Thursday 2 February 2023

LET

STRUGGLING FOR SIGNAL

VODAFONE INTERIM BOSS SAYS ‘WE CAN DO BETTER’

Stage set for Bank as Fed slows hikes

JACK BARNETT

THE US Federal Reserve has climbed down to the lowest interest rate hike in nearly a year in a sign the world’s most influential central bank is nearing the end of its aggressive campaign to tame a historic inflation surge.

Fed chair Jerome Powell and the rest of the federal open market committee yesterday backed a 25 basis points increase, taking the global financial system’s anchor rate to a range of 4.5 per cent and 4.75 per cent.

It is the weakest rise since the Fed’s first hike in this current tightening cycle back in March 2022 and is likely to reinforce expectations that the Fed is approaching the end of this current rate hike cycle.

LOUIS GOSS AND CITY A.M. STAFF

VODAFONE’s interim boss Margherita

Della Valle was yesterday forced to tell markets the telecoms giant “can do better” after another disappointing set of results.

Declines in revenue generation across Europe were expected but markets still reacted poorly, sending shares down again at the troubled telecoms giant.

Della Valle stepped into the top job after

the short-notice departure of former boss Nick Read, who had come under pressure for overseeing a share price that has fallen some 58 per cent in the past five years.

Underperformance in Germany was again a particular concern, where a combination of price hikes and new regulatory powers, which make it easier for customers to switch, have taken their toll. The country accounts for around 30 per cent of the firm’s overall revenues.

Analysts were scathing yesterday, despite signs of good growth in the UK and guidance remaining in place, albeit already downgraded.

AJ Bell’s Russ Mould described the firm as a “megacap plodder” and said recent disposals still leave the firm “open to accusations it looks like an investment trust of telecoms assets that is offering nothing much by way of sales, profit or dividend growth.”

CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson said

there was “little sign that management have a plan that can stem recent declines”.

Della Valle said the firm had introduced initiatives to generate half of a planned £800m cost-reduction package and had changed management structures.

“There is more to do and our focus is to provide a better service to our customers, become a simpler business and deliver growth,” she said yesterday.

A new CEO search remains ongoing.

US inflation has been coming down since last summer after it peaked at just over nine per cent, driven lower by a combination of the Fed’s rate decisions and a reduction in petrol prices.

The move sets the stage for the Bank of England and European Central Bank today, both of which are expected to go harder than the Fed and back 50 basis point increases.

The Bank today is poised to repeat forecasts warning the country will tip into recession, albeit a much shallower and shorter one than forecast back in November.

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STANDING UP FOR THE CITY

The Bank’s gone boring –and it’s to Andrew Bailey et al’s credit

AT A SMALL breakfast of City executives this week, a theme emerged. Do we, the financial press and indeed the Square Mile establishment, sufficiently value consistency?

‘New’ news is more interesting than old, of course –you will inevitably find more in this newspaper today about firms making a pig’s ear of something or other than you will those who keep delivering solid if unspectacular profits and

THE CITY VIEW

shareholder returns.

We will do a better job of celebrating consistency going forward, and so we turn to the Bank of England before today’s interest rate decision.

At the beginning of what we will term ‘the current

unpleasantness’ –runaway inflation –the mixed messaging from the Bank left the City baffled. Every word uttered by a member of the MPC was pored over for clues, and a combination of botched forecasts, rate-setting decisions which seemed to move in the direct opposite of guidance, and tin-eared statements about pay rises left many wondering whether the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street needed a lie down.

Yet a year or more later and, to his credit, Andrew Bailey et al have gone some way to restoring the Bank’s reputation in City circles. The hyperactivity that marked the early period has given way to more deliberate, thoughtthrough and dare we say it staid interventions.

The swiftness with which the Bank’s stability arm acted during the bond market palaver has also burnished the reputation of other parts of the operation, even

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if they were not directly involved. This is not to say mistakes were not made. They were, and poor forecasting in particular, has had a material impact. Many questions will be asked about how Britain got itself in such a mess last year, and the role of the Central Bank within it. But by being more consistent, staying on the straight and narrow and offering fewer surprises, the Bank’s bosses appear to have learnt their lesson –and they deserve credit for it.

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

THE GUARDIAN

BRITISH GAS HALTS USE OF WARRANTS TO FORCE PEOPLE ON TO METERS

British Gas has suspended the use of court warrants to force the installation of prepayment meters after evidence that agents working on its behalf ignored customers’ vulnerabilities.

THE TIMES

NATWEST BOSS REFUSES TO FACE MPS OVER BANKS’ FAILURE TO PASS ON RATE RISE TO SAVERS

The boss of Natwest is refusing to face MPs challenging the failure of high street banks to pass on rising interest rates to customers.

FINANCIAL TIMES

EU SAYS €250BN AVAILABLE NOW FOR GREEN TAX CREDITS

The EU has said that €250bn is “immediately available” for member states to offer tax credits and subsidies for green industries as the bloc steps up efforts to contend with the US’s $369bn Inflation Reduction Act.

UK manufacturing sector shrinks

for sixth consecutive month but decline slows

THE UK’s manufacturing sector shrunk for the sixth consecutive month in January, although managed to slow its decline from December’s more than two-year low.

An influential survey found that companies were suffering from weak demand, high inflation and shortages of staff and raw materials.

The S&P Global/CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI scored 47 in January, up from 45.3 in December.

The index score is calculated from a survey which is filled in by companies

across the country. If the score is below 50 it is taken to mean that the sector is contracting, and the further below 50 it goes, the worse the contraction is.

“UK manufacturers faced a tough operating environment at the start of 2023, leading to reducing intakes of new business, declining production volumes and lower staffing levels,” Rob Dobson, director at S&P Global Market Intelligence said.

“Weak demand at home and overseas, supply chain constraints, strikes and the continuing impact of high inflation all stymied the performance of manufacturers.

German inflation bungle takes shine off euro figures

“Weak economic growth in the US, Emea (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and across Asia is also dragging down new export wins, exacerbating the strain already caused by port delays and lingering Brexit complications.”

But he added that the contraction was at least slower than it had been towards the end of last year. This was “a possible sign that we may be past the worst of the downturn in industry,” Dobson said. Meanwhile, costs were rising slower than they had in December, and delays in supply chains were the shortest for three years. PA

JACK BARNETT INFLATION in the eurozone fell again last month but experts have warned the drop will not convince the European Central Bank (ECB) to stop hiking interest rates aggressively.

The rate of price increases among the group of 19 countries using the euro dropped to 8.5 per cent annually, down from 9.2 per cent, according to figures from eurostat out yesterday.

The decline was faster than analysts expected.

Inflation in the common currency bloc has been turbocharged by soaring energy prices caused by Russia removing gas supplies from the European market after it invaded Ukraine just under a year ago.

“We can’t take yesterday’s inflation data at face value due to the fact that Germany’s statistical office dropped the ball, failing to produce an early estimate for January inflation,” Claus Vistesen and Mel Debono chief eurozone economist and senior European economist respectively at consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics, said.

AUGUST GRAHAM

Jabs give GSK a shot in the arm as pivot pays off

JAMES SILVER

PHARMA giant GSK’s pivot to research and development appears to be paying off in the early going, with sales of £29.3bn in 2022 – but boss Dame Emma Walmsley warned the UK life sciences industry was at a “tipping point” thanks to a lack of support from government and the NHS.

Much of GSK’s growth has been driven by a significant increase in vaccine sales, with the shingles jab Shingrix contributing £3bn to the total. But Walmsley was concerned that the UK was at risk of squandering something of a lead in life sciences, warning that a lack of clinical trials compared to other countries was “definitely a concern”.

“There’s a whole new wave of vaccine technology that’s coming which we would love to see this country and Europe right at the fore-

CHARGING AHEAD Troubled battery startup Britishvolt may have found a saviour

A NEW potential eleventh-hour bidder emerged for Britishvolt as suitors circled the troubled battery start-up ahead of yesterday’s deadline.

front of deployment of,” she told reporters yesterday.

GSK’s full-years were their first since the demerger of the brand’s consumer healthcare division, now known as Haleon, which netted the group a net gain of £10.1bn.

“2022 was a landmark year for GSK delivering the step change in performance we committed to, driven by strong growth in specialty medicines and vaccines, including record sales for Shingrix,” Walmsley said. Total continuing operating profit – excluding the discontinued consumer health operations – were 6.4bn.

The pharma giant expects turnover to increase by around six to eight per cent in 2023 with vaccines again leading the charge, with an expected increase of “mid teens per cent”.

Executives from private equity group Greybull Capital met with Britishvolt’s management on Monday to discuss potential proposals.

Bulb takeover will only cost taxpayer £260m, Octopus says

NICHOLAS EARL

OCTOPUS Energy’s takeover of Bulb could cost the taxpayer considerably less money than previously estimated, the firm told City A.M.

The Big Six Energy supplier’s chief financial officer Stuart Jackson said the takeover will come in considerably less than the £6.5bn calculated by the OBR and £2.5bn to £4bn estimates

Metal output plummets at Glencore as operational problems begin to bite

NICHOLAS EARL

GLENCORE yesterday revealed a downturn in production across major commodities in its full year report, with output in copper, lead, gold, silver and zinc below last year’s totals. The commodities specialist argued results were in line with revised guidance published last October, however chief executive Gary Nagle

recognised it had displayed a “mixed performance” this year – with coal, cobalt, nickel and ferrochrome production rising over the 12 month window.

The company’s own sourced copper production was 12 per cent lower than 2021, which Glencore attributed to the operational difficulties and sales.

Nagle said: “Overall, 2022 production volumes were in line with

our revised guidance from October 2022, with final quarter sequential production increases delivered across most of our key commodities, including copper, zinc, nickel and coal. During the year, however, we saw a mixed overall production performance.” Glencore shares moved up marginally on the London Stock Exchange after the news.

made by industry analysts and insiders over the past 12 months.

Jackson said: “Our view is that the total cost of taking Bulb into government ownership and then selling it out will net out at around about £260m lost to the government.”

Octopus has reported another year of losses after it opted to swallow a £150m bill in rising wholesale costs rather than pass it on to customers.

WHOLESALE GROUP BESTWAY FURTHER INCREASES STAKE IN SAINSBURY’S

The billionaire wholesaler tycoons behind Bestway have increased their stake further in supermarket giant Sainsbury’s. New filings yesterday morning showed that Bestway increased its stake the UK’s second largest grocery chain to 4.47 per cent. Shares in Sainsbury’s moved higher again after Bestway Group purchased 20m more shares in the listed retailer.

BRITISH STEEL ‘PLANNING TO AXE 800 JOBS’ DESPITE BIDDING FOR £300M TAXPAYER-FUNDED GRANT

British Steel has been covertly planning to slash jobs despite ongoing talks with the government which could see the industrial firm receive a multi-million pound grant funded by taxpayers’ money, according to reports. The Chineseowned group may cut 800 roles predominantly in its Scunthorpe headquarters in north Lincolnshire, Sky News has reported. The termination of coke ovens are apparently behind the cuts. The Scunthorpe site also has two blast furnaces and other mills which will carry on as usual. British Steel declined to comment at this moment. This has emerged even as Britain’s second largest steel producer remains in discussions with the government about a £300m funding deal largely based on the proviso that the company provide job guarantees.

HALF LIFE Rio Tinto recovers tiny radioactive capsule that it had feared lost

AUTHORITIES in Western Australia have recovered a tiny but dangerous radioactive capsule that fell off a truck along a 870mile road. An official said it was like finding a needle in a haystack.

GSK chief exec Dame Walmsley

RMT to ponder double-digit pay rise offer

CITY A.M. REPORTERS

SIGNS emerged yesterday that Britain might be able to move on from a seemingly endless series of rail strikes, with a new Network Rail pay offer to the RMT.

The offer on the table adds up to an increase of between 9.2 per cent and 14.4 per cent this year, with the great-

est increases going to the lowest paid. The RMT said it would “consult” members though pressure will once again be on the union’s militant boss Mick Lynch to put the proposals to a vote.

Support for industrial action appeared to be wavering in the last ballot of union members after months of disputes.

Network Rail committed to no compulsory redundancies and heavily-discounted travel for employees and their families.

Many staff on the railways have already seen their pay significantly subsidised by the taxpayer since the pandemic. Government claims each household in Britain has paid £1,800 to ensure jobs are not lost on the rail-

Labour’s strike conundrum leaves Keir stumped

TRAIN drivers, teachers, civil servants and apparently Keir Starmer’s speechwriters were on strike yesterday.

It’s the only explanation for the Labour leader trying and failing to get an answer out of Rishi Sunak about when he knew Nadhim Zahawi paid a penalty to HMRC.

Trying to point out that Sunak probably did know the thing which everyone else knew, the Labour leader did a very good impression of a ChatGPT summary of newspaper headlines about Nadhim Zahawi last year.

Over the last few weeks, Keir Starmer has done his darnedest to paint a picture of a Britain pulling apart at the seams as a result of the Conservative Party. And yet, on the day of the biggest

SKETCH Sascha O’Sullivan

strikes in more than a decade, he was too focused on internal party politics, rather than the fact millions of people across the country are either stuck at home with their kids or stuck at home because the trains aren’t running.

After striking out on Zahawi and largely reusing his talking points from last week, Starmer rounded on the deputy prime minister, who is facing his own headaches.

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Sunak will probably sack Dominic Raab three weeks after everyone in his party tells him he should, but he certainly wasn’t going to do it yesterday, not least because the deputy PM had brought a shiv fashioned out of a pret baguette (no tomatoes) to the House of Commons. Instead, Sunak decided to talk about a different abusive relationship, between Labour backbencher Rosie Duffield and her party’s leadership. After all, feminists famously love when women’s rights are used to avoid talking about allegations against powerful white men.

“If he can’t be trusted to stand up for the women in his party,” Sunak screeched across the Commons, “he can’t be trusted to stand up for Britain.”

ways despite a chunky fall in passenger numbers and therefore revenues.

Yesterday saw one of the most dramatic displays of union muscle in Britain in recent memory, with teachers, civil service staff and train drivers –who are locked in a separate dispute with train companies themselves rather than Network Rail –all walking out.

“Welcome to Westminster, the house of fools and the house of the corrupt,” Lynch said at a rally yesterday.

“Last year, Grant Shapps, remember him? He’s still around. Lurking around all of these buildings here, running the government, telling Rishi Sunak what to do, trying to ban the working class.”

Spencer plc.

Tech talent visa at risk as Tech Nation winds up

CHARLIE CONCHIE

TECH chiefs yesterday sounded the alarm over the future of Tech Nation’s lauded visa programme.

Tech Nation said this week it would close at the end of March after 12 years in operation following the government’s decision to hand its £12m grant funding, its main source of income, to a start-up accelerator run by Barclays. Tech Nation has separately managed a Global Talent visa programme for the Home Office since March 2020 which has allowed talented international talent to flow into the country’s start-ups.

However, when approached by City A.M. yesterday, officials could only assure it will “take every available step to ensure that applicants already part of the Global Talent route are not disadvantaged by the closure”.

Investors have now warned of the impacts of winding down the programme.

TAXING BEHAVIOUR 2.7m Brits yet to file their personal tax return as deadline passes

Ollie Purdue, a partner at Londonbased venture capital firm Antler, said “losing that visa route will be a major setback for the UK tech ecosystem”.

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

Ekaterina Almasque, general partner at early-stage VC firm Openocean, said the global talent visa had become “almost synonymous with Tech Nation”.

The decision to hand the grant funding to Barclays has been roundly slammed by the industry. A letter criticising the move had garnered over 400 signatures from prominent industry figures prior to the news this week.

A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said Barclays Eagle Labs was successful because its “application represented the best value for taxpayers’ money” and “will benefit the most startups and scale-ups over the next two years.

A RECORD 11.7m tax returns were received on time this year, HMRC revealed yesterday after the 31 January deadline. The 2.7m tardy tax filers could be liable for a £100 late payment fine from the HMRC and potentially other fines as well.

Ion Markets suffers cyber attack causing derivative disruption

CITY A.M. REPORTER

FINANCIAL data group Ion Markets suffered a cyber attack yesterday, according to reports, which caused disruption to derivatives trading. The attack was “contained to a specific environment,” Ion Markets said, according to the Financial Times.

Digital lender Zopa bags £75m for growth push

CHARLIE CONCHIE

DIGITAL lender Zopa said it has raised £75m today as it looks to kick off a major growth push in the coming months.

The London-based fintech said the fresh funding round would be used to meet the capital requirements of its “growing balance sheet” as well as fund a major acquisition push that could begin as early as this quarter.

A spokesperson declined to offer a valuation figure for the deal but said it “markedly enhances Zopa Bank’s unicorn status”. The firm most recently raised $300m in late 2021 at a valuation of $1bn.

City A.M. has approached Ion Markets for a comment.

A statement made by US trade association Future Industry Association (FIA) said that it was “aware” that the Dublin-based data group had suffered “network issues caused by a cyber incident on certain ION Group systems”.

A boost to its valuation would buck a slump in the market which has seen prominent fintech firms suffer major valuation ‘haircuts’. Jaidev Janardana, chief of Zopa, said the equity round “reaffirms the support” of its investors despite a “challenging economic environment”.

Janardana told City A.M. earlier this month the bank was expecting revenues for 2022 to have surged by around 130 per cent from the £70.5m it bagged in 2021.

Law watchdog plans a heavier crackdown

LOUIS GOSS

THE UK’s solicitors’ watchdog has warned that law firms could be fined or shut down if they fail to deal with incompetent solicitors, as it looks to take tougher action against firms and lawyers that fail to meet the regulator’s expectations.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said on Tuesday that it intends to “broaden the ways” it identifies incompetence in the profession, particularly in relation to solicitors dealing with “vulnerable” clients, in practice areas such as immigration law, and take action against law firms and lawyers that fail to improve.

After being asked by City A.M. what sanctions incompetent lawyers could face, the watchdog said it has the power to shut down law firms, strike off solicitors, and hand out fines of up to £25,000.

SRA chief executive Paul Philip said:

“We expect the profession to deliver a high standard of service to those who need their help.

“That means we must make sure that solicitors and the employees of firms we regulate have up-to-date skills, knowledge and behaviours.”

The regulator’s pledge comes after the Legal Services Board (LSB) – which regulates the legal sector’s regulators – called on legal watchdogs in July to toughen their enforcement around incompetence.

The LSB’s call came after its own surveys showed the vast majority of people in England and Wales believe that regulators should be doing more to tackle ineptitude in the profession. Its research showed that none of the legal sector regulators have “comprehensive and up-to-date information” on competence in the legal sector.

The company merger would have created a huge new firm with £400m turnover pa

Womble Bond Dickinson merger with BDB Pitmans is scrapped

LOUIS GOSS

WOMBLE Bond Dickinson and BDB Pitmans have scrapped plans for a merger, as analysts suggested the relative size of the former would mean a merger would, in reality, be more like a takeover.

The law firms, who first entered talks in Autumn 2022, said in a joint

US law giant responds to racism claims

LOUIS GOSS

US LAW giant Baker McKenzie has vowed to immediately conduct a “thorough review” into claims a mixed-race lawyer was subject to multiple instances of discrimination in one of its European offices.

The Chicago firm’s review comes after one of its former lawyers claimed she felt forced to leave her job due to facing poor mental health as a result of racial discrimination in Baker McKenzie’s offices.

The mixed-race lawyer said in an email leaked to news website Legalcheek that a “lack of diversity” at the firm drove her to quit.

statement yesterday they had “decided not to proceed further with their merger” which would see them create a firm with annual turnovers of more than £400m.

“After extensive discussions on the combined proposition, both firms have decided that the best path forward is to remain independent of each other,” the two firms said.

She claimed, according to the report, her colleagues in the Baker McKenzie office touched her hair, used the ‘n-word’, and asked her whether a family picture hanging in her office was a “rap album cover.”

The lawyer, who wished to remain anonymous, also claimed she was “yelled at” by a member of staff for making comments about the use of “blackface” in a Sinterklaas event.

UK crypto hub plans ‘at risk’, experts warn

CHRIS DORRELL

THE GOVERNMENT’s new plans to “robustly regulate” cryptoassets garnered mixed reactions from the crypto industry yesterday, with experts saying that, while the proposals were welcome, there were still huge questions about the timeline for when they might come into effect.

Nick Taylor from Luno, a crypto exchange, described the launch of the consultation as “a pivotal moment”. Tim Byun, from OK Group, which runs the OKX exchange, agreed.

“This is a positive announcement from HMT and is an encouraging sign that the crypto industry in the UK will mature under a comprehensive regulatory framework,” Byun said. The regulation signals “a shift from a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to a comprehensive regulatory approach that supplements [anti-money laundering]

BANKING ON IT Richard Branson’s financial firm enjoys a boom

rules with financial solvency and custody rules based on recent market developments,” Byun continued. However, other analysts were concerned about the government’s timeline, suggesting that if they failed to act quickly, the UK would risk losing out on gains from the crypto industry.

Charles Kerrigan, a partner at law firm CMS specialising in crypto, was damning on the chances of the government putting proper regulations in place quickly.

“If even getting to a consultation was this hard” he said, “it will be the devil’s own job to cross the finish line on regulation”.

Similarly, Zoe Wyatt from Andersen LLP said: “It will be two years before any meaningful change to the UK regulatory regime for cryptoassets and we fear that the UK’s desire to be a global crypto hub will be usurped by another faster acting jurisdiction.”

VIRGIN Money’s customer base continued to grow in the first quarter of its financial year as the challenger bank yesterday said it expects to benefit from higher interest rates for the rest of the year. There were around 27,000 new personal current accounts opened in the period, 44 per cent more than last year. This, the company said, was “a strong performance in a competitive environment”.

Architects of UK financial rules question reforms

CHRIS DORRELL

TWO LEADING architects of the UK’s financial regulations yesterday questioned the idea of giving regulators a competitiveness mandate and warned that reforms to Solvency II could expose the financial sector to greater risks.

In a Treasury committee hearing, John Vickers, chair of the independent banking commission, doubted the idea of giving financial regulators a mandate to promote the UK’s competitiveness, part of the Edinburgh reforms. He stressed it was better to focus on the wider economy.

“The competitiveness is that of the

UK economy as a whole, and for that objective we need very strong financial institutions,” he said. Keith Skeoch, chair of the independent panel on ring-fencing and proprietary trading, said there needed to be “an appropriate and prudential level of capital” to mitigate risks from Solvency II reforms.

Khan calls for return of tax free shopping

LAURA MCGUIRE

SENIOR retail figures have backed Sadiq Khan’s call to re-introduce VAT free shopping for tourists, claiming the move would make a “huge difference” to the sector.

Kay Buxton, chief executive of Marble Arch London BID, said that the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt “missed a trick” at the last Budget by not reintroducing tax-free shopping and claimed the move could increase spending in the capital by £2.1bn.

Buxton explained: “Research from the Association of International Retail found that reintroducing tax-free shopping would have brought in an additional 1.6 million visitors in its first full year.

“It also estimated that these new visitors would have spent an extra £2.1bn on shopping, along with an additional £1bn on other goods and services such

as hotels, restaurants and other leisure activities which would have been a vital boost for these businesses.”

Mayor Khan called for the reintroduction of VAT-free shopping, which has not been available since Brexit, in a letter addressed to Hunt. It was signed by over 20 senior figures including managing directors at Harrods and The Ritz.

VAT-free shopping was abolished at the start of Brexit in January 2021 and made shopping in the UK 20 per cent cheaper for tourists.

It was reintroduced in Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget in September 2022 but scrapped again in what was seen as a major blow for the West End with tourists shunning London for purse-friendlier shopping destinations such as Paris and Milan.

In his letter, Khan said that London’s success in attracting overseas visitors is vital not just to the capital, but to the “whole UK economy”.

High street continues to feel the pinch as H&M to shut four stores

LAURA MCGUIRE

H&M yesterday announced plans to shutter four UK stores due to a “rapid change” in customer behaviour. None of the fashion retailers’ London sites have been impacted by the move, however stores in Hartlepool, Maidenhead, Newport on the Isle of Wight and Burton are

Inflation makes outlook ‘bleak’ for restaurants

LAURA MCGUIRE

LONDON restaurateurs have described the outlook for the sector as ‘bleak’ after research has revealed that the number of hospitality businesses going bust has jumped by 65 per cent in the last year.

The figures, which were released by accountancy firm Price Bailey, show that 1,880 British restaurant businesses became insolvent in 2022, compared to the previous 12 months when 1,139 restaurant businesses went into insolvency.

set to close.

A spokesperson for H&M UK and Ireland said that physical stores are still “extremely important” to the brand.

“We continuously evaluate how we should invest in stores and sometimes decisions must be made to enable long-term growth,” a statement out yesterday said.

Philip Inzani, founder of the legendary Polo 24 Hour Bar, a restaurant and pub located on Liverpool Street, told City A.M. that the figures were “not surprising”. He explained: “The outlook is bleak and we can expect insolvency figures to rise as peoples’ disposable incomes are becoming sparser. Restaurants are facing food inflation and it isn’t showing any signs of abating, energy costs are spiralling, and these are just a couple of the external factors.” The industry is calling for support in next month’s budget.

The Swedish giant is feeling the headwinds of a squeeze on consumer spending

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‘NO TWO DAYS ARE THE SAME’

Felicia worked as a nurse in Brazil, but the 36 year old mum of one knew she wanted to care for older people when she settled in Cheshire.

Three years ago she got a job at a Residential Home in the north West of England and since then her career has flourished – and working 25 hours a week means she can fit it round family life too.

“As a teenager I would spend hours and hours in my grandma’s house, talking and reminiscing with her, so I always enjoyed having contact with older people and that’s why I chose to work with them. They have loads to teach you,” says Felicia.

And now she spends her time making residents’ days happier and healthier. “We do crafts, quizzes and daily exercise – and everyone is invited to take part, even if they don’t have fullmobility,” she says. “Last month I organised a movie afternoon. We decorated the room and I made bags of sweets and popcorn. I try to be very creative and encourage my colleagues to do the same to make the residents’ day brighter.”

There’s a lot more to the job though, as Felicia also spends time administering medication and reviewing care plans with her manager. And it’s clear no two days are the same.

“If you’re the kind of person who just wants to come to work and do the same thing day after day, then being a care worker is not for you,” she says. “Of course we have a routine, but sometimes you’ll find your-

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self in situations you’re not expecting. We need to be prepared for everything. I’m a professional and I have to make quick decisions to deal with different situations.”

Felicia is now studying for a leadership course after a promotion to senior care worker.

And one resident who has really benefited from her work is 91-yearold Cora, who moved into the home six months ago.

“Felicia is very helpful in every respect. I can’t quite see and she takes time to explain things to me. We did sewing together and we love a chat and a laugh – we share the same sense of humour and that’s very im-

portant!” says Cora. It’s clear to see there’s a bond between the two of them and Felicia even came to take Cora out on her day off.

“She took me to church and it was a wonderful experience. It had been quite a while since I’d been out and I felt worried about going somewhere strange, but Felicia made sure it wasn’t like that and everyone was very welcoming,” says Cora.

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Felicia with one | of her resident’s Cora, 91.

CATEGORY INNOVATIVE COMPANY OF THE YEAR

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

THE NOMINEES

CURRENCYCLOUD

Making it easier to transfer money abroad is a common theme in the fintech world but it is Currencycloud’s tech that has helped many of the household names grow. In 2022, it began an integration with VISA having been acquired by the payments giant the year before, and is now processing more than $5bn every month –with last year seeing new partnerships with Paysend, Wombat and Growth Lending. It now has offices not just in London but in New York, Amsterdam, Singapore and Cardiff.

MULTIPASS

Another firm offering cross-border payments for mid-sized businesses, Multipass developed inhouse tech that they have since rolled out to the market. In the best spirit of innovation, they partner their multi-currency management with old-school private banking experience and that rarest of things: dedicated client managers.

POLLINATE

Small businesses have a hard enough time of it as it is but Pollinate are hoping to make life a little bit easier for them. Pollinate’s platform allows small businesses to manage payments, grow their business and access multiple services from their bank, while banks get to serve their small business customers while receiving almost instant data about the state of the market. The in-built rewards system for smaller merchants is an add-on worth noting, too.

THIRDFORT

Compliance checks are boring. But Thirdfort stick out among a host of firms attempting to make ID verification and money-laundering checks both more effective and more efficient. App-based technology allows for everything from machine learning to secure storage of bank statements and allows both businesses and their clients to handle the ‘boring important bits’ with the minimum of fuss.

WANDISCO

The internet of things may still baffle plenty but those getting on board with its potential eventually run into WANdisco at some point. Recognised as a world leader in data management, the firm saw share price growth of a healthy 1,200 per cent in 2022; and founder David Richards adopted the four-day week before it was cool alongside a host of social programmes.

Adani pulls new equity fundraise in latest blow

NICHOLAS EARL AND REPORTERS

ADANI ENTERPRISES has called off its $2.4bn equity fundraising in the latest blow to Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s corporate fortunes, according to a report by the Financial Times.

The last minute decision to pull the impending share sale and refund investors marks an abrupt volte face after Adani Enterprises’ shares plummeted 27 per cent yesterday, taking them well below the deal price range.

The latest drops in value in Mumbai have left the combined market capitalisation of Adani Group stocks down more than $91.7bn since short seller Hindenburg released a report accusing the group of fraud and stock market manipulation just over a week ago. The falls represent a decline of almost 40 per cent in overall value.

Hindenburg Research revealed its allegations following a twoyear investigation into India’s second largest conglomerate, which has seemingly damaged investor

Natwest calls for stamp duty rebate to fund green home improvements

NICHOLAS EARL

THE GOVERNMENT should offer a rebate on stamp duty to fund energy efficiency plans for new homeowners, Natwest has argued.

confidence in one of the most world’s most powerful moguls.

Adani has vehemently denied the allegations, labelling them malicious and discredited.

In a regulatory filing last night, Adani said “given the unprecedented situation and the current market volatility”, the group had withdrawn the transaction and was returning proceeds.

The Ahmedabad-based group added that it was working with its bankers to issue refunds. “Our balance sheet is very healthy with strong cash flows and secure assets, and we have an impeccable track record of servicing our debt.

This decision will not have any impact on our future plans,” it said. Adani Group has grown over the past three years to become one of India’s largest industrial groups across infrastructure and logistics, turning Gautam Adani into one of the world’s wealthiest men.

Lloyd Cochrane, head of mortgages at Natwest, told City A.M. that home purchases should be used as a “moment to incentivise” retrofitting homes

Canary Wharf buzz almost back as Elizabeth line

lures back demand

EXCLUSIVE

ILARIA GRASSO MACOLA

PASSENGER demand at Canary Wharf is now nearly at pre-pandemic levels on weekdays, according to new data.

Transport for London figures shared exclusively today with City A.M. show that travel demand on Thursdays has returned to 90 per cent of 2019 levels, while passenger numbers are exceeding pre-pandemic levels on most weekends.

Just last Saturday, around 100,000 people exited stations serving Canary Wharf, more than double the number registered on any pre-Covid Saturday.

Such a significant surge in numbers seems to be driven by the new Elizabeth line, with the line taking commuters from central London to the business hub in around 17 minutes.

The data comes a day after TfL announced trips on the line had passed the 100m mark.

Deputy mayor for transport Seb Dance said the line was “increasing the capacity of TfL’s network and supporting businesses right across the city” while Shobi Khan, chief executive of the Canary Wharf Group, said the line had “transformed” access to the business hub.

with new insulation. He said: “This is why we are calling for a stamp duty rebate, allowing households to reclaim the cost of their retrofit against their stamp duty in a two year window after the purchase.”

However, he warned that this policy would only work if more people are trained to retrofit homes and supply chains for essential

materials are unclogged.

Cochrane’s comments follow the publication of Natwest’s Greener Homes Attitude Tracker, which showed the cost of retrofitting remains by far the biggest barrier to implementing green home improvements.

The government has established £12.6bn worth of support for energy efficiency measures.

TfL figures show Canary Wharf passenger levels have almost returned to pre-Covid levels

Adani founder and chief Gautam Adani

THE SQUARE MILE AND ME

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?

My first internship was for my state representative from Georgia when I was in University. He was a former actor, so the office was always in laughter! My first paying job was at the law library on campus.

FIRST JOB IN FINANCIAL SERVICES?

I became a risk analyst at OPIC –the Overseas Private Investment Corporation in Washington D.C.

WHEN DID YOU KNOW THE INDUSTRY WAS THE RIGHT PLACE FOR YOU?

I am not sure it’s so much the industry or the mission that motivates me. I believe our industry can change the world and be a driver of progress. I saw

that at OPIC.

WHAT’S ONE THING YOU LOVE ABOUT THE CITY OF LONDON... Its constantly evolving nature, both the City itself and London overall. Just look at the skyline over the last few decades –and think what that change represents!

... AND ONE THING YOU’D CHANGE More green space!

ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC FOR 2023? Very. There is still much uncertainty however 2023 feels like a fresh start.

City of London update

Lighting in the City : have your say

THE City of London Corporation is consulting on a new Lighting Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which provides advice on the lighting of buildings, streets and places.

The guidance covers the design, delivery, operation and maintenance of artificial light in the Square Mile.

There is an in-person public consultation event on Wednesday 8 February to receive feedback and attendees can also attend virtually.

The SPD includes a Considerate Lighting Charter that sets out simple yet

important steps that everyone can take to ensure the right light, in the right place at the right time, controlled by the right system.

The consultation runs until 5pm on Friday 17 February. bit.ly/40eTtVo

Lar ge scale London on display

THE City of London Corporation’s Guildhall Art Gallery is to unveil the world’s most extensive collection of supersize paintings of London.

The Big City: London painted on a grand scale celebrates artists who paint London on a huge scale, creating immersive works that dominate interior spaces.

This unique exhibition will showcase some of the largest paintings in the Gallery’s collection and includes many

rarely-seen works by Frank O. Salisbury, Terence Cuneo, and David Hepher.

The exhibition runs from 10 February. For tickets or to book a tour visit cityoflondon.gov.uk/thebigcity

WE’RE GOING FOR LUNCH IN THE CITY –WHERE ARE WE GOING?

I am not much of a lunch fan myself (makes me sleepy!) but I do really like 14 Hills, One Lombard or even a stroll over to Ottolenghi in Spitalfields on a rare occasion of extra time. Royal Exchange is also a fun place to connect.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PIECE OF LLOYD’S TRIVIA?

In 1926, a young American woman by the name of Gertrude Ederle swam the English Channel and beat the existing men’s record by nearly two hours – securing a princely return of £1,863 on her Lloyd’s premium, who had insured the journey. She came ashore in Kingsdown, Kent, having crossed the Channel in 14 hours and 39 minutes.

QUICKFIRE ROUND

FAVOURITE...

FILM: LOST IN TRANSLATION

BAND: PINK MARTINI

ARTIST: TOO MANY TO CHOOSE! I JUST BOUGHT A TOM BUTLER LONDON LANDSCAPE IF THAT COUNTS AS A CURRENT FAVOURITE

BOOK?: NINO HARATISCHWILI’S THE EIGHTH LIFE

WHAT ARE YOUR MOST MEMORABLE CITY MOMENTS?

Maybe not necessarily a moment, but moments rather; when I’ve moved away then returned to the City and run into former team members or

mentees who have new roles and keep on thriving. Wonderful to see!

WHERE DO YOU LIVE DURING THE WEEK?

Very near Borough Market which is super cool and vibrant, not to mention the fabulous food nearby.

WHERE WOULD WE FIND YOU ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON?

I’ll usually be in the market in the morning, and then down by the river in the afternoon.

YOU’VE’ GOT TWO WEEKS OFF –

WHERE ARE YOU GOING?

So many choices! As an American, two weeks holiday seems like a lifetime –Italy, Portugal, Iceland, Corsica, Southern France, Turkey… So many close by choices! A friend recently went to Zanzibar so that’s on my list now, as is Vietnam and I have always wanted to do go the tea plantations in Sri Lanka. Unlimited time and budget – Antarctica.

We dig into the memory bank of the City’s great and good: this week, Lloyd’s of London’s commercial director Dawn Miller tells us why she’s never too far from the market

GRETEL ENSIGNIA

2023 SIX NATIONS

PLUS: Six newcomers to watch; Championship fixture and TV guide; Inside the trophy cabinet

INSIDE: GAVIN HASTINGS EXCLUSIVE

Scotland shouldn’t fear Auld Enemy

ROBSHAW ON NEW-LOOK ENGLAND

Lack of prep time no excuse for Borthwick

WARBURTON ON RETURN OF GATLAND

Wales must unleash power of the pack

BEST GIVES HIS IRELAND VERDICT

It’s time for Farrell to experiment

SIX NATIONS 2023

Scots shouldn’t fear England trip but Ireland are my Six Nations pick, Gavin Hastings tells Matt Hardy

FORMER Scotland captain Gavin Hastings says his old side can be in buoyant mood as they travel down from the Highlands to London ahead of this weekend’s Calcutta Cup.

The national team have enjoyed their last two visits to Twickenham in the Six Nations and have a chance to take advantage of England’s new-look setup. A draw and a Scotland win on their last two visits to HQ have almost taken the edge off the oldest international fixture in rugby union, whose latest chapter is to be written on Saturday.

“My message to Scotland is to go down there and play with some freedom,” former Scotland captain Gavin Hastings tells City A.M.

“They need to remember what they achieved on their last two visits to London, and their first win at Twickenham since 1983.

“I don’t think [England have lost their edge], but they didn’t seem to function as well as they and the public know they can. I think the public dissatisfaction and the autumn contributed to the removal of the previous coach [Eddie Jones].

“[The Calcutta Cup] of course counts for something and if you ask most Scots they would say that the Cup has an extra special edge to it. And that’s brilliant, why shouldn’t you have that extra special edge? It’s such a historic trophy and it’s such a magnificent trophy.

“I didn’t have the opportunity to lift it as a captain, and I would have loved to have been a Scotland captain lifting the Calcutta Cup.”

The hosts are now under the stewardship of Steve Borthwick, having joined Wales in changing their management just months out from this year’s World Cup in France.

CHANCES TO BE TAKEN

“England have got a new coach and whatever else,” Hastings adds. “All the pressure is going to be on that.

“They’re sort of starting from scratch but if they get going they will be a tough side to beat, especially with their first two games at home.”

Scotland beat Argentina in their summer tour last year and came very close to wins against Australia and New Zealand in the autumn, but they’re yet to put together

I WANT SCOTLAND TO GO AND PLAY WITH FREEDOM

Wales beginning new eras and France and Ireland looking way out in front –not to mention Italy growing in ability too – Scotland smell an opportunity. They welcome Wales to Murrayfield after the Calcutta Cup before travelling to Paris. Thereafter they host Ireland before finishing the Championship at home against

“The Six Nations is a fantastic tournament,” Hastings says.

“It’s so unique and different.

You play four games in a row in the autumn but you don’t win a mythical Grand Slam or anything.

“There’s something in every game. If you start well and are still in the mix after a couple of rounds, momentum

on the World Cup.

OLD GUARD

“Look at Wales with Warren Gatland, the great redeemer,” Hastings says.

“He’s returned to Wales and announced his side early.

“It looks like he is picking some of the old guard with Leigh Halfpenny, Alun Wyn Jones and Dan Biggar, so it’s not going to be easy for Ireland [in their opening match in Cardiff].

“But Ireland just seem so calm and composed and play in a way where it looks like every team-mate knows exactly what [each] ball carrier is doing, what a kicker is about to do and they seem in tune with one another. I think they’ll win it.”

Ireland and France are seen as the

favourites this year but below that the Championship feels wide open. Italy beat Wales last year to shock the rugby world and it could be close this year.

“It’s going to be such a huge, huge year for France,” the ex-British and Irish Lion adds. “On their day they are almost unbeatable and they are just a magnificent team to watch.

“When they’re at their best, they’re playing rugby on a different level and we’ve seen glimpses of that. There’s no doubt they have some quality players and Antoine Dupont is the best scrumhalf in the world, by some margin.

“Italy are getting better and better under Kieran Crowley – he has done a magnificent job – and players like Ange Capuozzo are fantastic. When you’re not playing them you don’t want to see them get hammered because they bring so much, and going to Rome every two years is wonderful.”

Scotland can win a number of trophies besides the Calcutta Cup, but with the passing of former player Doddie Weir last year, their fixture with Wales has taken on extra poignancy. He adds: “The Scotland-Wales fixture will now always be synonymous with the Doddie Weir Cup.

“I’m sure in 100 years’ time people might not know huge amounts about him, but definitely for the next 20 years most people who will play in this fixture will be very knowledgeable and respectful in remembering one of the all-time greats and a chap who was larger than life and just wonderful.”

Scotland are the new France, as rugby fans would say – you never know which team will turn up. But in reality they’re there or thereabouts, and Hastings’ successors have the ability to win yet another Calcutta Cup on Saturday.

SIX NATIONS 2023

BORTHWICK HAS HARD START, SAYS ROBSHAW

WHILE much of the England squad for this year’s Six Nations is unchanged from the group who competed – and flopped – last year, it’s project reset at Twickenham as the Rugby Football Union hopes to inject fresh momentum ahead of the World Cup.

Former captain Steve Borthwick has taken the wheel of the England ship after ex-coach Eddie Jones was forced to walk the plank and the focus has shifted to the basics: can they simply be competitive at this Championship? It begins for them on Saturday with the Calcutta Cup against Scotland, a fixture they’ve failed to dominate for the last few years. It’s a short run-up for England, who have been in camp with Borthwick for just a week.

“I think there is [enough time to turn it around], it’s going to be a tough Six Nations,” former England captain Chris Robshaw.

“As a coach you only ever have that two-week window to get a team up to speed. During that camp earlier in the month they’ll feed back to players and say they want X, Y and Z.”

Robshaw, speaking on behalf of Sage Insights, added: “To be one of the best players, you have to be able to adapt and change your game quickly, to fit a structure and fit a model. The best players can do that quickly, it doesn’t take them a month to do it.”

England yo-yoed at the Six Nations under Jones but Borthwick brings a toughness to the side that may resonate with the significant number of Leicester Tigers and Saracens among

them, alongside much-admired defence coach Kevin Sinfield. Throw in temporary attack coach Nick Evans of Harlequins and England have a set-up which takes the form attributes from the Premiership and puts them in an international environment.

Every England player, coach and fan would take a Wooden Spoon at this year’s Championship if it meant challenging at the World Cup but the Six Nations captures the fan mood, and a good performance will see thousands get behind the national team. England are down a few men but they’ve got the depth to continue challenging. It’s a new beginning at Twickenham, and the opening chapter will be written on Saturday in the world’s oldest international rugby fixture. No pressure.

GATLAND MUST UNLEASH POWER OF WELSH PACK FOR SHOWDOWN WITH IRELAND

WARBURTON:

WALES are in a tricky patch ahead of the 2023 Six Nations. They’ve got a new coach in Warren Gatland who is also their ex-coach, a third captain in the space of 18 months, and some exciting youngsters to test out ahead of the World Cup.

They won the tournament in 2021 but finished fifth last year, and it hasn’t been a steady competition for those across the Severn Bridge over the last couple of years. But Wales have always thrived on the unknown and will be looking to get back to winning ways.

Among their breadth of talent is a stacked back row; a combination of Welsh stalwarts and exciting youngsters playing in England makes for a selection nightmare for Gatland.

“It’s difficult because I love Jac Morgan,

[Justin] Tipuric, Christ Tshiunza, [Taulupe] Faletau, Aaron Wainwright, Tommy Reffell,” former Wales captain Sam Warburton says. “When we have played Ireland we have lost the physical battle. Watching games over the last few years I’ve been thinking we need hitters in defence, and we’ve missed them.

“Bringing back Aaron Wainwright, having Jac Morgan, big Tshiunza at 115kg at No6 – that’s a domineering pack that you need. I imagine it [could at some point] be Morgan, Tipuric, Faletau with Tshiunza on the bench covering the back row. I would love to see Tshiunza have a proper run. At Exeter, Rob Baxter has put faith in him as a youngster and I wouldn’t be surprised if Gatland does the same.”

The curious thing about Wales is that, although most of the personnel are the

same, there does seem to be a feeling of confidence within the camp.

One thing that has changed is the captain, shifting from Dan Biggar to Tipuric and now hooker Ken Owens. The 36-year-old front row is the best in his position within Wales but the nation have fostered a leadership group over the last couple of years and they’ll no doubt be called upon over the next two months.

“They will have a plan B,” said Warburton at an event for Sage Insights.

“Ken could well get injured before the World Cup. He's 36 now. Not that I’m trying to make this about myself, but it’s a close comparison: I wasn’t going to be World Cup captain in 2011, it was going to be Matthew Rees. He pulled out with one warm-up game to go.”

England begin the Six Nations at home to Scotland on Saturday

Best urging Farrell to test Ireland’s World Cup options

THE FOUR provinces strut into this year’s Championship as the best in the world: the top ranked team on the planet and firing on all cylinders.

Ireland look like they’re peaking, but they have been guilty in the past of climaxing a year too early when it comes to getting the World Cup run-in spot on. They need no reminding that they are yet to win a knockout match at the showpiece event.

Ireland, under Andy Farrell, and France are the two pacesetters in the northern hemisphere at the moment and clash in round two of this year’s Championship. But as with every side with aspirations of being crowned

IN ONLY two of the last 10 editions of the Six Nations have Scotland managed to finish in the top half of the Championship table – in both 2018 and 2013. Since their last venture into the top three, they have finished fourth on three occasions and fifth once.

Yet there’s always a sense of optimism surrounding Scotland and the Six Nations. They frequently come close to living up to their potential. It’s now about taking their chances.

“The system isn’t just playing your best every week, it’s making sure that when you don’t play as well, you don’t drop to a bad performance,” said Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend.

“In the last two Six Nations we opened with victories and we haven’t followed them up in round two. We have improved within games as well when momentum goes the way of the opposition, we keep our togetherness, emotional control and knowing what the solution

world champions, they will need depth. Ireland have world class players across the park – especially at fly-half with Johnny Sexton and at tighthead prop in Tadhg Furlong – but they will need to blood players in this championship ahead of the World Cup.

“It will be really interesting to see how Andy Farrell looks at this Six Nations,” former Ireland captain Rory Best said.

“They cannot make wholesale changes but I think on out-half and tighthead prop [depth], it’s whether Andy goes ‘the Six Nations trumps everything else’ or whether he says ‘trying to win the Six Nations and finding solutions in those positions is the priority’.

“There’s a perfectly reasonable sce-

nario where you go to both of them: ‘I need you to sit on the bench, if we’re struggling after 15 minutes in Cardiff, you two can come on and win it’.

“It’s not always about finding cover for injuries but it’s about finding cover to change the game.”

There has been a long-running discussion across Ireland and beyond over the Sexton effect – and the impact it has on the side if he is not available for selection. But this Six Nations offers Farrell a chance to make sure that he doesn’t arrive at a World Cup with no proven depth in his key positions.

And that’s the thing with a Championship inside a World Cup year: there’s just so much more riding on every

Scotland looking to hit the ground running by claiming back-to-back Calcutta wins

is. It takes a lot of calm and leadership from the players.”

It doesn’t get much bigger for Scotland than taking on England in the Calcutta Cup, which they do on Saturday. It’s the oldest fixture in the history of international rugby and it’s one in which Scotland have had the upper hand of late.

England have won just one of the last five editions of the fixture, with Scotland picking up their first win at Twickenham since 1983 when they last visited London.

“While we played really well

two years ago, there weren’t any supporters [due to Covid-19] so that is one of the significant challenges,” said Townsend.

“We believe the team are ready for that challenge and we have evolved over the last couple of years since then, but it’ll be a big test for the first game of the Championship.

“I really believe our supporters come to our games, whether that’s home or away, believing that we can win.

“Expectation brings more demands, more responsibility [and] I suppose criticism when

you don’t reach those levels, but we’ve got to take that on board.

“We would much rather our supporters come to games expecting a win.”

Townsend has built a squad that has brilliant strength and depth and who will worry every other side.

Their recent finishes in the Six Nations table might suggest otherwise, but it is dangerous to write off Scotland in any Championship because of their ability to blow you open. There’s always a surprise in store when the Scots are in town.

game – every detail matters.

“He [Farrell] came in to us in 2016,” said Best, speaking on behalf of Sage Insights. “He oversaw our first win in South Africa and he oversaw our first win over New Zealand, so he has been in an Ireland set-up. The brilliant thing with Andy is he keeps it very simple to the whole group and then it’s a lot of one-on-ones. When you initiate with him, he gives you absolutely everything, but you’ve got to take that responsibility to want to be better.”

Ireland’s culture looks tight, and they’re in form heading into the Championships. But we’ve seen them crumble in key years before and they’ll be hoping it’s different this time around.

It’s not always about finding cover for injuries; it’s about finding cover to change the game

Crowley’s youthful Italy eager to forge a new identity

THEY’RE the traditional whipping boys of the Six Nations, with their highest finish coming 10 years ago when they ended fourth, but Italy have a new-found confidence and are going back to basics in 2023.

Last year they beat Wales in Cardiff to end a 36-match Six Nations winless run before backing the result up with their first ever home win over Australia in the autumn. Under Kieran Crowley they’re looking at technique and process while backing the youth of today to help them thrive for years to come.

“The first question I got [asked last

year] was about promotion and relegation. This year it took four hours so things have changed a little bit,” said head coach Crowley. “Our whole mantra is to gain respect and credibility and get an identity for Italian rugby. I think we are starting to do that. We’re looking at developing a game that suits us and I think we’re starting to get a little bit of consistency around selection.”

The likes of Ange Capuozzo, Paolo Garbisi and Luca Rizzoli are among the youngsters making names for themselves across Europe and Crowley has backed players such as these – as well as stalwarts, including a returning Jake

Polledri – to continue building Italian foundations for the future.

“They all [need to step up],” Crowley said. “One of the things with our group is that there’s not a lot of caps. There’s a lot of players who have only played single [digit] games and when you look at Ireland and France there are a lot of 5060 cap players. I don’t think there’s any one individual that has to step up; as a team we have to step up.”

Leading the Azzurri this year is 24year-old back row Michele Lamaro. He has played his whole club career at four Italian clubs and seems to be on the same page as Kiwi Crowley. Italy have

THIS FRANCE CAN TAKE THE HEAT, INSISTS KAYSER

do since 2011.

Les Bleus are in scintillating form having gone through the entirety of last year without defeat. But the stakes are higher in 2023, which brings a World Cup in which they’ll play hosts, and the pressure to succeed is on.

There has never quite been this kind of feeling around a French side before. Yes, they’ve been to a couple of World Cup finals and have graced the game with some of the most beautiful rugby one can remember, but now they have depth, power and a desire which hasn’t been seen for decades.

“There’s one vocabulary I thought I would never use to describe France: reliable,” said 47-cap former hooker Benjamin Kayser.

“They really can cope with the pressure, they can stick to their guns, they’ve faced

each other, they genuinely do.”

But as with any winning run, it must come to an end at some point. And while fans of Les Bleus will be hoping it doesn’t come anytime soon, they’d rather the rude awakening now than at the World Cup.

It’s difficult for coaches to keep both eyes on the Six Nations when there is a World Cup on the horizon, and some suggest France could use some of their matches to try different combinations and tactics ahead of the showpiece event on home soil in the autumn.

A winning habit is important, however, and Kayser insists that it must continue to be a priority for his former team.

“I think they [this France side] are different. I am not sure they’re that obsessed about

“Winning needs to become a habit and if you do lose the game you take the consequences after, but not before the game by saying ‘if we lose that one it’s not the end of the world’. That’s a different mentality.”

France are a different beast at the moment and are up there alongside Ireland as the favoured sides not just to win this year’s Championship but to challenge for the Grand Slam too.

Amid all the contentment in rugby across the Channel at the moment, it is hard to imagine the stress of competing in a Six Nations tournament just months before a home World Cup, as England’s class of 2015 know, having been beaten to the Six Nations title on points difference just months before staging the biggest tournament of all.

GAELIC BEAKERS, MELTED RUPEES AND ITALIAN

Matt Hardy on the nine different trophies on offer at the Six Nations

The Six Nations is more than just a competition; it’s a series of rivalries between Europe’s best rugbyplaying nations.

Here are the nine trophies up for grabs and the history behind them as the teams prepare to do battle again.

CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY

The Championship Trophy has been given to the winners of the Six Nations since 1993. It is sterling silver and has 15 panels, representing the players on a rugby team, and three handless, for the three officials.

TRIPLE CROWN

The Triple Crown is contested between the four home nations and is won when a

nation beats the other three inside a single Championship. The achievement goes back to the competition’s genesis as the Four Nations but a trophy to recognise it has only been in place since 2006.

CALCUTTA CUP

The oldest international rugby trophy in the world, the Calcutta Cup has been fought over by England and Scotland since 1879 and is made from melteddown rupees donated by ex-pats in India.

MILLENNIUM TROPHY

Formed in 1988 to mark 1,000 years of Dublin’s existence, the Millennium Trophy is awarded after each match between England and Ireland. England have lifted

the trophy more times but Ireland have won it in the past two Championships.

CENTENARY QUAICH

Celtic roots run through the Centenary Quaich, the trophy awarded to the winner of clashes between Ireland and Scotland. Ireland have dominated the prize, which is named after a Gaelic drinking beaker.

AULD ALLIANCE TROPHY

The Auld Alliance Trophy gets its name from the treaty between Scotland and France and was created in 2018 to commemorate rugby players who have died in conflict.

GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI TROPHY

This is awarded after matches between Italy and France. It was named after Italian general Garibaldi, who is considered one

been guilty of putting together good spells in matches without being able to last the entirety of the contest.

“I think for us a big thing is confidence,” Lamaro said. “We are starting to believe, we did believe already but we believe in what we are doing. On the field it’s about having your own process and not conceding after a mistake. That’s almost the main thing: if you can stay in the fight in the game, for the whole 80 minutes, you have a chance.” There’s no doubt they remain the weakest of the six sides. But to write off Italy is to offend 23 very big and determined men, so do it at your peril.

GENERALS

of the unifiers of the boot-shaped country and also served as a volunteer in the French Republican Army, but it has been won by his native Italy just twice out of a possible 16 times.

DODDIE WEIR CUP

The Doddie Weir Cup also began in 2018 and helps to raise money for motor neuron disease charities. Former Scotland great Weir died late last year from the disease but his foundation continues to raise millions of pounds.

CUTTITTA CUP

Scotland and Italy have battled for the Cuttitta Cup since last year, making it the newest trophy on the Six Nations circuit. It is named after Massimo Cuttitta, a former Italy player and later Scotland coach, who died of Covid-19 in 2021, aged 54.

Our mantra is to gain respect and credibility. I think we’re starting to do that

THE Six Nations squads have no shortage of grizzled stalwarts, but the Championship also sees youngsters from across the big domestic leagues given the chance to shine over the coming weeks.

Here, City A.M. picks one player to watch from each of the countries over the coming weeks.

ANGE CAPUOZZO, ITALY

Current world breakthrough player of the year Ange Capuozzo returns to action for the Azzurri with a lot of expectation on his shoulders.

The French-born player scored a brace on his debut against Scotland in last year’s Six Nations and was pivotal in his side’s victory over Wales.

The zippy 23-year-old back-three player plies his trade at French giants Toulouse, having joined them from Grenoble last summer.

Capuozzo is a fan favourite and one of those the game will undoubtedly look to market going forward. He’s well worth a watch.

ETHAN DUMORTIER, FRANCE

Uncapped Ethan Dumortier is 6ft 3ins, 93kg, 22 years old, full of promise –and straight off the French wing-centre crossover player conveyor belt.

Playing in Lyon, Dumortier has earned spots in the French junior setup and has also played for his nation in the sevens format.

He is youthful and daring, something that the French set up has been lauded for lately, and will do doubt be one to watch should he get game time off the bench.

OLLIE HASSELL-COLLINS, ENGLAND

England are currently seeing an overhaul of their wing options; out are going the likes of Jonny May and Jack Nowell and in are coming Ollie HassellCollins and Cadan Murley.

Hassell-Collins has been a revelation at London Irish over the last couple of years, not only scoring at a healthy rate but taking part in game-changing moments such as one-on-one tackles and closing off breaks.

He was first called up by ex-England coach Eddie Jones in 2021 but is yet to receive his first cap. New boss Steve

Ones to watch: Six hot prospects set to light up the Championship

Borthwick has waxed lyrical about the 24-year-old, however, and it would be no surprise to see him named in England’s 23 when the squad is released later today.

BEN HEALY, SCOTLAND

We have seen a number of players switch allegiances in the past – this year’s Scotland squad includes a winger who has previously played for England – but in Irish-born Ben Healy Scotland have got an uncapped player who has so much promise. Having confirmed a move from Munster to Edinburgh for this summer, Healy was swiftly drafted into the na-

tional squad by head coach Gregor Townsend.

The 23-year-old from Tipperary was tempted by a deal to move to Scotland back in 2020 but refrained, and is now heading across the Irish Sea as a more mature fly-half. And given the injuries at No10 in Scotland, there’s a high chance of seeing Healy in action across the next couple of weeks.

DAFYDD JENKINS, WALES

One-cap forward Dafydd Jenkins broke through at Exeter Chiefs and continues the West Country side’s tradition of blooding good quality forwards.

He became the youngest Premiership captain in November last year at the age of 19 and led his side out against Gloucester last weekend.

The 20-year-old is a bruising ball-carrier from Bridgend and made his international debut in Wales’s loss against Georgia in the autumn.

He has been backed by former Wales captain Sam Warburton, alongside fellow back row Christ Tshiunza, to make a big impact for Wales for a number of years to come.

GAVIN COOMBES, IRELAND

Gavin Coombes has been a Munster stalwart since 2018 but has only two

caps to his name – both from the 2021 Ireland summer tour.

The No8 has been sensational for his province across this season, catapulting him into contention for a starting spot in this year’s Championship. He is nimble but has the ability to crash the ball through the midfield; a modern all-rounder and in the mould of former international No8 CJ Stander.

The 25-year-old is the most experienced in this selection but that is to his advantage. Coombes looks like being a great asset for Andy Farrell’s Ireland in the Six Nations and the World Cup.

URGENT. That was the word used by the former interim chief of the City watchdog Chris Woolard when he gave his verdict on regulation of buy-now pay-later (BNPL) in a landmark review, two years ago today. The sector had just been through 12 months of breakneck growth as shoppers poured online through the pandemic and troubles were bubbling to the surface.

But surveying the progress two years on, the industry is less than enamoured. Consumer groups have been sounding the alarm on mounting piles of debt in a cost of living crisis and industry champions say that fintech firms need certainty for innovation.

Woolard, a public sector veteran who served at the FCA, Bank of England and Payments Systems Regulator before moving to big four firm EY, is more generous.

“We have two stories here. One is actually a very rapid reaction by the Treasury initially. And since then, there is a question for them about terms of relative priority and timing,” he tells City A.M. in an interview. “I think we can all agree [that], if you are the Treasury, you haven’t had a boring two years have you? There’s been an awful lot to focus on.”

His read of the progress has not always been so forgiving. In a statement to this newspaper last year, Woolard said the “pace had slowed” and it was “important the FCA is granted the necessary powers” –we might read that as a fairly damning assessment in regulatorspeak.

But even without the guardrails, Woolard is keen to dismiss the proliferating view of BNPL as a boogeyman on which to project cost of living anxieties.

“You’ve got to be careful not to demonise buy-now pay-later as a product. Actually, for a lot of people, it’s a much better alternative to a number of other sources of credit that could be out

Financial

there,” he says.

His comments come now just after the Treasury has missed another selfimposed deadline on regulation set for the end of last year.

Patience is wearing thin and the former FCA chair admits that “uncertainty in regulation is never a good thing”. Any perceived lack of urgency is not for lack of trying though, he argues.

REGULATORY VETERAN

The more balanced assessment might be a bid to avoid throwing shade at the watchdog’s current leadership –it might also be a fair one from a man who came to know the workings of the regulator over a lengthy career.

Woolard worked in the public sector

Charlie Conchie interviews the biggest movers and shakers in tech, fintech and financial services

SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE?

The regulatory veteran wants a rulebook for the 21st century –but getting it right might trump speed

from 1995 and took on his first senior position at the FCA as executive director of strategy and competition in 2013. He was in line for the top job before being pipped to the post by current chief Nikhil Rathi –“when it was time to move on, as is well publicised, that was not entirely my decision,” he admits.

Prior to that, he had become known as the frontman for much of the FCA’s work in innovation, rolling out the pioneering regulatory sandbox and founding Project Innovate. Even with that career, he might be forgiven for not looking too enviously at regulators’ workload

Last year saw a series of unprecedented run-ins between regulators and politicians as rules that govern the City began to dominate the political debate. Rishi Sunak even leant on the much-discussed insurance

If

rules in a campaign run-in with Liz Truss (left).

“It’s slightly strange when you see mainstream political candidates running to lead their political party and they’re talking about Solvency II. I think everyone in the market found that a little odd at times,” Woolard says.

“But equally, you can see why the bigger picture on financial regulation is still out there. I think it’s still central to how we think about the UK’s relationship post-Brexit.

“It’s actually more surprising that they weren’t part of the political debate for quite some time.”

COOLING DOWN

Tensions between politics and regulation have cooled somewhat since the heated exchanges of the summer leadership campaign, when Truss’ progrowth coalition were threatening to tear up the rulebook altogether.

But even the ostensibly more Citysavvy Sunak has stoked the ire of the watchdogs in recent months. Proposed call-in powers that would have allowed politicians to overrule regulators drew restrained condemnation from the FCA and Prudential Regulation Authority. The chief of the PRA, Sam Woods, warned that call-in powers risked “creating a system in which financial regulation blew much more with the political wind”.

Woolard’s read does not much differ.

“If we look around the world, the only market with those kind of call-in powers is China. And if you look at other major markets that would be the UK’s rivals, those sort of powers really don’t exist,” he says.

Unfortunately for the grand reformers who want rapid pace and major overhaul of regulation, stability is key, he says.

Big Bang 2.0 and the grand swoop

of deregulation have been arranged into the more beige package of Edinburgh Reforms, revealed by Jeremy Hunt in early December. While changes to areas like bank ringfencing and retail investments are still significant, he says, they are “evolution not revolution”.

And a more measured approach could be crucial if the UK is to retain its status and keep pace with its international competitors.

“If London wants to be a player in those big global markets –New York, Hong Kong, UK and Singapore –there are certain norms that [they] follow. And there’s no getting away from that.”

SLOW AND STEADY

While fintech firms and campaigners are frustrated with the glacial pace of BNPL regulation that thrust Woolard’s name into mainstream conversation, rapid movement is not necessarily something he sees as desirable.

The sluggish approach of the Treasury may be holding up movement. But sometimes in regulation, he argues, slow and steady may be more of a virtue than it appears.

you are the Treasury, you haven’t had a boring two years, have you?

services regulation is central to how we think about the UK’s postBrexit relationship

Connecting the Community

London named as world’s most crypto-ready city

LONDON has been named as the world’s leading crypto hub in a report researching the most cryptocurrency-ready cities throughout the globe.

The index uses eight criteria, including the number of crypto workers and companies, events, quality of life score, and R&D spend as a percentage of GDP.

Along with having a high number of people working in the crypto industry, London hosted the second highest number of crypto-related events and conferences throughout the year, and is home to more than 800 crypto-based companies.

England’s capital ranked highest in the world in the crypto-readiness index, devised by crypto tax software company Recap, closely followed by Dubai, and then New York.

In second place, Dubai is pushing to become the leading centre for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in the Middle East, following a year of multiple new laws for crypto exchanges to operate in the city.

Capital gains tax was also taken into consideration in the index – with Londoners paying up to 20 per cent.

Dubai – which has 772 crypto companies and his home to 200,000 Britscurrently has a rate of zero per cent.

Singapore came in fourth place, followed by Los Angeles, Zug, Hong Kong, Paris, Vancouver and Bangkok.

“Crypto assets have grown massively over the past few years, and are becoming increasingly interlinked with the regulated financial markets, and the fact that so many cities are embracing it is a positive sign,” said Daniel

Howitt, co-founder and CEO at Recap.

“London being the world’s leading crypto hub is good news for the government’s plans to make the UK a global hub for crypto-asset technology and investment.”

The research also shows that the world’s least developed countries are significantly less prepared to become crypto-hubs.

“This could cause barriers to trade with more developed crypto-hubs in future – so it’s important they’re all given the opportunity to get up to speed,” Howitt added.

“While London excels in offering crypto events and jobs, as well as attracting crypto companies, the city falls behind when it comes to R&D spend and crypto ownership; we

CRYPTO NEWS IN BRIEF

LIONS TAKE A SHOT AT CRYPTO PAYMENTS

THE London Lions – one of Europe’s biggest basketball teams – have teamed up with crypto platform BitPay in a partnership that will allow fans to buy merchandise and tickets using cryptocurrency.

The move will enable fans to transact with the club using more than 100 different crypto wallets and exchanges including Coinbase, Exodus Wallet and Trust Wallet. Club merchandise can be purchased immediately using crypto, and it is understood ticket purchases will be available soon.

The Lions – based at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford – continue to attract fans as UK basketball increases in popularity, selling out the CopperBox Arena for last month’s visit from Paris, with an additional 4,000 fans attending their recent game with Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv in the EuroCup.

MILLIONAIRES EYEING UP CRYPTO

MORE than 80 per cent of high net worth individuals have sought financial advice about including cryptocurrencies in their portfolios over the last 12 months, a study has shown.

Despite the market experiencing a difficult year in 2022, the results of a study by deVere Group show 82% of clients with between £1m and £5m of investable assets enquired about cryptocurrencies.

FTX-LINKED UK CHARITY UNDER INVESTIGATION

need to see more investment in these areas as a country in future, for London to continue to leading the race as a global crypto-hub.

“Like many countries, the UK is forming new rules and regulations around crypto taxation. Whether this will help or hinder London’s place as a crypto-hub is something to look out for in the future.”

Bulls and bears are still fighting over the $23k line

IT’S been a flat week in the markets after a rip-roaring start to 2023, with the price of Bitcoin lingering around the $23k mark for the most part. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, was changing hands for about $23,050 last night, up barely a per cent over the week. The price of Ethereum has followed a similar pattern, trading at more than $1,500 for two weeks.

The uplift has also seen a shift in mood around the space. Although recent trials and tribulations continue,

the Fear and Greed Index, which measures investor sentiment, has now seen its longest sustained period of Greed in more than a year. Has the tide turned after a record-breaking period of negative sentiment?

The stronger start to the year comes amid a growing optimism that the economy will face a softerthan-expected landing from Covid restrictions and soaring inflation. However, hopes that the US central bank would begin cutting interest rates were dashed, with the Federal

Reserve choosing to lift the benchmark borrowing cost by 25 basis points to a new range of 4.5 per cent to 4.75 per cent.

The decision to slash rates would have been a boon to assets considered by investors to be on the riskier end of the spectrum, with the Fed’s program of rate rises last year - including four consecutive 0.75 percentage point rises - being held responsible for the poor performance. Could further interest rate rises set us back again?

In UK news, the Treasury also

announced this week that it had outlined new rules that could see increased responsibility placed on crypto firms when it comes to their requirements for authorisation and disclosure documents. The crypto industry lost a lot of public trust in 2022, it could be that regulation now helps to bring it back.

THE Charity Commission has launched an inquiry into a fundraising platform linked with the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange. An investigation into the Effective Ventures Foundation – formerly known as the ‘Centre for Effective Altruism’ – has been flagged as “a serious incident” following disclosures that FTX’s philanthropic foundation was a significant funder of the charity.

The Charity Commission said the trustees of Oxford-based Effective Ventures fulfilled their duties and responsibilities in submitting an RSI, stressing there was no indication of wrongdoing by the trustees at this time. The three-year-old FTX exchange collapsed in November owing $8 billion to depositors. Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, is set to stand trial for fraud on October 2.

POLYGON PUTTING IN A STRONG PERFORMANCE

POPULAR scaling solution token MATIC has been the week’s most impressive performer with a 17 per cent seven-day lift - up more than 45 per cent in the monthly chart.

The Ethereum-based token behind the Polygon Network yesterday posted a 24-hour trading volume exceeding $370m.

The $9.6bn market cap MATIC’s price was holding a steady $1.10 last night, with a trading activity at 93 per cent ‘buy’. It’s still got some way to go to reach the all-time high of $2.92 set on December 27 2021.

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Index climbs but runs out of steam hit by Fed Reserve interest hike

LONDON’s FTSE 100 edged higher yesterday morning, before running out of steam later in the day ahead of the US Federal Reserve launching a big week for central banks with an expected 25 basis point interest rate hike. The capital’s premier index eventually fell 0.17 per cent to 7,758.21 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, rose 0.29 per cent to just under the 20,000 point mark.

Market sentiment seemed to be holding up well despite the world’s most influential central bank poised to nudge borrowing costs higher again after London markets closed. Higher rates tend to weigh on stocks by making fixed income assets such as bonds more attractive and clouding the outlook for spending in an economy.

Although today’s expected rise will mean the Fed has raised interest rates at each meeting since last March, bets are ramping up on it being the penultimate or final rise in its current tightening, which has been the most aggressive since the 1980s.

“A lot is riding on the Fed dialling back rate hikes to 25 basis points and there will also be plenty of attention on the surrounding messaging from chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues,” Russ Mould, investment director AJ Bell, said.

The Bank of England is anticipated to follow suit on Friday with a 50 basis point increase to four per cent, as is the European Central Bank.

Wall Street’s main Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes opened lower. The pound was broadly flat against the US dollar.

Oil prices slipped around one per cent.

Foresight group yesterday announced a distribution agreement in the US, its biggest target market. Foresight has been trying to widen its investor base geographically for a while, but analysts at Peel Hunt said the deal could take some time to deliver substantial AUM even if it was still significant from a market-entry angle. It was rated a ‘buy’ with a target price of 550p.

Gaming Realms’ trading update today confirmed a 27 per cent increase in revenue year-on-year while adjusted ebitda increased 36 per cent. Peel Hunt analysts said the company continues to grow each of the three key drivers of its business. They expect the 2023 financial year to be an inflection point. The analysts reiterated their ‘buy’ recommendation with a 60p target price.

ACROSS THE POND “European markets initially started the day modestly higher, with gains largely capped by caution ahead of last night’s widely anticipated Federal Reserve rate decision. These initial gains largely gave way to modest weakness, on the back of a softer US open as some disappointing earnings served to act as a drag.”

MICHAEL HEWSON, CMC MARKETS

OPINION

EDITED BY SASCHA O’SULLIVAN

Sunak needs to stop fighting over tax and spend and overhaul the system

committee to identify how best to streamline our taxation system.

IAM starting to suspect that for all the sound and fury, 2022 was not as momentous a year in politics as we suspected. In fact, this year has begun much like the last, with Rishi Sunak resisting calls from his own party to be fiscally irresponsible.

Never mind the ferocious backlash from global lending markets to Trussonomics or the need to spend more on providing weapons to Ukraine and subsiding everyone’s fuel bills, the Tory Party wants its tax cuts and it wants them now. Neither the signs our public services are dangerously underfunded, even at current spending levels, nor the rising interest rates are enough to discourage the unending calls.

The latest cudgel to be wielded against Rishi Sunak is the International Monetary Fund’s prediction that Britain will be the only leading economy to enter a recession this year, with even a Russia beset by sanctions predicted to have some economic growth. This has been seized as evidence that Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng were right all along, and now is the time to cut taxes and dash for growth. Of course, such claims ignore the IMF’s brutal denunciations of the mini-budget.

Tax cuts would do little to address the issues highlighted by the IMF. They

would do nothing to lessen the impact of high inflation and could easily make the situation worse. Indeed, it was attempting to fund tax cuts with greater government borrowing that accelerated the increase in interest rates. The ensuing squeeze on household budgets was merely collateral damage. And it’s hard to see which tax cuts could address the reluctance of older people to return to work after the pandemic. But if Sunak wishes to remain Prime Minister, he cannot repeat the mistake that initially cost him the leadership last year. A sullen, half-hearted refusal to cut tax only antagonises his internal critics and offers nothing for his supporters to rally round. However, his freedom to manoeuvre is limited both

by the divides in his own party, as well as how his own personal desire to deliver tax cuts runs up against a genuine need to better fund key public services. There is no easy way out of this for the Prime Minister. If I was Rishi Sunak (which, thankfully, I’m not) I would try honesty. He should admit his party does not have an answer on tax and spend and say this is because there are no easy answers to the problems this country faces.

He should be open that something has gone wrong with taxation in this country, as governments have tried to deliver more and more public spending without refusing to increase taxes such as income tax that people most notice. This has led to them pursuing

gimmicks and shortcuts which have made the taxation system needlessly complicated and introduced perverse incentives into the system. He should boldly say that the current taxation system is broken, delivering neither enough revenue to fund public services, nor incentivising individuals or companies to be as productive as possible.

These admissions should then be followed by an offer to the Labour Party. An offer to put aside arguments about the level of taxation and spending for the time being, so that the two parties could work together to restore some semblance of clarity to the overall system. He could offer that both parties would appoint people to an expert

If scammers exploit ChatGPT for fraud, our response to digital crime must also use AI

OUR expanding relationship with the digital world transformed the opportunities for financial crimes. As criminals become more sophisticated, so too must be our response. As they get better at it, exploiting the newest technologies, so must we.

We are getting used to living our life without the need of physically going places. Shopping is delivered to our doors and banking can be done from a smartphone. The pandemic accelerated this shift to the digital economy, and while the potential benefits are endless, so too are the opportunities for innovative criminal schemes.

In the same vein, banks have also become more digital. Going to a bank branch is now rare. New customers can be onboarded virtually via a smartphone. This has given criminals new channels to exploit - increasing digitalisation has been accompanied by a rise in sophisticated fraud and money laundering. Digital crime pays better and the odds of getting caught are

Martin Rehak

for humans. Using AI, such as ChatGPT, combined with video generation, the attackers will be able to create convincing impersonations of bank employees, and other people we implicitly trust. A machine that has learned how to have a natural conversation can convince enough of us to send our money into the hands of criminals.

If this sounds overly idealistic, it has been done before, with Ronald Reagan’s famed 1986 Tax Reform Act in America. Such a review would seek to remove the distortions that add needless complexity, discourage growth, and penalise hard work by broadening the tax base whilst reducing headline rates. The two parties could then work to implement the proposals before resuming hostilities about the precise levels of taxation within the new framework.

Such an offer would give Rishi Sunak something to say on taxation that means more than disappointingly explaining to his party or the country that there is no jam today. It might provide some breathing room to allow for slightly higher borrowing in the shortterm to address the immediate crisis in the public sector. And it would restore some of the lustre to the reputation for being a different type of Tory that he acquired during the pandemic, which has dissipated as he’s led a narrowly partisan government.

It would also encourage the press and the public to look more closely into what Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves would do on taxation to meet their commitment to increase spending on public services without borrowing more to fund their day-to-day delivery. And if he could somehow secure their support for a thorough reform of the British taxation system, it would leave him with an important legacy even if he ultimately goes down to defeat at the next election.

£ Will Cooling writes about politics and pop culture for the It Could be Said subtack

GLORY DAYS

learns to detect any behaviour or transaction out of the ordinary. This more flexible approach adapts as criminality evolves.

close to nil.

One major threat is push payment fraud. A typical scam involves getting a call from your bank informing you that your account has been compromised. You are in danger of losing all your money. Don’t panic, they say, we can help you. They talk you through the software you need to install and the accounts to put your money in to keep it safe. You do this to prevent an awful thing from happening, but later you realise that that awful thing has happened. You just have sent all your money to scam artists.

Imagine this process, a few years down the line, but without the need

The traditional AI-based approach to financial crime prevention has been based on manual rules-based systems, or on supervised machine learning. This approach, relying on an explicit definition of financial crime we want to catch, already fails today. The upcoming generation of attacks will be impossible to address manually. Applying machine learning to this problem is long overdue, especially in a fully digital environment.

A better way of combatting financial crime is with techniques based on anomaly detection, combined with recent AI innovations. Rather than trying to second guess what a financial crime might look like, the machine

The ‘black box’ issue is another AI shortcoming when combatting crime. Many AI techniques do not explain which factors were key in reaching their outputs. When financial institutions use AI to combat financial crime, they need transparency to understand how a decision was reached.

Regulators also want to understand how AI is used – to ensure the decisions are ethical and explainable. AI should not be making arbitrary decisions, but rather operating under close supervision of professionals who can make a final judgement. Applying such an approach is our best hope of combatting financial crime as it becomes more sophisticated, our best hope of safeguarding everything we have online - and in real life.

£ Martin Rehak is the founder and CEO of startup Resistant AI

Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure to cut taxes

Boris Johnson loves a snappy three-part slogan and in a bid to keep himself relevant he’s come up with a new one. The ex-PM told Fox News that Western countries must ‘save money, save time and save lives’ by agreeing to arm Ukraine sooner rather than later.

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR A Silicon Valley obsession

[Re: The best cut is inflation: Hunt hits back at recession ‘declinism’, Jan 27]

The focus on growth in the Chancellor’s recent speech is certainly a key part of what the economy needs. But we are looking for it in the wrong places. Pursuing a long term vision of making the UK the next Silicon Valley overlooks the potential already under our noses. Going after growth does not exclusively mean attracting overseas investment and new companies at the frontier of

technology. It also means empowering the small businesses that underpin ` the economy. Although it is larger firms that announce big profits and wield vast headcounts, small businesses are best placed to create jobs and contribute to sustainable economic growth. Government must support small businesses and give them certainty through meaningful policy that is distinct from what works for their larger counterparts.

The Chancellor must recognise that we already have the engine of growth at our fingertips - it just needs fine tuning.

Alex von Schirmeister

STAR OF THE CUP Costa has the strongest cup of coffee on high street

Christmas sales were a moment of reprieve as high streets play whac-a-mole

Richard Curry

THE obstacles facing retailers keep popping up like whac-amole. Hot on the heels of Covid and the acceleration of online shopping came a protracted period of rising inflation and corresponding interest rates. Throw in the energy crisis, affordability issues, business rates and spiralling consumer confidence and even the more robust brands have run out of mallets. Even still, sales managed to outperform expectations at the end of last year, over the crucial Christmas period. And that's despite the last minute moles of postal strikes, train strikes and abysmal weather.

Pubs were the winners in hospitality, with local pubs less reliant on transportation - not hit by rail strikes - seeing big increases in trading. Marstons said their pre-Christmas trading was 26 per cent higher than 2021 and up 12.9 per cent versus the same trading period pre-Covid.

EXPLAINER-IN-BRIEF: HEALTH STRIKES INSPIRE THE MOST SYMPATHY

Yesterday was the first day of a new string of strikes that will go on for much of February. Rail workers, teachers, university staff and the civil service were on the picket line.

It’s been months since industrial action started its resurrection in the UK, yet the view of the public has remained fairly steady. Net support for striking nurses is at 35 per cent, for ambulance staff at 30 per cent, for teachers at 10 per cent and for bus drivers at 4 per cent. As much as 42 per cent of people polled by the Fairness

Foundation strongly supported nurses, while only 18 per cent strongly support rail workers. It falls to 16 per cent for civil servants. Those who “strongly oppose” nurses striking are 16 per cent, while the number ticks up to 23 per cent for rail strikes.

NHS workers are stockpiling much of the public sympathy.

That’s partly why health unions are not striking today: they don’t want to put the sympathy the public has for them at risk by forming part of bigger strike action.

The wine warehouses also continued their soaring trade in 2022, one of the few winners from the pandemic, with brands such as Majestic now firmly on the acquisition trail in 2023.

But amid these nuggets of good news comes a strong dose of reality. Yes there are some genuine winners and this should be celebrated. But these “wins” are a result of a fairly skewed picture. The results look positive largely when compared to the abysmal performance the year before, where physical retail, pubs and restaurants were impacted significantly by the second winter wave of Covid with consumers reluctant to mix pre-Christmas. In addition, the tiered system of 2020 shut down various areas early and completely.

The last few years of Christmas bookings were severely dented by the pandemic, either by lockdowns or

self-isolation. Last year, they returned, albeit stripped back, with more relaxed celebrations in the pub that large-scale entertainment.

While the postal strikes affected online sales for many of the big brands and pushed people back to their physical stores creating - in particular - regional footfall, this was at the sacrifice of the usual crowds heading into London thanks to the train strikes.

And even with consumers shops, what they were spending was much lower than expected. Anecdotally, families were spending Christmas in larger groups than the previous two periods and, as a result, participating in more “Secret Santa” type present giving, rather than having to buy multiple presents for each family member.

Instead of the more recent trend of visiting the high street to browse and then buying online, people were researching gifts online and visiting their local town centre to buy. What this means is that they had a purpose to buy a specific product and their dwell time was cut short.

In other words, performance was better, but largely only because our expectations were so low.

And even while sales may have been up, overall performance of companies would have been dented by lower margins, chipped away by rising costs in energy, issues within the supply chain, inflation, business rates relief ending and so on.

No doubt this year will provide plenty more moles which need a good whacking. But retail and hospitality up and down the country will be examining their portfolios and building a healthy dose of flexibility into their strategy. Whether this means acquisitions as per Majestic, disposals as per Co-op or a strategic management of the assets in play a la M&S, one thing is for certain - there will be no lack of transactional activity for those in the market who know where to find the real mountains amongst the molehills.

£ Richard Curry is head of retail and leisure at Rapleys

Even with consumers back in shops, they spent less then expected as inflation bites

Christmas retail sales were better than expected

A medium cappucino at Costa has five times the amount of caffeine as the equivalent at Starbucks. The news comes from consumer group Which? and confirms a long-held belief on these pages that Starbucks coffee isn’t coffee.

GOING OUT

EDITED BY STEVE DINNEEN @steve_dinneen

BRENDAN FRASER’S THE WHALE IS PROBLEMATIC BUT DESERVES THE HYPE

body. Scenes displaying eating binges and struggles to bathe feel voyeuristic, from the perspective of a filmmaker plainly fascinated with Charlie as a material being rather than empathetic for his struggles.

One of the biggest stories of Oscar season 2023 has been the comeback of Brendan Fraser. In the Hollywood wilderness for years, the Mummy star returns this month in The Whale, where he plays a morbidly obese man mourning the death of his partner. The film has polarised critics, but now fans can make their mind up.

Fraser plays Charlie, a teacher unable to care for himself because of his weight. He works online and is cared for by his friend Liz, played by Hong Chau. With his health failing, he attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter Ellie to mend damages of the past.

Director Darren Aronofsky reinvigorated the career of Mickey Rourke with The Wrestler, which had similar threads to The Whale, being a film about a man trying to undo the errors of his past in his later years.

Aronofsky showed sympathy for Rourke's ageing wrestler character

Randy 'The Ram' Robinson, but his view of obesity is much less sympathetic. From the opening scene where Charlie suffers a heart attack while masturbating, the camera lingers creepily over various parts of Charlie’s

It’s an unfortunate direction to take as it’s so at odds with the performances. Brendan Fraser is as wonderful as you’ve heard, and while there have been debates about whether an obese actor should have taken the role, it’s hard to imagine anyone else making Charlie so easy to relate to. He's made mistakes, and spends much of the film being shouted at for them. But his performance demands that you see beneath his weaknesses, beneath the regrets, to his beauty and the emotion he feels for the world. Fraser's been delivering excellent character work for years on the small screen, but it’s gratifying to see that talent shine in a leading role.

He's helped by strong support, particularly from Hong Chau as Charlie’s de facto nurse. A scowling but kindhearted ally, she exudes the kind of world-weary courage we associate with the medical profession. Sink is an impressive co-star for Fraser to do battle with. It’s not a million miles from her wise-cracking character in Stranger Things, but like Samantha Morton as Charlie’s ex-wife, her character is interestingly layered. Ty Simpkins is impressive too as a young preacher from Charlie’s former church, although the character loses purpose as the story rolls on.

THEATRE

You’ve got 140 words a day to communicate with, the same as the number of characters in a tweet. How about

that? This is the premise for Lemons Lemons Lemons, a show as abstract and provocative as its title suggests –but its contents can’t quite make lemonade.

It’s a shame, as there’s nothing wrong with its star leads, Poldark’s Aidan Turner and The Serpent’s Jenna Coleman, who have brilliant chemistry. She plays a divorce lawyer and he a protestor and musician, and both are

restricted by the government to 140 words of speech per day. But the show’s intellectual premise ends up tying itself in knots.

The basic issue is that the format is hard to extract drama from. Writer Sam Steiner’s concept of the duo delivering broken language and jumping, staccato, from scenes and time zones means there are swathes of the play where it becomes hard to engage. The

stylishly minimal production means the set – though beautiful – feels like a hindrance rather than a help.

There are some intriguing scenes where the warring couple move animalistically, the language of communication exchanged for physicality when their words run out. Director Josie Rourke has fun with this, getting at how exasperating that must be. But often the direction is over-embellished for a play whose major embellishment should be the intellectual wordplay. Turner particularly traverses from one scene or time zone to the next with over-thetop swooshes of his head, which feel hammy paired with a dramatic electronic soundtrack.

A more naturalistic set up may have given the intellectual concept space to soar, because there is huge potential. When Coleman’s exasperated Bernadette is forced to call Turner’s Oliver “boring” because she’s run out of words and most only use one, it’s a damning critique on how English politeness means we rarely say how we feel.

And there are some gorgeous lines. “You make my world feel bigger, but sometimes I feel smaller in it,” says Bernadette plainly, with Coleman’s delivery suggesting she can’t yet contemplate the gravity of what she’s said. Their toxicity rings from the stage, and their love does too. At its best Lemons delivers a powerful testament about the contradictions of modern love, where openness and honesty doesn’t necessarily lead us to communal strength. But this production doesn’t have enough evocative moments to keep us with the characters.

THE WHALE

DIR. DARREN ARONOFSKY

BY JAMES LUXFORD

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH DIR. JOEL CRAWFORD BY JAMES LUXFORD

LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS... HAROLD PINTER THEATRE BY ADAM BLOODWORTH

ineteen years after his first appearance in Shrek 2, and ten after his first spin-off movie, Antonio Banderas swings back into action as Puss In Boots. The animated film’s fi-

nancial success has sparked speculation about a fifth Shrek movie, but is there really anything more to be squeezed from this long-running series?

We reunite with Puss In Boots (voiced by Banderas), who is going through an existential crisis. After a mishap means that he has used eight of his nine lives, he retires from adventuring and becomes depressed. However, he finds out about a map that leads to a magical wishing star. Stealing the map and reuniting with ex-fiance Kitty Soft Paws (Salma Hayek), Puss In Boots races to find the star.

Considering how long the character has been away, it would be easy for the film to opt for a soft, easy subject that keeps the franchise going (looking at you, Minions). However, taking on as serious a subject as death, however whimsically, gives the story just enough depth to keep things interesting. Yes, most of the action is devoted to familiar slapstick and wacky side characters, but finding a reason to exist is the golden ticket for any sequel, and director Joel Crawford (The Croods: A New Age) accomplishes it.

While the story feels fresher, the characters are broadly the same. Hayek and Banderas have had great chemistry on screen for decades, and the added element of animation doesn’t change that. Recognisable voices like Olivia Colman, Florence Pugh, and Ray Winstone keep the giggles coming, while John Mulaney is a proven delight.

If you are expecting something that reinvigorates the genre, this will be a disappointment. However, what Puss

In Boots: The Last Wish lacks in originality, it makes up for in laughs and heart.

THIS DRAG CABARET IS SENSATIONAL AND VITAL

UNMISSABLE ALICE, DARLING

DIR. MARY NIGHY

BY ADAM BLOODWORTH

The drag brunches are very heavy.” It’s one of the drag confessions in Sound Of The Underground, Travis Alabanza’s Royal Court play, a provocative, emotional testament to the art form.

Performed in a non-queer space to largely wealthy West London audiences, Alabanza understands the power of this stage – something drag has never had before. Across this ecstatic, tragic play the performing troupe asks difficult questions about workers’ rights, queer mental health and arts funding. But it’s hilarious and barn storming too: the essential drag play we’ve needed for decades. Given the setting, Alabanza – a prominent queer playwright who uses they/them pronouns – could have felt the pressure to stage a traditional play, or to make some lofty statement about how, actually, drag queens can act too. But they have instead written a drag show with a few traditional acting segments; stuffed full with mesmerising performances, it proves to be a potent mix.

There are too many standouts to men-

tion them all, but Ms Sharon Le Grand’s songs are mesmeric: her belting the Girls Aloud’s titular Sound Of The Underground with her rich bass sends a haunting message; later, her Cheeky Girls rendition is the sort of bizarre brilliance – Shirley Bassey/Phantom of the Opera-style, according to the notes – that you’d see in an east London club. There’s an incredible power to seeing it at the Royal Court.

As for the structured parts, in act one the performers play themselves on a traditional theatre set of an ordinary kitchen, where they’ve gathered to discuss going on strike over working conditions. Hilariously, and perhaps a little too pointedly, RuPaul is the target, vilified for making drag mainstream and presenting a singular vision of cis men as drag. A green, lifesize, alien-like stuffed Ru is ripped to shreds, money pouring out of him, as the set is deconstructed and the acts are seen cleaning up. It’s a brilliant meta experiment showing the disparity of the lives of underpaid artists: one minute they’re doing serious acting in fabulous gowns, the next they’re folding up carpet on their hands and knees.

While most of Alabanza’s writing has the genius of sounding like it’s written without anything being over-thought, a bit about pay – shockingly, the acts

reveal they each are paid £75 per performance – that leads to a bucket collection around the audience feels passive-aggressive and would have been better suited at the end of the show. Alabanza doesn’t hide that this is a punk play; that’s the one misfire. The rest is perfectly barbed.

Alabanza’s stipulations when they agreed to write a play for the Court was that they wouldn’t hire drama school-trained actors as a middle finger to the establishment, helping democratise these spaces for drag artists who may have felt out of place. You might wonder if that’d hamper the quality of performance, but then you realise that, of course, no drag queens have been traditionally trained. Their art is almost exclusively found in the basements of clubs, or, thanks to RuPaul, commodified by straight women for their parties (“hen dos are multiplying like cockroaches,” someone despairs).

There could not be a better cast, each of this troupe a legend of the London club scene.

Tammy Reynolds as Midgitte Bardot, Mwice Kavindele as Sadie Sinner The Songbird and CHIYO show their acting chops can compete with drama-schooltrained folk. The broadest message? That the potential for drag on West End stages has barely begun to be tapped.

They’re huddled together into a shape that reveals itself as if from a darkened tunnel, chugging its way onto the Albert Hall stage. The costumes are a constant delight, zany and eccentric, worn by performers who peer up at marvellous machine-like inventions with wide-eyed zeal.

brating the industrial revolution, the Cirque troupe creating a rousing picture of the Victorian era when steam trains were marvelled at by inventors with big ideas for the future.

There are some stunning set pieces, not least a train that is actual-sized and comprised of tens of performers.

Kurious captures the essence of the era of invention but it’s always a challenge to make a story out of aerial stunts and acrobatics. Cirque, set up in 1984 by former street performers, has developed the unkind nickname ‘Cirque du Soulless’ in certain theatre cliques, which feels unfair, but it’s true that it’s hard to sustain interest in aerial stunts without a script or narrative. The ambitious spectacle loses steam after a while, to reference a Victorian commodity much loved in this show. The sheer scope of these massive, commercialised Cirque shows can diminish the final product but it’s a decent spectacle once every year or so, and an excuse to visit this amazing venue.

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: KURIOUS ROYAL ALBERT HALL BY ADAM BLOODWORTH

Kurious: Cabinet of Curiosities, is nicely timed with the 150th anniversary of the Royal Albert Hall. It’s a steam punk cabaret-circus show cele-

Your February sorted: All you need in your diary this month

Whether you want to watch a bear maul many men or see a play for the ages, this month has the culture for you

WATCH BERNIE SANDERS GET ANGRY

Everyone’s favourite mitten-wearing Presidential candidate takes to the Southbank Centre stage this month to do a talk on the pitfalls of capitalism. The Southbank is no stranger to pulling in the big-hitters, having hosted Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton. His book holds power to account, asking questions about wealth, democracy and the super rich influencing elections. He’s a decent public speaker too, so this is bound to be a thought provoking evening.

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY

This epic tale spanning three generations of one American family won the Tony Award for best play and has enjoyed a massively successful run in the UK. It tells the tale of the Lehman Brothers business, beginning with the story of a young immigrant arriving in America in the 1800s through to the success of the business and its descent into bankruptcy which sparked the financial crash of 2008. Now at the Gillian Lynne Theatre.

LONDON FASHION WEEK

It’s not only for style big-wigs: tickets to many of the catwalks and fashion events are available to the public. It’s also a misconception to think you need tickets to London Fashion Week events: throughout Soho you’ll notice fashion bloggers gather outside the major parties to photograph attendees. There’s a swell of interest that can be felt even if you aren’t on the list to the hottest parties.

PANCAKEDAY

After all the discourse about weight loss in January it’s refreshing when February rolls around and we can get excited about lard-filled desserts. Pancake Day was traditionally about getting rid of all the bad things before Lent, and for some it still is. For others it’s a nice excuse to flip some pancakes and experiment with delicious recipes.

ORCHIDS AT KEW GARDENS

If you’ve tried to grow them at home but failed miserably, don’t worry, the experts at Kew Gardens have made them flower beautifully so you can just stare wistfully at them. This year’s Orchids at Kew Gardens festival is inspired by the biodiversity of Cameroon, where the plants grow in rainforests, on desert plains and on volcanic mountains.

“Cameroon is home to some of the world’s most delicate and threatened orchids – some so rare their locations must be kept secret for their protection,” says the organisation.

“Visit our central display at the heart of the glasshouse for a chance to see some of the Cameroonian orchids we care for here at Kew.”

COCAINE BEAR

Bear with us here, but yes, a real life bear did accidentally (?) snort a load of cocaine and get really high. What probably didn’t happen, however, is most of the contents of this film, loosely based on the true event.

Cocaine Bear is a dark comedy thriller about an American brown

bear that ransacks a small Georgian town murdering people, all ‘cause he’s high. Locals gang together to work out how to keep a giant bear on party drugs away from their children.

HISTORY TOUR

You’ll have noticed faded signs on the sides of buildings if you’ve lived in London for a while. They’re palpable connections to our pasts, eerily reminiscent of a different era of advertising. There are a huge number of these ‘ghost signs’ in Islington, and Jane Parker runs a two-hour walk this Sunday taking in some of the most spectacular historical signs, starting on Upper Street and ending near Angel Station, from 11am - 1pm.

WOMEN ABSTRACT ARTISTS

Like most things in life, the mostremembered abstract painters are men: Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning to name a few. But –surprise surprise –woman made a huge impact too, and haven’t been given half the credit they deserve. This new Whitechapel Gallery exhibition features “overlooked” work from 81 international female artists in the aftermath of the Second World War. Expect gorgeous explosions of colour and shape from women including Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, Mozambican-Italian artist Bertina Lopes. This is one of the must-see shows of the month.

A real life bear did accidentally snort a load of cocaine and get really high. What probably didn’t happen, however, is most of the contents of Cocaine Bear

SPORT

Premier League’s record-breaking transfer window is sign of things to come, say experts

FRANK DALLERES

PREMIER League clubs have been tipped to continue raising the bar for spending after smashing all major records during the January transfer window.

Chelsea set a new British transfer benchmark on Tuesday night with the deadline-busting £107m signing of Benfica and Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez.

The £275m spent on the final day and total £815m forked out in January set new records for the winter window, while the £2.8bn cumulative spend this season is also unprecedented, Deloitte said.

But such is the growing financial superiority of Premier League clubs compared to their European rivals that analysts are forecasting more sprees.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise, given the level of revenue that the clubs are generating, in future windows,” Deloitte’s Calum Ross told City A.M.

“When you look at spend, one of the best indicators is to look at it in comparison to revenue. Net spend in comparison to revenue is nearly a third, which is higher than ever before.

“But at the moment as long as that is coupled with appropriate long-term business planning and financial control then it can be sustainable for Premier League clubs.”

January underlined the widening gap in resources between English clubs and their continental counterparts which is increasingly allowing them to poach Europe’s top talent.

Chelsea spent more in gross terms than the other so-called big five leagues – Germany, Spain, Italy and France – put together. Those leagues recorded net transfer profits, compared to the Premier League clubs’ net spend of £720m.

“It highlights the gap between the Premier League and the rest,” said Ross. “In the short term, I doubt that is going to get any closer. In the longer term, it depends on the innovation and activities of those other leagues as to how they go about closing that gap.

CARRY ON SPENDING

IN NUMBERS: LEAGUE’S RECORD-BREAKING SPEND

RUGBY UNION CRICKET

Archer’s six appeal gives England a happy ending

FRANK DALLERES

ENGLAND fast bowler Jofra Archer took six wickets as the tourists ended a losing one-day series in South Africa on a positive note.

Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler both hit centuries as England won the third and final match by 59 runs in Kimberley.

In only his second international appearance since an 18-month absence with an elbow injury, Archer rolled back the years and turned the match in his side’s favour by taking 6-40.

It ensured England ended a fivematch losing streak in the 50-over

format and avoided a second consecutive clean sweep.

Captain Buttler, who made 131 and shared a fourth-wicket stand of 232 with Malan, called Archer’s first five-fer in a one-day international “fantastic and probably deserving of the player of the match award”.

“When the game was in the balance, to come back there and take the wicket of [Heinrich] Klaasen broke the game open for us,” he added. “It is nice to finish with a win. Bar 10 or 15 overs of the chase in the first ODI, we have played some brilliant cricket. So it has been a hard-fought series.”

“Critically, that will come down to how they’re engaging with fans and maximising their international reach, particularly in respect of broadcasting and what they’re doing to drive their sponsorship revenue.”

Premier League teams’ ability to cherry-pick stars from mainland Europe is bad news for clubs lower down the domestic pyramid, however.

English Football League clubs received just £25m in transfer fees – or three per cent of the top division’s total gross spend – in January.

“I think that’s definitely a concern for the football league clubs and the English football system more broadly,” said Ross.

“That spend in recent windows has reduced quite significantly, and that will definitely add to the debate around the calls for greater distribution of wealth across the English football pyramid.

“Premier League clubs are definitely focusing on bringing in the highest quality talent, which is then transmitting to the commercial appeal of the league as a whole.

“At the moment the Football League is just not the place where the Premier League clubs are going to bring that talent through.”

Worcester Warriors buyout rejected by rugby chiefs

FRANK DALLERES AND MATT HARDY

THE RUGBY Football Union has refused to endorse a proposed takeover of Worcester Warriors despite administrators exchanging contracts.

Begbies Traynor yesterday announced it had closed a deal with the Atlas consortium led by former Worcester chief executive Jim O’Toole and ex-player James Sandford.

But the RFU said it had not approved the new owners since they had not provided satisfactory proof of funds or pledged not to sell land around the club’s Sixways Stadium.

Atlas have been given until 14 February to meet the RFU’s demands or “un-

fortunately the decision will remain the same”.

If no new owners can be approved by Valentine’s Day, Worcester will not be allowed to play in the Championship next season.

The RFU set the same deadline for the new owners of Wasps, who it had previously approved but said were yet to deliver on pledges “including the lodging of a bond and the signing of an agreement which commits the new club to the relevant conditions”.

Worcester fell into administration early in the season after running out of money. Wasps followed them weeks later, having proven unable to pay out on a bond issue.

Fee paid by Chelsea for Enzo Fernandez a new British transfer record

£107m

Total spent by all Premier League clubs in 2022-23, a new benchmark

£2.8bn

Gross fees spent in the January window, almost double the previous high

£815m

Ireland for the title, Wales Wooden Spoon

RUGBY COMMENT

Ollie Phillips

THIS Six Nations is arguably both the most predictable and the least predictable in a long time – but I do think there is a good chance of Wales finishing rock bottom.

I am in agreement with most others that it will be between Ireland and France for the title, but beyond that it is such an unknown. For the others, one game here or there could be the difference between finishing third and finishing last.

Wales’s first game against Ireland in Cardiff has a make or break feel for returning head coach Warren Gatland. If they lose it I think there’s a real chance of them finishing last. A loss at

SPORT COMMENT

Ed Warner

NEXT Thursday sees the 2023 edition of golf’s unironicallysponsored Waste Management Phoenix Open, where last year exuberant beer tossers halted play when celebrating a hole in one. Ever since, it’s the golfers not spectators who’ve been bringing the sport into disrepute.

Tantrums and flung tee pegs, meltdowns about Twitter birthday snubs and playground name-calling have been the order of the day. All against the backdrop of extensive and therefore expensive legal actions.

Cue the start on Monday of a five-day arbitration hearing between LIV Golf and Europe’s DP World Tour to decide golfers’ freedom to ply their trade across the two rival entities. World ranking points and, by extension, both Ryder Cup places and entry to the majors are at stake.

The poor behaviours look pathetic from outside golf’s elite bubble. That there is so much at stake explains but can’t excuse the bad look the sport has gathered. Indeed, in highlighting the sheer scale of the riches on offer –both on the traditional circuit and from the LIV upstart –the angsty players are doing themselves a grave disservice.

Too often, golf’s stars let the sport down with their apparent ambivalence. Spectators might as well not exist for all the acknowledgement the minted athletes show as they swing and putt past us. Contrast that lack of engagement with pretty much any other sport you care to imagine.

I’m no lawyer but I am a free marketeer. The established tours –the PGA and the DP World –appear to me to be trying to defend a duopoly, which will only ultimately be sustainable if the Saudi backers of LIV lose their appetite for the fight to break into it. Let’s face it, the Saudis won’t run short of cash to pay their lawyers.

The Ryder Cup is likely to prove this year’s focal point in the battle between

Andy Farrell’s in-form side can dethrone Six Nations champs France, while England have achieved right coaching blend

home in the opening round followed by Scotland away is a difficult task –they’ll either be facing a bunch of Scots who are on a high after beating England or a bunch of Scots who will want a reaction from losing to England a week earlier. It is almost a loselose for the Welsh.

So after the opening two rounds there’s a realistic prospect of Wales being two from two or none from two. While I do think they’ll beat England at home, you never know in the Championship and consecutive away days in Paris and Rome is no easy feat.

THREATENING?

I am worried that the first weekend will burst the Gatland bubble. Wales managed to scrape their way to the title two years ago –helped by a number of cards –but it’s not the same now

and I don’t think there’s enough quality to do the job across five matches.

The Welsh union is on the ropes with the players and the regions, their performances last year were awful and they’re desperately trying to deal with a number of grenades being thrown off the field. The whole system in Wales looks a mess at the moment.

This Six Nations campaign is either going to be one where the phoenix rises from the ashes –or the whole thing blows up before a World Cup. England’s situation is altogether different, having chosen a coach related to the international game in Steve Borthwick but detached enough to bring in new ideas – unlike Gatland. England have brought in a man from the club game who has thrived, Wales have brought in Gatland from a struggling Chiefs side – they didn’t win in

his opening season there. England have brought in a real freshness in ideas with the inclusion of Kevin Sinfield; I am not too sure Wales have developed that variety just yet.

It’s all set up to prove me wrong but I just don’t see Wales doing well, let alone challenging. They get the Wooden Spoon in my predicted table.

AROUND THE GROUNDS

I back Ireland to win the Championship. Playing both France and England at home this year is huge for Andy Farrell’s men.

Grand Slam holders France should come in a close second – potentially losing the Championship on mere points difference.

Les Bleus have a number of injuries and almost need to lose a match – like Ireland did in New Zealand last year –

KISS AND MAKE UP

Much will depend on the closeness of the contest. With so many simply casual watchers rather than committed golf fans, there is an opportunity for the sport to do the talking. The better

have done their job in striking a blow for tradition. In time, though, there must surely be a way for different formats of the game to coexist. Consumers can then decide their relative

to retain their killer instinct and focus on the upcoming World Cup. Of the other four teams it really is a toss up, but I think England and Scotland will share third and fourth while Italy beat Wales to fifth.

But the Six Nations does this thing to rugby players; it focuses them into the best forms of themselves.

They’re on the edge, desperate to make the winning difference, playing with so much pride and determination – there’s few things like it in sport outside of World Cups.

It’s why we saw Italy shine in Cardiff in the final round last year, Ireland dominate in Dublin and France wipe the floor – because it’s just so scintillating and unpredictable.

I cannot wait until Saturday and the Championship’s return.

£ China Sevens head coach Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance, experts in leadership development and behavioural change. Follow Ollie on Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Saudi Arabia

hear this from “neutral” Aryna Sabalenka after winning the Australian Open last week: “I think everyone still knows that I’m Belarusian. That’s it.”

Ukraine’s Olympic committee is meeting tomorrow to address plans for athletes such as Sabalenka to compete under a neutral flag next year.

As it happens, Russians won three of the nine tennis medals awarded last time out in Tokyo. They competed under the Russian Olympic Committee logo rather than their national flag –such were the IOC’s contortions about state-sponsored doping at the time.

Yes, we all know Sabalenka hails from Belarus. But it’s helpful that her comment has highlighted Olympic chiefs’ neutrality fudge.

This is one battle Ukraine appears destined to lose but there is time for it to secure a moral victory by threatening to withdraw its own athletes in protest. How would President Macron feel about an absence of Ukrainians at his jamboree next summer?

RISKY RED CORDS HITS

English rugby has been battered by its grassroots into consultation over plans to lower the tackle height. A shame.

Much heard over the past week is opponents’ argument that everyone playing the game understands and accepts its risks. Why then are so many injured players now suing the union?

If the consultation takes too long, World Rugby will get there first with a global trial of new tackle regulations slated to start in January.

SLIPPING OUT OF NEUTRAL

If you doubted the scale of the impending battle over Russian and Belarusian athletes’ participation at Paris 2024,

But then, as I argued last week, the global body should have been taking the lead in the first place.

£ Ed Warner is chair of GB Wheelchair Rugby and writes at sportinc.substack.com

The riches on offer to the squabbling stars must ultimately come from the fans’ pockets as well as

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