Thursday 8 June 2023

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THERE’S A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN

Private equity bonanza fails to take off

CHARLIE CONCHIE

A WAVE of predicted private equity deals failed to rear its head last month as sticky inflation and more interest rate pain forced dealmakers to reconsider an offensive, according to a London investment bank.

The City had been braced for a wave of take-private deals in 2023 as foreign buyers pounced on cheap valuations, pushed lower by a weak pound and the lingering effects of Brexit.

However, despite a number of bids for firms in the first five months of the year, the wave of takeovers has so far yet to come to a head.

Bankers at Peel Hunt said the trend continued last month as longer rate pain keeps deal financing expensive.

REGULATOR STEPS UP ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTO MARKETING ‘WILD WEST’

CHRIS DORRELL AND CHARLIE CONCHIE

CRYPTO firms face a regulatory clampdown in the UK this year as the City watchdog cracks the whip on the “Wild West” landscape of crypto marketing.

In a new set of rules announced today, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it will force crypto firms to introduce a “cooling-off” period, during which time consumers can decide to cancel their

OBITUARY

purchase.

The watchdog is also set to ban “refer a friend” bonuses and force firms to put in place “clear risk warnings” as it seeks to ensure that those who buy crypto understand the risk.

Sheldon Mills, executive director at the FCA, said: "It is up to people to decide whether they buy crypto. But research shows many regret making a hasty decision. Our rules give people the time and the right risk warnings to make an informed choice.”

The new rules will come into effect from 8 October, setting the clock ticking for the UK’s crypto sector.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the FCA had “shot out of the traps” with the changes and was “racing ahead with new rules to give consumers extra protection in the crypto Wild West”. Regulators have been looking to tighten the guardrails in the sector and

protect consumers from crypto bandits after the high profile implosion of crypto exchange FTX last year.

The move comes in the same week as US regulators having sued Coinbase and Binance, two crypto giants.

The government has promised to bring forward regulation of the wider crypto sector in the UK, but the timing is in the hands of Whitehall. The influential Treasury Committee has argued that crypto should be treated like gambling, sparking a backlash from the sector.

“Notwithstanding expectations of a surge in take-private activity, traditional private equity buyers were absent during the month, mostly likely as they reassess the outlook for interest rates in the light of persisting inflation,” Peel Hunt said in a report.

A Swedish/Abu Dhabi bid for Dechra, a pet drugmaker, got over the line at the end of last month at a slashed valuation, highlighting a month in which only six offer periods opened, compared to 13 the month previously.

Sir Ivan Menezes, long-time boss of Diageo, passes away after a short illness

LAURA MCGUIRE

SIR Ivan Menezes, the long-serving chief of drinks giant Diageo, has died aged 63, following a short illness.

The India-born business leader passed away days after he was rushed into hospital for emergency

surgery, for medical issues including a stomach ulcer.

Menezes joined Diageo at its creation in 1997 and held many senior positions in a career spanning over 25 years at the company.

He had been the strategy director for Guinness. When Diageo was subsequently created through the

merger, Ivan was appointed group integration director –later being made chief executive in 2013.

Menezes, who was awarded a knighthood in January, has helped steer the business through great periods of success –

including a $1bn (£800m) deal for tequila brand Casamigos and a premiumisation process across the brand’s portfolio.

Javier Ferran, chairman of Diageo said:“This is an incredibly sad day. Ivan was undoubtedly one of the finest leaders of his generation.

“Ivan was there at the creation of Diageo and over 25 years, shaped Diageo to become one of the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer companies.” Menezes had been due to step down in July, but that was brought forward earlier this week due to his illness.

STANDING UP FOR THE CITY

We have nothing to fear but fear of a recession itself

Forecasting, as Michael Fish proved so admirably in 1987, isn’t always straightforward. And the failure of a host of global institutions to predict the state of an unsteady economy isn’t quite as off-beam as reassuring the nation a hurricane wasn’t on its way to our shores just hours before the country’s garden fences turned into fast-moving projectiles.

THE CITY VIEW

But between the Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund and now the OECD, one hopes some thinking is going on about the models used over recent years.

Predictions of recession damage confidence; that confidence remains the most powerful accelerator (or handbrake, if it isn’t there) for the economy. But perhaps more interesting, and indeed worrying, for the UK is the fact that what has changed these forecasts aren’t the animal spirits of capitalism but government intervention in the form of a costly childcare subsidy (which deals with a

symptom not cause), and a clunky, poorly designed scheme to keep energy bills down, on a delay to global wholesale prices. That the state can be the difference between recession and (barely) growth should concern us all, because in the long run such jiggery-pokery is unsustainable. Westminster must rediscover the principles of the market if it is to stave off long-term stagnation.

YOU’RE NOT GETTING THIS BACK

Three-year-old crossbreed rescue Cora is our dog of the week, pictured clutching her favourite newspaper between her paws

US trade deal has not been a priority for a while, says Sunak ahead of talks

CITY A.M. REPORTER

A FULL-BLOWN trade deal with the US has not been a priority for a while, Rishi Sunak has acknowledged ahead of talks with Joe Biden.

The prospect of a transatlantic deal was viewed as one of the key potential benefits of Brexit, but Donald Trump’s defeat by Joe Biden saw hopes of a deal fade.

The Prime Minister said: “I think that for a while now, that has not been a priority for either the US or UK.”

Sunak suggested “specific and targeted ways” of improving trade be-

tween the two nations were still being considered.

The UK has also pushed ahead with trade talks with individual states.

Speaking to reporters on his trip to Washington, Mr Sunak said the UK and US were focused on “making sure that our economic partnership reflects the particular challenges and opportunities of the time that we’re in right now”.

He added: “That involves not just trade but also economic security, which is increasingly important.

“But when it does come to trade, what we have been doing with the US,

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WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

HIGH TAXES ARE DISCOURAGING BRITAIN FROM WORKING

High taxes are deterring Britain from working, the boss of one of the UK’s biggest recruitment agencies has said. James Reed, chairman of Reed, said Jeremy Hunt should cut taxes to encourage more people back to work.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES PORSCHE SE BOARD MEMBER CHARGED WITH MONEY LAUNDERING

Austrian anti-corruption authorities have charged a board member of Porsche SE, the holding company of Volkswagen Group, in relation to a decades-old fighter jets deal.

THE GUARDIAN WOKING COUNCIL DECLARES BANKRUPTCY CONFESSING A £1.2BN DEFICIT

Woking council has declared it is in effect bankrupt after admitting a risky investment spree involving hotels and skyscrapers overseen by its former Conservative administration.

Energy industry backs bigger role for watchdog Ofgem

we are looking at specific and targeted ways to improve trade between our countries.

“It’s also worth saying that we already have an unbelievably strong trading relationship with the US.”

Asked whether the idea of a trade deal had been an unrealistic promise, Sunak replied: “Since I’ve been Prime Minister, we’ve been focused, as have the US, on making sure that our economic partnership reflects the opportunities and challenges of the time that we face now.”

Biden and Sunak met in Washington late last night.

NICHOLAS EARL

THE ENERGY sector has welcomed the government’s move to expand Ofgem’s remit and legally require the watchdog to help drive the UK towards net zero carbon emissions over the next three decades. This will effectively expand its role as a regulator as the government aims to boost renewable electricity generation in line with its energy security goals — which include targets of 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 70GW of solar power by 2035.

Conservative MP Chris Skidmore said he was “delighted” with the decision, which was proposed in his review of net zero published earlier this year.

Wind and solar industry bodies

Renewable UK and Solar Energy UK also backed the latest reforms, anticipating they could speed up long delays with grid connections — as Ofgem would have more authority to push through rule changes across the energy sector.

“This was a common-sense decision by the government,” said Chris Hewett, CEO of Solar Energy UK.

Wonks U-turn on UK economy recession call

JAMES SILVER

RICH-COUNTRY think tank the OECD has upgraded the UK’s economic forecasts for the year but warned the country would still lag G7 rivals.

Wonks said the UK would grow by around 0.3 per cent this year, avoiding a technical recession, with inflation averaging 6.9 per cent.

The OECD is the latest international body to upgrade its economic outlook for the UK, with the International Monetary Fund recently U-turning on its own predictions.

However the OECD’s prediction of higher-for-longer inflation will lead to further speculation that the Bank of England may be forced to keep hiking the interest rate — slowing down economic activity.

The OECD’s chief economist Clare Lombardelli said

the UK was more exposed to higher global energy prices and higher labour costs than other developed economies, but said models suggested inflation would fall back to close to the two per cent target next year.

The US, by contrast to the UK’s sluggish growth, is expected to see its economy expand by 1.6 per cent.

The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, welcomed the group’s praise of the government’s flagship childcare expansion and tax credits for investment but said there was more to be done to get inflation back on track.

“But while inflation is still too high, we must stick relentlessly to our plan to halve it this year. That is the only long-term way to grow the economy and ease the cost of living pressures on families,” he added. Hunt has previously said rates going up was a price worth paying to bring down inflation.

London tops global ranking for tech investment

CHARLIE CONCHIE

LONDONhas beaten its international rivals to take the top spot for tech investment after notching more than 1,700 separate investment projects over the past decade, according to new figures.

The capital sailed past rivals like New York and San Francisco in terms of foreign tech projects, with 1,752 separate initiatives raking in cash since 2014, according to data from

Labour market loosens as UK records surge in job seekers after hiring lull

CHRIS DORRELL

THE UK’s labour market recorded a surge in candidates looking for roles last month amid a continued slump in hiring, easing the rate of starting salary inflation.

The supply of labour in the UK increased for the third month in a row, with the rate of people looking for jobs increasing at its fastest rate in

three and a half years.

According to consultancy KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, the broader pool of candidates contributed to a softer rate of increase in starting pay.

Although the increase was still at a "historically sharp pace", it was at its slowest pace in over two years.

The increase in the number of job candidates came after a “marked fall”

in permanent staff appointments. All four regions monitored by the report recorded a slowdown, with London’s hiring rate falling at the fastest pace.  This meant the permanent placing index, which measures how quickly firms are taking on full-time staff, dropped to 43.8 from 44.2 in April. Temporary appointments have performed more strongly, as firms look to bolster their flexibility.

London & Partners.

The figures come after data from big four firm EY this week showed the capital’s financial services sector had similarly shrugged off the worst Brexit concerns and topped European foreign investment lists.

The data comes as policy makers and firms prepare to chew over the international appeal of London at the 10th annual London Tech Week next week.

Commenting on the new data

revealed today, mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said London’s tech sector “has grown to become an international success story” and was boosting "economic growth for all Londoners".

The figures come amid fears of London’s competitiveness on the international stage. London slumped into second spot last year, as Abu Dhabi roared into first place annually having notched 223 new projects.

Jeremy Hunt responded to the figures

UK to pay £9bn more on foreign gas if it fails to ramp up heat pumps

NICHOLAS EARL

A LACK of government ambition in ramping up the installation of heat pumps, and the failure to clampdown on new gas connections, will force the UK to spend a further £9bn on extra gas imports from overseas vendors, warned the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. This would be both more costly, potentially driving up household bills, and more carbon intensive than clean energy alternatives.

In the climate advisory body's latest analysis, it predicts that laws requiring manufacturers to supply heat pumps and yet still allowing gas connections for new homes will see the UK buying an additional 200TWh of foreign gas between 2024 and 2035.

This is the equivalent of 16m homes' annual gas use or the supplies contained within 200 LNG tankers. Costs would rise to £1.35bn in 2035 alone, and cumulatively rise to £9bn over a 10-year period to 2035.

London house prices falling faster than rest

LAURA MCGUIRE

LONDON house prices have fallen by 1.2 per cent in the last year in a sign that the brief upturn in the market is now slowly beginning to fade.

According to figures by Halifax, homes across the south remain under the greatest pressure from falling prices — with homes in the south east now costing £385,000 — representing an annual decline of 1.6 per cent.

In the capital the average price of a home now costs £536,000, down 1.2 per cent on an annual basis.

“Property prices have now fallen by about £3,000 over the last 12 months and are down around £7,500 from the peak in August,” Kim Kinnaird, director at Halifax Mortgages, said.

“But prices are still £5,000 up since the end of last year, and £25,000 above the level of two years ago,” she added.

The average home has tipped into negative territory over the past year, having fallen one per cent, according to the Building Society.

Despite a surge in sales in early spring, the market has struggled as a new economic environment makes

its presence felt.

Upward momentum on house prices has largely been bruised by the Bank of England’s decision to hike interest rates to 4.5 per cent, which in turn led lenders to raise rates on mortgages.

Since then approvals on mortgages have further dwindled and buyer confidence has been shattered.

It comes as figures from the Bank of England show that net mortgage approvals for house purchases fell from 51,500 in March to 48,700 in April.

“Lenders continue to increase their mortgage rates, pulling products with little or no notice in response partly to funding costs and in response to what other lenders are doing,” Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said.

“This will inevitably impact what buyers can afford and in some cases they may put decisions on hold until the situation improves.”

He added: ’Swap rates, which underpin the pricing of fixed-rate mortgages, have settled since the inflation news sent them soaring. If this continues, we would expect mortgage pricing to also become less volatile.”

The calculations are based on current predictions that show gas futures contracts will remain at two to three times pre-energy crisis levels for the rest of the decade, despite declining spot prices. It also factors in expectations of declines in North Sea oil and gas production, amid an increasingly harsh investment regime and the rollout of renewables. Heat pumps remain a nascent industry in the UK today, despite over 20m being installed across Europe.

ZARA SURGE Fashion brand Inditex, owner of Zara and Bershka, reported an uptick in sales despite the ongoing cost of living crisis

WE Soda confirms plans to launch London’s biggest IPO of 2023

JAMES SILVER

TURKISH soda ash producer WE Soda confirmed plans to list on the London Stock Exchange yesterday, in a fillip to the capital’s bruised equity markets.

The firm expects to receive indirect net proceeds of just shy of £700m from the offering, with a valuation of around £7bn.

It will be the largest float on the London Stock Exchange this year, though the company anticipates only bringing forward around 10 per cent of its share capital for the offering.

London’s leaders have been concerned in recent years that an increasing number of high-profile floats have headed overseas, with Cambridge-headquartered Arm’s

recent decision to list in New York particularly concerning financial policymakers.

The government and regulators are both working on plans to make the capital more appealing as a listing destination, particularly to highgrowth tech firms, including making changes to the make-up of the exchange and listings requirements.

Heat pumps remain a fledgling sector in the UK

SINCE the collapse of Arcadia, Inditex’s Zara has become one of the most popular female clothing brands –with its dresses and tops often going viral online. In the fast fashion space, it has also outperformed rivals such as H&M. Despite ongoing economic challenges, the group in February announced a 20 per cent wage increase for employees in Spain.

Telegraph and Spectator to be put up for sale

GUY TAYLOR

THE TELEGRAPH newspapers and The Spectator magazine are set to be put up for sale after their parent organisation was forced into receivership due to unpaid debts.

The firm’s holding company B.UK, owned by the billionaire Barclay family, was placed into receivership by the Bank of Scotland after the firm failed to strike a deal on the repayment of a loan.

In a statement, receivers at Alix Parters, appointed by the bank, said despite further discussions a “resolution could not be reached”.

“Following their appointment, the receivers initiated changes to the boards of certain subsidiaries of B.UK Limited including [Telegraph Media Group] and The Spectator to secure

BUBBLY SUMMER Sparkling winemaker Gusbourne reported strong 2022 results

Trafigura hits record half year profit of £4.4bn

JULIA PAYNE

control of the assets of the PIHL Group [their parent] in order to facilitate a resolution, which may involve sales of the Telegraph and Spectator businesses.”

Sky News reported the Telegraph, its sister Sunday paper and The Spectator magazine had been valued at £600m for the sale.

The group has been teetering on the edge for

The Barclay Brothers have owned the Telegraph since 2004

days when it was reported on Tuesday that talks with the Barclay family broke down over the refinancing of a years-old loan. The talks had involved a longstanding debt owed by the parent company, which is in turn owned by the Barclay family — headed up by Aiden and Howard Barclay.

City Pub Group mounts further expansion plans with new sites

GUY TAYLOR

CITY PUB Group has snapped up a total of 52 per cent of shares in Mosaic Pub and Dining Group — taking its portfolio of up market pubs to 52 sites across London, Wales and the south of England.

The pub group, which owns the popular Chelsea haunt The Phene, first bought stakes in the company

Heathrow strike chaos to hit almost every weekend in summer holidays

GUY TAYLOR

HEATHROW Airport will be hit by 31 days of strike action this summer as 2,000 security officers walk out in a dispute over pay.

Nearly every weekend between June and August will be hit by the strikes, which will see more than

2,000 security staff walk out. It comes after workers from the Unite

union rejected a below-inflation pay offer of 10.1 per cent.

Members of the union have been involved in an ongoing row over pay and warned in the announcement that further escalation was likely.

Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite is putting Heathrow on notice that strike action at the airport will continue until it makes a fair pay offer to its

workers.

“Make no mistake, our members will receive the union’s unflinching support in this dispute.”

Unite’s regional co-ordinating officer Wayne King said: “Delays, disruption and cancellations will be inevitable as a result of the strike action.

“But this dispute is completely of Heathrow’s own making.”

around three years ago and has continually upped its offering since then.

From June 2023, City Pub Group will take operational control of the pubs in the Mosaic estate, which consists of pubs in London and Birmingham.

The group has recorded a 13 per cent like for like increase in the 23 weeks to June, with sales only slightly hindered by train strikes.

GLOBAL commodities giant Trafigura posted a record net profit of £4.4bn in the first half of its 2023 financial year that ended in March, double the amount it earned for the same period in 2022.

The Geneva-based trader said its oil, natural gas and LNG teams delivered a strong performance.

The result is already 80 per cent of its record full year profits for 2022 of £5.6bn –and came in despite revenue falling 23 per cent to £105.1bn.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose to £6.42bn, up from £3.2bn in the first half of 2022.

The company, however, does not expect its string of exceptional returns and growth to continue at the same speed.

That is because the Covid-19 pandemic, followed by sweeping Western sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, have created extreme market dislocations over the last few years –which the company believes boosted trading houses’ profits.

GUSBOURNE said that it is planning to add new vineyards to its Kent site in 2024, having reported strong results for 2022. The company noted that last year was the first year for the company in which it was trading without any Covid restrictions.

THE NOTE BOOK

Food production is one area we can all agree closer is best

GLOBALISATION, as we once knew it, is dead”, the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves boldly proclaimed to an audience in Washington last week.

The speech was as much about keeping Labour in the news as it was a marker of a global economic realignment. There is one area, however, where the debate over how much the UK needs to produce domestically is definitely heating up: food.

Last month, the Spanish government was forced to approve a €2bn emergency package to alleviate the impact of severe drought on farmers.

This matters to us because the UK imports considerable amounts of fresh produce from Spain (check the salad in your fridge). In fact, fruit and veg is the largest category of food imports, at over £10bn in 2021.

Combined with recent gaps on UK supermarket shelves, it now

SOME GOOD NEWS

looks prescient of parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee to have launched, last November, an investigation into climate change and food security.

I gave evidence to the committee yesterday on behalf of Harvest London. We are a vertical farming company that grows herbs and salad indoors, year round in our farm in east London, controlling growing conditions including lighting and temperature to a fine degree.

Vertical farming can help with food security because what we produce typically can’t be grown year round in British fields. We use much less water, no chemical pesticides, and obviously don’t have to transport our crops from Spain, or even further afield.

This doesn’t prove that globalisation is dead, but when it comes to fruit and veg, I certainly want it to have been alive - as recently as possible, not sitting in a truck or warehouse for days.

Talking of business and politics, one part of government that doesn't make much noise, but is quietly doing good work is Innovate UK, which funds industrial research projects. I’m pleased to say that we have been awarded a grant to maximise the use of data from our next farm, in South London, to push the capabilities of the vertical farming industry forward. It’s good to praise as well as complain.

£ Before Harvest London, I worked at an organisation long associated with free trade, the Institute of Directors. Business lobby groups are strange creatures, smallish organisations sometimes dominated by people who want the limelight as much for themselves as their members. Because they seek media and political attention, these groups also deservedly receive scrutiny. It seems the CBI has survived to fight another day, but their claim to be a unified ‘voice of business’

Watchdog’s new rules for APP fraud victims

CHRIS DORRELL

THE PAYMENT System Regulatory (PSR) has confirmed new rules that will force banks and payment companies to reimburse victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud.

Following consultation, the regulator has set out how mandatory reimbursement will work in practice. It said the new rules will prompt a “step change” in how firms approach fraud prevention.

“This significant new level of protection is a world first in the battle against APP fraud,” the regulator said APP fraud reached £485.2m in 2021. APP fraud is when a customer is tricked into authorising a payment to an account controlled by a criminal.

The rules will focus on Faster Payments, where the majority of APP fraud takes place. The cost of reimbursement will be split equally between sender and receiver, incentivising both to take preventative action. .

The PSR said most APP fraud victims will be reimbursed within five business days. Following consultation later this year, limits will be set on the maximum level of reimbursement.

Chris Hemsley, managing director at the PSR, said: “In delivering this stepchange, the UK will be at the forefront

of the fight against APP fraud globally.

“Once implemented, our changes will deliver a major shift from the status quo, giving everyone across the payments ecosystem a reason to act to prevent fraud from happening in the first place,” Hemsley said.

The regulator hopes to publish final legal instruments and consult on the maximum level of reimbursement by the end of the year. The rules will come into force next year.

City minister Andrew Griffith, said: “As payment scams become ever more sophisticated, it is right that the government, the regulator and industry work together to ensure victims are not left out of pocket by fraudsters.

A spokesperson from Pay.UK, Britain’s interbank payments standards body, said they were “pleased” with the proposals.

“As the independent rules and standards setter for FPS (Faster Payments), we will ensure that our payment system rules reflect the PSR’s new requirements and work in concert with the overall obligation that the PSR is placing on banks and building societies,” they continued.

Paul Davis, director of fraud prevention at TSB welcomed the new rule, saying they needed to be “introduced swiftly”.

Where interesting

people say interesting things. Today it’s Edwin Morgan from vertical farmers Harvest London

has been diminished. The paradox has always been that having lots of different groups means the message to government gets confused, but it’s also nonsense to pretend companies all agree. There have been calls to merge some of the organisations, but I suspect it won’t happen because the companies themselves want quite different things from their memberships. Instead we will muddle on. At least until the general election provokes fresh calls for realignment.

CAN I QUOTE YOU ON THAT?

be a long, hot summer for the retail sector.

Our current farm is in Leyton, and I live nearby in Bow, where I’m lucky to have Mae + Harvey, one of the best cafes in London. Cafe feels a bit of an inadequate description. It does the basics really well –great coffee, friendly people, inviting atmosphere –but the frequently changing food menu is a notch above the usual. I moved to Bow mainly to be near their chicken sandwiches. With food prices and bills hammering the hospitality industry, there’s never been a better time to support independent restaurants. Just not on Monday lunchtimes, I don’t want you taking my table.

The gang has warned over 100,000 employees that their data will be published

Russian gang give BBC, BA and Boots

ALANA CALVERT

A CYBERCRIME gang that is thought to be based in Russia has warned more than 100,000 staff at major British companies to email them before 14 June or stolen data will be published.

According to the BBC, whose employees were victims in the hack, the Clop group made the threat in broken English on the dark web. Also targeted in the hack were the payrolls of British Airways, Boots, Aer Lingus, Nova Scotia Government and the University of Rochester after the gang broke into a piece of popular business software called

ultimatum

Move It and used that access to get into the databases of potentially hundreds of other companies.

On Wednesday, the BBC said Clop had posted: “This is announcement to educate companies who use Progress Move It product that chance is that we download a lot of your data as part of exceptional exploit.” The post went on to urge organisations affected by the hack to send an email to the gang to begin a negotiation on the crew’s dark-net portal, the broadcaster said. Earlier this week the UK’s leading payroll provider Zellis said that eight of its customers have been impacted by the “global issue”,

which may have exposed personal information, including names, addresses and banking details.

Boots confirmed it made its staff aware of the data vulnerability which it said was affecting many companies around the world.

A Boots spokeswoman said: “A global data vulnerability, which affected a third-party software used by one of our payroll providers, included some of our team members’ personal details.

“Our provider assured us that immediate steps were taken to disable the server, and as a priority we have made our team members aware.” PA

Paul Martin, UK Head of Retail at KPMG

With stubbornly high food inflation continuing and the prospect of further interest rate rises… it is likely to

NEVER BETTER TIME TO POP TO THE INDY

Vodafone and Three days away from announcing merger

LUCY KENNINGHAM

VODAFONE and the owner of Three network, CK Hutchison, will announce a long-anticipated merger that will see them become the UK’s biggest mobile operator, according to reports.

Talks are now in the final stage and an announcement is expected “as soon as Friday or early next week”, according to reports from Reuters.

The new company will be owned 51 per cent by Vodafone and 49 per cent by Hutchison. Its value is likely to be around £15bn.

The respective stakes would be achieved by adjusting the ownership of debt rather than exchanging cash, as

the companies explained in October. Some commentators have expressed concern over competitiveness.

Dan Ridsdale, director of TMT at Edison Group, said whilst the government had been opposed to less competition in the telecoms market, the economic case was now stronger than ever due to the new “investment required to deliver on 5G”.

Vodafone and Hutchison say the deal will benefit consumers by creating a network through which to roll out full 5G and expand broadband connectivity. Shares in the FTSE 100-listed telecoms company initially rose 3.3 per cent on the news.

Kellogg’s: No degree, no issue

ALAN JONES

KELLOGG’s has announced having a degree will no longer be a requirement for most of its jobs. The cereal giant said the move was part of its drive to become a more inclusive employer by reducing barriers to a job..

FICKLE FRIENDS Asos suppliers start to cut ties with the fashion giant amid its struggling share price and profits

777 Partners raises $230m to deliver 737s

GUY TAYLOR

AIP CAPITAL, the aviation asset management arm of 777 partners, has raised $230m (£184.5m) from investors to finance the delivery of 7 Boeing 737 Max aircrafts, amid ongoing financial difficulties and backlogs in the sector.

The newly-launched private equity group, which operates in Dublin, London and the US, said Citibank arranged the acquisition facility with the jets delivered by the end of 2023..

Jared Ailstock, managing partner of AIP, said that the announcement was “an early milestone for our platform.

No luck yet: Fridays owner Hostmore reveals sales dip as cost-cutting plan continues

HENRY SAKER-CLARK

THE PARENT firm of restaurant chain Fridays has revealed a slight dip in sales so far this year as customer spending continues to come under pressure.

Hostmore told shareholders total revenues dipped one per cent over the 22 weeks to 4 June, over the same period last year. Like-for-like sales were down three per cent. The chain saw total revenues increase two per cent over the first 16 weeks of the year.

It comes as the group continues to move forward with significant cost-cutting plans announced over

the past two months. These were designed to save the firm £5.9m.

Yesterday Hostmore told investors its earnings were already benefiting and that “further opportunities for savings are being evaluated”.

Chairman Gavin Manson said: “Our focus continues to be on implementing organic growth initiatives and extending the lifetime value of our guests... [which is] expected to increase the

number of annual repeat visits by our customers

Yesterday was also Manson’s last day on the company board, as part of a leadership

Hostmore runs 91 Fridays sites, the rebrand of TGI Fridays

overhaul which has seen Julie McEwan appointed as chief executive of the group, following Robert B Cook’s departure in January. Shares in the company closed down 0.9 per cent.

The change was trialled last autumn and is now being rolled out to the wider business.

Sales director Sam Thornton said:

“People are surprised to hear I haven’t got a degree and assume I must have gone to university.

“It’s amazing to see Kellogg remove [this[ barrier.” PA

These aircraft will be both owned and managed by AIP and are a foundation for the growth of our business.”

It comes amid growing interest in the aerospace supply chain from private equity groups looking to capitalise on supply chain investments.

City of London update

Have your say on making the City a fairer place

WORKERS, residents and visitors are being asked to help shape the Square Mile governing body’s approach to promoting a City where everyone can thrive.

The City of London Corporation is consulting on five equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) objectives, which outline its approach to making the City a fairer, more diverse place.

It aims to provide aspirational leadership, enable career progression opportunities for all, create a community-based approach to service delivery and promote socio-economic diversity.

Embedding EDI in our work, and attracting and retaining the widest possible pool of global talent, is vital to ensure the City remains competitive, productive and innovative. Are the objectives clear, strong and relevant enough to make an impact?

Have your say:

cityoflondon.gov.uk/ equalityinclusion

Raise a glass as Beer fes t re turns

TICKETS are now on sale for one of the highlights of the City of London’s calendar – the annual Beerfest in the historic Guildhall Yard.

Run by the City of London Corporation in partnership with the Worshipful Company of Brewers, this year’s funpacked extravaganza – featuring over 35 of the UK’s best beers from 11 top brewers – takes place on 6 July from 12.30-9pm.

New Orleans brass band UnSwung Heroes will put a swing in your step, and

every beer bought will help a good cause, with funds from the event going to the Lord Mayor’s Appeal.

Drinkers can book tickets online: www.citybeerfest.org/tickets

SUPPLIERS have reportedly begun to cut ties with struggling fashion website Asos following a move by credit insurers to pull cover amid falling profits, in a fresh knock of confidence for the brand. Leading creditors at Allianz Trade withdrew cover for suppliers last month due to a challenging economic climate and the company’s poor financial performance.

The snack and cereal giant said that it wanted to become a more inclusive employer

When was the last time you found yourself without a credit card or Apple pay, desperately searching for coins in your pockets to pay for something? Or the last time you were on the hunt for a cashpoint, unable to pay for essentials without one?

Probably a very long time ago, to be honest. Cash has been in terminal decline for years and that drop-off was spurred on by Covid lockdowns, which fuelled a sharp drop-off in cash usage and triggered a push by the big retail banks to scale back their physical footprints.

But that inexorable shift may be in danger of leaving swathes of vulnerable people cut off from the payments system entirely.

“We’ve got about 55m people [in this country] who are very happy using their iPhones and digital payments. But we've got about 5m who are heavy cash users,” the chief of the UK’s ATM network, Link, John Howells, tells City A.M. in an interview.

“If cash stopped being available or stopped being accepted, we’d have enormous hardship for 5m people — that’s far too big a group of the community to abandon.”

CASH CAMPAIGN

Link is the largest interbank network in the UK and operates the country’s 70,000 cash points. Its machines have fuelled the economy in Britain’s towns, high streets and villages for decades but now face an existential threat.

That threat has turned a large part of Link’s role into a campaigning one. While rural villages and towns may seem a world away from the boardrooms of the big lenders in London, Howells says his job is to join the dots and remind those banks of the stragglers left behind and to consider the more structural trends in the economy.

“It's a very different world from a city centre to a rural village or somewhere [in] Northern Ireland, rural Scotland, Devon or Cornwall,” he says. “When you go out [of the cities], you've got [...] high streets who are heavy cash users, consumers who are reliant on cash — retired and less well-paid people.”

That position can put the network at loggerheads with its members at times — particularly the UK’s big lenders –who are on a mission to slash costs, cull branches and invest as much cash as possible in their digital offerings. More than half of the UK’s bank branches, some 5,162, have already been wiped out since 2015, according to consumer group Which

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

CASHING OUT? NOT JUST YET

branch closures, payments and the battle for cash

meaning that free ATM usage has disappeared with them. The move to slash the footprint also shows no signs of slowing and a further 206 branches are set to close by the end of 2023.

DIGITAL SHIFT

Funding the ATM network and Link as an organisation costs its 34 members £358m and £15m every year, respectively. The fees are based on usage, meaning the big retail banks are paying the lion’s share of the fees as it’s largely their customers still withdrawing money.

The newer crop of digital first banks meanwhile, whose customers are not in need of branches and cash points, have opted out of the networks and saved themselves hefty costs.

And the fees levied for the upkeep of Link and its network look increasingly large given the scale of cash usage.

British shoppers used cash in just 15

per cent of transactions in 2021 — the most recent full year data. That figure was half the level of the year before and down from nearly 40 per cent before the pandemic, the British Retail Consortium found.

Howells's fear is that banks may decide to pull out and defund the network before the population is entirely ready to shift to digital.

“We've got 34 members of Link, and at any one point there'll be some thinking about, ‘can we save costs’, ‘can we reduce our cash costs’. But the thing about a payments network is everybody's got to be in it or it doesn't work,” he says.

“Because if one goes, that means all the others are paying for the ATM network and the customers of the one [get a] free ride.”

NOVEL SOLUTIONS

Howells’s mission, though, was given

a major boost by the inclusion of an amendment to the financial services and markets bill, which will enshrine access to cash in law and allow regulators to clamp down on lenders and across the country.

“Before the legislation was coming in, we were walking blindfolds to the blind to a cliff edge,” he says.

Link’s solution alongside that legislative reform is now to roll out a host of Post Office-led pseudo bank branches across the country –these can plug the gap left by lenders when the last branches in a particular location closes, and would be funded by the banks. The branches are already popping up across the UK; one was recently rolled out in Acton.

But even with those solutions in place, he argues the problem will rear its head again as digital transformation moves on at pace.

He says the government needs to do

more to roll the turf as digital payments take over completely.

“When we turned off analogue TV and switched it to digital 15 years ago, policymakers recognised you had to have a national programme to make sure everybody was able to use it.

“We need the same with digital payments –we need to have a national programme to make sure that we can get everybody using digital payments over the next decade.” Link, he believes, will become redundant in its current form in the next 20 years as cash is phased out. Then it will likely move on to a digital inclusion campaign as the next wave of payments innovation comes around.

“We're not here to lobby for cash,” he says. “Our job is to make sure that the consumers who still rely on it don't suddenly find it collapses and disappears.”

Investec buys Capitalmind as bank consolidation picks up pace

CHARLIE CONCHIE

INVESTEC has snapped up a majority stake in boutique deal-making firm Capitalmind as a consolidation of smaller investment banks accelerates amid a deals drought.

The London and South African-based bank said yesterday it had doubled its stake in the smaller firm and would

now merge its deal-making and corporate finance teams “under one common umbrella”.

The tie-up would create a “leading provider of M&A advice in Europe” with 129 deal makers now operating as one team, Investec said in a statement.

“This acquisition is consistent with our European growth strategy, and in particular our commitment to growing

our capital light revenue base,” said Ruth Leas, chief of Investec Bank. “In a single transaction, it provides us with a footprint across the major economies of western Europe, significantly enhancing our ability to bring international solutions to our clients.” Investec first established an “international advisory partnership” with Capitalmind in 2018.

CITY DASHBOARD

FTSE 100: Markets close lower as housebuilders weigh on index

Strong morning bumps for Primark-owner Associated British Foods and BT were offset by a slump for housebuilders yesterday as the FTSE 100 closed marginally lower.

A slump in trading for housebuilders kept movement on London’s flagship index subdued, with the index closing lower.

Housebuilders were down after figures from Halifax showed a first annual fall in house prices for over a decade.

Persimmon was down

1.8 per cent, Berkeley Group 0.9 per cent, Taylor Wimpey 1.0 per cent and Barratt Developments

1.21 per cent.

Halifax said the average house price has fallen by one per cent in the past year despite a surge in sales in early spring.

The market has been bruised by the Bank of England’s decision to hike interest rates to 4.5 per cent, which in turn led lenders to raise rates on mortgages.

Things are unlikely to get better fast.

Over the past few weeks, mortgage rates have skyrocketed amid fears that interest rates will have to go higher than

BEST OF THE BROKERS

A TALE OF TWO CURRENCIES

Gambling giant 888 Holdings is the subject of takeover talk, after FS Gaming Investments revealed it now holds a 6.6 per cent stake in the betting behemoth. Shares are up 26 per cent . A bid is possible and Peel Hunt hopes they could help 888 find a new CEO – with a ‘Buy’ stance at 150p per share.

originally anticipated.

As Hargreaves Lansdown’s Susannah Streeter commented: “This fall won’t reflect the impact of the pulling of the cheapest deals from the market in recent weeks, and as monthly mortgage payments become increasingly unaffordable, prices are likely to have to fall further to lure would-be movers back into the market.”

New data out yesterday also showed the number of repossessions jumped by around 25 per cent in the first quarter, with 1,250 repossessions in the period.

The poor performance from housebuilders offset strong performances elsewhere.

BT closed top of the FTSE 100, rising 3.8 per cent.

Ocado (owned by M&S and Ocado Group) and Associated British Foods closed 3.6 per cent and 3.4 per cent higher respectively.

Ocado’s share price has fallen by over 40 per cent for the year to date.

Since the pandemic shares in Ocado have slumped amidst a change in shopping habits.

Like-for-like sales at pub chains are up 13 per cent over the first half of the year, and were also up 12 per cent versus pre-pandemic levels. Profits before tax are forecast at nine per cent for the full year, with forecasts rising from £5.8m to £6.3m. Peel Hunt maintains a bullish stance, with a target price of 120p per share.

price for the placing-and-open offer is 45p. Shares are way down at the Asia-Pacific oil and gas giant, but Peel Hunt sees an opportunity at 85p per share.

“The pound is continuing to find support from higher interest rate expectations, as traders price in a higher terminal rate from the Bank of England due to stickier inflation expectations –whilst the US dollar is slipping back across the board, as traders price in fewer rate hikes from the Federal Reserve going forward than amongst its peers.”

MICHAEL HEWSON, CMC MARKETS

Powerful real-time thought leadership, insights and news delivery mechanism fuelling the most up-to date reporting, adding critical context for decisions that require consciousness, education and thought leadership.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION AND BECOME A PART OF ONE OF LONDON’S MOST TRUSTED NEWS SOURCES

VISIT: CITYAM.COM/IMPACT-AM/

Connecting the Community

COUNTDOWN: Two weeks to the Crypto AM Summer Solstice event

CRYPTO AM’s next conference and networking event – the ‘SOLSTICE: Unlocking Summer and Fifth Birthday Party’ – is only two weeks away.

The event, to be held at The Boisdale in Canary Wharf brings together some of the brightest and best-known figures in the world of crypto, blockchain, AI and digital assets for a day of discussion panels and networking.

The day then makes way for a late-night party with more special guests and further networking in relaxing surroundings as we celebrate Crypto AM’s fifth anniversary.

Topics, speakers, moderators and panellists have all been hand-picked to ensure the sharpest debate and deepest insight is at the top of the agenda.

“In two weeks’ time Crypto AM is celebrating its fifth birthday, and in those five years since I started our mission to educate and collaborate with traditional finance and decentralised finance, we have been seeking to answer the question ‘can they co-exist?’,” said James Bowater, founder and editor-at-large of Crypto AM.

“The answer is ‘yes’, but we’re not there yet and we need to work hard towards this outcome. As my friend Lord Holmes often says: ‘We can do this!’

“Meanwhile, across the pond, never has our industry faced such a coordinated onslaught as we are witnessing now with an increasingly irrational unelected official in the guise of Gary Gensler. His self-serving survival tactics might have worked four years ago, but certainly not now!

“As an Industry we have reached, for the most part, a level of maturity and have an ecosystem built by some of the greatest minds and industry leaders. So, to find the level of special interests exploding is disheartening and yet perversely bullish.

“We need to muster the courage to stop dragging our feet, get the triumvirate of His Majesty’s Treasury,

the Bank of England and the FCA to collectively introduce fit-for- purpose legislation in this country. Now more than ever is the time in postBrexit Britain to get it right!

“Our great City of London is THE home of common law, a historic powerhouse of finance and fintech leader of the world. It has all the necessary tools and with the component pieces

CRYPTO NEWS IN BRIEF

INDUSTRY FIGHTS BACK OVER SEC LAWSUITS

LEADING figures affected by the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase this week have hit back at the financial watchdog. Binance chief Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhou was the first to strike, branding all the SEC’s 13 charges as “simply not true” and “undermining America’s role as a global hub for financial innovation and leadership”. Brian Armstrong, head of Coinbase, took a similar stance.

“Instead of publishing a clear rule book, the SEC has taken a regulation by enforcement approach that is harming America,” he said. “So if we need to avail ourselves of the courts to get clarity, then so be it.”

ZUMO TURNS TO OXYGEN OVER ESG FEARS

DIGITAL assets platform Zumo has launched a new product aimed at answering the growing calls to decarbonise crypto. The move comes a year after Edinburghbased Zumo and its partner Zero Labs –a renewable-energy-as-a-service company –were awarded a grant by Innovate UK to fund research into the decarbonisation of digital assets.

Announced at Money20/20 Europe, Oxygen enables Zumo’s clients – including banks and asset managers – to provide ‘environmental, social and governance’ (ESG)-aligned, future-proofed digital asset offerings to their customers.

XAPO HANDED EURO KEY

already here we can cement ourselves as the epicentre.

“So come and join the conversation, network with your peers and help me celebrate these five years (in that order!)”

To join the conversation, network, and help us celebrate, get your ticket by visiting www.cityam.com/crypto-am-solstice.

A crazy week, but Bitcoin now back on an even keel

IT’S been a turbulent week in the crypto markets, with the US regulator deciding that things were perhaps getting a little bit boring and they should unleash a slew of lawsuits onto exchanges. The SEC’s first target was Binance, who now stand accused of violating federal securities laws. The independent government financial watchdog claims the exchange has been offering unregistered securities with its BNB token and the BUSD stablecoin. Legal papers also accuse Binance’s staking service as a violation

of securities laws.

Binance chiefs made their displeasure felt, releasing a statement accusing the SEC of being “hellbent on making headlines instead of protecting investors“.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission also announced on Tuesday that they were suing crypto exchange Coinbase, claiming its owners have been earning billions of dollars while operating illegally. Charges include operating a crypto asset trading platform as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker,

and clearing agency, and failing to register the offer and sale of its crypto asset staking-as-a-service program. All in all, this has meant a volatile week for prices, although they have clawed back some ground since last week. Bitcoin is actually breaking even over the past seven days, with the price falling just 0.7 per cent to around $26,500 last night. That follows a dramatic selloff earlier in the week in the immediate aftermath of the Binance news during which the market leader fell to a low of just above the $25k mark.

Alt coins have followed a similar trajectory, with the likes of Ethereum also flat. The big loser, as could probably be expected, is BNBBinance’s own token - which has fallen almost 14 per cent to $263. On-chain analytics firm Glassnode said the market has shown solid support for Bitcoin in the $25.3K and $26.3K range.

GIBRALTAR-based Xapo Bank has integrated with the single euro payments area (SEPA) network, allowing movement of funds in Euros (EUR).

First introduced in 2008 and comprising 36 countries, SEPA allows for cashless EUR payments to anywhere in the European Union (EU), as well as a number of nonEU members. The SEPA feature within  the bank’s mobile application now enables members to send funds to or settle invoices with individuals and businesses holding accounts within the SEPA network. This includes all European Union nations, the three European Economic Area (EEA) countries of Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland, as well as Switzerland, Monaco, and the United Kingdom.

ONE TO WATCH: RADICLE

IN A week when most digital assets have been weathering a storm, software collaboration network Radicle has enjoyed a remarkable lift in value. A stand-out performer over the last seven days with a 14 per cent price rise to $2.03, the Ethereum-based token was last night notching an impressive 24-hour rise of almost 24%. In that same timeframe, trading volume for the $102m market cap token hit around 340 per cent.

FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS, VIEWS AND ANALYSIS HEAD OVER TO CRYPTOAM.IO

OPINION

EDITED BY ELENA SINISCALCO

Labour’s plan for growth doesn’t work, as Starmer’s stance on energy shows

THIS autumn will mark the fifteenth anniversary of the crisis that saw nations across the world take unimaginable emergency measures to rescue their financial sectors. Britain led the way in saving the banks, but in doing so lost a business model that had seen it become both more prosperous and more equal than ever before - with New Labour being comfortable with people in the City getting filthy rich, providing they could tax the proceeds.

David Cameron and George Osborne thought they had the answer to the Great Recession, which was to reverse much of the public spending increases that Gordon Brown had quietly paid for by raising stealth taxes and increasing borrowing. But the economic recovery they presided over was built on low wage jobs which created the problem of next to non-existent productivity growth that their successors have unsuccessfully tried to grapple with.

Sir Keir Starmer believes he has the answer to this problem. He wants to use state investment to kickstart economic growth by building better infrastructure and upskilling the workforce. Indeed, earlier this week he was in Brighton selling Ed Miliband’s £28bn

green investment fund as a way for Britain to secure the jobs of the future to trade union activists. He and his Shadow Chancellor believe they can create a flywheel where increased investment creates the economic growth that then pays for additional investment, to the point where Britain becomes the fastest growing economy in the G7.

But that naturally raises a key question: where is his Shadow Chancellor going to find the money for the initial investment? This is a challenge made more pressing by the dilapidated state of the public services, which will also

require investment, and the high-level of taxes that we’re all already paying. This has led to the rather humorous sight of Labour frontbenchers repeatedly spending the proceeds of the few uniformly popular tax rises that Rachel Reeves feels comfortable in proposing. While such gimmicks might be enough to get a politician through a media interview, they would quickly be found out should Labour find itself in government. This is especially true as additional borrowing will only increase inflation and the downward pressure on the value of the pound. Liz Truss’ premiership was destroyed by the inco-

herence of her economic policy. Boris Johnson went down for a number of reasons, but one of them was his inability to to fund the lavish promises he had made back in 2019. Just like them, Labour needs a real answer as to how they will pay for everything they want to do in office.

That will have to come by Labour identifying areas where regulations are holding back economic activity. Starmer himself identified one possible area where this could be achieved, by promising to overcome nimby objections to build more houses. Which makes the idea that a future govern-

Don’t trust every “recyclable” logo you see: greenwashing is rife in construction too

BRANDafter brand within the retail and packaging spaces is being undone by ‘greenwashing’ claims. Just look at Coca Cola, Unilever, Tesco and H&M among others. Yet greenwashing isn’t just limited to these sectors; it’s rife within the construction industry too. It’s just no one was talking about it, until now.

For many, greenwashing is a deceitful marketing tactic intended to deliberately mislead customers. For others, it can happen even when there are good intentions, like when the messaging is not clear enough or if the company is not thorough enough in its sustainability policies across all aspects of its business.

Either way, the impact it has on our buying behaviours and the environment are significant. Sustainability credentials now play a vital role in why a consumer purchases a certain product, an industry professional sells or selects a specific system, or an investor takes an interest in a particular business. If companies are spreading misinformation, it makes the decision-making process incredibly difficult.

Victoria Brocklesby

Greenwashing in the construction industry is challenging to identify. Terms like "eco", "green", "sustainable", "nontoxic" and "recyclable" are often used vaguely or with unclear language on websites, marketing materials, and social media posts. Superficial claims lacking substantiation are common. Trusting brands blindly is no longer an option, necessitating self-education on the sustainability aspects of products and services to prevent exploitation.

I have seen businesses manipulate product information to ensure they “meet” industry regulations. This includes exaggerations of the time and money spent on upgrading products to be more thermally efficient, when in fact, they have simply added an extra pane of glass to a window. While

this does achieve the short-term aim, it’s a quick fix and has long term implications, such as making the product more expensive for the consumer, and less environmentally friendly due to more materials being used. This continues into the recyclability of products. We have seen UPVC manufacturers, who solely use long-lasting plastic, speak about how they recycle, but in practice, recycling it is incredibly challenging. Materials made from something called uPVC - unplasticised polyvinyl chloride - do not decompose, making them difficult to eliminate, with 83 percent of UPVC waste going to landfill, according to the WWF. This means identifying greenwashing requires diligence. Accreditations play a vital role in establishing trust, allowing people to assess a company's commitment to ethics and sustainability. It can be useful to look for thirdparty recommendations from reputable organisations, rather than self-appointed accolades. Consumers should pay attention to product-focused industry accreditations, while industry professionals should seek certifications demonstrating commit-

ments to quality and sustainability, such as ISO 9001 for quality or ISO 14001 for environmental standards.

Materials used in construction also warrant attention, with aluminium gaining popularity due to its performance and positive environmental impact compared to alternatives like plastic or timber. Aluminium’s durability and recyclability make it an excellent choice. Considering materials when making purchasing decisions is crucial.

However, there is light at the end of the ‘greenwashing’ tunnel. New regulations in the UK aim to improve building energy efficiency in line with the government's net-zero emissions target by 2050. These changes will deter greenwashing as compliance becomes mandatory. This transition presents a challenging yet exciting time for the construction industry, where only the best products, systems, and services will remain viable, simplifying purchasing decisions for buyers.

£ Victoria Brocklesby is the chief operating officer and co-founder at Origin

ment may ban future oil and gas exploration in the North Sea so depressing. Obviously, it’s vital that Britain moves away from using fossil fuels as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. But the key word in that phrase is “as possible”. Nobody was celebrating last year’s rapid energy price increases as the perfect moment to reduce gas usage; indeed Labour repeatedly urged the government to go further and faster in providing extensive energy bill subsidies. Likewise, nobody is sorry that prices are now coming down because Britain and our neighbours have moved quickly to take more deliveries of liquified gas from America and the Middle East. So, if we’re still going to rely on fossil fuels, why would Britain reject the opportunity to earn money by providing more of the fuels that itself and its neighbours rely upon? There’s no reason other than to please the most unthinking environmental activists, who are not only overconfident about the ability of renewable energy to meet everyone’s needs but also aren’t taking into account the broader economic challenges facing Britain.

The current Labour leader has previously admitted the leader he most sees himself in is Harold Wilson. Faced with industrial unrest, high inflation, and low productivity Wilson was often reduced to telling people that Britain couldn’t afford to pay itself more than what it earned. With similar challenges facing us today, Sir Keir Starmer would do well to remember that.

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

A WOMAN OF THE PEOPLE

The Labour deputy leader was in good form yesterday at PMQs. Angela Rayner mocked Oliver Dowden calling him - with open ironya man of the people. She attacked him for the amount of taxpayers’ money spent on Boris Johnson’s legal fees for the Covid-19 inquiry, among other things

Keir Starmer is trying to persuade trade unions to back his green energy plans

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A call for hydrogen energy

[Re: Gas prices could fall to zero predict experts as conditions ease over summer, May 31]

Gas prices are predicted to drop this summer, following warmer-thanexpected winter weather and reduced fears of shortages. While this development signals a temporary respite in the energy crisis, a report by the Competition and Markets Authority warned that consumers risk being taken advantage of by firms selling heat pumps and other green home heating solutions. This highlights the dangers of a one-size-fits all approach. Now more than ever, people need to be given a choice on how they get their energy, and we’ve seen recently in Germany the

dangers of pursuing heat pumps as a single solution for home heating with the public backlash against the proposed ban on gas boilers. Ultimately, to give consumers choice and to help the UK meet its climate goals, we need a dual energy system –using both electricity and, in the near future, hydrogen. The government should be supporting the development of consumer products, including mandating that all boilers sold are "hydrogen-ready,” and making a positive decision to allow blending of hydrogen into the natural gas network to complement and support the transition to heat pumps. Consumers rightly expect to be able to choose the option that works best for them – there can be no single solution to climate change or lowering energy bills.

Sarah Williams West & Wales Utilities

to be alive in the London tech scene for new early-stage start-ups

Kevin Chong

LONDON Tech Week is celebrating its tenth anniversary next week. It will be a space for tech entrepreneurs, policymakers and investors to come together and take stock of how British tech is doing globally.

The picture this year is a mixed one. Against a backdrop of non-stop interest rate hikes, a war in Europe and unprecedented tension between the world’s two superpowers, the landscape for tech entrepreneurs in 2023 is vastly different from that of the pandemic boom. From 2020 to early 2022, investor sentiment soared, and money flowed freely. In stark contrast, equity financing rounds for private tech companies in 2023 are smaller at all stages and are taking place at flat or down valuations.

In this environment, things look very different for early-stage start-ups and established start-ups.

Students risk facing a “lost decade” in education after the effects of Covid-19 on schooling. Disadvantaged kids suffered the most, and it could take ten years for the gap in what they’ve learnt to narrow back to pre-pandemic levels. The government has committed £5bn for “education recovery”.

EXPLAINER-IN-BRIEF: BEN WALLACE IS IN THE RACE TO BECOME THE NEXT NATO CHIEF

Rishi Sunak is in the US to meet with President Biden and chat about many things, including AI and Ben Wallace. Sunak wants to convince Biden that the British Defence Secretary should become the head of NATO when Jens Stoltenberg leaves the post at the end of September. The US has historically been widely influential in deciding who takes that post, so Sunak will want Biden to back Wallace for the British candidate to even have a chance at getting the top job. Wallace has previously admitted the NATO job would be one he

would like. He is appreciated as a thoughtful player in foreign politics in the US, especially because he was so instrumental in pushing and maintaining support for Ukraine among Western allies. But competition is fierce. Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen is the other major contender for the post of NATO secretary-general. She would be the first female head of the military alliance. She will also be meeting Biden next Mondaymost likely to convince him of how well she could do in the role.

ELENA SINISCALCO

In recent years, established start-ups went into ‘shock and awe’ mode, armed with easy money and relying on expensive direct customer acquisition strategies. This enabled them to demonstrate impressive growth metrics in the short term, but it wasn’t sustainable once they couldn’t rely on fundraising every twelve months. Now will be a difficult period for many established start-ups: many will have a tough time figuring out and executing more sustainable business models. Not all will be able to course-correct but those that do will emerge more valuable.

For early-stage start-ups, on the other hand, this is a time of great opportunity. It may sound counter-intuitive, but raising smaller funding rounds at lower valuations at the early stage can be better for founders in the long term. One advantage is the equity upside makes stock options a genuine force for attracting top talent.

It also gives founders the freedom to adjust business plans with less pressure than there would be with one big round. It was in March 2009, with the ashes of the global financial crisis still simmering, that three start-up founders decided to accept an investment of $610,000 having agonised over a valuation offer of barely $3m. Their company, Airbnb, is today a public company with a market cap of over $70bn.

Much of the national conversation on the tech sector currently revolves around persuading UK pension funds to invest in the UK’s growth economy and the frustration of seeing our best start-ups choosing to list in New York instead of London. But this diverts attention from early-stage start-ups. There is a strong case for pension funds to invest in start-ups at the growth stage, but it is certainly not for pension funds to invest in early-stage start-ups. And there is no need to debate listing locations if we find ourselves with no companies to list in ten years’ time. Our policymakers led the world in 2012 when the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) was launched. The SEIS 50 per cent tax relief for investing in early-stage start-ups was the most generous incentive anywhere in the world. SEIS was instrumental for the growth of the UK tech ecosystem, with a relatively minor impact on the Exchequer. It’s no wonder other coun-

tries have since copied the scheme. Less well-known is that SEIS was updated starting with the 2023-24 tax year. The SEIS amount that individual taxpayers can invest in qualifying startups has doubled to £200,000, and startups can raise more SEIS money than before. Policymakers might want to explore how to extend the scheme to conventional venture capital funds so that inexperienced investors have more choice.

While times may seem tough for the UK tech ecosystem, the work done in the past ten years gives the UK - and especially London - tremendous advantages to capture the opportunities in a down cycle. There are very few places in the world with all the ingredients for a successful start-up ecosystem, not least the experience of repeat founders and world-class investors and services, and London is undeniably one of those.

£ Kevin Chong is co-head at fintech investment firm Outward VC

It’s a great time

London is home to some of the best start-ups and scale-ups

LOST LEARNING Pandemic had strong impact on pupils, MPs say

GOING OUT

EDITED BY STEVE DINNEEN @steve_dinneen

QUEEN MUSICAL ROCKS LONDON ONCE AGAIN

MUSICAL

WE WILL ROCK YOU LONDON COLISEUM

BY ADAM BLOODWORTH

Wait, isn’t We Will Rock You still on at the Dominion Theatre by Tottenham Court Road? The Queen musical has become such a ubiquitous part of London’s theatrical furniture that most people aren’t aware it had gone anywhere in the first place.

But after eight years of silence, the Champions are back - they clearly thought The Show Must Go On and I agree: by the end of this cheesy spectacular I was absolutely (Radio) Ga Ga for more. Okay, enough, but honestly, it surprises me to say that We Will Rock You is actually pretty good.

It got a slew of awful reviews when it opened. Much of the hate is levelled at the cheesiness and inane plot, but then again, since when do musicals all have to be serious? Dear Evan Hansen and Be More Chill are great examples of a new

breed of show that tackles issues such as mental health and bereavement, elevating the humble sing-a-long into something more introspective and ‘clever’.

But We Will Rock You doesn’t try to do that. It wants to celebrate Queen’s music over a spirited two-and-a-halfhours, with some stupendously brilliant performances. That’s not to say the story doesn’t stand up: Ben Elton’s musical tells the tale of a dystopian future where music is only available via one technological overload (hello iTunes), which feels creepily prescient now that AI is taking over our lives. It’s not often an old musical can feel more relevant as time goes on, but in the case of We Will Rock You, it does.

Ian McIntosh and Elena Skye play Galileo and Scaramouche, two new recruits to the Bohemians, the rebels living on the outside of society who still believe in musical instruments and retain free thought over the machines. They Want To Be Free – are you starting to see how the songs fit in now? – so they run away from the oppressive leaders Killer Queen, played by Brenda Edwards, and Khashoggi, played by Lee Mead, to a junkyard safe space. They have incredible chemistry and both belt

THEATRE

RECOMMENDED

PATRIOTS

NOEL COWARD THEATRE

BY ADAM BLOODWORTH

There’s an uncomfortable contemporaneity about Peter Morgan’s Patriots, which opened at the Almeida last July. It takes Putin as its subject and in the nearly twelve months since its premier, the dictator has been responsible for the deaths of around 9,000 unarmed Ukrainian civilians; many thousands remain in asylum in Britain, displaced by war.

It lends Patriots an eeriness before anything has even happened, and then Will Keen amps up the weirdness with his unputdownable performance as 1990s Vladimir Putin. Despite skulking around without much physical presence, this young Putin is nevertheless an unsettling presence with his laser stare, stressful energy and weird conversational gambits about ostensibly ordinary things. Looking back, there were plenty of red flags about the sort of man he was.

We’re gathered around a casino table in Russia in the aftermath of Mikhail Gorbachev’s resignation as President. Following the breakdown of the Soviet Union, Russia’s corrupt oligarchs stood as much of a chance at power and influence as its political forces, and one

such oligarch was Boris Berezovsky, around whom the Patriots plot oscillates. He is a charming, charismatic bastard who made billions by gaining control of some of Russia’s biggest assets, including the main TV channel.

Morgan gleefully explores the ways Berezovsky bent the truth at the same time as purporting to be the oracle of it in his fight against the Russian state, following his falling out with Putin.

Tom Hollander brings Berezovsky to triumphant life, charting his spectacular journey from the man who literally put Putin in office to the man who lost everything after falling foul of the Kremlin.

These are some thoroughly engaging performances in a production that makes use of all of the Rupert Goold bells and whistles: one projection of Hollander’s distorted face is displayed around the stage, demonstrating Goold’s knack for finding the rawest part of a person and splashing it across the stage. Taking place on one evergreen casino table, the staging recalls Goold’s triumphs like Enron and Earthquakes in London, in which characters are paraded, one by one, past the audience to be dissected.

I didn’t quite find myself hankering for more, though. Perhaps it’s Morgan’s writing, which feels authentic and truthful but tries to obligingly fit in too many details. It could have benefitted from taking a moment for characters to explore an instant, or feeling, in real time. It ends up a little too linear, which, of course, war and dictators rarely are.

stupendously; Galileo sings Somebody to Love with the ferocious power of a battle cry and their duet on Who Wants To Live Forever is a boisterous, stage-filling homage to freedom, leaning into the fabulous glam rock melodrama of it all. Mead, meanwhile, feels like he’s having a Daniel Radcliffe moment, trying to diversify away from mainstream musical roles.

Ben Elton, who wrote and has directed the show, finally makes his West End debut as the Rebel Leader. There’s a great moment when he drops a gag about the railways, getting the politics of his stand-up shows front and centre, which works well in his role as the man who must inspire the downtrodden to stand up in the face of adversity. His solo, These Are The Days Of Our Lives, reveals he’s hardly a singer, though. We Will Rock You circa 2023 could lean even further into the threat of the robots in 2023: many of our jobs are now genuinely at risk, which wasn’t the case when the musical last closed. A track or two in the second act could have bitten the dust to strip the runtime down a bit, and the melodrama will turn off musical modernists. But for the rest of us it’s the kind of cheesy musical they just don’t make anymore.

RECOMMENDED

WAR PONY

DIR. RILEY KEOUGH, GINA GAMMELL BY VICTORIA LUXFORD

Ahit at last year’s Cannes, War Pony is set in the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota reservation in South Dakota, within the Indigenous community that lives there. It focuses on two looselyconnected stories: Bill (Jojo Bapteise Whiting), a young father trying to hustle his way into a better situation; and Matho (Ladainian Crazy Thunder), whose abusive relationship with his father leads him to start dealing drugs. The story behind the film is an interesting one. Actor Riley Keough was inspired to tell the story of two Indigenous extras (Franklin Sioux Bob and Bill Reddy) she met while filming

PUTIN PLAY IS MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER A YEAR LATER

2018’s American Honey.

Directing alongside producing partner Gina Gammell, some might raise an eyebrow at two non-Indigenous women telling another community’s story (Gammell is from London, Keough is the California-born granddaughter of Elvis).

What allays those fears is the way in which the filmmakers let their characters speak for themselves. The camera follows Bill and Matho with curiosity, not judgement, and roams between the leads as the mood takes them.

It’s a relaxed, authentic feeling journey, albeit one without a clear destination. The audience is invited to hang out with characters, in the manner of Richard Linklater films like Dazed and Confused or Before Sunset, rather than making any grandiose point or racing to a conclusion. Themes like the damage of careless parenting, or the fixa-

A FUN TIME FOR FANS OF THINGS THAT GO ‘BOOM’ FILM

RECOMMENDED

TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS

DIR. STEVEN CAPLE JR.

BY VICTORIA LUXFORD

Transformers: The Last Knight, released in 2017, was the depressing nadir of the Michael Bay Transformers movies, with even the master of explosions deciding it was time to step away from the franchise.

In late 2018, however, a new hope emerged in the (comparatively) smaller, character-focused prequel Bumblebee. Its success was enough to get the Autobots to roll out once more, which leads us to the second prequel (the seventh movie overall), Rise of The Beasts.

Although set before the Bay films, they follow a similar structure. There’s a MacGuffin called the Transwarp Key, which the evil Terrorcons are after in order to destroy Earth. Our defenders, The Autobots, are keen to avoid that happening, teaming up with the beastlike Maximals to protect their adopted home. They enlist the help of Noah (Anthony Ramos), a military veteran who has fallen on hard times and inadvertently steals an Autobot named Mirage (voiced by Pete Davidson).

It's easy to be snobby about the Transformers films, but the robotic chaos has become a guaranteed crowdpleaser over the years. That’s still the focus, with Rise being a lot grander in scale than Bumblebee and having less

of a human interest. Still, unlike the branding-soaked latter Bay films, there are people to care about. Ramos is earnest as a regular guy trying to take care of his family, capable of filling the quieter moments alongside voice acting that isn’t modulated to death.

Rise of The Beasts sits comfortably in the middle of the two Transformers extremes: not as charming as Bumblebee, but far from the messy fairground antics of the Bay films. Mindless but fun in places, fans will be well-served.

tion on a quick financial fix (in Bill’s case, a plan to breed poodles), are examples of the story’s ability to connect on a human level.

For audiences raised on a traditional beginning-middle-end narrative, there can be a restlessness trying to work out what pieces click together. However, the actors and script (co-written by Bill Reddy and Franklin Sioux Bob) quickly ease you into this different perspective.

In just under two hours, you begin to care and agonise at the decisions of the two young men, wanting the best for them but knowing where their paths might lead. It’s a human story that doesn’t ask for sympathy, just for new voices to be heard.

War Pony’s aimlessness is both a plus and minus. But if you can tune in to the rhythms of the characters, you’ll find a thoughtful and original story from directors with promise.

SERPENTINE PAVILION KENSINGTON GARDENS BY STEVE DINNEEN

One of the more unlikely mainstays of the arts calendar is the unveiling of the annual Serpentine Pavilion. This iteration, called À table, was designed by

French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh and features a circular timber structure designed to encourage people to sit together to eat, converse and share ideas.

The problem with ‘stealth wealth’

Thanks to Succession and Gwyneth, ‘quiet luxury’ has become a cultural touchstone. Beware, says Eliot Wilson

Unless you have spent the first five months of 2023 on retreat or continuing your Second World War service for Imperial Japan, you will know that one of the most significant trends in the fashion world has been “quiet luxury” or “stealth wealth”.

The concept is that the smartest of the smart are now dressing and accessorising in a way that oozes wealth but does so more discreetly than before, eschewing obvious branding, vulgar logos or slavish adoption of passing fads.

One of the icons of quiet luxury has been Gwyneth Paltrow. Her appearances in the 3rd District Court in Park City, Utah earlier this year, as she was sued unsuccessfully for damages by a man with whom she had collided on the ski slopes in 2019, saw her develop “courtcore”, outfits in which plutocratic defendants can impress but not overawe a jury and the media. Her ever-present accessory during the process was a Portobello notebook by Smythson of Bond Street: a practical item, but bound in lapis-coloured crossgrain lambskin from a 136-yearold London stationer.

The Roy family of HBO’s Succession is another quiet luxury touchstone. The heir apparent, Jeremy Strong’s complicated, tortured Kendall, favours a plain

black baseball cap, supremely utilitarian but north of £500 from Loro Piana of Milan, which celebrates its centenary next year. Or one could look at the exquisitely chic Amal Clooney, everyone’s favourite barrister, stepping out for coffee in a simple but stunning knit dress by Stella McCartney.

You can see the sort of brands which are key. Expensive, often venerable, sometimes celebrityhelmed, but producing garments and accessories that do not need the interlinked Gs of Gucci or Gianni Versace’s gorgon badge to indicate the wearer’s wealth, influence and style. Quiet luxury uses brands like Lombard designer Max Mara and the legendary Bottega Veneta, maker of leather goods, shoes and accessories to speak through quality and style rather than brash logos.

The point of quiet luxury is that it represents self-confidence and inner peace: the wearer is secure in his or her social status and has no need to squawk the brittle boasts of the aspirational or the newly arrived.

Deeper sartorial thinkers will note with a wry smile that this is simply the reinforcement of what elites have always done, preferring subtle superiority to the walking billboard.

For a Briton, though, that is not

quite true. Quiet luxury brands may not have their origins scrawled across their products, but they rely on being identifiable and identified nonetheless. Dazzling enigmatically is no help to the manufacturer’s bottom line. The hoary phrase goes “If you know, you know”, but for that to make commercial sense you have to… know. All quiet luxury does is turns down the volume.

To link that to the traditional aristocratic approach to couture in the UK is failing to understand the complex texture of our still-lively but increasingly muddled class system.

I worked for a time in the House of Lords, and even now it houses genuine aristocrats under laboratory conditions. Genuine blue-bloods are not sporting flawless ensembles from great fashion houses; you will more

likely find them in costly but aged and carefully maintained attire. HM The King still sports a camel overcoat first worn by his father in 1956; we think it is by Kent, Haste & Lachter, but it’s not certain. The morning dress he wore for Prince Harry’s wedding was 34 years old.

Today’s “quiet luxury” is performatively discreet. The maker might not be obvious, but the watching public is supposed to find out the source in good time. Genuine aristocrats have a different philosophy: stylish, of course, and designed to flatter and impress, but by craftsmanship and technique. So next time you spot Shiv Roy’s Tom Ford padlock jacket and feel a rush of insider nous, just remember that it might be a discreet $5,000 item, but you are still being played.

STYLE GRIPE: MEN –STOP WALKING THE CITY

STREETS

CORPORATE-BRANDED RUCKSACKS

to doing the same to loud-and-proud cargo short wearers defending their sartorial choices. I err on the side of “get them in the bin” but it’s not a hill I’m willing to die upon.

stringent dress code.

Acouple of years ago an American woman caused an international incident when she admitted to covertly chucking her husband’s cargo shorts in the bin, such was her dislike of them. The following week was littered with opinion pieces about the maligned shorts, from other women owning up

My line in the sand is men who wear rucksacks over a suit. This isn’t a new phenomenon but it’s something I’ve noticed more in recent weeks: grey-suited men wearing tired looking sports backpacks or, worse, those corporatebranded ones you sometimes get free at conferences. Why go to the effort of wearing a suit if you’re going to walk around looking like an overgrown schoolboy?

Hybrid working means that, more than ever, we’re expected to lug around all of the accoutrements of office life, from laptops to gym kits. This on-the-move lifestyle necessitates concessions to comfort and practicality – even Goldman Sachs has loosened its notoriously

So what’s a man to do? A decade ago the messenger bag had its moment in the sun but now it just screams “I’m an intern!” Briefcases, portfolios and duffle bags have an undeniable charm but can be a strain on the arms if you have a long commute.

“While longevity, elegance, security and office-ready functionality are given across professions, a man should ultimately look for a work bag that supports his lifestyle,” says Carl Friedrik (carlfriedrik.com) co-founder Niklas Oppermann. “Take a barrister. PDF files have their place, but they would also struggle to function without copious amounts of paper documents. The

classic briefcase is a natural choice because it functions as a hardwearing safehouse for said documents.

“An investment banker, on the other hand, might let off steam at lunchtime by going to the office gym. A larger, smart duffel offers greater space to accommodate his change of clothes and shoes.”

Another option is to just buy a decent backpack.

“Backpack designs have evolved to the point where they meet both the functional and aesthetic requirements of urban office life,” says Oppermann. “Most modern backpacks now incorporate padded laptop compartments to transport electronic devices to and from the workplace safely, not to mention other handy

organisational features like pen slots, smaller tech pockets and so on.

“Then there’s the question of meeting the suave dress code ingrained in City life. Contemporary backpacks are increasingly sleek, clean-lined and understated — the perfect accompaniment to the suit. A sophisticated leather backpack is certainly not going to cause murmurs in the office or prompt a disapproving glance from clients.”

I concur: if we accept that the backpack has become a mainstay of office life, then it’s time for City workers to step up. You wouldn’t go to work wearing a crappy pair of shoes; what you wear on your back is just as important. Wives, husbands, partners and friends take heed: if someone you love is walking the streets with an Accenture-branded backpack, do them a favour and chuck it in a skip under cover of darkness.

Next time you spot Shiv Roy’s Tom Ford padlock jacket and feel a rush of insider nous, just remember that it might be discreet but you are still being played

IN

Hybrid working means we need to carry our lives on our backs –but at least do it in style, pleads

Steve Dinneen

A rucksack by Carl Friedrik that we would actually wear

FOOTBALL

‘They will just keep building their empire’

WHEN the Abu Dhabi United Group bought Manchester City almost 15 years ago, the new owners’ stated aim was to turn a club who had gone 30 years without a major trophy into a major European force.

On Saturday against Inter Milan in Istanbul, City could tick the last box on their checklist by winning the Champions League – and equalling perhaps the greatest achievement ever seen in English football, the treble won by their neighbours and rivals Manchester United in 1999.

So with their mission indisputably accomplished, what will that mean for the club and their parent organisation, City Football Group?

Will the owners keep investing billions in City in order to rack up trophy after trophy in perpetuity? Might they add more sister teams to the CFG

OPINION

SPORT COMMENT

Will winning Champions League dampen Manchester City owners’ thirst for success? Nope, insiders tell Frank Dalleres

multi-club network, which already boasts 12 siblings? Or could Abu Dhabi rein in investment, perhaps further diluting Sheikh Mansour’s 81 per cent stake in CFG with sales like those to US fund Silver Lake?

Qatar had to face up to similar questions after last year’s men’s World Cup.

One of its responses has been to rationalise the business of its other superproject, Paris Saint-Germain. The French champions are in the process of pivoting from galacticos Lionel Messi and Neymar to young and domestic talent. Parent group Qatar Sports Investments, meanwhile, is building its own multi-club network and is exploring a minority sale.

Some industry observers believe CFG

could follow suit. “What we have seen in Qatar post-World Cup is a much more stringent approach,” said Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at Skema Business School in Paris. “You can draw a direct comparison with City. Yes, they will want to win the treble again but I think they will want to do it in a more disciplined fashion.”

Others, however, expect no let-up in ambitions. One factor is a burgeoning rivalry with Middle East neighbours Qatar and Saudi Arabia, whose sovereign wealth fund owns Newcastle United and has emerged as the most important backer of golf. But so is the fact that City’s sustained on-field success has helped them to become prof-

itable and top world football’s revenue and brand value rankings.

“They [Sheikh Mansour and Abu Dhabi] will absolutely continue with City. If they dial down their investment in CFG it would only be to build up the club, but I don’t think they will – they’ve got plenty of money and it’s making profit,” said one European football executive. “They will just keep building their empire.”

It is believed that the group is actively

working on further club acquisitions. Said another football finance insider: “CFG have no end game. They just keep pushing.” CFG did not respond to questions about their plans.

There is another reason for Abu Dhabi to keep pushing, says Prof Chadwick: City and CFG have become important sources of soft power for a small emirate heavily dependent on oil and gas and with limited capacity in other sectors.

“The franchise network has been created not just for business purposes but geopolitical ones too,” he said, citing CFG’s Chinese team Sichuan Jiuniu. “The greater value for City’s owners is about what happens off the field.”

WHEN a global sporting event takes place without TV coverage, does it really happen? Or at least, does it really matter?

That question should be front of mind for all the protagonists in the standoff over broadcast rights for next month’s Women’s World Cup.

Blank screens are looming larger with every passing day in the five leading European markets, including Britain.

Which will explain why you’ve not been bombarded with prime-time trailers for the World Cup since the end of the regular season. 42 days to the opening game, and counting…

First a quick recap. Fifa has unbundled rights for its women’s competitions from the men’s for the first time. Broadcasters in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK have offered sums for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand that are a small fraction of what they paid for the men’s event in Qatar last year.

Early morning kick-offs don’t help, but it’s safe to say that perceptions of value differ wildly between football’s organising federation and TV’s buyers.

BACKWARD STEP

Sports ministers in all five countries are jittery – presumably because they realise they will be first in line for public criticism if no deals are done. And lest you think that would be unfair, they are a cohort that has joyfully ridden the up-wave in the women’s game in recent years. Rough now to go with the previous smooth.

All parties might want to take a look at Formula 1 for an urgent reality check. The W Series folded part way through last season for lack of cash.

The ambitious project to establish an elite women’s motor racing format on the back of the F1 circuit wasn’t without its flaws – the imagery of the drivers it used was often toe-curling – but it was promoted energetically and certainly garnered good media coverage in a very crowded market.

Insiders believe the W Series floundered for lack of buy-in from F1, which instead is now pushing its own

REMOVE FIFA TOXICITY TO GET WOMEN’S WORLD CUP ON THE BOX

abling them to compete in the established formulas currently locked-up by men. But this is happening in a media vacuum.

Some of last year’s W Series drivers are part of the 15 woman roster for the new seven weekend series, but only one of these weekends is paired with F1, you can’t watch the races live on TV and the press has shown scant interest.

So, a competitor goes bust and the ‘in house’ successor is hidden in a corner. Wilful neglect for dubious reasons, or simply a commercially-driven decision by F1’s owners that is too hard-headed and/or short-termist?

An absence of live World Cup coverage would be a big backward step for women’s football.

My sympathies lie (marginally) with

broadcasters. Just because they grossly overpay for men’s soccer doesn’t compel them to do so now. They have been valuable partners for the football authorities and politicians in growing the female game and their compliance

has probably been taken for granted.

Last year the UK government added the Fifa Women’s World Cup to the A list of sporting events on the so-called “crown jewels” list that must be shown on free-to-air television.

That assumes, of course, that someone wants to show it – unlikely to be a problem that was envisaged when the events list was first devised or last revised.

The most likely solution is a late deal, or deals, after much posturing and arm-twisting, in which Fifa has to give up most of the ground between the negotiating parties.

If the Football Association and government both want to protect the financial and emotional capital that they have invested in women’s football, perhaps they should contemplate buying the rights themselves and swal-

lowing the loss on a resale to the BBC or ITV. Help to bridge the gap, remove Fifa toxicity in the process, and get the games on the box.

PRIORITIES, MIDDLESEX

Regular readers of this column may remember my astonishment at the Middlesex CCC interview panel’s lack of focus on the fortunes of the men’s first XI in my unsuccessful attempt to be appointed the county’s new chair.

Having played seven of their 14 group matches, MCCC are currently bottom of the T20 Blast south group with nil points. One Middlesex member tells me this is the worst team he has seen in the best part of five decades as a supporter. Priorities? Go figure!

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

Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour owns Manchester City

Ed Warner

The most likely solution is a late deal after much posturing in which Fifa gives up ground

England should let the shackles off at front row and in midfield

ON MONDAY morning, England head coach Steve Borthwick will name his initial training squad for this year’s Rugby World Cup.

Though players from the four sides who made the Premiership semi-finals will not be included in the first squad of the summer, it’s hard to get excited given some of England’s selection woes.

Today I will take a look at the front row and midfield, saving some of the bigger calls for another time.

I wrote a list of the loosehead, tighthead and hookers available to England this autumn and, I have to say, I was disappointed.

We all know Bristol’s Ellis Genge will be there but out of the others, who is there?

Mako Vunipola of Saracens is secure and we know what to expect from him, but I do think England should at least look at Gloucester’s Val Rapava-Ruskin. The loosehead is exciting on and off the ball but he’s not experienced at international level – something Borthwick will want given that he, too, is in his first World Cup in his current role.

At tighthead, Kyle Sinckler will be there, as will the likes Will Stuart and Will Collier, I imagine.

RUGBY COMMENT

Ollie Phillips

pretty much nailed on as England’s No10 given his performance against George Ford in the Premiership final and the fractious season Marcus Smith has experienced.

But with Farrell, England simply must go with Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade in the centres.

I would love to see Ollie Lawrence in there – and he is likely to be in the training squad next week – but he with Tuilagi would be too one-dimensional to play in the same backline.

The wider squad should see the likes of Luke Northmore involved and – when semi-finalists can be picked – include Fraser Dingwall and Guy Porter.

I would love to say that Gloucester’s Mark Atkinson would make the squad but he is getting on a bit and has been injured for a number of months – but his offloading ability alongside Lawrence would mimic the brilliant Brad Barritt and Tuilagi combo of old.

One of the James brothers at Sale, Sam and Luke, should be given consideration going forward and I would like to see England revisit Alex Lozowski but there’s a feeling that England will stick to what they know.

England have the chance to go completely wild in their first training squad ahead of the World Cup but I fear they will be a little bit tame.

I hope there’s some fresh ideas and impetus in the selection. The issue is, however, that they just don’t look very scary.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK Bordeaux No8 Tom Willis

Amid the fallout from Worcester Warriors and Wasps going under this season, a number of players from the two clubs got to experience high level rugby in France – one of those is Tom Willis.

The Bordeaux Begles No8 was a key part of his side’s Top14 quarter-final win away to Lyon, earning them a semi-final tie against La Rochelle this weekend.

Willis was a solid carrier, as he has been all season, and has confirmed his return to the Premiership with a summer transfer to Saracens, meaning he will be in contention for the England squad. Going toe-totoe with some of the best back-rows in the world should stand the 24-year-old in good stead for a World Cup spot.

WHO’S HOT WHO’S NOT

I would like to see Biyi Alo – currently in Paris – at least given a shot in the wider squad but he is, like RapavaRuskin, inexperienced at this level. Options at hooker are fascinating. I imagine Jamie George will go to the World Cup but behind the Saracens No2 it’s wide open.

You could see George’s team-mate Theo Dan there – he was so exciting in the Premiership final – and there could be room for George McGuiggan and Jack Singleton of Gloucester, as well as potential bolter Alfie Barbeary.

But the overwhelming feeling is that we’re just a bit weak in the front row. There are opportunities aplenty for the fringe lads but we look beatable there.

MIDFIELD

I think Owen Farrell is

I would like to see Singleton in the mix for England at hooker

OVERSEAS POLICY

There will be fewer teams starting next season’s Premiership than began this year’s due to a number of clubs going bust.

It is a horrible shame and it leaves so many academy and full-time players looking for pastures new.

What it does do is show how much of a farce England’s policy is of not picking overseas players.

If we cannot sustain a Premiership with enough spots for English hopefuls, what’s the point in the policy? It will only damage our international future. Something has got to change, and we need to start being able to pick overseas players.

Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance, experts in leadership development and behavioural change. Follow Ollie on Twitter and on LinkedIn.

French TV production will be key at this year’s tournament, and technical issues during big matches last weekend will have caused unease.

Madosh Tambwe is enjoying a purple patch this season, scoring nine tries. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he is South African-qualified.

Marcos Kremer received his third red card of the season in Stade Francais’s loss at the weekend. His indiscipline could be a liability for Argentina.

England have the chance to go wild in their first training squad, but I think they’ll be quite tame

Gael Fickou is close to being the first name on the France team sheet. The centre was brilliant in Racing 92’s win over Stade Francais last week.

SPORT

FOOTBALL

Sheikh Jassim serves Glazers with ultimatum over United sale

FRANK DALLERES

QATAR’S Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al

Thani has made a fifth, take-it-or-leave it offer for Manchester United in an attempt to break the deadlock over the club’s possible sale.

Sheikh Jassim has given United owners the Glazers until Friday to accept his improved bid or he will walk away from the long-running negotiations.

The move puts the ball back in the court of the Glazers and their bankers, the Raine Group, as they weigh up a rival offer from British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Sheikh Jassim is keen to clinch a takeover to allow enough time to prepare for next season. The Premier League transfer window opens next week and clubs are wrapping up deals already.

United, however, are still under a cloud of uncertainty almost seven months after the Glazers invited bids by announcing a strategic review.

Sheikh Jassim’s offer is for 100 per cent of the club and includes an additional £1bn commitment ring-fenced for investment in the stadium, training ground and squad.

Ratcliffe’s is for majority control but gives the Glazers the option of retaining a minority stake. They currently own 69 per cent of United.

Despite Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe being the only two bidders for a majority stake, the Glazers have drawn out

GOLF

WHAT NEXT FOR MAN CITY? How a Champions League win will affect their owners’ strategy

HEY, JUDE Bellingham set to seal £88m move to Real Madrid

the process in an apparent attempt to extract every last penny.

The Americans, who bought United in 2005, are said to be seeking a deal that values the club at £6bn, while their two offers are believed to value them at closer to £5bn.

Any sale that valued United in excess of £5bn would nonetheless represent a new world record for a sports team. NFL franchise the Washington Commanders was last month sold for $6.05bn (£4.9bn).

Sheikh Jassim, the son of the former prime minister of Qatar, is the current chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank and has previously served on the board of Credit Suisse.

He has bid for United via his Nine Two Foundation and has pledged to clear the club’s debt, which currently totals more than £500m.

Ratcliffe, the founder and chief executive of chemicals giant Ineos, already has several investments in sports. He owns French club Nice, Swiss side Lausanne, the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team and has investments in Formula 1 and sailing.

The Glazers remain widely unpopular among United supporters, having taken more than £1bn out of the club in interest and fees since their leveraged takeover 18 years ago.

Real Madrid have agreed a deal worth £88.5m for England midfielder Jude Bellingham. The 19-year-old is set to sign a sixyear contract with the Spanish giants when he moves from Borussia Dortmund this summer. The teenager was voted the best player in Germany this season and could cost Carlo Ancelotti’s LaLiga side as much as £115m after addons are taken into account. Premier League pair Liverpool and Manchester City were in the mix to buy the former Birmingham City player, but Real Madrid have long looked in pole position to sign Bellingham. The 14-time winners lost in semi-finals of the Champions League this year.

London Irish owner’s parting shot at UK rugby

MATT HARDY

LONDON Irish yesterday filed for administration having been kicked out of English rugby on Tuesday. The club were unable to show proof of funds to operate next season – either by a new American consortium or by current owner Mick Crossan – and were therefore expelled from “any league” next season.

Crossan said in a statement: “Collectively, owners of clubs are working very hard to transform their models, but the lack of real support, at times, is non-existent.

“And it speaks volumes that Ralph Rimmer and Chris Pilling have been

McIlroy: I feel like sacrificial lamb over PGA Tour’s Saudi climbdown

MATT HARDY

VOCAL LIV Golf critic Rory McIlroy says he feels like “a sacrificial lamb” after the PGA Tour joined forces with the breakaway circuit’s Saudi backers in a multi-billion-dollar peace deal this week.

The Northern Irishman criticised the likes of Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau for turning their back on the PGA Tour to join LIV –only for US chiefs to ultimately go into business with Saudi’s Public Investment Fund too.

“It’s hard for me to not feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb, feeling like I’ve put myself out there

and this is what happens,” he said.

“It unifies it and secures its financial future. But there are mixed emotions in there as well. Removing myself from the situation, I see how this is better for the game of golf, there’s no denying it.”

But he insisted he still “hates LIV”, adding: “I hope it goes away and I fully expect that it does. I think that’s where the distinction is –this is the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, under PIF –very different from LIV. All I've tried to do is protect what the PGA Tour is and stands for and I think I will continue to do that.”

appointed by the Government as independent advisors to work on the future of rugby union in the UK.

“The professional game in this country needs to be radically transformed. And the current leadership must urgently review its practices from top to bottom if it has a desire to see professional rugby continue in England.

“Administration has always been the last resort, and something we hoped we could avoid.

“And we bitterly regret the difficulties it will present to each and every one of you.”

The club also face a winding-up order from HM Revenue and Customs. Some individuals at the

CRICKET

club are said to feel they had been strung along by the interested consortium and the current owner. It marks another dire chapter in Premiership Rugby’s recent history, with Irish becoming the third club to go under this season after Worcester Warriors and Wasps.

It is understood that Premiership Rugby will unveil the first batch of governance changes later this month as the league – alongside the Championship – looks to radically reform itself to survive going forward.

London Irish do have an amateur outfit in the sixth tier of English rugby which, they say, will still be able to operate.

Moeen answers England’s late call to be part of Ashes

MATT HARDY

MOEEN Ali has been added to England’s Ashes squad as they prepare to take on Australia in the opening Test next Friday.

Moeen retired from Test cricket in September 2021 but has accepted a recall following an injury to spinner Jack Leach. The 35-year-old will come into a side who boast an impressive record of 11 wins in 13 Test matches under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.

“We reached out to Mo early this week about returning to Test cricket,” said Rob Key, England men’s managing director. “Having had a couple of days

to reflect, Mo is excited to join the squad and play Test cricket again.

“His vast experience, along with his all-round ability, will benefit our Ashes campaign.”

England got their summer off to a fine start with a 10-wicket win over Ireland at Lord’s last week but Leach became the latest player to have issues with his lower back.

Jofra Archer will also miss the Ashes with injury and there remains some concern over Stokes’s ability to bowl.

Australia finished the opening day of their World Test Championship final against India on 327-3 with Travis Head hitting an unbeaten 146 and Steve Smith finishing on 95 not out.

RUGBY UNION

United owners the Glazers first put the club up for sale last year