Wednesday 10 May 2023

STILL ON THE BUTTON? WHY BOB

RICARD REMAINS A MUST-DO NIGHT OUT ON THE TOWN P16

EUROVISION 2023 HOW TO THROW THE ULTIMATE POP PARTY P17

GOD VERSUS BIG OIL

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS AND PENSION BOARD SET TO VOTE AGAINST DIRECTORS DUE TO LACK OF CLIMATE PROGRESS

NICHOLAS EARL

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND is set for a battle with the world’s biggest oil majors, as the organisation’s endowment fund and pension board both announced plans to vote against the re-election of senior figures –notably at Shell.

The Church Commissioners, which manages the CofE’s £10bn endowment fund, will vote to oust Shell’s chief executive Wael Sawan and chairman Sir Andrew Mackenzie (right) at the energy giant’s upcoming shareholder meeting on 23 May.

It will showcase similar defiance at rival AGMs including Exxon, Occidental Petroleum and Total.

Olga Hancock, acting head of responsible investment at the Church Commissioners, said:

“High energy prices produced huge profits at oil and gas companies last year – a golden opportunity to invest very significantly in the transition to a low carbon economy, and one that was comprehensively missed. So we will be supporting all the relevant climate

resolutions, and voting against all of their directors.”

Meanwhile, the CofE’s Pensions Board – which separately manages the church’s £3.2bn retirement pot – has also confirmed it will vote against reapproving members of Shell’s senior leadership team.

Adam Matthews, chief responsible investment officer for the CofE’s Pension Board, told The Telegraph it was “with genuine regret” that he was preparing to vote against Sawan and Sir

Andrew but claimed closed door talks on climate issues had ground to a halt.

Matthews said: “We have lost confidence in the direction of the company.”

A Shell spokesperson said: “Shell and the CofE pensions board have worked together as partners on the energy transition for almost a decade, with an emphasis on changing the use of energy as much as its supply. We continue to believe that is the right approach and strongly disagree with the pension board’s changed position.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury, ironically, was an oil exec before joining the clergy.

EXCLUSIVE

Home REIT to appoint new advisor

CHARLIE CONCHIE

EMBATTLED social housing investor Home REIT is set to appoint property giant AEW as its new investment manager as it looks to move on from a string of scandals over the past seven months, City A.M. has learned.

The former FTSE 250 homeless housing investor has been scoping out a new investment adviser since March after sacking its previous adviser Alvarium, which had overseen a collapse in its rental income and a breakdown in its tenant base.

A source close to the discussions told City A.M. that property investment manager AEW will now be appointed as the firm’s new investment adviser in the coming days.

Home REIT is understood to have made its decision but the two parties are yet to sign the paperwork and formally agree on the terms of the arrangement.

Home REIT and AEW declined to comment.

The appointment of the new investment adviser could trigger an overhaul in Home REIT’s operations and tenant base as it looks to steady the ship after months of scandals since a damning short report from Viceroy Research at the end of last year.

£ CONTINUED ON P2

To the 737-Max: Ryanair’s bumper Boeing offer a sign of travel confidence

GUY TAYLOR

RYANAIR has placed a multibillion dollar order for up to 300 Boeing 737 Max 10 jets in a deal which would mark the end of a dispute between the two aviation giants. The deal is estimated to be worth around $40bn (£31.7m) based on

listed prices, with a discount likely due to the sheer size of the order.

Boeing said that a firm order of 150 of the largest of Boeing’s 737 max planes had been made, with the option of 150 more. Shares in the group rose 2.5 per cent shortly after the announcement.

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief

executive, said that 150 of the jets will replace older planes in the fleet, with the other 150 facilitating “growth to just over 300m guests per annum by 2034”.

The announcement will bolster the Boeing 737 brand, which has

faced a drop in global deliveries due to two major accidents that saw the airliner grounded in 2019.

The triple-digit deal concludes 18 months of dispute between Boeing and Ryanair, after discussions

collapsed last year.

The Ryanair boss subsequently criticised delays to orders and the company’s management, who he said were “running around like headless chickens”.

O’Leary has said he is confident in the post-Covid-19 recovery of the aviation industry.

BOB

Thou shalt not make "huge profits" During energy price spikes

Thou shalt not make "huge profits" During energy price spikes IT’S

Supply side reform a more valuable tool than Whitehall handouts

Mo’ money, mo’ problems, the Notorious B.I.G. once rapped, and in the case of Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the sheer amount of cash being thrown around by the US government has certainly caused plenty of headaches for other governments. It has also, it appears, turned us all into Keynesians.

STANDING UP FOR THE CITY THE CITY VIEW

Rarely a day goes by now without an industry or a sector or even an individual company pleading for

special help. Not all of these calls are without merit, by any means; the hospitality industry, for instance, is more than owed a favour or two from a government who effectively shut it down for two years. But it cannot just be us who sees these constant calls for

‘government investment’ as a dangerous return to the days of industrial strategy dictated from Whitehall, and the nowdiscredited theory of picking winners. It is still remarkable how little grumbling there has been from the business community at an almighty hike in corporation tax. Ditto, business figures and trade bodies say precious little about the ratcheting up of personal taxes via fiscal drag, a clear burden on

an already barely moving economy. Supply side reform –other than the energy industry begging for National Grid connections to be sped up –has become almost entirely absent from our public debate ever since Liz Truss’ overzealous administration. The City and Britain at large did not become a global player via a series of piecemeal, governmentled investments, but through free markets and competition. The

CIRCULATING THE GOOD NEWS Rishi Sunak has his blood pressure checked as the government announces more pharmacists will be able to prescribe

medication

industries of the future will be no different, and the City certainly will always thrive or simply survive based on whether the firms here are faster, sharper and more intelligent than in New York or Paris or Singapore. Whether it’s a hangover from the pandemic or just institutional inertia, Britain needs to get on with creating a level playing field for the best ideas and firms to flourish, not hope Whitehall bets on the right horse.

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

TRUMP FOUND GUILTY IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE AND MUST PAY $5M IN DAMAGES

Tesco chairman denies accusations of inappropriate behaviour by colleagues

JESSICA FRANK-KEYES

TESCO chairman John Allan has been accused of alleged inappropriate behaviour relating to four women, according to reports in The Guardian yesterday.

Allan, the newspaper claims, allegedly touched the bottom of a senior female Tesco staff member in June 2022, at the firm’s annual general meeting.

He also allegedly touched the bottom of a staff member at under-fire lobby group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) at a dinner in 2019, when he was then CBI president.

Sources told the Guardian that 74year-old Allan made inappropriate remarks on both those occasions, as well as similar comments to other female CBI staff in November 2019, and in 2021.

Allan said he accepted he had told a woman a dress “suited her figure” in 2019 but said it was a “misjudged way of seeking to cheer someone up”, The Guardian reported.

He denied the 2021 allegation, which the Guardian said involved him making comments about a woman’s bottom and that her dress was making it hard for him to concentrate.

The Guardian said some of the women told them Allan’s actions had offended them and that they believed his behaviour to be sexual harassment.

One woman said, the paper reported: “It might seem a small thing to some people, but I felt humiliated and undermined by his actions.” City A.M. cannot independently verify these reports.

Allan denied all bar one of the claims – making a remark about a CBI staff member’s appearance that she found to be offensive in 2019.

A spokesperson for the businessman said the other allegations were “simply untrue”.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES CANADIAN-LED CONSORTIUM PLANS BID FOR TECK RESOURCES’ COAL UNIT

A new consortium plans to bid for Teck Resources’ metallurgical coal operations, a move that would thwart Glencore’s $23bn offer to purchase the entire company.

THE TELEGRAPH ZELENSKY HITS OUT AT ‘CRUEL’ EU GRAIN BAN Volodymyr Zelensky slammed a “cruel” European Union export ban on Ukrainian grains to five member states. The Ukrainian president said the embargo only helps Russia as it wages an illegal invasion of his country.

New appointment a bid to steady the ship for Home REIT

CONTINUED FROM P1

AEW’s UK arm manages around £1.6bn in a range of different property vehicles in the UK, including its own London-listed REIT.

AEW’s UK REIT has fallen 18.2 per cent in value over the past 12 months but has paid a 2p per share dividend for the last 30 consecutive quarters. AEW UK head Nick Winsley has overseen the plans submitted to take over the management of Home REIT’s sprawling social housing portfolio and tenant base, which have been in turmoil since Viceroy

Research’s report in November.

Home REIT shares collapsed last year before being suspended in January after Viceroy raised the alarm over its business model and shaky tenant base.

The beleaguered firm revealed this year that under Alvarium’s management, tenants had paid just 23 per cent of rent to the firm.

Home REIT had initially explored a take-private deal after a takeover bid from Bluestar Advisors. The appointment of the new investment manager is likely to mean that any sale plans have now been shelved.

THE GUARDIAN

A federal jury in New York City has found that the former president sexually abused advice columnist E Jean Carroll. But the jurors did not agree with Carroll’s allegation that he raped her.

Deloitte faces investigation for Joules audit

CHARLIE CONCHIE

THE FINANCIAL Reporting Council (FRC) has opened an investigation into the audit of embattled retailer Joules after Deloitte signed off its accounts before the firm filed for bankruptcy last year.

The audit watchdog yesterday said it had made the decision to investigate Deloitte’s audit of Joules’s accounts for the year up to the end of March 2021.

The move to scrutinise the audit came in March, three months after Joules was rescued from bankruptcy by high street stalwart Next in a £41m move which saved some 1,450 jobs.

A Deloitte spokesperson said the firm would “co-operate fully with the FRC’s investigation” and remains “committed to the highest standards of audit quality”.

The investigation into Deloitte’s audit of the firm comes after the FRC

fined it £900,000 over the firm’s audits of building materials supplier SIG in December for the 2015 and 2016 financial years, after it admitted breaches over its work on SIG’s financial statements.

Leicestershire-based Joules struggled to survive as the pandemic hammered the retail sector and triggered a major decline in footfall. The firm’s premium fashion goods have also suffered a tricky period as consumers tighten the purse strings amid a cost of living crunch.

Next is looking to relaunch the brand later this year through its Total platform but announced last month that it had launched a fresh consultation on job cuts last month.

As part of the deal to save the firm in December, founder Tom Joule, who set up the firm in 1989, took a 26 per cent stake in the company.

Joules did not respond when contacted for comment.

Jan du Plessis has chaired a host of significant UK-based companies

Audit chief: New watchdog not ‘sexy’ but vital

CAMILLA BELL-DAVIES

THE CITY grandee at the helm of the Financial Reporting Council’s board has told the government to get serious about its proposed new auditing body.

Jan du Plessis, the former chair of BT and Rio Tinto among others, said “smarter, proper regulation of the business world” was needed to avoid more accountancy scandals.

A proposed “stronger” regulatory

body, the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA), announced in March 2019 and due 2023, is still awaiting government legislation to go through.

Du Plessis said the temptation for politicians to wait for a more convenient time to implement the reforms was short sighted.

“The problem is –it’s not sexy, it’s not going to win votes,” he said.

The South Africa-born du Plessis also spoke of his concerns about

London’s standing on the global stage in a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg.

He described the City as still harbouring a “peculiarly quite narrow, British way of life” and said this attitude had allowed rivals, including New York, to move ahead.

He also criticised the relatively lower pay in London compared to the US for chief executives, arguing that bumping up salaries would help attract talent.

Tech grandee to lead Wandisco recovery efforts

ABBY WALLACE

BELEAGUERED data firm Wandisco is set to appoint businessman Stephen Kelly as interim chief executive, it announced yesterday.

Kelly previously served as chief executive of software companies Chordiant, Microfocus and, most recently, FTSE 100 constituent Sage until 2018.

“I am a firm believer in the potential of Wandisco’s technology to become a market leader and, whilst there is much work to be done, I have relished my previous UK-listed turnaround roles and am proud of the successful transformations, profitable growth and value creation they delivered,” Kelly said.

Sheffield-based Wandisco suspended trading on the London Stock Exchange in March after an internal investigation found $15m (£11.9m) of revenues and $115m of sales last year had

been fabricated.

Former chief executive David Richards and chief financial officer Erik Miller stepped down in April.

The firm previously said an external investigation by FRP Advisory had linked the sales booking to one senior sales employee and that “all other purchase orders” were legitimate.

Last week, the firm announced it would slash its headcount by nearly a third amid an ongoing probe.

Wandisco chair Ken Lever, who was brought in to oversee the company’s turnaround after the departure of Richards and Miller, will resume his position as interim non-executive chairman.

The company has said it intends Kelly to be appointed permanent chief executive when the suspension of the company’s shares is lifted.

Linkedin becomes next tech giant to axe jobs as demand drops off

ABBY WALLACE

LINKEDIN is culling over 700 jobs and closing its local app in China, blaming a slump in consumer demand and turbulent market conditions.

In an email to employees, Ryan Roslanksy, Linkedin chief executive. said the changes would be made in order to shake up the business, which is being hit by slower revenue growth.

Abrdn braced for AGM climate protests today

CHARLIE CONCHIE

ASSET manager Abrdn is braced for protests at its annual general meeting today as climate campaigners take aim at its provision of debt financing to what they call “fossil fuel expansionists”, including controversial Indian multinational the Adani Group. Campaign group Toxic Bonds Network said it would camp out and lobby attendees to the meeting in Edinburgh, in protest at the FTSE 100 firm’s dealings with carbon intensive firms.

“With the market and customer demand fluctuating more, and to serve emerging and growth markets more effectively, we are expanding the use of vendors,” he added.

The chief executive said 250 new roles would also be created.

Linkedin is the latest tech platform to cut jobs, following Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet which have all cut 10,000 or more jobs each.

In a statement shared with media, the campaign group singled out troubled Indian conglomerate Adani, a major coal producer which has faced a bruising attack from a short seller in recent weeks, and called on Abrdn to halt its financing of the company.

The vowel-stripped investor holds around $65m (£52m) worth of bonds for Adani Group which derives some 60 per cent of its revenue from coalrelated businesses.

The firm said its climate strategy focused on “active investments in transition leaders” rather than rowing back from backing firms on carbon-intensive firms.

Can regulators get City growing? It will be hard to tell, say lawyers

CHARLIE CONCHIE

THE GOVERNMENT may run into trouble gauging the impact of City regulators in boosting the growth and international standing of the UK’s financial sector, lawyers have warned.

As part of the landmark Financial Services and Markets bill, ministers have tabled plans to introduce secondary growth and competitiveness objectives for the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in a bid to rejig the focus of the

City’s watchdogs.

The Treasury consulted City firms on what “additional metrics it is most appropriate for the regulators to publish” to help scrutinise their work.

The plans to measure regulators’ performance were cheered from bodies across the Square Mile. “What gets measured gets done,” said City of London policy chief Chris Hayward. However, top lawyers warned the performance of the watchdogs against their new benchmarks may be a struggle to quantify.

“The challenge will be in finding

new measures that paint a clear picture of the regulators’ overall contribution to competitiveness and growth,” Robert Dedman, partner at law firm CMS and former head of enforcement at the PRA, told City A.M.

“It’s easy when a process has a clearly-defined end point, such as an authorisation or an approval. But measuring the impact of the FCA’s intensive approach to supervision is likely to prove much more difficult.”

Secondary objectives for regulators were welcomed by the PRA and FCA last year but triggered warnings from

regulators that they would not engage in a “race to the bottom”.

Vicky Saporta, executive director of the BoE’s Prudential Policy Directorate, said the change in its remit “should not encourage risky bets on regulatory standards”.

The government has been looking to breathe life into the UK’s financial services sector amid firms ditching London in favour of foreign markets in recent months.

Lawyers at Eversheds Sutherland said the calls for proposals from the Treasury may struggle to capture the

work of the FCA in particular, which has a vast remit of sectors and areas.

“[The] call for proposals sets out the need for metrics to show how the regulators measure up against their objectives but does not mention any concrete metrics to be used in measuring against the international competitiveness and growth objectives,” Martin Sandler, financial services partner at Eversheds Sutherland, said. He added that it may be possible to “measure smaller individual components or regulators’ contributions”.

The platform began withdrawing from China in 2021 citing the regulatory environment

Kelly takes up the new position today

UK’s green lead at risk without urgent action

NICHOLAS EARL AND JACK BARNETT

THE HEAD of one of Britain’s largest manufacturers has warned Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that he risks squandering the country’s lead in clean energy production by failing to respond to the US’s $400bn (£317bn) green stimulus package.

Liam Condon, chief exec of Johnson Matthey, told Sky News it has intellectual property which could help the UK become a world leader in the production of green hydrogen. However, with the US now providing hundreds of billions of dollars of subsidies for those making similar products stateside through the Inflation Reduction Act, the UK risked losing out on this part of the green industrial revolution. Condon said: “I think the risk is that over time we will lose another leading, cutting-edge industry where the UK could be a global champion. I think batteries is gone – we’ve lost that. That

race is, from my point of view, over.

“In hydrogen, the UK can still be a global champion. But we’ve got to move with a sense of urgency.

“The risk is if we don’t move with that sense of urgency, we will lose that next round of innovation as well.”

It comes as research out today from think tank the Centre for Progressive Policy (CPP) highlights the scale of untapped industrial growth in the UK.

Ramping up investment in bygone manufacturing hubs like Lincolnshire and Yorkshire could unlock a £70bn boost to the economy, while narrowing regional divides, the report said.

Ross Mudie, research analyst at the CPP and lead author of the report, said: “Each day, more major firms are shifting investment out of the UK and towards our competitors across the Channel and Atlantic.

“Government inaction means we are failing to encourage the level of private investment our economy needs,” he added.

UK firms turn to temp staff to ‘hedge their bets’ amid recession worries

JACK BARNETT

UK BUSINESSES are turning to parttime staff to avoid locking into long-term contracts for fear of being dragged down by the economic slump, a new survey out today shows. Demand for temporary staff is running much higher than for fulltime workers, according to consultancy KPMG and the

Inmarsat-Viasat £5.4bn merger given go-ahead

ANNA WISE

A MERGER of two global satellite giants has been given the green light by the competitions watchdog after an in-depth probe into the multibillion-pound deal.

The £5.4bn takeover of UK firm Inmarsat by US firm Viasat is not expected to limit competition in the satellite sector, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concluded.

An investigation into the deal was launched in October amid concerns that it could lead to airlines facing higher prices for wifi on board.

Both companies supply businesses around the world with satellite connectivity that means services like the internet, email, and video calling can run –including on an aircraft.

The CMA said it gathered evidence which found the satellite communications sector is expanding rapidly, with new players including Elon Musk’s Starlink acting as substantial rivals to the merged firm.

The takeover was agreed in November 2021, described at the time as a “transformative” deal for the global communications industry.

Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).

The pair’s permanent placing index –which measures how quickly firms are taking on full-time staff –slid at its quickest pace last month since the beginning of 2021, when the country was in the teeth of lockdown curbs.

Falling to 44.2 points, down from 49.3 points in March, the drop pushed

the index far below the 50 point threshold that separates growth and contraction. The temporary index meanwhile climbed to 53.3 points from 52.5 points over the same period.

“This data shows how uncertain many employers are feeling right now. The good news is they still need to hire, as growing vacancies show. But firms are hedging their bets,” REC chief exec Neil Carberry said.

JD expands its footprint with Courir purchase

LAURA MCGUIRE

THE ‘KING of trainers’ JD Sports has kicked off its five-year growth strategy with a proposed acquisition of leading French sports brand Courir for a weighty £425m.

The London-listed retailer yesterday said it had entered exclusive talks to buy the French brand, with £287m to be paid through cash and £169m through debt.

Due to French and EU law, JD does not expect the deal to be complete before the second half of 2023.

Courir has around 313 stores across Europe and a further 36 stores which trade under franchise agreements as Courir in North West Africa, Middle East and French overseas territories. Investors appeared confident about chief Regis Schultz’s ambitious plans for the company to become a “powerhouse” in the athleisure space, with shares closing up yesterday.

The move comes as part of the

group’s five-year growth plan announced earlier this year.

In February, the former B&Q boss unveiled that he would spend up to £3bn to open over 1,000 new JD Sports in the coming years.

“Securing greater control over the long-term development of JD and prioritising the development of the JD brand is a key pillar in our growth strategy in Europe,” Schultz said.

Interactive Investor analyst Victoria Scholar noted JD Sports’ expansion plans were “ambitious”, with the firm also targeting double-digit revenue growth and operating margins.

“The acquisition of Courir is its first deal since outlining the new strategy this year, and will help JD Sports to expand its footprint in France,” she said.

It comes as a Sky News report last night said JD Sports had finalised the appointment of Dominic Platt, owner of Comparethemarket.com, as its chief financial officer, completing an overhaul of its executive team.

WHILE JD may be ‘wooing’ investors now, last year the reputation of the brand hung in the balance, when long- standing chief Peter Cowgill was forced to depart after he was fined £4.7m for breaching rules around a blocked merger with Footasylum.

The CMA slapped Cowgill with the fine when he was caught with Footasylum’s chief Barry Brown in a carpark to discuss a blocked takeover and other sensitive issues.

Yet Cowgill’s scandal-stricken exit appears to have only temporarily

Sorry about the takeover, but welcome aboard: Suisse boss to join UBS top team

CITY A.M. REPORTER

CREDIT Suisse’s boss will join the board of UBS after it closes its rescue takeover of the Swiss banking rival. It is part of a major leadership reshuffle two months after the $3.25bn (£2.64bn) takeover deal.

Ulrich Korner, who joined Credit Suisse as chief executive last summer, will now join UBS’s executive board.

US regional banks slip again amid volatility

CHRIS DORRELL

US REGIONAL banks continued their slide yesterday with Western Alliance dragging down a number of its peers after the Fed’s latest lending survey. Pacwest was trading nearly seven per cent lower; Western Alliance five per cent; Comerica 3.6 per cent and the KBW Regional Bank Index was trading 1.2 per cent lower.

ANALYSIS

wounded confidence in the brand, as it remains on track to post pretax profits of more than £1bn this year.

“Athleisure wear and full on sports gear sales have rather defied the cost of living crisis,” said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell. What’s more, JD Sports has quickly emerged as one of the strongest contenders in the retail space, outperforming rivals such as Asos.

The sector has faced heavy scrutiny after three banks have collapsed in the space of a few months. Pacwest and Western Alliance experienced significant deposit outflows in the first quarter, though they have rebounded slightly.

The banks argue they are financially secure but markets have remained volatile.

Investors are debating whether the volatility represents adjusted expectations for the banks’ longterm profitability or market manipulation from short-sellers.

On Monday, the Fed’s quarterly Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey showed credit conditions have kept tightening.

Analysts suggested that this tightening was less to do with the banking turmoil and more about the Fed’s rate hiking campaign.

UBS bosses anticipate the deal will legally close in the “next few weeks” to form a merged banking group.

The company said Korner will be responsible for ensuring “Credit Suisse’s operational continuity” and supporting the integration process between the two operations.

UBS chief Sergio Ermotti said: “This is a pivotal moment for UBS, Credit Suisse and the entire industry.”

He pledged to “solidify and represent the Swiss model for finance globally, one that is capital-light, less reliant on taking risk and anchored by stability and high-touch service”.

“This transaction will allow us to offer attractive returns to our shareholders and give us capacity to further invest and grow,” he added.

UBS also announced that Todd Tuckner will be appointed as CFO.

JD Sports has overcome the scandalous exit of CEO Peter Cowgill last year

The company said Ulrich Korner has knowledge of both organisations

Loving a crisis: DIY investors pile into trades

CHARLIE CONCHIE

DO-IT-YOURSELF investors piled into banking trades in the first quarter of the year as the sector was shaken by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and shotgun sale of Credit Suisse to UBS. Retail trading platform Capital.com, which processed over $300bn (£238bn) in total trades in the first three months of the year, said it saw a surge in banking sector activity as investors tried to capitalise on the extreme volatility.

The London-headquartered firm said CFD trades in Credit Suisse shares on its platform, which allow investors to profit from moves in price, climbed by 9,644 per cent in the first three months of the year while UBS shares saw trading volumes grow over 4,000 per cent.

Investors also piled into trades against now-collapsed US lender First Republic, which saw CFD trades on its

NOTHING TO SEE HERE Thames Water boss and CFO to forgo bonuses as dividend scrutiny on struggling suppliers intensifies

shares climb 314,467 per cent between January and March.

Fears of a banking crisis triggered a tumble in global banking stocks in the three months to March as jitters over the stability of US regional banks and Credit Suisse spread across regions.

Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com, said traders on its platform typically shunned the sector but had pounced on the volatility.

She added that traders on the platform were in “high spirits” despite the banking crisis, buoyed by “solid [first quarter] earnings and economic data that shows resilient economies”.

Capital.com found Tesla was the most-traded single stock for the quarter for long and short trades. It has been the most traded on the platform for four consecutive platforms. US retailer Bed Bath & Beyond, Amazon, chipmaker Nvidia and Apple were the next most traded stocks.

over its

an eight-year turnaround plan to combat ageing and deteriorating infrastructure.

in

THAMES Water boss Sarah Bentley and CFO Alastair Cochran will forgo performance-related pay this year, with Bentley saying it didn’t “feel right” to take a bonus as the firm continues to battle criticism

record on sewage leaks. Last year, Bentley took £496,000

bonuses. Thames Water is in the second year of

Shares plummet as Purplebricks runs out of cash

LAURA MCGUIRE

SHARES in Purplebricks plummeted yesterday after the online estate agency warned investors that a return to profitability early next year was unlikely as it continues to mull a sale in efforts to take in some cash.

In an update yesterday, Purplebricks said a sale was likely to hit investors in the pocket –a warning which saw shares close down 65 per cent.

The estate agent also reported that instruction levels remained significantly below last year’s levels, forecasted at 5,672 in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to 10,964 in the same period of last year.

The business, which has fallen on tough times recently, largely due to a shake up in senior management, said that its cash position at the end of April is estimated to have stood at £9.1m due to the fall in instruction levels.

In February, Purplebricks said it was reviewing its future and later revealed it would launch a formal sale process –with several potential buyers expressing an interest.

The estate agent appeared to have doubled down on this decision yesterday,

noting that a small number of parties “remain in discussions with the group in relation to the sale of the company or some or all of the group’s business and assets”.

However, Purplebricks warned investors were unlikely to receive a payout should a sale go through.

“Negotiations are ongoing, however, at the current time, the transactions being contemplated, if concluded, would be expected to deliver returns to shareholders materially below the company’s current share

Purplebricks warned a sale was unlikely to reap a payout for investors

price,” the online estate agent said.

“There can be no guarantee that these negotiations will result in any such transaction, and there can also be no certainty on the timings or level of any return to shareholders.”

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould commented: “Talks over selling the business indicate an offer might be pitched at a price significantly below the value of the company last week and its cash pile is dwindling fast. The future is looking far from bright for the group.”

Civitas cited negative press about private involvement in the social housing sector

Civitas agrees to ‘undervalued’

£485m takeover amid criticism

CHARLIE CONCHIE

LONDON-LISTED housing investor Civitas yesterday revealed it had struck an “undervalued” deal to sell itself to a Hong Kong property giant, as it looks to escape a barrage of criticism from short sellers and the media.

Bosses at Civitas said they had agreed to a £485m offer from Wellness Unity Limited, a company owned by Hong Kong property conglomerate CK Asset Holdings, and would now unanimously

Pearson calms investors over AI competition

ABBY WALLACE

EDUCATIONAL publisher Pearson is embedding AI across its products as the AI race heats up and the technology encroaches on the edtech sector.

The London-based publisher yesterday said that projects to embed generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology –meaning tools which can create new content from large data sets –were already “well underway”. “As generative AI develops, we expect it to create significant positive opportunities for Pearson, due to our unrivalled depth of content and data,” said Pearson chief executive Andy Bird.

The news comes as more companies and industry leaders are starting to grapple with the impact of rapidly advancing AI technology on their respective sectors.

Canary Wharf to get its own private wind farm

NICHOLAS

REAL ESTATE titan Canary Wharf Group (CWG) has teamed up with Brookfield, one of the world’s largest renewable energy providers, to support the building of a new private wind farm.

The 15-year power purchasing agreement will provide CWG with long-term price certainty while encouraging further movement towards renewable energy across the estate.

The deal will also create a stable revenue stream to support Brookfield’s construction of a 60MW wind farm to supply the CWG power purchasing agreement – effectively guaranteeing a buyer for the firm’s energy.

Overall, the agreement will meet at least 70 per cent of CWG’s electricity consumption needs, while also providing the potential to power all residents, office occupiers and retailers across the 150 acres of Canary Wharf entirely

by renewable energy. The wind farm is part of Brookfield’s pipeline of renewable projects and is expected to be commissioned by 2026.

It is the latest eye-catching move by CWG, which has recently announced plans to build a life sciences hub in the area. In pursuit of its net zero ambition, CWG has already reduced its emissions by 26 per cent and has procured renewable electricity for the estate since 2012.

recommend the deal to shareholders.

Shares in the real estate investment trust rocketed 44 per cent yesterday after the news.

The proposed offer marks a 44.4 per cent premium on the firm’s share price on 5 May but is well below the value of the firm’s sprawling portfolio of properties and the 104p per share price the firm floated at in 2016.

Bosses at Civitas said they had agreed to the “undervalued” offer amid a wave of “negative sentiment” towards the social housing sector.

Last week, Pearson’s US-based rival Chegg became one of the first companies to warn that AI tools were already having a negative impact on its business.

The California-based online learning platform said that ChatGPT was starting to have a negative impact on the number of students using the platform, as it reported a slump in revenue, sending shares down.

Pearson’s shares fell by over 12 per cent on the same day as the news rippled across the sector, though most of these losses have now been regained.

EARL

The development has the potential to power all Canary Wharf residents, office occupiers and retailers with renewable energy

Met chief claims force stopped ‘fake stewards’

JESSICA FRANK-KEYES

MET POLICE chief Sir Mark Rowley has defended the force’s policing of the coronation and said officers stopped “extremely dangerous” protesters from causing disruption.

Officers have faced heavy criticism after 64 people were arrested last weekend, including six members of antimonarchy group Republic.

The six campaigners were arrested on Saturday morning and detained for 16 hours before being released without charge when police conceded they could not prove criminal intent.

London mayor Sadiq Khan called for “clarity” from the Met over the arrests and urged the commissioner to review the force’s approach.

Rowley hit out at claims the force was heavy handed, with protesters arrested under the new offence of being equipped to lock on, issuing a fierce de-

fence in the Evening Standard: “Much of the ill-informed commentary on the day is wholly inaccurate – for example protest was not banned.

“Our activity was targeted at those we believed were intent on causing serious disruption and criminality.”

Rowley said intelligence emerged ahead of the ceremony that some people were “intent on using rape alarms and loud hailers” which would have “distressed” military horses.

Officers and the military were “extremely concerned”, he said.

Home secretary Suella Braverman and the mayor were briefed “late night” on Friday ahead of the coronation, as officers identified those involved and made arrests.

Rowley said 53 people had been bailed and officers were working “towards criminal charges” but would take “no further action against the six Republic protesters arrested”.

Starmer refuses to rule out Lib Dem coalition

JESSICA FRANK-KEYES

SIR KEIR Starmer has repeatedly refused to rule out a coalition with the Liberal Democrats if he does not win a majority at the next election. The Labour leader yesterday refused to rule out a pact with Sir Ed Davey’s party despite emphatically saying he would not team up with the SNP.

Truss’s team said she expected to meet senior members of the Taiwanese government

Truss to Taiwan: Former PM to rile Beijing with trip to the island

JESSICA FRANK-KEYES

FORMER PM Liz Truss is set to continue her comeback tour with a visit to Taiwan where she will deliver a speech next week despite fears over what the trip could mean for UKChina relations. Foreign secretary James Cleverly warned Britain should not “pull the shutters down” on China.

It comes after the Chinese military announced “combat readiness patrols” as a warning to Taiwanese who want to make the island’s de facto independence permanent.

Truss highlighted Beijing’s “increasingly aggressive behaviour and rhetoric” in comments ahead of the trip. The government is understood to be aware of the planned visit.

Sir Keir has said he believes he is on course to win outright after gaining hundreds of councillors and control of 22 local authorities at last week’s elections.

But the Lib Dems were also resurgent and recent projections have put Labour as not yet being in the position to form a majority government.

During interviews with Sky and the BBC, Sir Keir did not directly answer questions on a coalition or informal agreement.

Sir Keir insisted the reason he would only be definite about the Scottish nationalists was because there is a “fundamental difference” between his party and the SNP. “I do not believe in the break-up and separation of the UK,” he said.

ENOUGH WINDFALL TAXES: WE NEED OIL AND GAS TO GO GREEN

LABOUR’s latest push for the windfall tax to be toughened exposes the fact that its stance on the levy was always ideological, rather than practical.

With oil and gas prices easing, and the need to shelter households and businesses from energy bills declining – the opposition’s calls for investment relief in the Energy Price Levy to be scrapped are simple: it doesn’t want new oil and gas projects in the North Sea.

Shadow climate secretary Ed Miliband is pushing for a decarbonised electricity grid by the end of the decade, five years ahead of the government’s target, and wants the UK to compete with the vast US subsidy regime unveiled in the Inflation Reduction Act last year.

However, while renewable technologies such as wind turbines, green hydrogen and carbon capture have tremendous potential to transform the North Sea industry, the reality remains that the country will still need oil and gas for decades to come.

The Climate Change Committee, Westminster’s independent advisory group, predicts half of the UK’s energy requirements between now and 2050 will still be met by oil and gas, on top of as much as 64 per cent of UK energy needs between 2022 and 2037.

Nearly 85 per cent of the UK’s housing stock is heated by gas, and despite the

infectious enthusiasm of Octopus chief executive Greg Jackson – the heat pump revolution is set to be a protracted, gradual affair.

The challenge of storing wind and solar power also remains a burden on the energy sector – with the intermittent power sources needing to be complemented by a lowcarbon base-load such as nuclear.

Yet nuclear power will take decades to be fully revived as a sustainable energy source, as new plants jump through the hoops of local bureaucracy and vast funding commitments.

Despite this, the government has failed to offer a compelling vision for the North Sea that contrasts with Labour’s unrealistic approach.

If we are still in a world dependent on gas, it makes sense to procure fossil fuels in the least carbon intensive, most stable way possible, to reduce our reliance on unreliable overseas vendors and to maintain the UK’s push to net zero.

Yet, not only has the government ditched any attempt to revive fracking, it has also seemingly done all it can to drive investment from the North Sea – home to less carbon-intensive domestic pipelines.

Instead, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has turned to the US for a long-term LNG deal, and to overseas suppliers such as Qatar and Norway.

Overseas oil and gas supplies are considerably more carbon intensive than domestic supplies, while US LNG is potentially not even eligible for blue hydrogen conversion, meaning it has no real future role in our energy mix.

NORTH SEA INDUSTRY HAMMERED BY WINDFALL TAX

The Energy Profits Levy, which exists on top of the special 40 per cent corporate tax rate North Sea operators face, was introduced by the Tories, toughened to 35 per cent and extended from three to six years – all since last May.

It has created a changeable, unstable investment climate in an already challenging, mature basin – dissuading investors from backing projects essential for supply security.

Downing Street’s ambition of harnessing war-fuelled revenues of energy giants to tame household energy bills was fundamentally unrealistic, with the likes of BP and Shell generating well below 10 per cent of their revenues from UK operations. Instead, it is independent North Sea oil and gas traders – the most active in UK waters and lacking in a global diversified portfolio of projects – which have borne the brunt of the policy changes.

The UK’s largest independent operator, Harbour Energy, has slashed hundreds of

jobs after its £2.1bn profits were effectively wiped out through taxes, including a £1.3bn charge from the Energy Profits Levy. Enquest has pulled out of plans to revive a domestic gas field after reporting £33m losses, while Ithaca Energy is hesitating over plans to develop Rosebank – the UK’s largest undeveloped oil and gas field – and remains locked in talks with the government.

These stories reflect the realities of North Sea development and are a world away from the headline figures of bumper profits for major fossil fuel traders.

The North Sea Transition Authority is now calculating a sharp drop in predicted capital expenditure from £5.42bn to £2.5bn over the current decade.

Such a shattering effect to investment confidence is entirely the government’s own making.

Yet, the government seems breezily inattentive to the crisis, fumbling over whether to introduce a price floor when oil and gas prices return to conventional trading levels.

It is time Downing Street came up with credible solutions – because a collapsed North Sea industry means the UK will have very few options but to depend on highly carbon intensive, overseas supplies – jeopardising its energy security and green ambitions.

BILL GATES GOES NUCLEAR

Bill Gates could be powering the UK’s nuclear ambitions over the coming decades, with his company Terra Power poised to enter the multibillion pound race to build small modular reactors (SMRs) in the country. Terra Power’s SMRs use a molten salt heat storage system to rapidly boost their power output at peak times. Founded by Gates in 2006, the company secured £657m in its most recent funding round last summer. Its potential arrival into UK markets follows Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announcing that a bidding competition would be run on prospective projects, although Downing Street has already committed £210m of taxpayer money into Rolls-Royce’s rival SMR plans.

LABOUR PLANS TO REFORM WATER SECTOR

£ The much maligned water industry could be completely revamped if Labour wins next year's election. The opposition is drawing up plans to create a new water regulator as it seeks to address public anger over the dumping of raw sewage in the UK’s rivers, lakes and beaches. Under the proposals, a Labour government would merge most of the Environment Agency, the pollution watchdog, with the financial regulator Ofwat and the Drinking Water Inspectorate to create a new oversight body, according to the Financial Times. It would also create a separate flooding agency with the remnants of the Environment Agency to protect communities in England and Wales in the case of extreme weather events.

SEND US YOUR THOUGHTS

What can we do to improve energy security? Email energy editor Nicholas Earl at nicholas.earl@cityam.com

Saudi Aramco profits slide to £25bn as oil prices fall from record highs

NICHOLAS EARL

THE WORLD’s largest oil and gas company Saudi Aramco yesterday reported a clear dip in earnings over the first three months of the year, blaming lower global oil prices for reduced profits.

Saudi Aramco unveiled first quarter profits of £25.3bn, down from the

£31.27bn it posted last year.

This follows Aramco claiming the highest ever recorded annual profit from a publicly listed company last year, earning £127.3bn.

Those earnings were powered by record energy prices rising after Russia launched its war on Ukraine last February. However, oil prices have sunk in recent weeks, weighed down

by intensifying fears of a recession as central banks raise interest rates to try to tame inflation.

Despite the slowdown in profits, shares in Aramco closed up, giving the oil firm a £1.7 trillion valuation. Separately, Aramco announced it would start issuing performancebased dividends to stockholders, on top of the dividends it already offers.

City A.M.’s energy editor Nicholas Earl delves into the sector’s challenges in his weekly column

After soaring last year, oil prices are now sinking as recessionary fears grow

CITY DASHBOARD YOUR

ONE-STOP SHOP FOR BROKER VIEWS AND MARKET REPORTS

LONDON REPORT BEST OF THE BROKERS

FTSE 100: Stalling house prices drag on London index

LONDON’s FTSE 100 kickstarted a fresh week down yesterday, with Britain’s biggest home builders sliding after new figures showed house price growth has stalled.

The capital’s premier index nudged 0.18 per cent lower to 7,764.10 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, lost 0.9 per cent to close at 19,277.04 points.

Lenders were among the top risers on the FTSE 100 during opening exchanges on what is another shortened trading week in the City due to the extra bank holiday to celebrate King Charles’ coronation.

Barclays added 1.41 per cent, while partly taxpayer-owned Natwest climbed 1.54 per cent, hoisting both toward the premier index’s summit. That surge ran out of steam in the afternoon, with the pair closing up around 0.2 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.

Markets reckon the Bank of England will back a 25 basis point interest rate increase on Thursday, sending them to 4.5 per cent, the highest level since 2008.

That could boost banks, who typically benefit from a higher interest rate envi-

ronment as it allows them to charge more for loans.

Holding back the FTSE 100 were Britain’s biggest house builders, pushed lower by investors ditching their shares after new figures from lender Halifax revealed house price growth slumped to its lowest annual rate in a decade.

British Land, Land Securities, Berkeley Group, Barratt Developments and Persimmon all shed more than two per cent to trade near the bottom of the FTSE 100.

“While the overall market remains sluggish, there are pockets of outperformance with new-build prices and first-time buyers remaining resilient, partly because of soaring rental costs,” Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said.

The Bank will heap more pressure on the housing market if it decides to back another rate rise this week.

The pound weakened marginally against the US dollar, peeling back some of its recent gains that have pushed it to its highest level against the greenback in over a year.

Oil prices extended their steep descent in recent weeks, dropping nearly two per cent.

Holiday specialists Hostelworld has published a very strong trading statement, guiding to an adjusted ebitda forecast range of €16.5-17.0m. With management publishing guidance so early in an economically uncertain year, Peel Hunt assumes there is a safety margin. Analysts maintained a strong buy stance at 200p per share.

WAITING FOR THE NUMBERS

“The big question of the week is where will the US inflation number fall and how will markets react? For central banks that Goldilocks sweet spot is two per cent but, in this case, the best scenario seems to be a slow but continuous downward trend that sets up a pause and then a cut to rates later in the year... What does seem to have been fully priced in is another quarter percentage point hike by the Bank of England.”

DANNI HEWSON, AJ BELL

Capita,

one of the UK’s largest outsourcers, has received some merited criticism in

recent

days after the professional services group wrote to pension clients confirming some data it processed was likely to have been hacked during a recent cyber attack. However, analysts at Peel Hunt are prepared to buy at a target price of 48p.

JD Sports Fashion is going full steam ahead with its expansion plans as athleisure enthusiasts embrace the store's offering. Peel Hunt expects fresh M&A activity to follow – as JD is keen to continue its expansion into most of its current territories and Courir fits the bill. Peel Hunt maintained a target price of 250p per share.

OPINION

EDITED BY SASCHA O’SULLIVAN

Productivity gains won’t win elections, but they will secure growth for decades

Josh Williams

LAST week, there was only one story and it was the continuation of a British tradition that now borders on the ancient. No, it wasn’t our Byzantine method of electing local councillors. Nor was it even our centuries old method of appointing and anointing our monarch. Instead, it was the release of some very important data.

The Office for National Statistics has now released the most recent figures for UK productivity. The numbercrunchers figures were as dismal as their science. In the final quarter of 2022, we were just 2.1 per cent more productive than in 2019. Across the whole of 2022, our productivity was flat. Since 2021, it had actually fallen. Productivity growth – measured as output per hour worked – matters because it is the only way of sustainably growing an economy. For a while you might be able to squeeze out a little more growth by forcing people to work longer hours, but eventually you will run out of hours in the day. The only answer then is to get more out of each hour worked.

There was a time when Britain led the world in productivity. Throughout the nineteenth-century, the constantly innovating and rapidly mechanising British economy was

Elena Siniscalco

STEVE Huggins is a man with a plan, and his plan is to win a never-ending battle with his housing association on service charges. He owns a flat in London with One Housing Group, and has seen the costs for maintenance of gardens and grounds go up by 168 per cent this year. The charges for internal cleaning and window cleaning have increased by 151 per cent and 92 per cent respectively, so he’s started a partial service charge strike, withholding the budget increase for this year and paying only last year’s rate. He says the housing association has threatened him with forfeiture if he doesn’t settle.

Huggins is only one of many tenants and leaseholders at the centre of this housing storm. The problem of housing associations overcharging tenants without accountability is less known than health and safety issues like damp and mould, and campaigners admit they struggle to draw political attention to

more productive than any other. While America took our crown in the twentieth-century, and other developed nations caught up with us over the years, between 1997 and 2007, Britain had the second fastest growing productivity in the world.

In 2008, that all changed. In the years since, we have experienced our worst productivity performance in 250 years. Today, we are a sixth less productive than workers in the United States, France and Germany.

The cost of this is considerable. If Britain could lift its productivity to US levels, we would be generating £6,600 more GDP per person. Produc-

tivity growth could be our route out of persistently stagnant GDP growth. The question is: how?

Firstly, we must invest more. The most productive countries are those that invest the most. In Britain, investment has persistently lagged behind other OECD nations.

This demands more public-sector investment, backing investments that will reap long-term rewards that the private-sector is not able to fund itself. The creation of ARIA, the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency, modelled on a US-equivalent, is a vital step in the right direction here though its budget is far

Even if you do buy

too small.

This also requires more private-sector investment. Since the financial crisis, under-confident British firms have warily kept their powder dry, holding back investment. This trend was further aggravated by the uncertainty first of Brexit and then of Covid. Britain’s firms must be encouraged to invest more. The Chancellor’s Spring budget offered a three-year £27bn tax relief programme to do so, but in the eyes of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), this is insufficient. Unless the programme becomes permanent, the OBR says, it will simply encourage businesses to push ex-

isting spending forwards, increasing investment today but depressing it tomorrow.

If we are to increase productivity, however, we must invest in people too. Britons today are poorly prepared for the world of work, ill-equipped with the skills required of a modern economy. Too many of those who leave our education system before university do so at 16, without a technical education that would prepare them for the world of work. Just 32 per cent of those who do not go on to university stay in school after they are 16. The OECD average is 10 points higher. As with so much else in Britain, this is made worse by considerable regional inequalities. Britain is one of the most regionally wealthy nations in the world. Nearly half of Britons live in areas as poor as former East Germany, which is home to just 20 per cent of Germans. As with so much else in Britain, low productivity is a regional problem. London, for instance, is 50 per cent more productive than the rest of the nation.

Britain’s economy is in the doldrums. We are trapped in a 1970s-like state of persistently low growth and alarmingly high inflation. While inflation is likely to fall of its own accord, as disrupted global supply chains find a new harmony, growth requires action. While no political campaign was won on the promise of “increasing productivity”, the Chancellor who solves Britain’s long productivity puzzle will be the finest we’ve ever had.

£ Josh Williams is deputy director of Labour Together

the issue. Yet affected tenants call it fraud, and say their housing association either ignores them or threatens them with unacceptable behaviour notices when they flag these issues.

Overcharge issues are endemic to the housing associations sector, and “can run to thousands of pounds for some tenants”, says Suzanne Muna, secretary of Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC). It’s hard to pin down an average number of how much overcharge tenants are paying across the country: some leaseholders pay thousands of pounds yearly, for some tenants it’s in the hundreds. The lack of a national standard doesn’t help. Housing associations can blame inflation on any increases, without providing any breakdown of costs. Those who demand more details are often charged extra.

Muna believes the overcharges are

mostly deliberate. Some services charges are paid by the Department for Work and Pensions for social housing tenants, while those who “own” on a long leasehold pay out of their own pocket. This means even if housing associations have to issue a refund, it’s unlikely the DWP will follow up. Service charges don’t fall directly within the remit of the housing regulator, which governs affordable housing, so there’s nowhere for tenants to make a complaint. Linda Libetta, a tenant with Home Group, went to the housing ombudsman, a separate body, after services in her block were being cut while the service charge and rent went up. The ombudsman sent her on a wild goose chase first to a first-tier tribunal, which settles legal disputes, where she was referred back to the ombudsman, who said they have no powers over service charges.

Data from FindOthers, an online tool helping people make requests for service charge breakdowns, shows housing associations big and small often try to sweep matters under the carpet. Georgina Hallis, FindOthers’ cofounder, says almost a third of people who used the tool didn’t receive a response from their housing association within the legal timeframe of thirty days. Of those who received a response, only 1 per cent marked it as satisfactory. Even when people get their money back, the same issues might arise the following year. Michael Savell, a tenant with Southern Housing, managed to recoup around £400,000 for tenants and residents on his estate. Yet he still has an open case with the first tier tribunal because he claims Southern Housing still owes them thousands of pounds related to gas payments.

Hyde, Clarion and Metropolitan Thames Valley, three of the big housing associations often accused of overcharging, all defend their position. “We’re doing everything we can to help by negotiating better prices with our suppliers and by being more efficient”, says Scott Lawrence, head of property charges at Hyde. “If we’ve made a mistake, it’s put right”, he adds. A Clarion spokesperson similarly notes they’re a charitable registered society existing “to provide homes for those that need them, not to make profits”. On the “rare occasions” where mistakes are made, Clarion claims to work with residents to fix them. So do Metropolitan Thames Valley, One Housing and Southern Housing. A Southern Housing spokesperson says the increase in the cost of service charge is due to “current high levels of inflation along with high energy costs”.

Yet the tenants City A.M. spoke to share a negative experience of trying to engage with their housing association. Several others who were approached were too scared of the potential consequences that speaking to the media could have on the safety of their tenancy. So even if we want to believe every overcharge up and down the country is an honest mistake, when it’s managed in such a belittling way it can’t be called anything but financial abuse.

a home, the pestilence of service charges could make it unaffordable

Rishi Sunak has put growing the economy at the heart of his ‘five missions’ for his government

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Regulating the regulators

[Re:Post-Brexit powers mean regulators need greater oversight, May 5]

Who guards the guardians is an ageold question, but one that is increasingly being asked in post-Brexit Britain. Out of the EU, the UK could benefit from the removal of the protracted process for overhauling financial rules through beefed-up domestic regulators. This must also be balanced with heightened accountability, however.

Of the two ideas presented, both have

promise, but both have flaws. Relying on politicians risks politicising the decision-making process whilst giving the job to an appointed panel of experts does not satisfy the need for democratic oversight.

A hybrid model would seem to offer a better solution, involving some form of committee of elected politicians, perhaps with backgrounds in financial services, informed and supported by a panel of experts. Such a model would ensure that democratic accountability is supplemented with the necessary specialist expertise – and yet I don’t hear such an approach being proposed.

Romin Dabir, Reed Smith

SHOT IN THE DARK GB News in the naughty corner over vaccine claims

Starmer is right, we need to give up on the cult of a university education for all

Paul Ormerod

LABOUR leader Keir Starmer came under fire for his recent reverse ferret on abolishing university tuition fees. Some see it as an inability to stick to a pledge, while others view it as a further betrayal of the policies of Jeremy Corbyn.

From an egalitarian perspective, Starmer’s decision is absolutely correct. Abolishing fees would cost over £10bn, the exact amount depending upon whether maintenance grants would be reintroduced, another Corbyn pledge.

But this money would go straight into the bank accounts of young people from relatively affluent backgrounds. Despite all the changes in the higher education sector, very few make it to university from the deprived council estates surrounding our major cities.

Policies towards higher and further education need a more general and drastic rethink.

When he was Prime Minister, Tony

GB News has been found to have breached Ofcom’s broadcasting code a second time after airing claims comparing the Covid-19 vaccine to ‘mass murder’. They were made by a presenter, Naomi Wolf, who has since left.

EXPLAINER-IN-BRIEF: THE MOST ANNOYING WAR ON LIME BIKES

If only there was another brand of docked bicycles in London, said no one ever.

Well, the wishes of the tiny minority bothered by the presence of various electric bikes will be satiated. E-bikes will have to be parked in designated bicycle bays in the West End to stop them being a ‘hazard’.

Westminster council is drawing up plans to effectively make some streets in the area e-bike free zones. There are already parking restrictions in certain areas of London, including in Hyde Park.

Many complain that the bikes fall over on windy days or are left haphazardly on the streets, because, famously, London’s streets are otherwise clear of all debris or obstructions. If people fail to follow the rules, they will be fined by the company, or be locked out of their account if they do it consistently.

It comes after Westminster Council also blocked a 24/7 Greggs in Leicester Square, in case it sparked violence. The dreams of local councillors must be haunted by sausage roll eating cyclists.

Blair set the target of 50 per cent of the relevant age cohort going to university.

At the time, Blair argued there was a “graduate premium” which benefited individuals and society. Graduates did more skilled jobs than non-graduates and were paid more as a result.

When Blair was pushing the policy forward, critics pointed out that the premium would be unlikely to apply to much of the new cohort of students.

The 50 per cent target involved a big increase in supply, driving down the price paid by graduates down.

There was a possible offset to this. Increasing the supply of graduates might stimulate employers to increase the demand for jobs which needed graduate skills. There would be both an increase in supply and a rise in demand.

But this has simply not happened. There has certainly been a rise in “credentialism” – demanding a degree from prospective employees. But this has not changed the relatively low skilled nature of many of these jobs.

Most students graduating from the elite Russell Group universities continue to command the so-called graduate premium. Their lifetime earnings will be higher, often considerably so, than non-graduates.

For many, this is simply not the case. Their degree adds nothing to their value in the labour market. The House of Commons library estimates that around half of all students will never earn enough to repay their loans.

The amounts involved are staggering.

There is already over £150bn of outstanding student loan debt. The government estimates that by the middle of the century this will reach £500bn in today’s prices.

This in effect is a subsidy to the huge numbers of students at our less distinguished universities. They will never repay their loans, so they are being paid by the taxpayer to enjoy three

years of semi-leisure.

In contrast, very little is available to the half of the population of young people whose academic record means that they cannot get into university. And these tend to come from less affluent and sometimes difficult backgrounds.

An approach which would be both more efficient in terms of outcomes and at the same time reduce inequality is to require graduates to repay their loans regardless of their income levels. This would soon lead to a sharp fall in the numbers wanting to go to university.

The resulting savings could be directed to the further education sector. This could deliver a real boost to the skills, employability and earnings of the less academically able half of the population.

Starmer is right to keep tuition fees.

But it is just the first step towards a further education policy which is both more effective and more egalitarian.

£ Paul

Ormerod is an author and economist at Volterra Partners LLP

Around half of all students will never earn enough to repay their university loans

Total outstanding student debt is at £150bn

BOB BOB RICARD CITY IS WHERE WE CELEBRATE

There’s nothing like pressing for champagne, says Adam Bloodworth

Bob Bob Ricard founder Leonid Shutov said of the renovated City restaurant he wanted it to be “somewhere you’ll travel to” rather than somewhere you’d go “because you happen to be nearby.”

In the capital, where half the new restaurants close within two years of opening, it’s a smart approach. ‘Make somewhere memorable’ seems almost too reasonable an ambition for a restaurateur - and yet so few eateries stand out like Bob Bob Ricard.

In case you’ve missed the hype since the flagship opened in Soho, the two restaurants are exactly what you might expect restaurants to look like when they’ve been through “multi-million dollar” fits - and then a little bit more on top. If you asked an AI image generator to

“design a 21st century version of the sort of hedonist mecca Henry VIII would have gone to to dine on whole swans, presented on beds of caviar, their necks curled and spouting champagne,” Bob Bob Ricard City is the sort of place it might dream up.

It’s the sort of place that comes around once every generation, preceded by the likes of The Ivy and Le Caprice as a genuine flagship destination, as unique in its look as it is memorable for its food. It would do a disservice to try and run through the interiors; like trying to describe a hallucinogenic trip, or a particularly warm hug, it just needs to be experienced. But in short, it’s an explosion of colour and design detail that’s so stimulating that,

if you’re me, you’ll stop and stare at everything for so long that staff will politely check to see if you’ve had some terrible news.

The food is French and modern British, with flair from across the world. We began with three servings of caviar, from weaker to reassuringly strong, because, well, why not? And it goes delightfully with champagne. (More on that fizzy stuff later…) Next we played it straight with a steak tartare, the Scotch beef tasting longeraged and more intense than usual. A stinking bishop cheese souffle was a

great mound of a thing, with consistency somewhere between an omelette and a Victoria sponge.

We were celebrating my best pal’s wedding, and it felt like an appropriate best man suggestion to propose that we share the beef wellington, which is, naturally, everyone’s favourite dish, unless they’re really silly.

Theatrically, it was presented to us whole, its crust hand-decorated and gleaming. Then it was swept away, then presented again, cut carefully into two big slices and two smaller ones. It comes with truffle jus but it doesn’t need it: the beef was perfectly cooked and the pastry avoided the pitfalls of a bad wellington; holding its shape until the bitter end, it refused to turn into a soggy mound and attach itself to the meat like bad versions do.

Then wedding boy, a few glasses of red down, pressed our table’s private “press for champagne” button. Our waiter came over looking animated. “Did you press for champagne?” he purred, broad smile on, playing along with the game.

The restaurant’s champagne buttons are practically on the top 10 lists of things to do in London at this point, and I’d thoroughly recommend giving one a push just for the campiness and the pomp and circumstance of it all. Bob Bob Ricard City is a unique type of hedonism. You might be able to make a picture of it using AI, but as for the vibes - and the champagne - that requires a visit.

To book call 0203 145 1000 or visit Bobbobricard.com/city

ASK THE EXPERT: TONY KITOUS, RESTAURATEUR

Comptoir Libanais founder Tony Kitous on his favourite places to go to eat with friends in the capital

COMPTOIR LIBANAIS CHELSEA

This is my favourite restaurant that we own. I love sitting outside on the terrace in Duke of York Square, enjoying some mezze and mint tea and watching people pass by. It feels like you are travelling somewhere in southern Europe, especially during the spring and summer time. Comptoir Libanais came from my love of Lebanese food. We celebrate the warmth and tastes of both Middle Eastern and North African culture. My mother taught me to make lots of the dishes when growing up and our food really tastes and feels like home. up so they really taste and feel like home. We also have a new menu launching soon which we are soexcited to share with

ROKA

In the mix on Charlotte Street, Roka is the place I go for Japanese food. It’s a popular restaurant and if you visit you’ll understand why. I always order their delicious iceberg salad with caramelised onion dressing – it is amazing. They have four locations in London and many more around the world. They are all about sharing and small plates which I love.

GREEN VALLEY

This shop is the place to go for authentic ingredients. I go to Green valley to buy all my traditional Middle Eastern food for the house. They also have a deli counter you can get delicious Lebanese food to take home. It’s high quality, fresh and a real gem if you are looking for things you cannot buy in chain supermarkets.

LAHORE Church street is the place I go whenever I am craving Pakistani food. If you like a bit of spice then you will love Lahore. Their food is so full of flavour and it is absolutely delicious. It’s inspired by the age old tastes of the city so it is real authentic Pakistani. and Indian food in the heart of London.

COLBEH

Near Marylebone, this is my favourite Iranian restaurant. They serve delicious food that makes you feel as if you are at someone’s home. They use deliciously fresh and authentic ingredients and their interiors consist of Persian artwork. You can also watch the baker though the open oven. It’s worth a visit if you love Middle Eastern cuisine. There is also great service, brilliant staff, and a wonderful homely ambience.

HOW TO THROW THE PERFECT EUROVISION PARTY ON SATURDAY

Can the UK beat last year’s runner-up placing to land the tltle? Probably notlet’s party anyway

Nil pois? If last year’s runnerup placing is anything to go by, the UK may have finally relegated to history our abysmal showing at the annual Eurovision Song Contest.

It was twenty years ago that Britain was awarded nil pois for Jemini’s song Cry Baby, and we got the lowest position again in 2021, but it could be worse. Norway holds the record for having got nil pois four times.

Anyway, last year we came second only to Ukraine, and it’s doubly exciting for 2023, with the Competition being hosted on home turf, in Liverpool. The live Eurovision final will take place this coming Saturday and will be broadcast live on BBC 1 from 8pm as our act Mae Muller goes head to head with 36 competing international acts with her track I Wrote A Song.

It’s tradition to throw a Eurovision Party, or at least attend one, so in the name of patriotism, here are the best Eurovision Party hacks ahead of the weekend.

THE OUTFIT

It’s basically the law that you need to go dressed as a competing country, and there are many ways to interpret this.

Of course there’s the going British option, perhaps Cheryl Baker from Buck’s Fizz if you’ve got a nice big blonde wig and some red lipstick in a nice jammy hue? Or Cliff Richard of course, if donning a dated toupee and a summer jacket and some fake tan is more up your street.

If you’ve got a royal hangover that needs tending to after the coronation then why not go for sartorial hair of the dog with a patriotic red, white and blue outfit?

Or look further afield. There are the cliched destinations that you could put

Booze is as synonymous with Eurovision as the words ‘nil pois’. Here are some of the best drinks to cheer Britain on with this Saturday night.

It’s essential to pop the fizz to get the Eurovision party started, and if you’re staying British this Saturday, Dorset vineyard Langham’s have a stunning blanc de blanc that’ll do just the trick. Nice and dry on the palette, it retails for £36 from Wanderlust Wine.

For fizz with fun on the side, go for the Denbies sparkling bacchus, from

retailers Grape Britannia. More balanced and expertly made, it’s a memorable bottle to pop for Eurovision.

It also happens to be World Cocktail Day this Saturday, so it’s the perfect excuse for a traditional British gin gimlet, one of the most classic cocktails from these shores. Make it with a double serving of gin, syrup,

and lime juice, shaken. Of course there’s Pimm’s, but if you want to go a little left-field then try the John Collins, with gin, lemon juice, fizzy water and Maraschino cherry, built over ice and served with a lemon slice. Independent spirits companies have been recommending drinks recipes for the night.

Isle of Wight spirits brand

Mermaid, available in Tesco, M&S and Waitrose, have come up with a unique drink for Eurovision to celebrate. To represent Blighty, they recommend a double serve of Mermaid Salt Vokda, Fever Tree Mexican Lime Soda mixer and a squeeze of lime juice. Serve with lime, red chilli and a coriander sprig.

Or get behind Poland with a single

a spin on, like France, with the obvious baguette-in-hand, stripy shirt aesthetic, or why not channel your Aussie cork hat energy and come as Australia, not technically in Europe but a part of the Song Contest since 2015?

My gambit is to use Eurovision as an excuse to research smaller, lesser-visted territories like North Macedonia or Albania, dive into their cultural traditions, and pay homage to them. It’s way more fun to do something different and you’ll be a coversation starter too.

THE PARTY DISH

Great British Bake-Off star Lizzie Acker has teamed up with Oatly to make a modern version of the Liverpudlian classic dish, the Wet Nelly. Given the final is taking place in the northern city it’s a great dish to try to recreate, and can be prepared before your party and left on the table for when guests arrive.

The Wet Nelly is similar to the bread pudding, and dates back to the 1950s.

INGREDIENTS

£ 12 x (slightly stale or hard) slices of bread

£ 700g Oatly oat drink whole

£ 180g light brown sugar

£ 2tsp vanilla bean paste

£ 2tsp cinnamon

£ 2tsp mixed spice

£ 130g apple sauce

£ 50g melted vegan butter

£ 350g dried mixed fruits

METHOD

Cut the crusts off the bread

Tear the bread up and put into a bowl

Cover the bread with 700g of Oatly whole

Give the milk and bread a stir

Allow it to sit for at least 4 hours or overnight

Line the baking tray with greaseproof

Set the fan oven to 180°c

Add the sugar to the bowl of soaked bread

Then add: vanilla bean paste, cinnamon, mixed spice, apple sauce, melted butter

£ Give the mixture a stir and then add and mix through the

Pour the mixture into the prepped tin and bake in the oven for 1.5 hours

When your nelly comes out it may be slightly jiggly. Allow it to sit for 30 minutes and then serve slightly warm with a dash of Oatly custard.

serving of Kavka Orchard Vodka, a dash of rose vermouth, prosecco, fresh strawberries, mint and a squeeze of lime. To make, fill a glass with ice and add the vodka and vermouth. Then add the rest, leaving the garnish ‘til last.

If this is all too much information and you’re still Making Your Mind Up then let us throw you one more: the classic Bucks Fizz, with two parts champagne one part orange juice. The band of the same name won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest so it’s more than fitting.

...AND RAISE A GLASS TO GREAT BRITAIN (AGAIN) THE COCKTAILS TO SHAKE AND BOTTLES TO POP

Clockwise from top left, fans arriving in Liverpool; rehearsals for the big show; food and drink options; UK act Mae Muller and another performer greeting fans

THE PUNTER

Wally Pyrah previews today’s card from Sha Tin

Ho to make some Billionaires out of Pierre Ng’s Secret

MIDWEEK racing in Hong Kong is back at Sha Tin for a fiendishly difficult but exciting eight-race programme on the allweather surface.

Racing fans in the city will be hoping that life returns to some normality after a ‘Wet and Wild’ Sunday at Sha Tin. Weather conditions wreaked havoc with the racing surface during the action, following 33mls of rain in just over two hours, and conditions were reportedly described as the most testing since 2015.

With soft-ground specialists in their element – a rare occurrence in Hong Kong – punters found it particularly

difficult to find winners, with only three of the 11 races going to favourites and plenty of shock results throughout the card.

With only a few showers forecast for Wednesday, hopefully there won’t be any excuses this time, especially for gallopers who excel on dirt.

One horse who, for some time, has been a winner waiting to happen and finally gets his chance to shine, is BILLIONAIRE SECRET who lines up in the Sha Tin Pass Handicap (1.45pm) over nine furlongs.

This former Irish-trained gelding, known as Jack Rose when trained by Edward Lynam, and a winner on the polytrack surface at Dundalk, has

had plenty of valid excuses this season, notably with some outside draws, or never seeing daylight until till too late in races.

He is closely matched with the likes of rivals Amazing Teens, Righteous Doctrine and Mission Bravo on recent form, but has never had the contests run to suit him and consequently finds himself 10lbs below his season’s opening mark.

This time from a favourable gate of five, he is likely to sit closer to the pace from the off and be better positioned before making his run for glory down the home straight.

With rookie trainer Pierre Ng having currently struck gold 32 times in his

first season, and jockey Vincent Ho riding at the top of his game following a four-timer at Sha Tin on Sunday, the omens are looking good for Billionaire Secret to make his breakthrough victory.

Later in the card, the Benno Yungtrained GUMMY GUMMY can also score his first success in Hong Kong, when taking his chance in the Eagle’s Nest Handicap (2.45pm) over six furlongs.

The likeable and willing son of Snitzel has twice found progressive dirt specialist Youthful Deal standing in his path of victory, firstly when unable to overhaul his conqueror in March and then, when weighted to gain his revenge, losing the race

with a slow start last month.

On that occasion, having drifted back to near the tail of the field, he then proceeded to produce an impressive closing sectional time, which is far superior to anything that his rivals can match.

With trainer Benno Yung having had 10 winners already on the surface this season – second only to Frankie Lor –and jockey Zac Purton certain to make sure he gets away smartly from his good draw, he should be hard to beat.

POINTERS

Billionaire Secret 1.45pm Sha Tin Gummy Gummy 2.45pm Sha Tin

Erimo to bring John Size closer to the Championship

AFLURRY of winners for trainer

John Size in the past fortnight, including a winning treble at Sha Tin on Sunday, has now put the ‘The Master Trainer’ firmly in control of winning his 12th Hong Kong trainers’ title.

With his nearest pursuer, Frankie Lor, 10 winners behind in the championship race, it’s also worth pointing out that Size has

been throwing everything but the kitchen sink in pursuit of winners recently, saddling 48 runners at the last five meetings.

It was only a few years back that seeing a John Size galloper on the all-weather surface was likened to spotting a UFO in the sky, but times have changed.

The 68-year-old Australian sends seven raiders to Sha Tin, and it would

be a brave man to reckon he will come away empty handed.

The likes of dirt specialists Shining Fortune in the second division of the Piper’s Hill Handicap (12.45pm) over six furlongs, and Amazing Teens in the Sha Tin Pass Handicap (1.45pm) over nine furlongs, both have good chances, while down-in-class Red Desert is dangerous in the first division of the Piper’s Hill Handicap

(2.15pm) over six furlongs. His best chance on the card, however, should prove to be ERIMO, who seeks to resume winning form in the Hung Mui Kuk Handicap (3.15pm) over the extended mile. Having spread-eagled rivals when winning from just a 3lb lower mark on turf earlier in the season, the five-yearold subsequently showed a liking for all-weather racing when chasing home

progressive Hava Nageela on his first attempt on the surface last month. A reproduction of that form, with a favourable draw a bonus, should be good enough to get him back into the winners’ circle.

POINTERS

Erimo 3.15pm Sha Tin

Billionaire Secret (green silks) finished second under Vincent Ho at Sha Tin in April

Sport and music have provided rich pickings for Lorton Entertainment, Julian Bird tells Frank Dalleres

I‘M NOT really a massive film fan,” says City banker-turned-unlikely movie mogul Julian Bird. It’s perhaps a surprising statement from someone who has been behind some of the most successful and popular documentaries of the last decade, including Maradona, Oasis biopic Supersonic, Rooney, and Bros: After the Screaming Stops.

But then Bird is not the person in the director’s chair or operating the camera but the one raising the funding and, increasingly, showing that investing in films can be profitable after all.

It started, he says, as a hunch. “The film industry had – and probably still has – such a terrible reputation for private investors. But I thought to myself: there must be an investable asset, you just have to find it.”

Bird took up evening classes in film, began making contacts in the business and, in 2014, quit his job with a boutique bank in the Square Mile to set up Lorton Entertainment.

“I thought that if I could build a reputation for earning returns in a market which generally lost people money then we would be quite unique.”

He “fell into” documentaries after meeting Senna and Amy director Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees, who would later create the paradigm-shifting Formula 1 series Drive To Survive.

Bird says it proved an inspired move, since docs cost far less to make than scripted films – between £500,000 and £2.5m – but can generate similar returns. Lorton’s first project was Super-

HOW A BANKER CRACKED THE FILM BIZ, ONE DOC AT A TIME

up. For the first three to four weeks we just got to know them.”

DIRTY WORD

sonic in 2016, produced by Kapadia and executive produced by Gay-Rees.

“As soon as I saw how that performed at the cinema alone, I thought ‘wow, this is amazing’,” Bird adds. Shortly afterwards, Lorton backed Oscar winner Kapadia to make Maradona, which received worldwide critical acclaim.

ICONIC FIGURES

Lorton has now finished 17 independent films, mostly documentaries about sport or music, and has another eight or nine currently in production, including a four-part series behind the scenes at Newcastle United and a film on the Wagatha Christie affair.

The company has gone from simply raising money for individual films to launching multi-film funds and now also co-produces, sells and distributes the product in order to control costs.

It appears to be working: Lorton’s first fund is paying out 18 months early at a profit of around 50 per cent

ROONEY

Asif

and Bird is in the process of launching a second fund.

Recent releases include Boom!

Boom!: The World vs Boris Becker, a two-part film snapped up by Apple, and Stable, about the McGuigan boxing dynasty.

Documentaries about iconic figures perform well because their fanbases provide a ready-made audience, says Bird. “But there has got to be a proper story there otherwise the viewer will

turn off.” He adds: “I want to be surprised and see something different, which is why we did Bros and [a forthcoming film on] James Blunt. We don’t want salacious stuff; we want people being honest. I hate watching docs where I feel I haven’t got the whole story and they are holding back for whatever reason.”

Lorton’s fly-on-the-wall look at Newcastle’s revival this season will put the spotlight on how the football club op-

erates in the boardroom as well as on the field.

“I’m a Liverpool fan and I’d love to know how Liverpool operate as a business – even just the transfers are fascinating to any football fan. I thought: let’s get that on camera. There’s so much more to football than what happens on the pitch – Welcome to Wrexham has shown that.”

Securing access is “about trust. You can’t go – bang – and set the cameras

But how long can the party last? The sports doc craze of the last decade, fuelled by the rise of streaming services, has surely left few stories untold.

“There is always going to be demand for the new icons coming through, the [Erling] Haalands of this world. There are so many great stories and there is a thirst for content.”

In the search for untapped material, Lorton has looked across the Atlantic and has two films centred on US sports teams in the works.

Having proven that his initial hunch about the industry’s potential was right, Bird envisages creating a permanent capital vehicle which could then be floated – once Lorton’s second fund closes to new investors, that is.

“Equity in films is not a dirty word. It’s how it is managed,” he says. “If we can build enough product and supply, the City will be there for a permanent capital vehicle, which would be big.”

Bird does like film and TV, he makes clear, just not as obsessively as some.

“There are people who study it. I’m a finance guy and don’t profess to be this creative person – I wish I was,” he adds. “The creative side of the industry is fantastic. Producers, directors, writers – this country is full of amazing people. It just needed the businesspeople, I think.”

There’s more to football than what happens on the pitch –Welcome to Wrexham has shown that

SHOWREEL: LORTON’S GREATEST HITS (SO FAR)

SUPERSONIC This 2016 Oasis doc was the first film Lorton funded and took $1.5m at the box office in just 16 days.

MARADONA

Kapadia’s 2019 portrait of the

footballer garnered critical acclaim and has grossed $2.8m worldwide.

The England great confronted some demons in this candid 2022 doc, which featured interviews with Rooney himself and former colleagues.

BROS: AFTER THE SCREAMING STOPS Pathos and no little hilarity were the order of the day in this 2018 look at the 80s band’s fraught preparation for a reunion gig. It proved a viral sensation when aired by the BBC and went on to scoop a Bafta and a National Film Award.

SPORT

MARADONA AND ME

How a City banker bucked film’s loss making trend with sport docs PAGE 19

Premiership enjoys attendance bounce –but figures little for rugby to cheer about

PREMIERSHIP rugby’s average match attendance is close to returning to prepandemic levels as the sport shows signs of recovery following a turbulent period.

Average attendance in the Premiership this season was 12,569, up by more than 1,000 on last year and almost back to pre-Covid-19 levels, according to data crunched by City A.M. The figures exclude big games, such as those at Twickenham and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, to make for meaningful comparison.

But the expulsion of Wasps, who fell into administration at the start of the 2022-23 season and averaged below 10,000 per match last season, boosted the average figures.

Bristol Bears averaged more than 18,400 for the first time from their 10 home matches – a record for the West Country outfit – while Gloucester saw their average crowd jump to more than 14,000, 87.4 per cent of their capacity.

The figures from rugby’s traditional heartlands will buoy Premiership bigwigs’ hopes for the future. Gloucester had their worst league finish outside of the pandemic since the 1990s yet still enticed bigger audiences.

But there is still work to do elsewhere. Sale Sharks, who have sold out the AJ Bell Stadium for their semi-final with Leicester Tigers this weekend, have seen a 13 per cent increase in attendance but their average gate remains just 6,618.

Newcastle Falcons, on the other hand, have seen mostly dire gates this season with the percentage of their seats taken dropping to just 55 per cent with an average attendance of 5,611. For the visit of Exeter Chiefs in round 11, the Tyneside club saw just 3,126 fans through the turnstiles – less than the average gate in the fifth tier of English football.

Newcastle’s season-long attendance amounted to just 4,000 more than the entire capacity of St James' Park, home

YEAR’S CROWDS COMPARE TO BEFORE PANDEMIC

of the city’s Premier League football club. Sale had a combined attendance throughout the season that amounted to less than the capacity of Manchester United’s Old Trafford.

Bath once again topped the stats for the fullest ground, with an average occupancy of 95.4 per cent. And although it is slightly down on last year’s 96 per cent, the club continued to prove that an expanded Rec stadium is good for business.

The most disappointing crowds of the season were at Exeter Chiefs, however, with fans blaming the price of tickets for their average attendance dropping from over 12,000 to below 10,800.

Newcastle saw 3,126 fans in round 11 –less than the average gate in football’s fifth tier

One quirk of the statistics was the fact that table-topping Saracens have seen their average attendance rise but the percentage of seats fall, because of their increased stadium capacity. In all, Bristol Bears, Leicester Tigers, Gloucester, Sale Sharks and Saracens saw their average attendances rise in comparison to last season.

Bath Rugby, Exeter Chiefs, Harlequins, London Irish, Newcastle Falcons and Northampton Saints saw their average gates fall. Leicester topped the average attendance in terms of raw figures at over 22,000 while Newcastle finished bottom in both the attendance and league tables.

All figures were taken from the official Premiership Rugby website.

Archer’s Ashes hopes in balance after early return

FRANK DALLERES

ENGLAND paceman Jofra Archer faces a race to be fit for the Ashes after cutting short his stint playing in the Indian Premier League.

Archer has struggled to recover from his latest round of elbow surgery and is returning to England to focus on recuperation, with the first Test against Australia starting on 16 June.

“Pushing through the discomfort whilst recently playing, hoping it will settle, has proven challenging,” said the England and Wales Cricket Board.

“Therefore, it has been agreed for

Worcester fans: We don’t want ‘cuckoo club’ Wasps

him to return to the UK for a period of rest and rehabilitation to give him the best opportunity for a full recovery.

“The ECB would like to thank the Mumbai Indians for their support and cooperation. Archer will return to the UK this week and will work on his rehab with the ECB medical department and Sussex.”

The 28-year-old has been replaced by Chris Jordan at the Mumbai Indians, who still have at least three matches left of the IPL season.

A NEW fan group representing recently purchased rugby team Worcester Warriors have called on the sport’s governing body to block a proposition that would see fellow strugglers Wasps move to their stadium.

Following the completion of a deal between the Atlas consortium and administrators Begbies Traynor for Worcester Warriors, it emerged that Wasps owner Chris Holland had made a loan to the consortium to help secure access to the stadium.

“This would be to the detriment of pre-existing local rugby clubs, including any potential Warriors team,”

said the Worcester Warriors Supporters’ Trust.

“We believe that if Wasps become tenants at the [Sixways] stadium it would significantly impact, in a negative manner, the prospect of a [resurrected] Worcester team.

“Wasps have no history in our local area; we believe they are intent on effectively poaching a ‘ready-made’ fanbase. There are other facilities closer to their previous ground(s); we do not believe they should be allowed to effectively set up a franchise in Worcestershire. The supporters and the wider Worcester community have no desire for a cuckoo club to install itself at Sixways Stadium.”

RUGBY UNION CRICKET

MATT HARDY

RUGBY UNION

MATT HARDY