Wednesday 1 February 2023

LONDON’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER

PAPERCHASER

TESCO PICKS UP HIGH STREET STAPLE –BUT STORES STILL AT RISK

intellectual property of Paperchase after the embattled stationery company collapsed into administration yesterday.

However, it has not acquired the chain’s 106 physical stores across the UK and Ireland –putting some 820 jobs at risk.

The supermarket will now sell its products in its UK stores.

“Paperchase is a well-loved brand by so many, and we’re proud to bring it to

The firm had fallen into administration earlier in the day, with the insolvency handled by Begbies Traynor.

It marks yet another new chapter for Paperchase which has failed to recover from a bruising period during the pandemic –not least when the ‘cancelled Christmas’ at the end of 2020 all but wiped out vital festive sales.

Paperchase was bought out last August

time, the brand was forced to close 47 stores. Curtis then put it up for sale just a few months later.

“The key challenge for Paperchase has been many store locations based around commuter hubs, which have had a low and then declining footfall since the pandemic,” Rebecca Crook, from digital consultancy CI&T, said. The purchase price was not disclosed.

FORWARD LOOKING?

Tech Nation to shut after funding row

CHARLIE CONCHIE

START-UP network Tech Nation is to be wound down after the government withdrew its funding and handed it to Barclays.

Tech Nation, founded by the coalition government in 2010, said it would cease operations from the end of March.

Bosses at the tech body said they were now exploring a sale of its assets and were inviting offers and discussions with interested parties.

Tech chiefs have slammed the move to grant Barclays the contract since it was first reported at the end of last year. The decision will offer one of Britain’s biggest traditional lenders huge sway over the fintech and tech ecosystems.

Questions now hang over the future of the visa programme run by Tech Nation on behalf of the Home Office, which connected international tech talent with fast-growth firms in the UK.

Tech Nation has processed over 6,000 Global Talent Visa applications since its inception and endorsed more than 3,000.

A Home Office spokesperson told City A.M. the future governance of the programme had yet to be decided.

“We will also take every available step to ensure that applicants already part of the Global Talent route are not disadvantaged,” they said.

Crypto regulation on the way –but government says it will support new ideas

CHRIS DORRELL

THE GOVERNMENT has set out plans to “robustly regulate” the crypto asset industry as it seeks to become a cryptocurrrency hub despite the problems faced by the industry last year.

The proposals include rules for

crypto trading platforms and a “world-first” regime for crypto lending, as the government seeks to “embrace technological change”.

Proposals will make crypto trading venues responsible for defining admission requirements and publishing disclosure documents, while ensuring crypto exchanges

have “fair and robust standards”. Rules around financial intermediaries and custodians –which have responsibility for facilitating transactions and safely storing customer assets – will also be strengthened.

“These steps will help to deliver a robust world-first regime

strengthening rules around the lending of cryptoassets, while enhancing consumer protection and the operational resilience of firms,” the government said.

Calls for increased crypto regulation have increased in the past few months.

First, crypto prices crashed –

leaving many who had only seen upward momentum facing their first serious reverse.

Then the high-profile collapse of FTX shone a spotlight on the standards of governance in the industry.

£ CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

STANDING UP FOR THE CITY

Tech Nation closure cannot imperil the future of the talent visa

ONE OF the successes of Britain’s transition out of the European Union has been the professional side of the immigration system. The transition for those seeking ‘settled status’ was by no means perfect and far too many people fell through the cracks, but it was far from the car crash some had predicted. Similarly, anecdotally businesses in tech and fintech continued to say they were surprised that, on the whole, the

THE CITY VIEW

visa process to bring in genuinely ‘best and brightest’ talent was easier than they had suspected. All of that is now somewhat up in the air, with the tech visa scheme run by Tech Nation now facing an uncertain future. One can argue about the merits or demerits of

an organisation which was so heavily reliant on government funding, but their work on the scheme seemed to be a thumbsup for all concerned. Last night, after Tech Nation announced plans to wind down, the Home Office was only able to commit to those already going through the process not being disadvantaged –hardly a ringing endorsement for its success, nor indeed its continuation. London needs a fresh injection of

talent –it was ever thus. Bright ideas bounce around this city –and the City –until they collide with cash and experience and turn into the businesses of the future. It would be a crying shame if schemes like the global talent visa fall victim to a lack of due care and attention –or worse, are sacrificed on the altar of political expedience thanks to the ongoing and tragic use of small boats in the south east.

THE BIG SMOKE Workers install the Heart of the Empire by Niels Moller Lund (1904) on display at The Big City: London, a new exhibition held at London’s Guildhall Art Gallery

Cyber firm Darktrace’s shares crash to a record low after questions are asked

JESS JONES

DARKTRACE shares crashed to a record low yesterday after a short seller alleged that accounting errors had been made by the British-American cybersecurity firm.

New York asset management firm Quintessential Capital Management (QCM) published a damning report yesterday alleging dubious marketing, sales and accounting tactics were used to inflate the company’s value before it was publicly listed in 2021.

The New York firm said they are

“deeply sceptical about the validity of Darktrace’s financial statements and fear that sales, margins and growth rates may be overstated and close to a sharp correction”.

“We would like to give our strongest possible warning to investors,” QCM added.

The 69-page document sent shares in Darktrace down 4.5 per cent yesterday. This came on top of a further steeper drop yesterday when QCM first announced its short position. Darktrace, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, insisted it was fully confident in its practices

and in the integrity of its independently audited financial statements.

“We have rigorous controls in place across our business to ensure we comply fully with IFRS accounting standards,” Darktrace said, adding that it had not been contacted by the authors of the report before it was published.

Darktrace shares have been stooping low all month since product trials were hindered due to consumer hesitancy amid a worsening economic climate, leading the company to slash its full-year revenue forecasts.

Britain almost uniquely has a tendency to chop down its tallest poppies –the ongoing attacks on our university sector and media are proof of that. But stopping Britain’s thriving tech and fintech sectors attracting the very brightest people in the world to these shores would be economically illiterate and –- in this economy –borderline irresponsible. The Home Office must commit to its continuation –now.

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

SPOTIFY LOSSES SURGE AFTER ITS PODCAST SPENDING BINGE

The boss of Spotify has admitted he got a “little carried away” as a spending binge on new podcasts and expensive hosts drove the service to a deeper loss at the end of last year.

THE TIMES

KING CHARLES DONATES £2M TO HELP AFRICAN FARMERS, THE YOUNG AND THE PLANET

The King is to give nearly £2m to charities to help African farmers, youngsters facing inner-city deprivation, carers and the elderly,targeted at environmental sustainability.

FINANCIAL TIMES

EXXONMOBIL POSTS RECORD $56BN PROFIT

Exxonmobil raked in a record profit of $55.7bn last year, underscoring the windfall for Big Oil after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine despite a fourthquarter slowdown as fossil fuel prices retreated from recent heights.

Ads for cryptocurrencies set to face increased scrutiny

CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE

City minister Andrew Griffith commented: “We remain steadfast in our commitment to grow the economy and enable technological change and innovation – and this includes cryptoasset technology.

“But we must also protect consumers who are embracing this new technology –- ensuring robust, transparent, and fair standards,” he continued.

Financial promotions in the cryptoasset business are also being brought under tighter control.

Under the proposals, only cryptoasset businesses registered with the FCA for anti-money laundering purposes will be allowed to issue their own promotions.

A FCA spokesperson said: “We have been clear on the need for the financial promotions regime to be extended to cover cryptoassets. Cryptoasset businesses marketing to UK consumers, including firms based overseas, must start getting ready now for this regime. We expect to take a consistent approach to that taken for other high-risk investments.”

KPMG chief rules out split as UK revenues soar

LOUIS GOSS

KPMG’s UK business yesterday posted double-digit revenue growth for the second year in a row on the back of fast-paced expansion in its consulting and M&A deals advisory divisions.

In an interview with City A.M., KPMG UK’s chief executive Jonathan Holt said the “very strong financial performance” signalled the strength of KPMG’s “multidisciplinary” model, as he rejected notions the firm might follow EY in pursuing a global split.

Holt doubled down on KPMG’s model, which involves the firm’s audit and advisory arms working as a single unit, arguing that it “helped us weather the ups and downs of the economic cycle.”

The KPMG chief, who took away a payout worth £2.72m last year, said “we’re not

Small business lender Iwoca hits profitability

CHARLIE CONCHIE

Fintech lender Iwoca said it hit profitability for the first time in four years last quarter as small businesses scrambled to borrow cash amid soaring costs and a looming recession.

splitting up our business,” the KPMG chief said.

The Big Four accountancy firm grew its revenues 16 per cent to £2.72bn during the financial year ending 30 September 2022.

The uptick in revenues saw KPMG’s pre-tax profits increase by three per cent to £449m, while the average payout given to KPMG’s 786 partners increased 10 per cent to £757,000.

The firm-wide growth was driven by double-digit revenue increases across all four segments of KPMG’s business, including the firm’s audit, tax and legal, consulting, and M&A deals advisory units.

Partners at KPMG’s Big Four rivals, PwC and Deloitte, received handouts of over £1m in their most recent round of results.

Holt said KPMG would continue investing in improving the quality of services.

Bosses at Pets at Home will be receiving lots of plaudits from the firm’s investors

Ruf, rufffff, woof! (That’s dog for ‘rising profits at Pets at Home’)

ANNA MOLONEY

SHARES in Pets at Home shot up over six per cent yesterday after the retailer hiked its profit guidance on the back of a four-legged Christmas.

The retailer, which also offers vet services, saw revenues soar to £347.5m in the 12 weeks to January, up 8.8 per cent on the same period last year. Despite the cost of living crisis, Brits

BA owners IAG and Virgin slam CAA decision to raise Heathrow’s price cap

ILARIA GRASSO MACOLA

VIRGIN Airlines and British Airways’ owner IAG have slammed the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) decision today to hike Heathrow’s price cap. The regulator announced the hike yesterday morning, raising the cap for 2023 to £31.57 per passenger, up from £30.19.

The aviation watchdog said the

decision will “give certainty to the airport and airlines.”

The hike in the price cap – the amount Heathrow charges airlines per passenger – is well below what the airport was calling for, however, previously asking for it to be raised to as much as £41.95 per passenger for the period up to 2027.

But the cap, which is calculated based on passenger numbers, has

generated huge controversy, with airline bosses accusing the west London hub of downplaying its postpandemic recovery to get a more favourable price cap hike.

A spokesperson for British Airways’ owner IAG told City A.M. it was disappointing the CAA hadn’t taken into account “the reality of higher traffic volumes, which ought to result in lower prices.”

did not seem to skimp on treating their pets this Christmas, with the retailer citing the popularity of its accessories category and Christmas range for the strong quarter.

“Consumers still want to treat their beloved pets in these challenging times,” top dog Lyssa McGowan said.

Pets at Home now expects full year pre-tax profit to come in near £136m, up from previous guidance of £131m.

The London-based lender, which offers business loans of up to £500,000, said demand for cash from alternative lenders had been buoyed by high street banks’ fears of a wave of defaults as the cost of energy jumped and cash flows dried up.

“[We saw] a big boost over the summer, where I think we started seeing the effects of higher inflation and higher costs,” Christoph Rieche, Iwoca’s chief and co-founder, told City A.M. “It also means [small businesses’ customers started paying slower, because they’re withholding some funds to pay for the higher expenses. It’s a double whammy that hits cash flow.”

Iwoca’s customer base, which skews towards the smaller end of the SME market, has swelled to around 90,000 firms since launching in 2012. It has increased the scale of its core lending product to better meet the needs of mid-sized businesses.

KPMG’s UK boss Jonathan Holt

IAG feels that the price cap hike doesn’t take increased volume into consideration

House prices expected to fall as UK mortgage approvals hit record low

JACK BARNETT

MORTGAGE approvals have plummeted to their lowest since the credit crunch after the global financial crisis in 2008, excluding the pandemic when the housing market was shut down, in a sign that house prices could fall sharply soon, according to official data.

The number of loans to Brits to

fund home purchases dropped by more than a fifth over the last month to 35,612, down from 46,186 in November, Bank of England numbers show.

It is the lowest monthly figure since January 2009 –when stripping out Covid-19 distortions–a time when Britain’s biggest high street lenders retreated from lending people money for fear they would be unable to repay

UK will need a lot of luck to prove the IMF wrong

their debts after they were scorned by the near collapse of the global banking system.

Figures from Nationwide, Halifax and Zoopla have all shown UK house prices falling over the last month.

“The extremely high cost of mortgage borrowing has caused more buyers to withdraw,” Andrew Wishart, senior property economist at Capital Economics, said.

Barnett Economics editor

BRITAIN and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have a pretty chequered past. Yesterday’s bleak forecasts marked another chapter in the pair’s hate-hate relationship.

Yes, the usual barbs that come from ministers of the incumbent government of the day after the lender of last resort’s forecast don’t help. We saw all that yesterday. But, older people will remember Britain going cap in hand to the IMF after the country effectively ran out of money in the 1970s.

Yesterday’s dire forecast that the UK will be the only G7 country to suffer an economic contraction this year served to sharpen tensions between the Washingtonbased organisation and Britain.

The IMF yesterday said Britain’s economy will shrink 0.6 per cent this year, making it the only G7 nation to veer into reverse.

In fact, even Russia is on course to beat the UK economy.

Government ministers were up in arms.

Tory MP Richard Holden told Times Radio the Washington-based organisation has been wrong before. “I think Britain can beat those predictions,” he said.

In fact, Holden is technically right. The IMF

has changed its projections for the UK in each of its last four world economic outlook reports –all downgrades, mind.

But there is a chance the UK could outperform the IMF’s projections.

Fresh numbers out from the lobby group the Institute of Directors (IoD) last night indicated business leaders’ optimism in the UK economy has rebounded sharply.

The organisation said confidence among its membership jumped to 30 points over the last month, although its index is still deep into the negative at minus 28 points.

Inflation seemingly passing its peak in October supported optimism, the IoD said. Tomorrow, the Bank of England is expected to upgrade its economic forecasts markedly from projecting the longest recession in a century back in November to a relatively short and shallow one.

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics also shows the economy may have avoided a recession at the tail end of last year despite most economists warning it had started reversing in winter. November GDP grew 0.1 per cent, a big upside surprise compared to 0.2 per cent contraction anticipated by markets. Output will have to shrink at least 0.4 per cent in December for Britain to meet the technical recession definition of two consecutive quarters of contraction.

It is also worth bearing in mind the IMF regularly revises its economic forecasts. This time last year, it said the UK would grow 2.3 per cent in 2023.

Of course there’s a chance Britain will avoid an economic contraction this year –it’s going to take a lot of luck though.

Delays at Dover and Eurostar trains cancelled as France is hit by strikes

ILARIA GRASSO MACOLA

FERRY operators yesterday warned customers to expect delays on services between Dover and Calais as France is hit by nationwide strikes for the second time in less than two weeks.

Hundreds of thousands of workers – including train drivers, teachers and port workers – have laid down tools against the French government’s decision to raise the age of retirement by two years to 64.

“Due to industrial action taking place today in Calais, passengers may experience delays,” Irish Ferries tweeted yesterday morning, asking travellers to allow for additional time. “If delayed, we will accommodate you on the next available sailing.”

Those who are travelling to France via ferry are not the only ones to be disrupted as several Eurostar services were also cancelled because of the strike action.

Eurostar trains along with ferries are affected by fresh strikes taking place in France

Jack

Here we go again: Strikes hit London

PUBLIC sector workers, a host of train and bus drivers, university staff and teachers are set to walk out today –leaving Britain effectively closed for business for much of the day.

It is set to be one of the biggest days of industrial action in living memory, as ongoing disputes over pay continue to rumble on in a host of industries.

Many regular commuters will be stuck at home today with either children unable to

go to school due to the teachers’ strike or the lack of rail services –with no trains on Southern or Thameslink and some restricted services on other lines.

Business leaders are braced for impact, with a further round of strikes planned on Friday of this week.

Richard Burge, chief executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told City A.M.: “It is shameful to think strike disruption has been affecting London’s businesses for nearly a year. The government, train operators and trade

unions appear to be insistent on causing maximum disruption without any hint of a compromise, leaving those stuck in the middle forced to suffer the consequences.”

Speaking yesterday to City A.M. Kate Nicholls, UKHospitality chief exec, said: “Since last summer, the cumulative impact of the rail strikes on hospitality businesses, workers and customers has been unprecedented and has already cost the sector an estimated £2.5bn in lost revenue to date. We estimate that the strikes this week will set the sector back a

Camel maker BAT warns of job cuts ahead

HOLLY WILLIAMS

LUCKY Strike and Camel cigarette maker British American Tobacco (BAT) has warned of possible job losses as it revealed an overhaul of its regional structure and business divisions.

The group said the plans will see the number of regions cut from four to three – merging the European business with the Americas division – while it will reduce its business units from 16 to 12, with changes taking effect from April.

further £100m in lost sales, with much of that impact being felt in London.

“The situation is entirely avoidable but provides yet another pressure for a sector contending with soaring energy costs, workforce challenges and dampening consumer confidence. Hospitality continues to suffer as collateral damage as a result of this dispute, so it’s vital that all parties reach an agreement as soon as possible to prevent unnecessary damage to businesses at this increasingly challenging time,” she added.

It is currently consulting with affected staff and said there may be job losses as a result of the restructure, but declined to give more details.

BAT, which employs more than 52,000 people worldwide, said the consultation is taking place with affected staff at various levels, including senior management.

BAT also said it would ramp up the company’s ongoing “market exit plans” under the restructure, signalling further moves to pull out of certain countries, having already halted operations in Myanmar, Iran and Russia in recent years. PA

Trading to be transformed by AI, say experts

CHRIS DORRELL

ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) and machine learning are set to transform trading over the next three years, a JP Morgan survey shows, as traders anticipate the potential for new technologies to shake up trading floors.

Over half of traders surveyed in JP Morgan’s Etrading survey predicted that AI and machine learning will be the most influential technology over the next three years, up from 25 per cent last year. This was a dramatic change from last year when mobile trading applications topped the survey with 29 per cent and blockchain technology scored 25 per cent.

AI and machine learning has transformed the landscape for traders in the last few years as it can analyse and process huge amounts of data far more accurately than humans, identi-

fying patterns and flagging opportunities.

“Machine learning is already having a big impact on the trading landscape and that will only grow with the increase in data that electronic trading brings,” Scott Wacker, head of FICC ecommerce sales at JP Morgan said.

“It is being applied to more products across the trading industry, and can be used for a range of purposes to optimise outcomes for clients,” Wacker continued.

The survey of 835 professional traders from 60 different countries, also found increasing pessimism towards crypto.

Some 72 per cent of traders surveyed said that they have no plans to trade crypto and digital assets with only eight per cent currently doing so. In fact 43 per cent of traders said that their institution will decrease their work with digital assets.

38 I LOVE YOUS

IN ONE LITTLE BOX

UBS beats profit estimates with a hefty rise

CHRIS DORRELL

UBS BEAT analysts’ profit estimates as a drop in expenses and a significant influx of new assets helped offset a fall in revenue.

UBS’s profits rose 23 per cent to $1.7bn (£1.4bn) in the fourth quarter of the year, ahead of an estimated $1.3bn.

Net interest income at the Swiss lender fell year-on-year compared to the previous fourth quarter, but an eight per cent drop in revenue was offset by a 13 per cent fall in expenses nudging earnings per share to $0.50.

UBS’ global wealth management business performed best, recording an 88 per cent increase in profit to $1.1bn on the back of higher interest rates. However investment banking revenue fell 84 per cent to $112m. For the financial year 2022, UBS proposed a dividend of $0.55 per share for 2022, 10 per cent higher than last year.

“We delivered solid fourth-quarter results in a difficult macroeconomic environment. Our performance proves our strategy is the right one,” Ralph Hamers, group CEO said.

TRADING PLACES? City A.M. asked AI platform Chat GPT to come up with an equities strategy in the teeth of a recession –and the results were spooky...

Law firm Ince’s shares to remain suspended after further results delay

CITY A.M REPORTER

LISTED listed law firm Ince yesterday announced it has further pushed back the publication of its results for the last financial year.

Ince told markets yesterday morning that auditors BDO have “informed the company that they require additional time to conclude their audit procedures”.

That means the publication of the firm’s annual report for the year ended last March, as well as interim

half-years up to the end of September, are now not due until mid-February.

A host of top talent has left Ince in recent months, with Law.com reporting the departure of a fivestrong senior team just this month. That itself comes only a few months after Adrian Biles, who took the firm public, stepped down from the top job.

Biles himself now leads Child & Child along with his father John, who was former chair of Ince.

Shares in the law firm will remain

UK told to put up the cash or risk chip industry

NICHOLAS EARL

IT IS cheaper to produce semiconductors “anywhere else in the world” compared to the UK, the boss of a fast-growing technology specialist has warned.

Scott White, chief executive of Cambridge-based semiconductor maker Pragmatic, told City A.M. the government must provide more funding to ensure companies in nascent industries have a true pathway to growth and scaling up manufacturing.

He explained that his team was highly passionate about developing products in the UK, but that he needed to ensure the company could capture the maximum economic value for its semiconductor designs as it ramps up production.

White said: “That’s where the government does need to do more because at the moment, it’s effectively far cheaper for us to go build our next fabrication line anywhere else in the world other than the UK – because there are government support programmes in the US, EU, China, Taiwan and pretty much any other country in the world.”

In his view, a “level playing field”

with those competitors was essential if the government wanted to grow manufacturing beyond research stages.

His comments follow warnings from industry bosses last year that the UK lacks a coherent semiconductor strategy.

There have been fresh media reports that the government plans to subsidise semiconductor companies in a bid to support domestic chip manufacturing and ward off overseas giants.

The taxpayer funds will include financing for start-ups, help for existing groups and new incentives for private venture capital, according to Bloomberg.

White explained: “If you think about everything you buy in the supermarket that’s in a box or a plastic bag and being able to embed electronics into that packaging, to allow better traceability of that product through its lifecycle. This includes up to the point of disposing the packaging and making sure it’s recycled or reused in the most optimum way.”

Alongside further financial support for growing companies in key industries, he also called on the government to boost domestic demand for technology.

suspended.

The firm has completed the disposal of Arden Partners this year and announced last week a plan to offload a Bristol-based personal injury practice too.

The disposals are part of a strategy “to dispose of non-core businesses and focus its insurance practice on corporate insurer clients in the defendant-side market, where six partners have joined the Group in the last year,”the company continued.

TROUBLE AHEAD RBG Holdings shares tank after firm fires chief executive

yesterday plummeted by more than nine per cent after the troubled professional services group said it had fired its chief executive. The AIM-listed professional services firm said in a statement that its board had “lost confidence” in chief exec Nicola Foulston (pictured) and stated her “employment contract has been terminated with immediate effect.”

BOND STRATEGY Macallan launches new collection for super-spy’s 60th birthday

Home DIY boom gives way to insulation drive

HOLLY WILLIAMS

DIY CHAIN and builders’ merchants Wickes has seen a boost to trade as households rush to buy energysaving products to help cut soaring power bills over the winter months.

The group said falling DIY sales stabilised towards the end of last year, helped by strong sales of products such as loft insulation and draught excluders.

Wickes saw its overall core like-forlike sales lift 5.2 per cent over the fourth quarter to 31 December in an ongoing improvement since the summer, with trade sales performing strongly.

A 34.5 per cent jump in delivered “Do It For Me” trade helped total group sales increase 11.5 per cent in the final three months of 2022. It said while DIY sales remain below last year, the performance improved at the end of the fourth quarter.

But core like-for-like sales fell two per cent over 2022 as a whole, with the group seeing steep declines at the start of the year as trade eased back from the boom seen during the pandemic. Wickes added that orders were down “moderately” in the fourth quarter.

SCOTCH maker Macallan is set to launch a new single malt at Harrod’s to mark the sixtieth anniversary last year of the first James Bond movie, Dr. No. With art from the James Bond archives it’s sure to be a hit with fans of both the movies and a wee dram.

The group stuck to guidance for annual underlying pre-tax profits between £72m and £76m for 2022, down from £85m in 2021.

Shares closed down 3.8 per cent after the results yesterday. PA

Can the TransPennine Express get itself back on the right track now?

TRANSPENNINE Express has been the subject of a slew of negative headlines following a spate of winter cancellations.

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh has gone as far as to call for the removal of its contract – claiming the service has “never been worse”.

While the criticisms have been particularly strong in the past few months, data from YouGov BrandIndex shows that the service has been deteriorating in public esteem for more than a year.

Since 1 January 2022, Impressions of TransPennine Express, which measure overall positive and negative sentiment, have fallen from 3.7 to -3.9

Stephan Shakespeare

(-7.6). As of 29 January 2023, metrics tracking the brand’s perceived quality declined from 2.7 to -3.9 (-6.6), while Value scores declined by 5.8 points (from -3.0 to -8.8).

Negative headlines around shareholder payouts, levels of sickness, and software faults have also contributed

to Buzz scores falling 5.8 points since January 2022 (from 0.2 to -5.6).

With Satisfaction scores worsening from 3.9 at the start of 2022 to -1.2 as of our most recent data (-5.1), the raft of cancelled services have left customers increasingly unhappy with the railway company.

TransPennine Express managing director Matthew Golton has apologised for the recent service, acknowledging that it “isn’t good enough”. Whether he can turn things around remains to be seen and may be a tall order indeed.

Stephan Shakespeare is the co-founder and CEO of YouGov

How

YouGov Brandindex: Impression and Quality scores - TransPennine Express (4 week moving average)

THE NOTE BOOK

Quote unquote? Why markets still matter

When my old friend James Ashton (former City Editor of the – ahem – Evening Standard) told me a few weeks ago that he had become CEO of the Quoted Companies Alliance, I felt like sending him my St Jude pendant, for the patron saint of lost causes.

For the quoted company sector has been in headlong retreat for more than two decades. In that time, the number of companies on the London Stock Exchange’s main market and AIM has fallen by more than a third. Moreover, a significant proportion of the remaining companies on the market are funds, rather than commercial trading businesses.

The problem is starkly highlighted in KPMG’s IPO review which showed the amount raised from IPOs in London in 2022 fell some 93 per cent on the year before to a paltry £1bn. While I have enormous respect for the world of private equity and everything it has achieved in that same timespan, I am from a generation that believes the public markets matter. A lot.

There is a powerful democracy to the quoted market – everyone can buy a share, engage with the company and its management and are provided with a wealth of information to make their investment.

I started my career writing for private investors and one of the most intelligent corporate commentators I met was a retired taxi driver called Walter Geake, who accurately predicted the downfall of the (pre-Lloyds) TSB. There are many reasons why today’s business creators are deterred from joining the public markets, but the main ones are cost and bureaucracy. It is expensive to maintain a quote and the task of keeping up with the regulatory burden is enormously time-consuming. Something fundamental has to change to reverse the trend.

James has made a good start –pointing out that annual reports have grown in length by 46 per cent in just five years and are now longer on average than George Orwell’s 1984 (appropriately enough), but rather less gripping. But boy does he have his work cut out.

UNIONS MAY BE SIGNING THEIR OWN P45s...

If you are reading this in the paper, you are one of the lucky ones given that today is once again train strike day. I am an optimist born of experience, however. In the eighties, newspapers were wracked by strikes from the print unions – but they helped usher in new technology that transformed the industry for the better. I hope and trust that the same will happen to rail, and that exasperation with the current situation will give the government and industry the courage to press ahead with automation, leading to a safer, cheaper and far more efficient transport system. If computers can fly satellites, they can certainly operate the 7:10 to Fenchurch Street.

£ On the subject of the IPO dearth, I was interested to see news from my fellow columnist Mark Kleinman over the weekend that the LSE might be about to see its first proper deSPACing, with a biotech business called Istesso due to reverse into the Hambro Perks shell. It looked at first interesting company and the sort of new story we need in this moribund market. But alas no – on Monday both sides said firmly that talks were off. As it stands, the London SPAC market should be renamed the SPUT market, since there has been a lot of talk and very little action. Surely someone in the Square Mile should be able to use it to match entrepreneurialism with capital in the way we have been doing for centuries?

£ All the furore over Nadhim Zahawi’s ‘careless’ tax mistake obscured I thought one rather important fact. Britain’s tax laws are already enormously attractive for entrepreneurs, who only have to pay 10% of any gain they make on the sale of some or all of their business. That compares with a top rate of income tax of 45%. Surely 10% is a small price to pay for having everything the UK offers at your disposal when launching a business – such as the rule of law, a talented and committed workforce and an infrastructure that (more or less) works? I doubt that YouGov would have been quite so successful if it had been founded in somewhere more heavily taxed like, say, Gibraltar.

THE CITY HITS THE THEATRE

CAN I QUOTE YOU ON THAT?

The chickens are coming home to roost

Neil Sorahan, Ryanair’s financial director takes a pop at his ailing Scandinavian competition while reporting bumper results and showing that it’s not just his boss Michael O’Leary who can deliver a soundbite.

I was delighted to learn last year that Sam Mendes’ poignant play is making a return to the West End and opened last week. While the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 is now fading into history and memory, the story of the three brothers who founded that financial empire is still a powerful sweep of our shared commercial history. I will certainly be booking some tickets, both to enjoy the play once more and also to do my small bit to support the West End where audiences are still some way off their pre-Covid levels. With tickets from only £20 each, it is well worth a night out.

It’s where interesting people say interesting things. Today, it’s the turn of Neil Bennett, global co-ceo at comms outfit H/Advisors

CATEGORY LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR

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Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy enjoyed a 10 per cent uplift in revenues in its most recent results, driven in large part by what it called “exceptional” growth in the US. Recent office openings in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Boston and LA is paying off almost immediately, with profit per equity partner just shy of £2m and client wins including a major Fortune 100 global tech company.

CLIFFORD CHANCE

Profits and revenues were both up again at Clifford Chance –as was the amount of work it does pro bono, increasing 35 per cent to almost £40m-worth of work. Revenues ticked up across every region with a particularly strong performance in APAC and the UK, and the firm acted swiftly to shut down its operations in Russia after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

DWF

A record year for DWF marked mostly by profit growth of some 21 per cent even against a strong 2021. Company-wide revenue increases suggest legal grandee Sir Nigel Knowles’ strategy is paying off and the £20m-plus acquisition of Vancouver firm Whitelaw Twining in November gives it a foothold in the Canadian market.

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Reassuringly robust results matched with a string of acquisitions marked the last year for listed law firm Gateley, which also saw a significant uptick in revenues from its consulting side. The pick-up of Adamson Jones as well as Smithers Purslow were particularly notable.

MILBANK

The eye-catching acquisition of Dickson Minto was a coup for the US-based giant, which continues to bulk up on this side of the pond. A host of eye-catching hires and continued revenue growth has well and truly established Milbank as a big part of the London market.

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Irn Bru and Rubicon maker AG Barr set for higher profits as sales flow

ANNA WISE

IRN-BRU and Rubicon owner AG Barr has enjoyed stronger revenues after acquiring new brands, although it continued to caution over the inflation hit.

The soft drinks maker said it expects its reported revenues over the year to 29 January to be around 17 per cent higher, to £315m from

£268.6m in 2021.

This was driven up by a full year of sales of oat-based milk and porridge brand Moma, having taken full ownership of the brand at the end of 2021.

AG Barr also snapped up energy drinks brand Boost in a deal worth up to £32m in early December, which it said has already strengthened its group sales over the last eight weeks.

As a result of the good performance and brand growth, AG Barr said its full-year profits are likely to come in slightly ahead of market expectations. However, the group warned inflationary cost pressures were likely to impact its operating margins along with a “short-term dilutive impact” from the acquisition of Boost. Shares bounced over four per cent on the news yesterday.

Food inflation soars to highest level on record

LAURA MCGUIRE

FOOD inflation has reached its highest level on record, with the sector predicting no stall in price increases throughout the year.

Figures published in the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) shop price index show food inflation rose to 13.8 per cent in January, up from 13.3 per cent in December. This rise has pushed it above the three-month average rate of 13.2 per cent.

Separate data from Kantar yesterday showed food price increases mean Brits are now facing an extra £788 on their annual grocery bills.

The BRC reported a rise in costs of ambient food, such as canned vegetables and soups, which rose to 11.3 per cent in January, up from 11.0 per cent in December.

“Retail prices rose in January as discounting slowed and retailers continued to face high input costs. Ambient food inflation accelerated the most as wholesale and bulk prices grew, particularly for sugar and alcohol,” said Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium.

Additionally, fresh food inflation also increased in January to 15.7 per cent, up

from 15.0 per cent in December.

Dickinson added: “Fresh food prices also remained high due to increased food production costs as well as elevated wholesale fruit and vegetable prices. Meanwhile, clothing and footwear prices eased, so customers were able to replenish their wardrobes with some bargains during the January sales.”

Charles Allen, retail analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, told City A.M. that food inflation is “quite close to its peak” though it may be more persistent through the year as some “hedged costs within the supply chain unwind and have to be passed through”.

Speaking to City A.M., George Phillips, commercial director at Wanis International Foods, a food manufacturer and distributor, said that, while the rate of inflation witnessed in 2022 looks to be slowing down, the sector doesn’t “anticipate prices to come down anytime soon”.

Phillips explained: “This is driven by various factors including the price of packaging and components still increasing, mainly driven by increased energy costs in production and raw materials.

So, glass and cardboard prices are still very high, and supply is still an issue.”

Ofgem boss warns over energy sector after Shell hints at UK exit

NICHOLAS EARL

SHELL’s potential exit from the energy retail market raises questions over the industry’s attractiveness for businesses, Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley has warned.

The watchdog boss told the BEIS Select Committee that there needed to be a credible pathway to profit for energy suppliers.

He said: “It remains a concern to us around the long-term sustainability

and attractiveness of this market.”

Ofgem has announced a raft of reforms to clean up the energy sector including fit and proper person tests and capital adequacy requirements, as it looks to clean up the industry.

Brearley’s comments were in response to questions from committee chair Darren Jones about Shell’s longterm future in the home retail market after last week it announced a strategic review of its retail operations in the UK, Germany and Netherlands.

Food inflation rose to 13.8 per cent in January, an all-time high

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FTSE 100 slips while pound stumbles as IMF warns of contraction

LONDON’s FTSE 100 dipped and the pound stumbled yesterday, both driven lower by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warning the UK is on course to be the only major economy to contract this year.

The capital’s premier index fell 0.17 per cent to 7,771.69 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, shed 0.46 per cent to drop to 19,845.72 points.

The pound weakened nearly 0.3 per cent against the US dollar off the back of the IMF’s dire economic warning. Sterling also slipped nearly 0.4 per cent against the euro.

Late last night, the IMF published fresh forecasts in which it predicted Britain’s economy will shrink 0.6 per cent this year, making it the only G7

country to be hit by a contraction in 2023.

Rapidly rising interest rates, compounded by high inflation and tax rises will choke economic growth, the IMF said. That warning depressed market sentiment in the City, forcing the FTSE 100 index lower.

Banks led the premier index into the red due to investors focusing on rising default risks amid the economic slump instead of the boost from higher interest rates.

High street lenders HSBC and Barclays dropped nearly one per cent and around half a per cent respectively, while Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered was trading near the bottom of the FTSE 100. Online supermarket and middle class favourite Ocado was the worst performer, losing 4.75 per cent. The firm’s shares have been volatile this year.

Pets at Home has seen its like-for-like growth spike in the third quarter, boosting full-year expectations. This included a 7.6 per cent growth in its retail sector, with management pleased to see growth in all categories. The headline results certainly impressed Peel Hunt, which has set a buy stance with a target price of 400p per share. It said: “We are big fans of the space and of the strategy here.”

Serica Energy confirmed it has received shareholder support for the proposed acquisition of Tailwind Energy. The company had a mature declining production profile –however, the pro forma business including Tailwind’s assets is set to deliver multi-year visibility on production growth to over 45m barrels of oil per day. Peel Hunt is maintaining a buy stance with a target price of 437p per share.

IMF SENDS CHILLS THROUGH FTSE “London markets have found it impossible to shake off the gloom hanging over proceedings following the chilling forecast of the UK economic outlook from the International Monetary Fund. Not even some decent gains from the likes of Pets at Home and Irun Bru maker AG Barr could diffuse the tension.”

DANNI HEWSON, AJ BELL

OPINION

EDITED BY SASCHA O’SULLIVAN

In this recession, it’s the tail end set of kids starting work who aren’t alright

and the incessant ping of the NHS test and trace app (yes, we all have PTSD).

IF YOU needed further proof that people would rather put things off than avoid last-minute stress, you need look no further than the HMRC website briefly crashing yesterday, the last day to file self-assessment tax returns.

Our habit of delaying the worst, unfortunately, extends towards Britain’s employment dilemma.

If you’ve listened to any speech by Jeremy Hunt or Rishi Sunak over the last 99 days, you’ll have heard them boast about record low unemployment. And they are right: in the third quarter of last year, unemployment was at 3.6 per cent. The last time it came close to that was in the same period of 2019, and before that, in 1973. For the last decade, it has been comfortably above 4 per cent.

As much as Hunt and Sunak want to rest on their laurels, they know there’s a problem; that’s why they are trying to get the over 50s getting back into work. Of course, the pension is going up with inflation, salaries aren’t.

Unemployment figures don’t count those who have left the labour market, either because they are sick or retired early or in education (or perhaps buying into the “house girl/boyfriend” trend on Tik Tok and if you are, I don’t blame you).

During the pandemic, there was much hand wringing over the futures of people graduating from university and starting their careers: there were

fewer jobs, fewer internships, less work experience, and where there were these opportunities, they were based almost entirely on remoteworking, hampering young people’s opportunities to progress in their careers.

In recessions, people starting their first jobs tend to have the most “economic scarring” - jargon for stunted prospects and salaries.

But the pandemic wasn’t just any recession. The economy shrunk almost in an instant and then, as lockdowns were lifted, swelled, like one of those puffer fish when under attack.

This meant those either just starting work or looking for work were able to recover quickly, as the number of job

vacancies grew rapidly. It created the current problem we have - the opposite of unemployment - which is a tight labour market, slumped productivity and politicians pushing halfbaked plans to get your dad back to work.

Thanks to the rise in vacancies, the job market was competitive and those at the start of their careers could compete for better jobs, and companies, reluctant to hire older workers, were fighting for them. As a report published last week by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found: yes, the kids are alright. A glimmer of good news.

But as with everyone piling in to do their tax return at the same time, we’ve delayed the worst. This would be

firmly labelled as “declinism” if you’re Jeremy Hunt, but it is also pragmatism. Again, just ask those trying to hit refresh on HMRC, ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away.

The problem is the younger cohort of Generation Z: the kids who were sitting their A-Levels during the pandemic, the ones whose exams marks were bungled by Gavin Williamson’s formula to determine their grades and the ones who missed out on spots at university as a record number of people achieved A* and A grades.

Or they are the ones who spent much of their university career learning remotely either at home with their parents or worse, locked in student halls plagued with Covid-19 cases

As the EU rehashes old myths of no win-no fee litigation, London stands to benefit

AT THE end of last year, German MEP Axel Voss weighed in against the litigation funding industry - and third party disputes funding - reigniting old debates and myths, many of which had, we thought, been debunked years ago.

The market for third-party funding for legal cases is huge, and has doubled in the last four years. In economically volatile times, it is a useful lever for businesses looking to take costs and risks off their balance sheets.

The practice is nearly as old as the legal profession itself. Allowing a third party to bear the costs of a dispute between others who could otherwise not afford to – in exchange for a commission – was common in ancient Rome, and lasted in England until the Middle Ages. However, it was criminalised in 1275 to prevent vexatious claims – a ban that lasted until the late 1960s. But the ancient laws of “champerty and maintenance” were also stifling access to justice, and from the 1990s onwards, it was recognised that pro-

Glenn Newberry

vided suitable safeguards were in place, there was no reason disinterested parties should not pay for legal actions.

This aspect is perhaps at the root of many misconceptions about litigation funding – for example that it is only for people who can’t afford to go to court, or for class-action-type cases. It is also why politicians frequently fear the sector as open to abuse. They envisage a spectre of wealthy investors and lawyers plotting to control cases, ignore the client and receive a bonanza payday either way.

In truth, litigation funding has mostly become a sophisticated way for companies to manage risk and costs

by aligning their risk profile with that of their lawyers. Leveraging third party capital to fund a dispute, in return for a share of the rewards, means companies can pursue litigation without downside risk or any upfront outlay. But the options available are becoming ever-more sophisticated, allowing companies to share risk and reward, and manage fees – and it is now open, in part, to defendants as well as claimants. Formerly investors would look to bear the whole cost, in return for around 3-4 times that as a return – still beneficial to the claimant, but only really applicable to certain matters. Now there are a whole host of options which enable clients, lawyers, investors and insurers, to share risk and reward in a truly collaborative way.

There are Conditional Fee Arrangements, which allow for the payment of fees, in part or in whole, depending on the outcome of the dispute – effectively no win, no fee, but with a higher adjusted payout when successful. Damages Based Agreements mean firms ne-

gotiate for a portion of the damages received if the case is won, no fee in the event of a loss. These agreements are usually combined with insurance for the client against being liable for costs if they lose as well. As such, as a legal solution, these are truly “off book” and derisked.

All of these approaches involve investors, insurers and lawyers taking on most – or often all – of the downside risk of a loss in return for increased remuneration in the event of a win. Clearly they will only do this having undertaken a full risk analysis, and done due diligence, on the probability of success, which is in the client’s favour.

Stifling a growing market sector, which enables many companies to better manage their finances, is a poor use of European parliamentarians’ time. But in the event it does happen, it is all the more reason to make sure London has a thriving market.

£ Glenn Newberry is head of litigation at Eversheds Sutherland

The IFS congratulate the 2020-entrants for escaping the fate of their 2008-era equivalent, who, three to four years after starting work in 2007, were in jobs which paid, on average, just $0.90 more than their first post - half of what the 2004 cohort was paid. But in the same breath, they deliver a pretty bleak warning.

The authors, Sam Ray-Chaudhuri and Xiaowei Xu, said: “Of more concern might be those young adults leaving education in the next few years, who are about to enter into one of the deepest downturns on record”.

Vacancies started falling in April last year, albeit from a record high, not as a result of people filling those positions, but because companies don’t hire in recessions.

In tech, for example, companies across the world have dramatically culled their workforce. Even before the mass layoffs, the demand for entry level and junior roles in UK-based tech firms shrunk between 2019 and 2021, by 2 per cent and 5 per cent respectively. At the same time, the number of vacancies for more senior roles grew by more than 8 per cent.

It’s no wonder Jeremy Hunt is trying to convince us not to fret about Britain’s future, the further confidence drops the worse the outcome looks for Generation Z (as if the return of low-rise jeans wasn’t bad enough). Whether or not you quite believe the UK economy will grow less than Russia’s in the next year, as the IMF said yesterday, we are headed for a recession.

Not for nothing, the sting of a puffer fish is more lethal than cyanide, and worse when they swell.

The career prospects of people starting work in the pandemic have rebounded

I’M AN MP, GET ME OUT OF TROUBLE! Dominic Raab might be the next politician clamouring for a spot on the reality TV show after he was accused of being ‘randomly rude’ in a bullying investigation. He would join the prestiged ranks of Nadine Dorries and Matt Hancock.

Sascha O’Sullivan

Comment and features editor at City A.M.

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A symbolic end for Tech Nation

[Re: Tech Nation to shut down after government controversially gives funding to Barclays, yesterday]

Tech Nation’s collapse comes at a time when the UK’s future as a tech hub is under significant scrutiny. The industry body was created at a time when the UK’s tech scene was thriving, led by an exciting collective of scaling tech startups.

Now, it seems political uncertainty, market volatility and fears of a recession have symbolically brought to an end an industry body that once symbolised the burgeoning potential of the country’s

tech scene. Chancellor Hunt has voiced clear intentions about making the UK the next Silicon Valley, and this vision is backed by the Prime Minister. While there is clear entrepreneurial potential and a new generation of companies in new industries like Web3 stepping into the limelight, the onus is on the government to make sure the conditions are in place for the UK to remain an attractive tech hub. Part of Tech Nation’s success was taking a regional approach that looked for talent and opportunities outside of London. This is integral to the UK’s future as a tech hub and something that needs to be emphasised as part of future government initiatives.

Rhys Merrett

The

PHA Group

AIRING IT Government says everyone should live 15 mins from greenery

Even in the middle of the war, we need to plan how to rebuild - and fund - Ukraine

Paul Ormerod

THE war in Ukraine is approaching its one year anniversary, and even now, there is little sense of when it will finish or how it will end. But minds are already beginning to turn to the question of the post-war reconstruction of the country.

The same thing happened in Britain during the Second World War. Eighty years ago the German army surrendered to the Russians in the titanic battle for Stalingrad. But in the Pacific, in North Africa and in the Soviet Union, February 1943 simply marked the date at which the German and Japanese capacity to advance had finally been contained.

Despite the grim progress of combat, much of the thinking about the postwar social and economic settlement in the UK had already taken place. The NHS, state education and the welfare state were already well advanced in their planning.

So now is exactly the time to envisage

A fleet of new nature reserves have been approved to try and help restore lost wildlife in England and enable better access to green spaces. In five years, there are set to be 25 new or expanded reserves, on top of the 225 existing.

EXPLAINER-IN-BRIEF: BEHIND SPOTIFY’S STREAMING WOES

Yesterday Spotify reported significant losses in the last quarter, despite a rise in subscribers. Operating costs soared to 44 per cent as a result of new hires. It comes after Spotify announced it would cut 6 per cent of its workforce, following in the footsteps of Meta and Alphabet.

But it's also facing headwinds to change how streaming is funded. Currently, Spotify pays around 70 per cent of its revenue to those who own music on the platform, who then pay the artists.

Universal Music is in talks with

streaming platform Tidal for alternatives by measuring engagement. Options could include streaming subscriptions for superfans who would get charged more to access extra content from their preferred musicians.

Labels are worried that the money, instead of going to their artists, is going to “bad actors” who use bots to boost listening numbers.

In 2021, the House of Commons Culture Committee said a “complete reset” of streaming services’ funding models was needed.

the reconstruction and revival of Ukraine.

The Germans may need their time to make decisions when it comes to the military sphere, but they have been timely and bold in thinking about how their economic strength can help when the war ends. In June last year, the Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, explicitly called for the adoption of a Marshall Plan for Ukraine.

The Marshall Plan was a massive American economic and development aid package to Western Europe in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It also required recipients to sign up to liberal democracy. Along with NATO, it laid the foundations for the prosperity and security of Western Europe.

Through the Plan, the money was al-

most entirely given as grants rather than as loans. The Americans realised that adding new debt to countries already heavily indebted as a result of a major war made no economic sense.

Dov Bachman, convenor of the National Security Hub at the University of Canberra, believes the successful redevelopment of Ukraine will be crucially dependent upon reducing corruption. Ukraine ranked 122nd out of 180 countries, according to Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Further, both private property rights and the rule of law more broadly need to be strengthened. International bodies such as the IMF or the World Bank could act as monitors. The release of funds over time would be conditional on satisfactory progress.

Bachman recognises these institutions are often perceived as heavy handed by the domestic populations, which is why he proposes just a monitoring role for them. The funds would be supplied by a consortium of Western countries.

The real challenge is to supercharge

the transformation of Ukraine, to turn it from a poor country into one with living standards close to those of Western Europe within a relatively short period of time.

The potential exists. The country needs rebuilding more or less from scratch, so the most modern technologies and capital equipment should be installed and preferred over older generations of technologies.

The capital stock of German industry, for example, was destroyed to a much greater extent than that of the UK in the Second World War. But the ability to install modern technology meant that German GDP per head went from just 55 per cent of that of Britain in 1950 to the same in just over a decade.

Ukraine is even further behind. The logistics problems alone are formidable. But with political resolve and funding, a new Marshall Plan could see the country reach European living standards by the end of the 2030s.

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

The real challenge is to transform Ukraine from a poor country in a short period of time

Vlodomyr Zelensky has urged allies to send long range missiles

7 WONDERFUL ACTIVITIES FOR LGBT HISTORY MONTH

LGBT History

LGBT History Month tackles and celebrates the issues surrounding queer cultures across the world, from the fight for equality to the rise of the civil rights movements.

No matter your vibe, there’ll be an LGBT History Month event that’ll appeal. Talks, shows, tours and exhibitions are all launching this month in line with queer historical themes, with London museums, organisations and cultural institutions running events to educate and celebrate.

Here’s a selection of some of the best things to do this LGBT History Month.

AN EYE-OPENING EXHIBITION

The Out On An Island exhibition features portraits and recordings of LGBTQ people living on the Isle of Wight. The point the curators are making is that life outside of cities can often be harder for queer people. Individuals featured are all of different ages and from different backgrounds; one is a retired school teacher who came out during a board meeting discussion around Section 28, the Conservative policy which forbade teachers from educating about LGBTQ issues until it was overthrown in 2003.

TRAVIS

ALABANZA’S NEW SHOW

We adored the new Royal Court show Sound of the Underground. The show feels potent for LGBT History Month: it’s all about workers’ rights and the fight for fair pay for queer performers, who work tirelessly and are an essential part of the community but often end up financially short. It’s a ballistic display of colourful drag, with wonderful songs. Read more about how much we loved it on cityam.com

MORE LGBTQ THEATRE

While not technically part of LGBT History Month, there are a range of shows with queer themes running throughout February. Kissed by a Flame is a show about queer love in Islington running at The Pleasance from 1-11 Feb; My Brother’s Keeper at Theatre503 explores the territory where immigration, religion and sexuality meet, running from 1-11 Feb; Tiny Fragments of Beautiful Light is an immersive story about one lesbian’s journey of self discovery and runs until 18 Feb at the Alphabetti Theatre.

ROYAL MUSEUMS GREENWICH

History is being retold from an LGBTQ perspective in Greenwich in this series of events on throughout February. Drag performances take place in historical spaces, there’s a queer-themed night on board the iconic Cutty Sark, celebrations of queer maritime history and LGBTQ family activities. There is

also a self-guided trail at the Science Museum that gives a queer perspective on exhibits. If you’re into museums, why not take this opportunity to visit the UK’s first Queer Museum, which recently celebrated its first anniversary.

A NEW LGBTQ PODCAST

Memories From The Dancefloor celebrates LGBTQ venues from the past and features interviews with prominent queer individuals. Amy Lame and Heaven founder Jeremy Norman feature on initial episodes, released to coincide with LGBT History Month. Episodes focus on the staff, the artists and the people who went to the venues. The AIDS epidemic and trans inclusion will be two of the narratives explored. The podcast “shines a light on the history of these incredible spaces, taking us under the rope and into the queer chaos, joy and community within them.” The Proud Trust website is also launching its own digital education tool offering schools, parents, carers, community groups, individuals and young people the opportunity to try craft-based activities to learn more about LGBTQ culture and history.

Sound of the Underground is all about workers’ rights and the fight for fair pay for queer performers

TRY A QUEER BOTANY CLASS

Botanical history will be retold through a queer perspective at the Chelsea Physic Garden this February. “Trails, workshops and talks will highlight the important role members of the community have played in horticulture, as well as exploring sexuality and gender through plants,” says press material.

The garden has existed for 350 years but LGBT History Month’s events will shed new light on the queer stories behind the gardens – finding stories that have never been told. Events include a queer botanical drawing evening, a poetry reading and panel discussion.

LGBTQ PEOPLE OVER 50

LGBTQ and over 50? Submit your artwork to the ‘Behind The Lens’ exhibit at Bishopsgate Institute, running 22-25 February. It’s run by Opening Doors, one of the largest UK charities amplifying the voices of LGBTQ people over the age of 50.

On 22 February the public are invited to see the works submitted at a launch event from 6-9pm. The charity says: “This is an exciting opportunity to showcase artwork to the public and contribute to an organisation with a steep history connected to the LGBTQ+ community.”

It’s

Month this February. Adam Bloodworth rounds up the best events around the capital to book now

Clockwise from top left: A performer at the Royal Museums Greenwich; the Museum; an event at the Chelsea Physic Garden; Sound of the Underground and My Brother’s Keeper

CAFE KOKO: PIZZA RESTAURANT IN THE NEW KOKO IS A NEW FRIDAY NIGHT TREAT

Located in Camden’s iconic music venue, Cafe Koko is a brasserie that’s pre-gig perfect, says Steve Dinneen

Arriving in the evening, you can see the warm orange glow of Koko before you see the building itself. Taking up an entire block, the recently renovated, 122-year-old music hall once again sits at the heart of Camden, having closed in 2020 following a fire.

The £70m refurbishment includes an extensive private members’ area with its own entrance to the concert hall, a shop and several eating and drinking venues including Cafe Koko.

While open to the public from breakfast through lunch and well into the night (8am11.30pm), Cafe Koko is especially convenient for grabbing a brasserie-style meal before dropping into the venue proper for a gig.

WHAT’S THE VIBE?

It feels somewhere between a Parisian brasserie and the kind of industrial-in-

spired space that became ubiquitous some time around 2010. There are nods to the location’s musical heritage in the band photography and gig posters framed on the walls, and the space can be reconfigured to include a stage to host informal gigs to entertain you as you eat.

Accessed by its own entrance around the side of the main venue, it’s separate enough to feel like an oasis away from the queues and crowds of the main auditorium but on a Friday night there’s a buzzy –and loud – soundtrack to get you in the mood.

When I was there it seemed to be an even split of people eating before a gig and locals in for a casual meal, with a smattering of music-biz people completing the look.

AND THE FOOD?

The menu is Italian with an occasional Mexican or Middle Eastern accent. The pick of the starters was a plate of

smoky baby artichokes topped with an intimidating pile of pecorino, while “Nonna’s polpette” was also a solid choice. There’s a “mains” section including baked chicken and tiger prawn arrabiata, but this is really a pizza restaurant, and a good one at that.

The Neapolitan-style pizza menu ranges from the traditional to the outre, with the most outlandish being “The Lambrechts”, which is topped with goat’s cheese, lamb shawarma, coriander and garlic yoghurt. This will have Italians and pizza purists incandescent with rage but it’s actually surprisingly delicious, an upper-echelon pizza that captures the spirit of a postgig kebab.

There are desserts too if you’re not worried about falling asleep afterwards, with the apple crumble coming highly recommended.

AND THE BOOZE?

This isn’t fine dining – it’s a place to eat pizza and get mildly buzzed before a night out in Camden. There’s a decent cocktail list and a commendably concise wine list that the staff know their way around. All in all, a perfectly serviceable option for a casual dinner should you find yourself in the spiritual home of Razorlight.

£ To book go to cafe-koko.co.uk or call 020 7388 3222

EXPERT OPINION: LONDON DONE PROPERLY

Chef partner at Riding House Cafes Henry Omereye on his favourite restaurants in the capital

tCLIPSTONE

This is one of my favourite local restaurants, one I never get tired of. Whilst the interiors are casual and inviting it is also classy and sophisticated. All of the dishes are served with a smile, which is something that is often hard to find in central London.

HIDE

Hide is my go to for a top-drawer special treat. The food and superb service are second to none. For me, it’s more than just a restaurant, it’s an experience. Their 7-course tasting menus are always exciting, fresh and include ingredients that you wouldn’t find in most restaurants.

This is our newest addition to our group, and the long-awaited sequel to Riding House Fitzrovia. It's such a beautiful venue and I love nothing more than relaxing between shifts at the bar with a cold beer and a portion of salt cod fritters, one of my favourite things we serve.

ROVI

Part of the Ottolenghi group, this is somewhere that I was thrilled to discover when they opened back in 2018. Sitting at their bar after a busy brunch shift is the perfect way to unwind. Enjoying their delicious food prepared for me is always a treat.

tMIZNON

Miznon is a great new addition to Soho. The concept is unique and great fun. As they say themselves, each pita is unique and “it’s about recreating, not assembling”. Somehow, they manage to constantly deliver on amazing, fresh food.

RIDING HOUSE BLOOMSBURY

THE PUNTER

Wally Pyrah previews today’s card from Happy Valley

Fownes’ Rocket has Spades of potential to Snaffle first win

WITH the Chinese New Year celebrations in Hong Kong done and dusted after a couple of weeks racing at Sha Tin, the action resumes at Happy Valley with another highly competitive nine-race programme.

It hasn’t been easy for bettors in the past fortnight, with numerous doublefigure odds winners obliging, causing dismay and anguish to many spectators.

Although the ‘people’s champion’ Golden Sixty reigned supreme again in the Stewards’ Cup on Sunday, hot favourite Romantic Warrior failed to live up to expectations, while the subsequent result in the Hong Kong Clas-

sic Mile produced more questions than answers, and was greeted by disbelief by many formbook students.

Winner Voyage Bubble was officially rated 30lbs below the best in the levelweights contest, but still managed to lead from start to finish and beat better fancied rivals.

Hopefully normality will be restored at the city-track today, and it could pay to follow the ‘King of the Valley’, trainer Caspar Fownes, to come to bettors’ rescue with ROCKET SPADE in the feature race of the day; the Volunteers’ Challenge Cup Handicap (1.15pm) over nine furlongs.

The former four-time champion trainer has no peers when it comes to

saddling winners at the Valley and has already visited the winners’ circle 18 times at the city-track this season. Fownes had great expectations about this son of Fastnet Rock when he joined the stable a couple of seasons back, believing he had a potential Hong Kong Derby winner on his hands. Rocket Spade has had niggling health issues and was slow to acclimatise, which put Fownes on the back-foot, although there have been encouraging signs along the way.

Having been an eye-catcher when finishing strongly in the closing stages behind one of the most improved performers in Hong Kong, Super Sunny Sing, over an inadequate seven furlongs

in December, Hugh Bowman over-did the waiting tactics when dashing too late to catch Encountered over the extended mile at the Valley three weeks ago.

With the step up in distance a major plus, having won over further when racing in New Zealand, the five-yearold gets a gilt-edged opportunity to record his first win, especially with Bowman sure to have him in the right place this time.

For anyone looking for an attractive long-shot in the contest, keep an eye on the David Hayes-trained SNAFFLES who looks about to peak after an encouraging effort at Sha Tin early last month.

This son of Churchill, and former two-time winner for Joseph O’Brien

back in Ireland, was bought over to Hong Kong with the Hong Kong Derby in mind, but has been slow to adjust to his new surroundings, and is only now starting to show his real ability. His recent performance behind Sword Point in a highly competitive handicap over this trip at Sha Tin, where he stayed on well in the closing stages, suggests he could be well-handicapped if stepping forward again, and he makes plenty of each-way appeal.

POINTERS

Rocket Spade 1.15pm Happy Valley Snaffles e/w 1.15pm Happy Valley

All will be Good as Gold for formidable partnership of Lui and Ho

BANK on the partnership of trainer Francis Lui and jockey Vincent Ho to continue their run of good fortune with a winning double at Happy Valley.

Lui and Ho have proved a formidable combination to follow this season, winning 14 times and recording a 32 percent win and place strike-rate when teaming up.

Fresh from their triumph with

Golden Sixty at Sha Tin on Sunday, the pair team up again at the city track and will surely be disappointed if they come away empty-handed.

Lui looks to have found a winning opportunity for the improving ALL IS GOOD in the first division of the Oi Kwan Handicap (11.45pm) over the extended mile.

This Australian import has always looked a middle-distance performer

in the making and finally gets his chance, now racing over a mile for the first time.

Bettors burnt their fingers when the four-year-old was heavily supported over six furlongs three weeks ago, where he finished strongly in the closing stages, but just too late. With the step up in distance sure to suit, and racing off a light weight, he should prove hard to beat.

The stars look aligned again for GOLD GOLD BABY to win his fifth race at the Valley this season, in the second division of the Tin Lok Handicap (2.50pm) over six furlongs.

This highly progressive handicapper has improved 32lbs, according to the handicapper, since September and won with plenty in hand when stepping up in class early last month. Having defied penalties along the

way when winning with the minimum of fuss, he is likely to improve even further and, with a low draw in his favour, can continue his winning sequence.

POINTERS

All Is Good 11.45pm Happy Valley Gold Gold Baby 2.50pm Happy Valley

2021 New Zealand Derby winner Rocket Spade looks to be close to a first win in Hong Kong

Europe targets 10 in a row at Club World Cup

THE DUST has barely settled on Qatar 2022 and already the next Fifa jamboree, the Club World Cup, is about to begin in another destination with big hosting ambitions.

Chelsea won last year in Abu Dhabi but won’t be defending their title in Morocco over the next 10 days, since they didn’t qualify via the Champions League. Despite the absence of English teams, there is still plenty of intrigue, not least in the presence of a first ever qualifier from Major League Soccer.

European clubs have won

FOOTBALL COMMENT

Trevor Steven

CHELSEA’S strategy in the transfer market has been fascinating to watch since Todd Boehly’s consortium bought the club from Roman Abramovich last year.

From the outside, the signing of more than a dozen new players for an outlay of around half a billion pounds in transfer fees looks like a scattergun approach.

But I can’t imagine for one moment that Boehly and his partners, who have a track record of success in US sport as well as business, have not thought this recruitment strategy through to the nth degree.

The question they will have asked themselves is: how do we get Chelsea back to the top of European football as quickly as possible?

And the answer they have arrived at is amassing the best squad possible.

Manchester City have set the standard in recent years, with two world-class players in each position, and that is the way that the game is going.

That means that when a good player becomes available Chelsea go all out to get them. Mykhailo Mudryk, who they snatched from under the noses of Arsenal, is a prime example. For me, Mudryk is the pick of their signings; a truly exceptional player.

But this is about the group, and acquiring the best players that they can on the longest contracts possible improves the Boehly group’s chances of increasing the value of their asset.

They are trying to concertina their spending into as short a period as possible, probably mindful that rule changes expected this summer may make it more difficult to spend as freely. These are experienced businessmen trying to make the most of current regulations.

CHEMISTRY

It is out with the old as well as in with the new, though, and Chelsea have also moved on some players who are past their best or have been there too long. And the club will want to keep the pipeline of academy players running, as they also help the bottom line.

Clubs’ strategies have changed since I was playing, when it was all about

Holders Chelsea may not be there but Real Madrid can extend Uefa dominance in Morocco, writes Frank Dalleres

the last nine editions of the Club World Cup, so Real Madrid, this year’s Uefa representative, will start as the firm favourites.

The Spanish giants are seeking their fifth title and some respite from their stuttering form in LaLiga, where they currently trail rivals Barcelona by five points.

South American champions

Madrid have won four times

Flamengo, whose stars include Arturo Vidal and Gabriel Barbosa, are the next biggest side involved and, like Real Madrid, will enter at the semi-final stage.

Before then Al Ahly of Egypt, Auckland City, Wydad Casablanca, Al-Hilal and Seattle Sounders will battle it out for the other two places in the last four. The Sounders, marking a debut for MLS teams, face the winner of Wednesday’s game between Al Ahly and Auckland in the second round for a chance to play Real Madrid.

Morocco is staging the Club World Cup for a third time in the latest attempt to underline its credentials as a possible host of the men’s World Cup.

The country has the unwanted distinction of bidding unsuccessfully on five occasions but, encouraged by the national team’s run in Qatar, has hopes of staging in the big one in 2030.

Games this week will take place at the 65,000-capacity Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier and Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, which holds 60,000.

EXPANSION

This is technically the 2022 Club World Cup as it was pushed back a few weeks from its usual December slot to avoid a clash with Fifa’s chief event last month. It kicks off on Wednesday, with the

THERE’S METHOD IN TODD BOEHLY’S TRANSFER MADNESS

the first team. If you didn’t make it, you were gone. Now there is scope to develop players, through loans or agegroup football, and sell them on for pure profit.

There is method in the apparent madness at Stamford Bridge, then, but that doesn’t change the fact that the overhaul is a gamble – a massive one –because it all rests on the players forming a good bond with the manager. The better the squad, the more chance they have of success, and Graham Potter certainly can’t claim that he hasn’t been given a good enough group. They are good enough to be up there and challenging for the Premier League.

Can Potter get the chemistry right on the pitch? That remains to be seen, but

second round matches set for Saturday and the big guns joining the semi-final line-up on 7 and 8 January before the final on 11 February.

Most games start at 7pm GMT and all matches are being streamed live in the UK on the world governing body’s OTT platform Fifa+.

This looks like being one of the last Club World Cups in its current seventeam format, with Fifa eager to beef it up into a money-spinning summer spectacular.

Those plans suffered a hitch during the pandemic, when the first proposed 24-team edition, to be held in China, was cancelled because of the pandemic.

Undeterred by that and the concerns of players’ unions, Fifa announced in December that the Club World Cup will become a 32-team affair held every four years from 2025.

he may need some time to get to know his new arrivals better. He may not be as familiar with some of them as we think because managing a Premier League team is so consuming.

FORTUNATE

Some of Chelsea’s high-profile summer signings, like Raheem Sterling, Marc Cucurella and Pierre-Emerick Aubmeyang, haven’t delivered yet, although they were brought in under Potter’s predecessor Thomas Tuchel. Boehly had just arrived and it feels like a different club now.

Potter must have known this was going to be the club’s strategy when he replaced Tuchel. Equally, the club must have felt he was suited to building a new team. He will not be im-

mune to results-based judgements but will surely get this season to show what he can do.

Chelsea fans, meanwhile, must be excited by some of the talent coming in. They have been extremely fortunate to benefit from the unprecedented investment of first Abramovich and now Boehly’s group.

Speaking as a football fan, I find it so detached from where the game has come from. But the Premier League is 100 per cent business nowadays and the gambles are too big for many people unless they are billionaires.

@TrevorSteven63.

It’s still a massive gamble, because it all rests on the players forming a good bond with manager Graham Potter

Trevor Steven is a former England footballer who played at two World Cups and two European Championships.

METHOD

Half a billion: Premier League breaks transfer window record

PREMIER League clubs underlined their financial strength on deadline day by taking their spending in the January transfer window past half a billion pounds.

The total comfortably eclipsed the previous January gross spending record of £430m set in 2018 and dwarves the £295m invested 12 months ago. It is the second transfer window in a row of unprecedented spending by England’s top teams, after they lavished almost £2bn on signings last summer.

The most-high profile deal on transfer deadline day saw Italy midfielder Jorginho leave Chelsea for Arsenal in a £12m move. He followed Brighton forward Leandro Trossard and Poland defender Jakub Kiwior in joining the north Londoners in January. Elsewhere Fulham paid Torino £8m for Sasa Lukic, while Tottenham completed a loan deal for Sporting fullback Pedro Porro. That business took total Premier League spending for the window beyond £600m, more than doubling last January’s outlay

“January 2023 has surpassed the record spent during any previous winter window as Premier League clubs look to reinforce their squads ahead of a crucial second half of the season,” said Calum Ross, assistant director in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.

“The 2022-23 season has seen clubs invest heavily in their squads. New ownership and an availability of finan-

cial resources to pay significant sums to maximise performance continue to be key contributors towards record spending levels.

“While this level of spending illustrates Premier League clubs’ recovery post-pandemic, the importance of long-term financial planning and focus on financial sustainability should continue to be a priority.”

Chelsea were by far the busiest club in the division, signing wingers Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke, defenders Benoit Badiashile and Malo Gusto, forward David Datro Fofana and midfielder Andrey Santos.

Champions Manchester City did not sign anyone, instead allowing full-back Joao Cancelo to make a surprise loan switch to Bayern Munich.

Premier League clubs have only increased their financial dominance in recent years and made up 11 of the 20 teams in Deloitte’s Football Money League when it was published earllier this year.

Their greater proportion of income from broadcasting and commercial activities gave them greater protection from the exclusion of fans during the pandemic, while theirs are the only TV rights among their rivals to still be experiencing growth in value.

“The Premier League is in a league of its own compared to other leagues,” Deloitte’s Zal Udwadia told City A.M. “If anything, the gap will increase because the Premier League is the only one to report an increase in TV rights sales in the last cycle.”

Zverev to face no action from ATP after abuse investigation

MATT HARDY

TENNIS’ world No14 Alexander

Zverev will face no action from the sport’s governing body after the ATP concluded a 15-month investigation into domestic abuse.

The Tour found “insufficient evidence” in their investigations over allegations the 25-year-old domestically abused his former girlfriend Olya Sharypova in 2020.

“The seriousness and complexity of these allegations required an extremely thorough investigative process and considerable resources,” ATP chief executive Massimo Calvelli said.

“It also required us to turn to specialist investigators, which was new ground for ATP.

“We ultimately believe the exhaustive process was necessary to reach an informed judgement.

“It has also shown the need for us to be more responsive on safeguarding matters. It is the reason we’ve taken steps in that direction.”

Zverev said: “I am grateful that this is finally resolved and my priority now is recovering from injury and concentrating on what I love most in this world – tennis. We followed a long and difficult process but justice prevailed.”

BIG SPENDERS: PREMIER LEAGUE’S TOP 5 JANUARY WINDOWS

2023: £500M+ Chelsea lead the way in the Premier League’s biggest winter window to date, signing more than half a dozen players as new owner Todd Boehly continued his squad overhaul.

2018: £430M Virgil van Dijk’s move to Liverpool, Arsenal’s signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Aymeric Laporte joining Manchester City were among the top deals five years ago.

2022: £295M English clubs put any pandemic frugality behind them last year, with Newcastle United putting their Saudi-backed funds to use by spending more than £90m on four new signings.

2020: £230M Manchester United’s £68m acquisition of Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon helped propel Premier League clubs to

what was at the time their second biggest January total.

This was the window that drew to a breathless climax with Chelsea buying Fernando Torres and Liverpool signing Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll, and proved an outlier for seven years.

Hawkins thrown into deep end with Six Nations start

MATT HARDY

INEXPERIENCED centre Joe Hawkins will start for Wales in their Six Nations clash with Ireland on Saturday as Warren Gatland named his first squad since returning as boss yesterday.

One-cap Hawkins will partner George North in the centres at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff this weekend while veterans Alun Wyn Jones, Ken Owens and Leigh Halfpenny are also in the matchday XV.

Toulon fly-half Dan Biggar will partner scrum-half Tomos Williams in the No9 and No10 shirts while inexperienced wing Rio Dyer and scoring machine Josh Adams start on the wing.

“We’ve picked Joe at 12,” coach Gatland said. “He’s a lovely footballer with some great skills. I thought for his first cap he was outstanding so we’ve given him another opportunity.

“There’s some real competition in the midfield at the moment, so I’m really excited about that.

“There’s a mixture in the team of some experience, some younger players. We were conscious as well picking the bench. We think we’ve got a bench that can come on and have an impact. “Ireland are the No1 team in the world, so they’re going to be coming here with a lot of confidence.”

Wales kick off Saturday’s action before England take on Scotland.

RUGBY TENNIS

FRANK DALLERES