The attitude of those on strike in the public sector shows even less grasp of reality. The demands are for pay increases at least in line with, or often above, the rate of inflation. The rationale is that this will protect them from the “cost of living crisis”.

But the energy price guarantee scheme is already doing a great deal here. True, people still have to pay more for their energy, but considerably less than they would without the scheme. And it is energy prices which are the main drivers of the surge in inflation.

The demand for many of these industries is in fact in decline. Passenger volumes on the railways remain below their pre-pandemic levels, down 41 per cent on 2019. Yet they are plagued by strikes attempting to secure large pay increases. Early in the life of the 197479 Labour government, railway unions were on strike demanding a pay rise of

27.5 per cent, a figure which makes Mick Lynch look like a moderate.

Prime Minister Harold Wilson had put Michael Foot, a life-long member of the Labour Left, into the cabinet as employment minister, to try and placate the left.

But Foot’s speech to the House of Commons on the pay settlement bears repetition. “Of course,” he said, “the cost of this settlement will have to be borne by increases in fares or by rearrangements in manpower”.

In other words, even Michael Foot, who went on to be a disaster as Labour leader in the early 1980s, recognised that someone had to pay. Either the travelling public, or by cuts in jobs on the railways.

There is a serious discussion to be had about both public sector pay in particular and fiscal policy more generally. But it needs to take place in the cold light of reality and not fantasy.

£ Paul Ormerod is an author and economist at Volterra Partners LLP

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Paul Ormerod

The demand for many industries plagued by strikes is already in terminal decline

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS

EXPLAINER-IN-BRIEF: RISHI SUNAK’S GREAT WALL OF CHINA

Passenger numbers on the railways are down 41 per cent

LIFE&STYLE

Wine without the snobbery, by our columnist Libby Brodie

How Instagram is changing the way people think about wine

THOUGHa few of the Old Guard may prefer wine to remain solely in the cellar (preferably theirs) or the members club tasting room, savvy wine brands have been working with social media to expand their reach, diversify their client base and make the industry, essentially, more enjoyable.

“The wine trade was late to the game on incorporating social media into their marketing mix,” says Hannah Milnes, founder of Bouchon Media, “but with the pandemic, businesses, particularly those selling to the on trade, had to shift quickly to online retail and increase their digital marketing efforts.

“One of the reasons social media works so well is because individuals and small brands can build up communities that span both on and of-

fline. TikTok in particular has a reputation for strong communities”

The way people buy wine has drastically changed, with consumers keen to know the story behind the wine and winemaker and to engage and interact with a company, rather than basing their purchases on an expert’s point scores, with whom they may not share the same taste.

“Instagram is the first thing most people look at these days, much more than browsing websites,” says Jeany Cronk, co-founder of Mirabeau. “We show how our brand looks and feels and give lots of added value to the visi-

WINE RECOMMENDATIONS

£41.99

NAKED WINES

From an English couple who broke into Burgundy’s exclusive scene, this is a premium feel white with a beautiful blend of smoke, stone and creamy golden apples. Offering depth and a long, lingering finish, this holds its own as a 1er Cru.

The first 100% Pinot Noir sparkling from awardwinning English winemaker Tommy Grimshaw. He calls it “the best wine I’ve ever made”. Quite a claim given his Blanc de Blancs 2018 was the first English sparkling wine to beat Champagne in a blind tasting! Complex and elegant.

tor, such as recipe ideas, cocktails and information on visiting the region. We reach about 4m people a year through @maisonmirabeau, so it’s a great way for customers to interact with the brand.

“Our consumers want to know more about our wines, Provençal food and our personal lives. We can also use social media to support our distributors and key clients, who generally want brands that are active on social. The wine trade, on the other hand, can be a little more old-fashioned –many probably thought it was a waste of time.”

Another Instagram success story is Riccardo Pasqua, CEO of Pasqua Wines, who was one of the first in the industry to embrace the power of Instagram, something he honed after spending time working in America. He inherited a 100-year-old Italian company with strong heritage, legacy, and production but wanted to create a brand that would appeal to customers for the next 20 years, so he turned to the Gram.

“Our marketing team was genius and took inspiration from fashion, art and lifestyle,” says Pasqua. “ In this way we can break language and culture barriers because it’s visual.

Wanting to branch out from the traditional wine-comms model of old blokes talking about vintages, Pasqua began a mentoring scheme called “Talent Never Tasted Better”. These individ-

uals, from a range of backgrounds, created impactful visual imagery a world away from the classic bottle shots used by most wineries. Pasqua then used Instagram to promote the content, giving the wines and company a bold, unique personality, which you clearly see if you check out @pasquawines.“People said, ‘you’re crazy!’ What are you doing? Why are you giving a voice to these kids? They’ve never even been to Bordeaux! But these ‘kids’ learn and grow and touch an audience we don’t with older nose-in-the-glass tradition.

“You take a risk, you move fast, you grow quicker –and some of those ‘kids’ we worked with are some of the most important voices in wine today”.

So, if you want to know what’s going on in the wine world, it is time to get online and follow voices you trust and producers you like.

is also fantastic. A Rhône inspired Roussanne, Grenache Blanc blend which is silky, structured and bursting with fresh fruit.

Once dominated by old men sticking their noses into glasses, Instagram is allowing wine-makers and sellers to reach a new, younger market

WINING & DINING: TRY GALVIN BISTROT FOR A RELAXED LUNCH

This Spitalfields restaurant is perfect for a leisurely working catch-up, says Rosie Goodall

presentation sets high expectations, and it delivers. This year there has been a big campaign to eat pumpkin at times other than Halloween and this dish is a reminder of why.

If you’re veggie, the menu is quite limited but the salad of heritage beetroot, blackberry with feta and walnuts comes recommended.

ocated near to Spitalfields Market and next door to Brother Marcus, Galvin Bistrot & Bar presents diners with an authentic French bistrot experience, from the ambiance to the décor and menus. It’s a five minute walk from Liverpool Street station and has quickly established itself as the new hotspot for a working lunch.For mains we ordered the roast Cornish cod and, for our veggie option, the spiced aubergine. The cod is clean and simple with a nice, subtle contrast of flavours when combined with the coco de Paimpol and spinach. The spiced aubergine looks spectacular, drawing

you in with its colours and not disappointing with its flavour.

The showstopper, though, is the dessert. I’m not usually one for cheesecake but this one sits like a scoop of ice cream atop its crumb base and is topped off with a blood orange sauce and pistachio. The highlight of the meal. Also on the table was a slice of Apple tarte Tatin with a spoonful of creme fraiche: tasteful and traditional but not a patch on the cheesecake. Be sure to supplement your working lunch with a bottle of wine – the Marsanne Les Vignes d’a Cote 2020, priced at £55 per bottle, complimented

our meal perfectly.

WHAT’S THE VIBE?

Galvin Bistrot and Bar offers calm and elegant dining – not too fast but not too slow, and the service is excellent. The relaxed staff allowed us time to take in the old school interior, with its red and white checked table cloths, metallic barrels above the bar and wine glasses on display. Highly recommended.

£ To book a table call 020 7299 0404, go to galvinrestaurants.com, or email elise@galvinrestaurants.com

FOOD NEWS

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

Behind the scenes are Michelin starred brothers Chris and Jeff Galvin, who opened the bistro in 2020. The menu is created by head chef Joe Albina, who has adapted classic dishes from Galvin la Chapelle to create an enticing short menu.

WHAT SHOULD I ORDER?

First I recommend the Bayonne ham with burrata and Delia pumpkin topped with hazelnut and sage. The

FESTIVE STEAK AT GAUCHO

Despite the economic downturn, bars and restaurants have reported earlier Christmas bookings than usual after two disrupted festive periods. Book now to secure a space at Gaucho Tower Bridge –including on the big day itself. On the 25th, guests can enjoy a fourcourse Christmas Day lunch while enjoying the absurdly pretty views of Tower Bridge and the river. You can also book into the swanky new M Canary Wharf, where you can admire the financial district from the opulent restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows.

£ Visit gauchorestaurants.com or mrestaurants.co.uk

ULTIMATE CHAMPAGNE PAIRING AT TRIVET

Fans of fizz pay attention: London Bridge restaurant Trivet is hosting a tasting meal at which no fewer than 20 bottles of France’s finest will be available to swig. Taking place on 14 December, Trivet’s Isa Bal and Jonny Lake have brought in wine expert Essi Avellan to present her bottles, including the 12 highest-scoring wines 2022 Champagne Report.

ASK THE EXPERT: LONDON DONE PROPERLY

Nessa co-founder Tom Cenci on where to eat in the capital on your day off, from gourmet to takeaway

t

ROYAL CHINA

Royal China has a few restaurants located around London. A little secret is that they serve a dim sum menu for lunch each day, and it’s one of the best value-for-money places you can eat in the capital. I love going here on a hangover and getting my dumpling fix. Bear in mind that the service is straightforward and abrupt, so if you’re after a speedy lunch, this is the place to go. The Prawn Cheung Fung is a must-try.

FACING HEAVEN

t

This one of my favourite, if not my number one, places to go in London; it’s a cool, quirky little restaurant that’s full of character. I don’t want to jinx it, but I’ve never had a bad meal there. Head chef Julian Denis’s food is so inventive and plays off Sichuanese cuisine. Every dish is full of flavour and packs a punch, add in the fact that everything is vegan it just blows my mind. Order the whole menu if you can.

PLATES

tStaying on the plantbased theme and still in East London, Plates offers a refined approach with a menu designed to be healthy and totally seasonal. Chef Kirk Haworth is creative and original in his food and shows what plant-based cooking should look like. The menu is constantly changing, so go for the set menu, or you can sit at the front communal table and order off the snacks menu while sipping a cocktail.

BERENJAK

Berenjak’s play on Persian cuisine is one of the best ways to entertain when you have guests in town. Chef Kian Samyani’s food pops with flavour and is a meat lover’s paradise. It’s great for sharing and just getting your hands dirty. The portion sizes are generous, to say the least, and I don’t think I’ve ever left there without being stuffed to the brim. All the kebabs are amazing, but the Koobideh kebab stands out.

DURAK TANTUNI

THE PUNTER

The Irishman looks a Rising star on first visit to the Valley

BETTORS are faced with a quandary when racing gets under way with a nine-race programme at Happy Valley today.

Reigning champion jockey Zac Purton tested positive for Covid last Sunday, ruling him out of riding at Happy Valley, and meaning it’s in the balance whether he can ride at Sha Tin on Sunday.

It hasn’t been all about Purton in recent weeks, however. Former British three-time champion jockey Silvestre de Sousa is in scintillating form, riding eight winners at the last three meetings.

The Brazilian Cat, as he is nicknamed by the local media, is quickly growing his own cult following in Hong Kong, and you can be sure his eight-rides on the card will have a strong following.

None of his rides look obvious choices, but keep an eye on Savvy Chic, who lines-up for the second race of his career in division two of the Nakayama Handicap (12.45pm) over six furlongs.

This Frankie Lor-trained gelding never saw daylight, when about to deliver a challenge over five furlongs at Sha Tin last month, and will appreciate stepping up in distance.

It’s hard to be confident about his chances with the likes of strong favourite and hat-trick seeking Gold Gold Baby in opposition, but he is certainly worth a look on the odds board.

Later in the day, it may pay to follow the fortunes of last start winner THEIRISHMAN who makes his first appearance at the city track, in the Tokyo Handicap (2.15pm) over the extended mile.

This highly-rated Francis Lui-trained galloper finally got off the mark when producing a turbo-charged finish to defeat some smart rivals over seven furlongs at Sha Tin last month, and is

guaranteed to improve further over the extended mile journey.

Trainer Lui, who is capable of completing a treble – he saddles Gold Gold Baby in the 12.45pm – launches talented RISING FROM ASHES, equipped with blinkers for the first time, in the Hanshin Handicap (2.50pm) over the extended mile.

Racing over a mile for the first-time last month, the son of Shamus Award showed a blistering turn of foot in the closing stages, before just losing out on the nod to rival Amazing Plus One.

That race was run at a genuine pace from the off, and it should be a similar

scenario with rival My Ecstatic certain to dictate a strong tempo again.

Comet Splendido is the obvious form choice having finished strongly to win with Purton aboard five weeks ago, but he doesn’t like to be in front too long. New jockey Jye McNeil, who only arrived in Hong Kong last week, will need to time his challenge to perfection.

POINTERS

The Irishman 2.15pm Happy Valley

Rising From Ashes 2.50pm Happy Valley

Lightly-raced Atullibigeal offers Hall stable a path back to form

BANK on David Hall’s lightlyraced speedster ATULLIBIGEAL to get his head in front for the first-time in Hong Kong, when he lines up in the Kyoto Handicap (1.45pm) over six furlongs.

This Australian-bred gelding, and twice winner in New Zealand, has only raced a handful of times since his arrival in Hong Kong just over a year ago, but has shown distinct

ability, especially when conditions are run to suit.

On a couple of occasions last season, he was unlucky not to win, finding either his path blocked when delivering a challenge, or when getting nearly knocked over at the start, before finishing strongly in June.

This son of Street Boss must have a genuine speed test to show his best,

and with the likes of Beauty Glory with 10-pound claimer Angus Chung aboard, and fast-starting Happy Sharing, both desperate to lead from the off, he should get his dream journey.

Last start winner and ultraconsistent Excellent Peers is likely to head the odds board after a comfortable success last month, but Atullibigeal, who closed fast in that

contest after having to be taken back from an awkward draw, is better placed in stall seven this time.

With the revised ratings in his favour – five pounds better off for under a length beating – and certain to strip fitter for his seasonal run, his prospects look good, especially as Excellent Peers had a fitness advantage when they met last month.

With David Hall’s stable back in form after the success of Beluga on Sunday, which ended a bout of seconditis, the omens are looking good, and Atullibigeal can give jockey Luke Currie an overdue and welcome winner.

POINTERS

Atullibigeal 1.45pm Happy Valley

Wally Pyrah previews today’s card from Happy Valley

The Irishman bids for back-to-back wins after victory at Sha Tin last month

SPORT

THE RUN GOES ON England extend unbeaten streak against 10-woman Norway at 16pt

DJOKOVIC IN LINE TO PLAY AT 2023 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

£ Former world no1 Novak Djokovic is set to be given a visa to compete in the Australia Open after a three-year exile from the opening Grand Slam of the season. Having initially been given permission to play last year, despite not having the Covid-19 vaccination, the Serbian later had his access rescinded.

T20 WORLD CUP WINNING OPENER HALES TO MISS IPL

£ England T20 Cricket World Cup winner Alex Hales has withdrawn from next year’s Indian Premier League season citing his workload. The opener, who scored one in Sunday’s win over Pakistan, has also signed up to play franchise cricket in Pakistan, Australia and the UAE. “The international schedule is packed with Tests and ODIs for the next 12 months,” he said.

CURRY IS “ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST PLAYERS”

£ England back-row Tom Curry has been described one of the “best” players of either rugby league or union by outgoing defence coach Anthony Seibold. “I think he is one of the world’s best rugby players of either code, full stop,” Seibold, who will next month take up a head coach role with an Australian league side, said. “I’ve great admiration for his toughness, work ethic and skill level.”

WINSTANLEY JOINS BLUES AS TRANSFER DIRECTOR

£ Paul Winstanley has become the sixth staff member at Brighton to follow former manager Graham Potter to Chelsea. Winstanley will leave Brighton to become the Blues’ director of global talent and transfers. Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly and co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali said: “Paul is going to be a great addition to Chelsea.”

OPTIMISM around England’s World Cup hopes has been dented after a new study found Gareth Southgate’s to be one of the most at risk of burnout.

The Player Workload Journey report by global players’ union Fifpro identified England as one of the most overworked of the 32 teams at the tournament in Qatar.

Captain Harry Kane, meanwhile, is among the individual stars to have had the biggest workload in the run-up to the finals.

Footballers have been placed under greater strain than usual by the timing

of this year’s first ever winter World Cup, which is being played in a shorter time-frame than usual and has removed the weeks of rest enforced either side of it.

BURDEN

The opening fixture is on Sunday, just seven days after the Premier League paused its season last weekend, while England are due to start their campaign on Monday.

That additional burden has increased the risk of injury to players both during the World Cup and when they return to their clubs straight afterwards.

England are the sixth most overworked team set to play at the finals, according to Fifpro’s study.

Southgate’s squad has accumulated more than 127,000 minutes of playing time since the start of the season, a total behind only Portugal, Brazil, Mexico, France and South Korea.

Portugal and Brazil have also had the biggest workload since the start of this season, with their players averaging around 13 full matches since the be-

ginning of August. Hosts Qatar have played by far the least minutes in the last 16 months, having taken the unusual step of placing players in a sixmonth training camp before the tournament.

Saudi Arabia, England’s first Group B opponents Iran, Ghana and Cameroon have accumulated the next least minutes in that period.

England’s talisman Kane and midfielder Declan Rice, meanwhile, both feature in the top 10 most used outfield players since the start of last season (2021-2022).

Kane, who Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte noted appeared to be exhausted last week, is fifth on the list, with West Ham’s Rice eighth.

STRAIN

Netherlands defender Virgil van Dijk is the most overworked, followed by Portugal’s Joao Cancelo, Sadio Mane of Senegal and Antonio Rudiger of Germany.

“The data emphasises the mental and physical strain many national team

players are facing because of a congested match calendar that does not properly consider their health and performance,” said Fifpro deputy general secretary Simon Colosimo.

“I have no doubt each team will put on a tremendous show at the World Cup despite the challenging circumstances.

“However, all professional football stakeholders must refocus their priorities to ensure players benefit from a more balanced calendar and can perform at their peak during key moments of their careers.”

Fifpro high-performance consultant Darren Burgess said players were being placed at “a really high risk” of injury resulting from both overload and underload in the months before the World Cup.

England were due to fly to Qatar on Tuesday and begin preparations for their opening match against Iran.

They then face USA on Friday 25 November and are set to complete the group phase against Wales on Tuesday 29 November.

England gave away a 1-0 lead against 10-woman Norway last night as Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses were held to a 1-1 draw at the Pinatar Arena in Spain. Rachel Daly put the Women’s Euro 2022 champions in front in the 33rd minute when Chloe Kelly curled the perfect ball into Daly for the forward to head the chance home. The momentum swung further into England’s hands during the international friendly when Anja Sonstevold received a red card for two bookable offences. But a lapse in English concentration allowed Frida Maanum to find an equaliser for Norway. The draw extends England’s unbeaten run to 26 matches.

From magic materials to Web3: key trends in sports technology

IT IS exciting to realise how far sport has come. Last year, predictions for the global sports technology market value were around £7bn – the actual valuation proved to be £15bn. So what are the key trends?

DATA

The wider sports industry is still a long way from being data-led but it is progressing and there are a lot of very good technologies on offer, especially now AI is gaining real traction.

There is equal buoyancy in innovation for sports and business performance, but a long-standing sector quirk is that those disciplines largely operate in silos. Any technology targeting the sector should pick a side and stick with it as we are still far from seeing these unite.

THE METAVERSE

The promising advances in the Web3 space have been slightly overshadowed by the joint forces of industry failures and the macroeconomic environment.

The sport sector’s limited understanding of the potential has meant shortterm profits have been prioritised.

The first NFT wave, led by speculation and multimillion digital art sales, is over with trading volumes in these areas

SPORT COMMENT

Hoy backs ‘fat-free’ Track Champions League to win new cycling fans in London

SIR CHRIS Hoy believes the UCI Track Champions League can create new cycling fans when it returns to London next month.

The five-date competition, which got its second season underway in Mallorca last weekend, features some of the world’s best riders including Britain’s Dame Laura Kenny

and Katie Archibald. London’s Lee Valley VeloPark is set to host the last two rounds of the Champions League, which will decide the sprint, scratch, keirin and elimination winners over 2 and 3 December.

“I think already in the first season it has succeeded in raising the profile of the sport,” Hoy told City A.M.

“I’m really excited that London is going to host the final two rounds of the Champions League. It’s a

great platform for cycling in Britain to keep hosting these major events.

“I really do hope it’s the springboard for success that cycling needs.

“All the fat has been trimmed off this –it’s a distilled version of everything good about track cycling.”

Buy your tickets for the UCI Track Champions League at Lee Valley VeloPark on Friday 2 December via Ticketmaster. Saturday 3 December is sold out.

tumbling 97 per cent from $17bn (£14.3bn) at the start of the year to $466m (£391m) in September.

Well-funded first movers in Web3 continue to prosper, especially as the mainstream market grapples with its power to unlock new value streams.

SPORTS VIEWING

There are two significant factors affecting the wider viewing industry.

Firstly, consolidation between media companies means industry suppliers are being rationalised and there will be fewer customers overall.

Secondly, exciting and engaging onscreen innovations are arriving in num-

bers but there are barriers to adoption.

Technology continues to be a significant force in shaping all elements of training from podium down. Whilst VR is still a long way off, at last it is getting traction in the elite space.

SPORTS KIT

The ecosystem surrounding apparel is extensive and complex, and two years of limited collaboration, coupled with macro-economics and a massively disrupted supply chain have taken a significant toll.

However, there are exciting developments, largely in the form of “magic materials”.

There are also tech-forward ones, like Graphene, which is exceptionally light, non-toxic, anti-bacterial, hypoallergenic, flexible, waterproof and comes in ink form, meaning it can electronically impregnate materials.

MATCHDAY EXPERIENCE

In the post-pandemic era, people still want to experience live events.

Venues used to answer primarily to fans but now artists and athletes make demands, especially when it comes to sustainability.

“Thinking green”, coupled with postpandemic initiatives, like paperless ticketing, will continue to expand.

FUTURE-PROOFING

Covid-19 showed that it is possible to bring the world to a standstill; the worsening symptoms of climate change have the potential to see this happen again.

The sports industry needs to play its part in being more responsible. Major events are fighting this on two fronts: what they do as well as supply chains.

This is a mere snapshot of developments in sports internationally; topics such as betting, fan engagement, organisational change and the start-up community are all seeing exciting evolution.

£ Rebecca Hopkins is the CEO of The STA Group. To download your copy of The Sports Technology Annual Review and Power List, please visit sportstechreview.org

Rebecca Hopkins

The sport’s limited understanding of Web3 has meant short-term profits were prioritised

FRANK DALLERES

The inaugural Test Champions League began last year