Wednesday 5 July 2023

WHEELY GOOD WINE RAISE A TOAST TO THE TOUR DE FRANCE WITH A GLASS OF VENTOUX P16

REGULATOR: MORE WATER STRIFE AHEAD

OFWAT: WE DIDN’T HAVE POWERS TO STEP IN ON DEBT

NICHOLAS EARL

WATER suppliers will not be allowed to rack up debts and underinvest again following Thames Water’s financial troubles, the boss of industry watchdog Ofwat vowed yesterday.

Chief executive David Black (pictured) told the House of Lords yesterday that it can now “stop dividends” and “lock cash coming out of companies” if water firms are not in robust financial shape.

However, he stopped short of ruling out further suppliers reporting financial troubles in an industry weighed down by a £65bn debt pile – with Thames Water just one of multiple water companies burdened with debt.

“We have got the safeguards to stop the cash moving out of companies [but] clearly, we’ve got companies in positions that do require injections of equity. We still have the legacy of

LANDO OF THE RISING SUN F1 MENTOR ON DRIVER ABILITY

P19

RAIN STOPS PLAY Wimbledon hit by rain on first week of play

those past issues to address,” Black admitted. Thames Water, he said, required “substantial sums of money” to get its house in order.

Black told the industry regulators committee that Ofwat “should have stepped in to stop companies gearing up” with debts as early as 2007 – when Kemble Holdings, a consortium then led by Australian finance giant Macquarie snapped up Thames Water in an £8bn deal –but that the regulator lacked the power to do so.

Ofwat, which has been criticised for being too cosy with the industry, said it now had more of a mandate to questions suppliers over debt levels.

Numerous industry execs, including the new co-CEO of Thames Water, previously worked at the regulator.

Black admitted that “regulators across all sectors took a relatively hands-off approach to gearing up companies”, including also the energy sec-

tor – which has suffered its own domestic crisis.

Ofwat’s attendance at a Westminster committee session comes amid escalating chaos at the UK’s largest supplier Thames Water, which is home to 15m customers across London and south east England.

Thames Water announced a boardroom exodus last week, with chief executive Sarah Bentley abruptly stepping down, followed by chairman Ian Marchant.

It is struggling to tame a £14bn debt pile and is scrambling for £1bn in funds from stakeholders to stop the company falling into administration, with the supplier well behind on its turnaround plans as it battles with sewage leaks and overspills.

Thames Water was hit with yet another fine yesterday – a £3.3m levy handed down after undiluted sewage was pumped into rivers near Gatwick Airport six years ago. The firm has been fined more than £35m for pollution incidents between 2017 and 2023.

MATT HARDY

PUNTERS received a refund for yesterday’s lack of action at the All England Club as Wimbledon was ambushed by rain.

The two-week festival of tennis has not got off to a great start with each of the opening two days hit by showers. But there is hope for later in the week with weather expected to improve by the weekend.

Wimbledon is a huge draw for the capital with the City of London benefiting from the tournament in terms of tourism, sponsorship and local business.

Those lucky enough to be at the All England Club today are likely to see British sensation Jodie Burrage, defending champion Novak Djokovic and women’s No1 Iga Swiatek. The tournament delivers over £200m to the London economy.

Sir Jim takes aim at competition regulator as ‘hostile to business’ after deal nixed

JACK MENDEL

INEOS chair Sir Jim Ratcliffe has lashed out at Britain’s competition watchdog for being “increasingly hostile” to business – after it blocked a near £800m deal involving his firm.

The business titan, who founded the private chemicals giant, made

his comments after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) prevented INEOS’s acquisition of Sika, a concrete additives business.

The CMA has increasingly come in for criticism for blocking both Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard and Adobe’s bid to buy Figma.

Last month, there was speculation the CMA would look into Vodafone and Three’s major tie up, while it blocked a series of deals, including for a hearing aid giant.

INEOS agreed to buy the firm in January, and the pair jointly submitted the deal to the

CMA in March, receiving a negative response just nine days later.

Ratcliffe said the CMA was “building a reputation as an overly aggressive regulator with little regard for the impact of its

decisions on UK business.”

He claimed “the CMA and UK government are becoming increasingly hostile to business”.

A CMA spokesperson told City A.M. that “effective merger control is pro-business and pro-growth” and said the INEOS deal raised competition concerns.

STANDING UP FOR THE CITY

The UK must protect Hongkonger activists from China’s wrath

NOT TOO long ago, our opinion pages featured Nathan Law (pictured), the pro-democracy protestor and youngest ever Hong Kong legislator. He lives in the UK now, alongside thousands of others from the territory, hounded out of their homes by ever more draconian crackdowns ordered by Beijing and enacted by Hong Kong’s supine authorities. Now Nathan, and seven fellow

Hongkongers, have something else to worry about. Yesterday Hong Kong’s police issued a $100,000 bounty on their heads, a reward for information on their whereabouts. Parking for a minute the idea that the

famously paranoid Beijing intelligence services don’t know exactly where Law is at all times, it is a handy reminder that when dealing with the Chinese dragon one must be aware that those teeth are sharp, and unyielding. What has happened to Hong Kong is a tragedy, nothing more, nothing less. What was once an imperfect but fundamentally democratic territory is now just an extension of Beijing, with

BRIAN WINTERFLOOD 1937-2023 Legendary Square Mile ‘jobber’ turned digital pioneer, and champion of capital raising for smaller companies, passes away aged 86

global finance firms either turning a blind eye or (famously in the case of HSBC) supporting anti-protest crackdowns. Whether the continuing exodus of firms from Hong Kong to Singapore persuades Beijing that they’ve made the wrong call is a separate point. All that matters now is that Nathan, and the other seven, are safe from persecution. The UK government must stand up for that, at least.

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

THE GUARDIAN

THE CITY VIEW UK PLANS TO DROP FLAGSHIP £11.6BN CLIMATE PLEDGE

The government is drawing up plans to drop the UK’s flagship £11.6bn climate and nature funding pledge, with the Prime Minster accused of betraying populations most vulnerable to global heating, the Guardian has revealed.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES

RUSSIA HAS LOST HALF ITS COMBAT CAPABILITY IN UKRAINE, SAYS UK CHIEF

The Russian army has lost half of its combat effectiveness in Ukraine, including as many as 2,500 tanks, and the main push of Kyiv’s counteroffensive is still to come, the head of Britain’s armed forces has said.

THE INDEPENDENT

TWO NEW PARTYGATE INVESTIGATIONS OPENED BY MET POLICE

The Partygate scandal has deepened as police opened two new investigations into events held in parliament and Tory headquarters during Covid restrictions but said they would take no further action against Boris Johnson.

UK now the only rich country where inflation is still rising

JACK BARNETT

BRITAIN is now the only rich country where inflation is rising, signalling the Bank of England’s series of interest rate rises have been less effective than its peers, new data shows.

Inflation across the G7 nations fell to 4.6 per cent in May, down from 5.4 per cent in April, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In the UK, it said the rate of price increases jumped to 7.9 per cent in May from 7.8 per cent, with the UK being the only country in the bucket of rich

countries to notch an increase.

Annualised inflation fell in the US, Canada, France, Germany and Japan in May, the OECD said.

There are signs that Britain is being gripped by a tough inflation problem. Office for National Statistic (ONS) numbers last month revealed core inflation – which strips off volatile food and energy prices – climbed to over seven per cent. Its highest level in over 30 years.

Food costs have climbed 18 per cent.

Services prices are also up more than seven per cent over the last year, suggesting the initial price burst

driven by the energy shock is now generating home-grown inflation.

The ONS calculated headline inflation remained unchanged at 8.7 per cent in May.

Analysts have blamed historically high wage growth of over seven per cent for fuelling price increases. Others have slammed businesses for profiteering.

Bank governor Andrew Bailey and the rest of the Monetary Policy Committee have jacked up borrowing costs to five per cent.

Last month, they returned to larger rate increases, sticking the Bank’s base rate up 50 basis points. Financial markets think another such jump is coming in August and that borrowing costs will peak at 6.25 per cent.

That would be the steepest level in over 20 years.

There are mounting risks that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will miss

his target of halving inflation to just over five per cent at the end of 2023.

Economists reckon the effects of the Bank’s rate increases now take longer to feed through to the economy due to most homeowners taking out fixed mortgages not floating contracts.

Millions of mortgagors are poised to roll on to new deals with much higher rates by the start of 2024, which experts think will help bring down inflation by eroding their spending power.

Financial data company Moneyfacts said the average rate of the five-year fixed mortgage topped six per cent for the first time this year.

BoE governor Andrew Bailey

Food inflation starting to fall, says Sainsbury’s

LAURA MCGUIRE

SAINSBURY’s yesterday said “food inflation is starting to fall” as it recorded an 11 per cent hike in grocery sales in the first leg of the year.

The ‘Big Four’ grocer recorded an inflation-led 9.8 per cent like-for like increase in total retail sales excluding fuel in the first quarter of the year, up from four per cent in the same period last year.

“Food inflation is starting to fall and we are fully committed to passing on savings to our customers,” Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said yesterday.

Last month, Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco also said there were “encouraging signs” food inflation was easing, as it reported almost £15bn in quarterly revenue.

Food inflation fell slightly in May, but remained at 18.4 per cent, according to

the Office for National Statistics.

During the quarter, Roberts announced a series of price cuts amid claims from the government that supermarkets were profiting from the cost of living crisis.

The supermarket said it had injected £60m into cost cutting initiatives for customers since March.

Charlie Huggins, manager of the Quality Shares Portfolio at Wealth Club, said the comments on food inflation would be good news for consumers, but said the supermarket still had a long way to go.

“It is far too early for Sainsbury’s to declare victory. The competitive environment continues to heat up with Aldi, Lidl and Amazon all looking to expand in UK grocery. Cost pressures remain intense, for both Sainsbury’s and its customers, meaning profits will likely go nowhere this year. But for now, the group is holding its own,” he said.

The high cost of a pint has been blamed for the increase in home drinking

Brits spend £4.1bn drinking beer at home

LAURA MCGUIRE

BRITS are increasingly staying at home and cracking open a cold beer from the fridge, as inflation changes drinkers’ habits. New research shows a 25 per cent surge in beer sales in supermarkets and shops outside local boozers during the cost of living crisis.

Despite inflation being at 8.7 per cent, millions are still not willing to completely cut out their daily tipple.

Figures from price comparison site Idealo, based on numbers from the Office for National Statistics, showed Brits are spending £4.1bn per year on beer, 25 per cent more than in 2020.

With the price of a pint in the capital costing over £7, drinking at

home is a cheaper option. Supermarkets have also cashed in on the trend, with a four pack of San Miguel beer costing just £5 in Tesco, and a four pack of draft Guinness stout just £4.75. Boozers have been forced to up prices in recent months due to higher energy costs and price pressure in the supply chain.

Renewables warning: ‘Race to the bottom’ on production prices

NICHOLAS EARL

GENERATING wind power at lower prices risks destabilising the entire industry and deterring investment, the sector has warned.

Three wind giants, Renewable UK, Energy UK and Scottish Renewables, have called on energy security secretary Grant Shapps to support the industry with more funds.

They also urged it to broaden the focus of clean power auctions amid economic pressures

The bodies have written to energy secretary Grant Shapps calling for the budget for the latest allocation round to be raised and for the strike price to be stabilised.

This follows calls from the industry for auctions to no longer be swayed only by generation price, but take into

DOWN BUT NOT OUT City slickers abseil down the side of Lloyd’s Building for charity

account wider industry benefits.

The government is considering this in a consultation.

As it stands, the latest fifth allocation round has a set allowance of £205m established by the government last year, which the industry considers insufficient in the current economic climate.

The government has been contacted for comment.

Winter energy bills to remain high, say experts

ENERGY bills will remain near double pre-crisis levels until at least next summer, Cornwall Insight has suggested in its latest price cap forecasts.

The energy specialist expects the price cap to decline from its current rate of £2,074 per year for average use to £1,878 per year in October.

It will then hover within £40 of that total until July next year at the next two three-monthly updates.

thephoenixgroup.com/living-longer

The price cap has fallen sharply from its record £4,279 per year rate in January, which is in line with plummeting gas prices on the spot market – which have eventually been felt in futures contracts where suppliers buy their energy.

However, the cap is still significantly above the £1,000-£1,200 average that was maintained prior to the collapse of 30 domestic energy suppliers and Rus-

sia’s invasion of Ukraine, which caused wholesale prices to spike to record highs and caused vast instability across the energy market.

The cap is also below £2,500, the subsidised protection rate in the Energy Price Guarantee, meaning government support will not kick in for households except for those on pre-existing benefits such as the Warm Home Discount.

Greg Jackson, chief executive of Octopus Energy, told City A.M. last month there was every chance “a lot of households are not going to be ready” for less support and “may not be able to cope”, opening up the prospect of more support this winter.

Meanwhile, So Energy boss Monica Collings has called for targeted support for up to 10m households this winter, with Ofgem currently weighing up the idea of recommending a social tariff to the government.

Sadiq Khan lacks legal authority for ULEZ expansion, court told

GUY TAYLOR

THE MAYOR of London Sadiq Khan lacks the legal authority to expand the UltraLow Emission Zone (ULEZ), five Conservative councils told London’s High Court yesterday at the beginning of a two-day judicial review hearing.

Represented by Craig Howell Williams KC, Bexley, Bromley, Harrow, Hillingdon and Surrey are fighting the mayor in a two-day court showdown this week over the proposals.

The court heard some material gathered by City Hall when consulting on the ULEZ proposals was “unintelligible” and that important information was not disclosed.

The councils claim Khan engaged in “unlawful and unfair consultation regarding expected compliance rates in outer London,” and that he failed to “follow statutory procedure.”

It is not known what outcome will be announced. The mayor’s office has been contacted for comment by City A.M.

We need to talk about 1 in 3 children born today having a good chance of living to 100. Let’s start having that conversation.

NICHOLAS EARL

THE CITY’s Lord Mayor Nicholas Lyons and City A.M. managing director Lawson Muncaster launched themselves down the iconic insurance marketplace yesterday. The stunt, which also saw Lord Bilimoria don his kit, was in support of the Lord Mayor Appeal’s charities.

Britons named worst investors in Europe by CPS

JACK BARNETT AND CHARLIE CONCHIE

BRITONS are the worst investors in Europe and have around £1.8 trillion in savings accounts, near the entire value of the FTSE 100, a new report has found.

UK retail investors own 21p of £1 of stocks and bonds and other assets, the lowest proportion in Europe, according to the think tank the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS).

French retail investors have a 28 per cent stake in all the country’s assets, while Germans own a third. Spanish investors hold 84 per cent of the country’s assets.

Some 12 per cent of London-listed shares are owned by UK residents, versus 50 per cent in the 1960s.

CPS analysis of HMRC data found 90

per cent and 80 per cent of the least wealthy and middle class families respectively elect to open cash ISAs instead of vehicles that invest in equities. Yet 50 per cent of richer investors open stocks and shares ISAs.

The CPS argues low participation in stock market investing among less well off households is “increasing wealth inequality significantly”.

The CPS said ministers should consider merging cash with stocks and shares ISAs into a single product and require a proportion of shares made available in new listings to be offered to retail traders.

They also said a taxpayerbacked fund that operates like a FTSE 100-tracker vehicle would help crowd in retail investment.

AI could save 100 hours a year: new data

ABI DEAN

GENERATIVE artificial intelligence (AI) alone could save the average UK worker over 100 hours a year, which would be the biggest improvement to worker productivity since the arrival of search engines, according to a new report.

The use of AI in the workplace has recently exploded with the creation of tools such as ChatGPT.

The London-listed firm was forced to

write off over $115m in sales bookings in March Wandisco raises £24m in postfraud scandal

recovery attempt

CHRIS DORRELL

WANDISCO has successfully completed a $30m (£23.7m) fundraise as it attempts to recover from scandal and resume trading on AIM. The data company will issue 47.5m new shares, which was 70 per cent of the company’s capital prior to the fundraise.

The proceeds will provide the firm with working and growth capital.

The firm added it consulted with and received “strong support” from many of its largest shareholders in advance.

Global Frontier Investments subscribed for 4.2m shares while Davis Capital Partners subscribed for 5.5m shares. Both were existing shareholders in the company.

Benefits of AI in the workplace include helping people to work more efficiently, making careers more accessible and unlocking new ways of learning digital skills.

Google’s Economic Impact Report reveals that by supercharging the UK’s productivity, AI could unlock an economic boost of over £400bn to the UK. Additionally, AI could help offset cost pressures in health and education to free up over £8bn of public sector productivity.

Despite concerns that AI could replace human workers across a raft of industries, Google VP Debbie Weinstein emphasised “it’s crucial that the public, private and third sectors work together” to utilise AI’s full potential.

The Thatcherite CPS thinks more Brits should invest

Activist investors turn up the heat as green campaigns reach record high

CHARLIE CONCHIE

SHELL, BP and Barclays have felt the wrath of activist investors this year as corporate pressure campaigns are launched in record numbers across Europe, new research shows.

The number of activist campaigns in Europe has climbed each month this year to a total of 25 campaigns by May, fuelled by a spike in environmental campaigns calling for more ambitious action, according to research from Alvarez & Marsal.

The growing momentum bucks the trend of previous years where new campaigns dipped after AGM season, typically, and March and April.

Malcolm McKenzie, a managing director at A&M, said campaigns were likely to continue to rise this year as uncertainty in the market eases in the second half of the year.

“Management teams should expect significantly increased levels of shareholder scrutiny in the coming months and, with even more funds taking activist positions, anticipate

Augmentum bucks trend as portfolio rises

CHARLIE CONCHIE

LISTED fintech fund Augmentum yesterday reported a bump in the value of its portfolio as it shrugged off the volatility that has hammered tech and fintech firms globally over the past year.

The London-listed venture capital investor, which has holdings in the likes of Zopa Bank and Monese, said its net asset value per share had risen 2.4 per cent to 158.9p by the end of March.

Augmentum’s top 10 holdings, which represent some 78 per cent of its portfolio value, also notched average revenue growth of 117 per cent in the 12 months to the end of March, the firm said.

The bump in portfolio value comes after a torrid year for tech firms in which investors have soured on highgrowth strategies and startups have been forced into brutal valuation haircuts.

The downturn has prompted many investors to push portfolio firms on the fastest track to profitability. But Augmentum chief Tim Levene [pictured] said its portfolio firms were still angling for growth.

“Despite an increased focus

from venture investors on companies displaying a clear path to profitability and reducing cash burn, the growth in our portfolio through the cycle reflects the quality of many of our companies and the unabated advance of digital transformation in the financial services sector,” Levene said.

Augmentum has also executed a number of exits in the past 12 months.

The firm offloaded its stake in pensions fintech Cushon to Natwest earlier this year and made £42.8m from the sale of Interactive Investor to asset manager Abrdn, a return of over 11 per cent.

Levene added that Augmentum was now “seeing a material increase in the number of compelling investment opportunities at more pragmatic valuations” and expected the trend to continue into next year.

The predicted uptick comes after Augmentum dramatically scaled back its investment over the past year. The fund invested just £19.9m in two new firms and eight of its portfolio companies in the 12-month period, down from £60.8m the previous year.

Shares in Augmentum bounced over three per cent yesterday, though they are down over 16 per cent on the year.

demands from multiple activists at a time,” he added.

Environmental campaigners have been pushing firms including Shell and BP to back more ambitious climate change policies, with green campaigns accounting for 12 per cent of all activist campaigns in 2023, compared to just four per cent in 2019.

Shell came under fire from pension funds to strengthen its goals for reducing emissions in May, while BP faced a rival climate proposal from agitator Follow This.

London IPO market shows ‘green shoots’

CHARLIE CONCHIE

THE AMOUNT of cash raised on the London Stock Exchange has begun to creep upwards this year as “green shoots of recovery” begin to appear after a barren period on the market, new data shows.

According to new data from Big Four firm EY, the capital’s bourse registered just 18 new floats in the first six months of the year, raising a cumulative £593m, as firms continue to swerve the volatility of public markets fuelled by surging

Electric car transition to drag up insurance premiums, report warns

GUY TAYLOR

THE TRANSITION to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will “force a whole-scale adaption of the motor insurance sector” as it struggles to find a solution to the additional costs involved in insuring the new technology, a new report has warned.

BEV claims are already 25.5 per cent

more expensive than their combustion engine counterparts and could rise “disproportionately” according to a new report from Thatcham Research –an organisation funded by the sector to investigate motor insurance risks.

As a result, consumers will have to fork out in the form of higher premiums.

“There is no part of the motor

insurance claims process that is unaffected by BEVs,” Thatcham said. “Much of the motor insurance industry is yet to adapt to mass BEV adoption challenges, and the implications remain unquantified on repair capacity, training and skills, cost and the lifetime sustainability of BEVs,” Adrian Watson, head of engineering at Thatcham, said.

inflation and rapid rate hikes.

The amount of cash raised via IPOs flatlined on the same period last year when £594m was raised from 26 issuers. However, analysts at EY said there were now more positive signs on the horizon after an uptick in interest in the second quarter.

“The last 12 months have been challenging for many businesses, however, as we start to see the green shoots of recovery, many companies which had delayed their IPO plans are now preparing to list again,”

said Grant Humphrey, partner, strategy and transactions, at EY.

“With a healthy pipeline of IPOs for the remainder of 2023, we expect listing activity to rebound towards the end of 2023 and early 2024 once inflationary pressures ease, and companies have the stability and predictability required to realise their long-term growth plans.” The quiet first half in the capital came amid a wider barren patch in the global IPO market, with global proceeds falling 36 per cent year on year.

After a barren year on the London Stock Exchange, interest in listings is starting to resurge, according to new data The insurance sector is yet to

Shell has been among the firms to feel the pressure, with resistance at its AGM in May

No French fancy for Ryanair as nearly 1,000 flights grounded

AROUND

Controllers across the country have been protesting the hike in the pension age from 62 to 64.

Due

scheduled journeys rather than attempt to go around the country. The former BA boss and now the head of the global airlines body IATA, Willie Walsh, has called for a change in the law to allow business as usual during strikes.

Wizz Air hails flying start to the summer

GUY TAYLOR

WIZZ AIR began the muchanticipated summer season with a 23 per cent year-on-year boost in passenger numbers over June, it told markets yesterday.

Wizz Air carried 5.3m passengers over the month, up from 4m the previous year and marking a strong start to what is expected to be a booming period for the London-listed but Budapestheadquartered budget airline.

This June, it reported operating losses of £401.6m in its full-year results, but analysts said that a dip in fuel prices and rising prices would see it turn a corner over the rest of the year.

Controllers have been engaged in industrial action for more than 60 days this year.

Ryanair carried 17.4m passengers in June, operating 96,250 flights, with the former up some 9 per cent year on year.

June also saw the airline announce big expansion plans, with 10 new routes announced on its Albanian network – to Birmingham, Liverpool and Edinburgh – and 100 extra flights scheduled.

The high passenger numbers will provide a welcome relief for Europe’s fastest growing ultra-low cost airline, after a turbulent few months which saw it come under scrutiny for poor customer service.

GUY TAYLOR

160,000 Ryanair passengers saw flights cancelled as a result of air traffic control strikes in France last month, the carrier said yesterday.

to French law, international overflights cannot use the country’s airspace –forcing airlines to cancel

Zuckerberg vs Musk: Meta launches new app Threads to rival Twitter

HARRY STEDMAN

FACEBOOK owner Meta’s latest social media app Threads is the “first credible threat” to Twitter, according to a leading tech expert.

Matt Navarra, a social media consultant and industry analyst, said Twitter users were crying out for a more satisfying platform after being left unhappy with changes following Elon Musk’s takeover.

Threads, described as a “text-based conversation app”, will be linked to fellow Meta social media site Instagram and is due to go live tomorrow, 6 July.

Tesla and SpaceX founder Musk, who bought Twitter in October, has

overseen several major alterations to the user experience, most notably the monetisation of being “verified”.

A temporary limit on the number of posts allowed to be read – originally set at 600 for non-verified users – was also introduced on Saturday.

Navarra told the PA news agency: “I think that Threads is the first real, credible threat to Elon Musk’s Twitter.” Unlike other options, Meta’s familiarity to users would prove an advantage, Navarra said.

The new app is the latest chapter in the rivalry between Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and Musk, who last month agreed to take each other on in a cage fight in a Twitter exchange.

Under new plans, the BBC will invest in new online sites specifically for local news

Local news outlets ask for stop to BBC expansion plans

JESS JONES

LOCAL news outlets are pleading for government intervention in the BBC’s plans to digitally expand, saying it will decimate an already struggling industry.

Independent publishers such as News Media Association, Bristol Post

Online Safety Bill sparks privacy worries

JESS JONES

THE DRAFT Online Safety Bill (OSB) has sparked security and online privacy concerns according to a new survey – although Ofcom has brushed off the scrutiny.

Under the new OSB, which is in its final stages of passing through parliament, authorities could force communication providers like Whatsapp to scan online messages sent in the UK in order to detect criminal activity.

Will Cathcart, head of Whatsapp at Meta, hit back at the plans.

and The Northern Echo have said the nation’s licence fee-funded broadcaster needs to ‘be a better neighbour’ and rethink its plans to grow as a digital local news provider. News Media Association chief executive Owen Meredith has said he fears local journalism could be “irreparably harmed” by the plans.

“People want their messages to remain private and secure. Whatsapp will not weaken the security we provide,” he said.

An Ofcom spokesperson said the watchdog “will not review all harmful online messages sent in the UK or have an open back door into online conversations.”

Flexible workspace provider Runway East cited the opening of the Elizabeth Line as part of the appeal of its new Holborn site

West End to welcome new flexible work space

LAURA MCGUIRE

A NEW 45,000 sq ft flexible work space site is set to open in the heart of the West End in a signal that London’s hybrid work trend is showing no signs of cooling.

Runway East already has five spaces across London, including sites in Borough Market and Shoreditch – and will open a new one thanks in part to the opening of the Elizabeth Line. Its latest site will be opened in Holborn at 24-28 Bloomsbury Way, signing a joint venture partnership agreement with the current leaseholder communications giant

WPP and landlord Abrdn.

It is understood that WPP is leasing the space due to less workers commuting into the office on a full time basis.

Prices for a private office in one of its London spaces can start from £540 per month, with added VAT.

The venue will offer space for teams of four to 100, as well as a 120-person event space, a break out space and over 40 meeting rooms, phone booths and a boardroom for up to 20 people.

Natasha Guerra, chief executive of Runway East, said the opening reflected the changes in working patterns and cited the opening of

the Elizabeth Line as reason for the new West End location.

“The opening of the Elizabeth Line has only made it more accessible – with over 45 per cent of working age Londoners able to commute there within 45 minutes – making it one of the easiest places to commute to,” Guerra said.

“There has been a fundamental shift in how we use space, and our deal is responsive to that change as businesses consolidate the space they need, and collaborate with businesses like ours to create indemand offices for smaller businesses,” she continued.

August tax hike leaves wine industry with sour taste

WINE lovers will be taxed 20 per cent more on their favourite bottle of red or white in a month’s time, as the government steams ahead with its alcohol duty tax hikes, spelling further pain for customers and businesses.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the measures as part of the Spring Budget back in March, which saw an end to the blanket alcohol duty freeze which was put in place via the Autumn Budget 2020 during the pandemic and extended in December.

It will now come to an end on 1 August, and alcohol will be taxed by strength (ABV). The duty hikes will bring price rises for 90 per cent of wines sold in the UK, according to wine and spirit trade association WSTA.

Shapps hits out at Labour’s ‘Just Stop Oil-sponsored’ energy plan

GRANT Shapps has reaffirmed the government’s support for domestic fossil fuel projects, while slamming Labour for appearing to embrace a ban.

In a heated parliamentary session yesterday, the energy security secretary hit out at Labour’s push to stop new North Sea projects as “bonkers”, while confirming the UK’s continued embargo of Russian fossil fuels.

“Our system was well supplied last

winter by North Sea gas and reliable imports. This is a far cry from Labour’s energy surrender plan sponsored by Just Stop Oil, which would put us back to square one and in the hands of despots like Putin and his tyrannical regime,” he said.

Just Stop Oil is a protest group which is calling on the government to ban new oil and gas projects to slash carbon emissions and meet the UK’s net zero goals.

While Just Stop Oil has no official

links to Labour, Shapps has repeatedly tried to link the group to the opposition, frequently referencing green energy tycoon and Labour backer Dale Vince’s financial support for the activists.

Shapps has previously said the UK must have a balanced energy supply, which includes “where necessary, oil and gas licences.”

“To do without them puts the security of every single person in this country at risk,” he said.

The duty paid on alcohol is revalued each year in line with inflation –however it has been either cut or frozen in every budget over the past decade.

A graph by vineyard Chateau Bauduc shows that under the new tax rises if punters spend £8.00 on a bottle of wine, they are getting 90p's worth of wine and paying £5.90 in tax.

“Amongst all this pressure the government has chosen to impose more inflationary misery on consumers on 1 August, with the biggest single alcohol duty increase in almost 50 years,” Miles Beale, chief executive of the WSTA, said.

The WSTA said the decision will not help wine and spirit businesses who are “looking to find ways to keep their products affordable”.

“There is no quick fix, and there are too many tax and costs increases and too few options – especially for wine and fullstrength premium spirits where reducing ABV simply isn’t realistic.”It comes as customers are facing increased costs on alcohol in both supermarkets and bars due to soaring inflation and energy costs.

“The looming increase in alcohol duty will be damaging not just for the wine sector, but for the wider UK economy,” a Majestic Wine spokesperson told City A.M.

“The UK’s largest specialist wine retailer said that the move result in higher prices for our retail customers and the thousands of pubs, bars and restaurants we supply in the on-trade, dealing another hammer blow to a fragile hospitality sector that is still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.”

H2O-no: Thames Water’s brand still hasn’t recovered from 2022 scandal

THAMES WATER is in serious financial difficulty, and faces the prospect of a government takeover. It’s news that comes following the exit of CEO Sarah Bentley (who quit over the firm’s handling of sewage spills) and follows almost a year of negative headlines for the utility company. Since July 2022, when it was reported by The Times that water companies were leaking an average 2.4bn litres of water a day (Thames Water among them) the brand’s stock among the public has plunged.

According to YouGov BrandIndex, net Impression scores for Thames Water, which measure overall positive and negative sentiment, sunk from -2.6 on 27 July 2022 to -13.4 as of our most re-

cent data (27 June 2023): a decline of 10.8 points. This represents a slight improvement on the nadir of 5 September 2022 – when scores plummeted to -16.5 after the company instituted a hosepipe ban while losing hundreds of millions of litres of water a day – but it is far from a full recovery. The company has also seen Value for Money scores go

from bad (-4.9) to worse (-12.2), seeing a deterioration of 7.3 points between late July 2022 and late June 2023.

Summarising a poor year for Thames Water, Index scores, which measure overall brand health, have declined from -1.2 to -8.3 (-7.1). A minor improvement on its most negative performance during this period, but one that will come as small consolation.

With further reports of sewage spills and pollution emerging in the past week (and with the threat of nationalisation still looming), Bentley’s resignation may not mark the end of Thames Water’s woes this year.

Stephan Shakespeare is the co-founder and CEO of YouGov

THAMES WATER’S BRAND HEALTH, 2022-PRESENT

YouGov BrandIndex Index scores: Average of Impression. Quality, Value, Satisfaction, Recommend and Reputation scores (4 week moving average)

July 2022 –Thames Water revealed to be leaking an average 605m litres of water a day

GUY TAYLOR

Energy security secretary Grant Shapps did not mince his words yesterday

Stephan Shakespeare

LAURA MCGUIRE

THE NOTE BOOK

Where next for Thames Water?

HOWEVER big and powerful they appear, businesses are in reality fragile creatures. Many thousands of them fail every year for all sorts of reasons, and today’s behemoth is tomorrow’s insolvency case. This is something I always have to explain to my public sector friends who can rest easy that’s HMG will never suffer a similar fate. Imagine, though, a business with 11m captive consumers, a huge irreplaceable infrastructure and revenues of more than £2bn a year. That would be safe?

Not so if you are Thames Water. It might have been a long time coming but we still all need to pinch ourselves about what’s going on. This is one of Britain’s biggest businesses, that supplies the world’s greatest city with all its water, and it is teetering on the edge of financial failure.

I feel it more keenly because for several years I advised Thames Water. I found a business largely run by decent people who desperately wanted to do a good job but were caught between a rock and several hard places – between a creaking, ancient infrastructure, a tottering debt mountain and a regulator who was fixated on cheaper bills at the expense of investment. Even then I

ZUCK CROWING OVER THREADS?

felt that something had to give, and now it has.

This is a drama that I suspect has several acts to run. Sir Adrian Montague, the new chairman, has an impressive track record, but the challenges are stacked up against him. Somehow he must navigate an angry regulator, a frightened government, unwilling investors and an implacable bond market to chart Thames’s future. In the meantime I hear that PwC, Thames’ auditors, is dragging its heels on signing off the accounts without a significant qualification. That would really set the cat amongst the pigeons. The solution needs to be a fundamental reset of Thames’s balance sheet, that reduces its £14bn in debt and gives it the firepower to invest. But investors are going to need significant incentives before they chase their losses. Are the bond holders ready to take a haircut? Would the government be prepared to offer a guarantee in exchange? Or is effective nationalisation the only feasible route? The next few months are going to be a grim test of management determination, political will and financial gymnastics.

Threads is a rather fine album by Sheryl Crow from 2019, that includes foot-tapping tracks such as Prove You Wrong and Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You.

Threads was also the 1984 apocalyptic film of the conflict between two great superpowers, in this case the United States and the Soviet Union and the resulting nuclear fallout. An excellent film but not one I would recommend for relaxing evening viewing.

From tomorrow, however, Threads will be the ‘textbased conversation app’ launched by Meta – a direct competitor to Twitter and the latest weapon in the war between those other two superpowers, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. I wonder whether Mr Z had in mind the album when he came up with the name for his new app –or even the film? Certainly, some of the track listings seem appropriate.

£ I was recently lucky enough to spend a few days in Iceland where I was able to marvel at that small country’s remarkable economic renaissance, alongside its glaciers and geysers. It seems only a short while ago that Iceland was a global watchword for financial disaster – a nation that effectively went bust in the global financial crisis thanks to the greed and profligacy of a few of its entrepreneurs and bankers. In recent years, though, it has delivered an economic performance that puts the rest of Europe to shame, with growth of over six per cent last year. Economists have long pondered

PwC’s Oz branch loses another pension fund

AUSTRALIA’s fourth largest pension fund suspended new work with PwC Australia yesterday, the latest in a string of funds to pause work with the accounting firm over a scandal which first surfaced in January over the misuse of government tax plans.

The decision by Unisuper, which manages A$115bn ($77bn), means five of Australia’s largest pension funds, managing a total of some A$865bn, have paused work with PwC, which says it is a “leading adviser” to the sector.

Unisuper said it was concerned by recent events at PwC and the fund had suspended new contracts for the “immediate future”.

The move comes a day after the ‘Big Four’ accounting firm sacked eight partners, including its former chief executive, who had yet to leave the firm, in a bid to “re-earn trust”.

The eight partners, who have left or are in the process of leaving, include former CEO Tom Seymour, who resigned in May after admitting he had received emails containing confidential information about the government’s tax plans.

H/Advisors

Seymour will exit PwC Australia ahead of a previously announced retirement date, the firm said.

Seymour and the other seven partners named by PwC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

PwC Australia said in a statement that its investigation found multiple examples where the “misuse of confidential information” breached professional standards and also identified “a failure of leadership and governance” to address the breaches.

PwC, which was Unisuper’s internal auditor according to the fund’s 2022 annual report, declined to comment.

“While PwC has provided the fund with an assessment that the relationship we have built over years has not been affected by this situation, we have sought further assurances on this matter,” a Unisuper spokesperson said.

Tax authorities revealed in January a former PwC partner who advised the Australian government on anti-tax avoidance laws had shared confidential drafts about the government's plans with colleagues then used this to drum up business with companies.

The scandal has already cost PwC a string of high profile clients, including the Reserve Bank of Australia.

the secrets behind Iceland’s recovery. For me it seems to boil down to two things.

First, if you have to have a financial crisis, have a big one. Iceland was so catastrophically bust in 2008 that it was forced to completely reengineer its banking and financial system, rather than the make-do-andmend tactics applied in other countries like Greece.

Second, be creative. When the country recognised the scale of its troubles, it reinvented itself as a global tourist destination – and these days a reassuringly expensive one at that.

CAN I QUOTE YOU ON THAT?

are seeing a government that is driving business out of the UK

Jim Ratcliffe of Ineos becomes the latest business leader to vent his feelings about the government’s business policies

Tom Holland has developed into one of the finest historians of our era, partly because he is so approachable and readable. If you don’t already listen to his podcast ‘The Rest is History’, you should do. His latest book, on Rome, comes out tomorrow; it’ll certainly be on my summer reading list.

Suisse investors add to takeover legal fallout

JOHN REVILL

A SWISS proxy adviser representing some former Credit Suisse shareholders has backed a classaction lawsuit seeking a better price from UBS for its takeover of its crosstown rival, it said yesterday.

The firm has been rolling out its lucrative private banking arm across the world

HSBC chases wealthy clients in India with private bank launch

CITY A.M. REPORTERS

HSBC YESTERDAY said it would target business with India’s wealthy as it launched its global private banking business in the country.

Europe’s largest bank said the new unit was aimed at ‘high-net-worth’ and ‘ultra-high-net-worth’ clients in India with investable assets of more than $2m.

HSBC is pursuing a strategy of further expansion in Asia –which generates the bulk of its profit –and in high-margin services including

wealth management, as it sheds under-performing consumer businesses in other parts of the world.

The bank has been rolling out its global private banking arm in various countries in recent years, including in Thailand in 2021 and in Mexico, UAE, and various cities in China in 2022.

HSBC is in talks to recruit a team of senior Middle East wealth managers from stricken rival Credit Suisse as part of its efforts globally to bulk up in private banking, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Ethos Foundation, which represents a Swiss pension funds that owned more than three per cent of Credit Suisse, “has decided to support the Lausanne-based startup Legalpass in its legal action against the exchange ratio set in the context of the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS,” it said in a statement.

Under the deal, sealed last month, Credit Suisse shareholders were offered one UBS share for 22.48 Credit Suisse shares, valuing the stricken bank at 3bn Swiss francs ($3.35bn).

Just 48 hours before the deal was struck, Credit Suisse was worth 7bn francs, Ethos said.

“The exchange ratio... was really not in the best interest of Credit Suisse’s shareholders and there is room to improve it,” said Ethos chief executive Vincent Kaufmann.

If successful, all Credit Suisse shareholders would benefit from the new exchange ratio, it said.

The case is the latest legal battle prompted by the emergency takeover, with holders of Credit Suisse’s Additional Tier 1 bonds - which were all written down to zero –also claiming compensation.

LEWIS JACKSON

Where interesting people say interesting things. Today, it’s Neil Bennett, global co-chief executive of advisory firm

We

THE HISTORY BOYS

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SIGH OF RELIEF DOWN UNDER

FTSE 100: London index muted as Wall Street closes for 4 July

LONDON’s FTSE 100 was muted yesterday on a quiet trading day globally due to Wall Street being shut for US Independence Day.

The capital’s premier index edged 0.10 per cent lower to 7,519.73 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, added 0.14 per cent to hit 18,533.79 points.

Britain’s index of its largest companies struggled for conviction in opening exchanges.

“The FTSE 100 started Tuesday flat and with the US markets largely closed for Independence Day it could struggle for direction throughout the trading session,” Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell, said.

London markets have been on a downward spiral since the US banking crises in March shook investor appetite.

The FTSE 100 had breached the 8,000 point mark for the first time ever at the beginning of the year, before losing a large chunk of those gains. So far in 2023, it is up a little over one per cent.

The FTSE 250 is deep in the red. Sainsbury’s said in results it had notched a near 10 per cent increase in like-for-like sales over the last quarter.

Despite that uplift, the grocer’s FTSE 100-listed shares tumbled, down near two per cent.

Food retailers have come under the microscope for supposedly not passing on falls in global commodity prices to customers.

The Competition and Markets Authority has said a lack of competition among retailers that operate petrol forecourts has kept prices higher than they could have otherwise been.

Pound sterling was up sharply against the dollar by 0.3 per cent.

Peel Hunt analysts have rated budget carrier Ryanair as a ‘buy’. The Ireland-based airline landed a record number of flights in June –over 96,000 –and reported a nine per cent increase in passenger volumes from the previous year. More pesky strikes led to the cancellation of over 900 flights but analysts said the “strength of demand” for the budget airline means it is a good buy.

Wizzy by name, wizzy by nature. Peel Hunt analysts have rated Wizz Air a ‘Buy’, after the airline saw “rapid” growth, with passenger numbers up 22.5 per cent year on year. The group was also named the most sustainable low-cost airline for the third year running. Analysts say to keep an eye out, however, as growth is still below expectations.

“In a global context there was some relief, reflected in gains in Asia Pacific markets, at the decision by the Australian central bank to keep interest rates unchanged. It is holding fire as it waits to see the impact of its previous hikes.”

RUSS MOULD, AJ BELL

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OPINION

EDITED BY ELENA SINISCALCO

Our mobile network is unsafe but Ofcom won’t be able to fix it by itself

John Hughes

IT’S EASY to forget the power of the pocket-sized devices we carry on ourselves every day. Our smartphones are our wallets, our identity, and our main communication channel. But a growing group of attackers are acutely aware of how precious all this information is. It’s a one-stop treasure trove of personal data waiting to be stolen, monetised, and weaponised. Today, there is solid awareness around online security basics like identifying phishing emails and password changing. But very few people are aware of the rise of mobile access brokers.

They’re part of a growing surveillance industry, where mobile access is sold to governments, private companies and sometimes criminals. Attackers can precisely track an individual's location, intercept text messages, and access personal accounts using two-factor authentication.

Unlike traditional cyber-attacks, the hackers don't rely on users’ naivety. They target the weaknesses in the very network itself. These 'access brokers' exploit vulnerabilities at their core, steal subscriber data, and conduct network reconnaissance to refine their targeting.

The issue lies in communication pro-

tocols. These allow mobile networks to 'talk to each other', determining how phone calls are routed and billed. The first of these protocols, SS7, dates back to the 1970s. All ensuing protocols, such as Diameter & GTP, must interact and connect with SS7 to ensure SMS delivery and flow of network data. However, weaknesses on SS7 make it easy for access brokers to weaponise mobile networks into geolocating location tracking services and sell this data to the highest bidder.

Notable high-profile attacks in recent years include when fleeing Emirati princess Latifa al-Maktoum was kidnapped at sea, after attempts at trying

to geolocate her through her phone in March 2018. In 2021, the web accounts of several wealthy investors in Southeast Asian countries were hacked via SMS hijacking. Last summer there were several attempts to geolocate Mexican journalist Fredid Román’s phone, a day before he was shot dead. The UK Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 is designed to safeguard mobile operators and subscribers, with new responsibilities and powers being handed to Ofcom. The regulator can compel telecom providers to take specific steps around network security and share information with Ofcom to safeguard UK networks.

Yet, little attention has been paid anywhere in the Act to mobile access brokers. So Ofcom faces serious hurdles in ensuring operators will properly tackle the issue. Before taking any firm action, it will first need to determine how it can assess operators and their capacity for detecting these kinds of security compromises. It will also need to simultaneously establish a framework for accurately reporting threats like unauthorised access, network or service exploits, and data confidentiality compromises, all in line with the new Act.

The government estimates the cost of UK cybercrime to be £27bn per year.

If politicians keep ignoring economists, our strategies will never be cost-effective

ECONOMISTS have been getting bad press because of the antics of the Bank of England and its Monetary Policy Committee. We are suffering from what we, as economists, describe as a “negative externality”. It might be convenient for you to drive your car, for example, but the emissions which this creates have a negative impact on others. In the same way, the errors of the Committee are giving rise to a bad impression of economists as a whole.

There has recently been one notable and important exception to this. In his evidence to the Covid-19 Inquiry, the government’s former Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance seems to have undergone a dramatic conversion. He called for a strong representation of economists in any group which is set up to advise the government of the day on how to deal with future pandemics. Vallance argued that economists could help assess the “difficult trade-offs that occur” during a pandemic emergency. In other words, economists should as-

Paul Ormerod

sess the costs and benefits of following any particular policy.

During the pandemic, SAGE, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, was of course dominated by epidemiological models. The errors in their forecasts made the Bank of England look like a paradigm of scientific accuracy. Economists were far from silent during the pandemic. Several assessments were made during the summer of 2020 of the costs and benefits of lockdown by distinguished authors.

In a paper published in the Oxford Review of Economic Policy in August 2020, for example, Bob Rowthorn, a former head of the department of economics

at Cambridge, argued that lockdowns lasting 10 weeks could only be justified if the value of each individual life of those who died of Covid-19 was more than £10m.

Of course, each single death was a tragedy both for the person concerned and for their close friends and relatives. But given that many of the victims of Covid-19 were aged 85 or more, normal NHS criteria for resourcing would have applied but weren’t.

David Miles, now of the Office for Budget Responsibility and based at Imperial, published an assessment at the end of June 2020. He argued that it was essential to normalise how we viewed Covid-19. Its costs and risks are comparable to other health problems, such as cancer, heart problems and diabetes, where governments have made resource decisions for decades.

The lockdown is a public health policy and Miles and his medical collaborators valued its impact using the standard tools developed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to

Cyber-attacks are also a growing pillar of state espionage and a national security issue. Mobile access brokers have become essential in this space, operating at the frontier of attacker innovation, with hack-for-hire firms offering cutting-edge targeting, tracking, and surveillance capabilities to anyone willing to pay.

Take Andreas Fink, the Swiss telecoms expert. One of Fink’s systems was recently seen in the system used by the Israeli hacker-for-hire and disinformation group Team Jorge as part of their operations, which required access to the global cellular network.

A recent international investigation led by Haaretz revealed that Team Jorge offered mass-social-media manipulation, election interference, even hijacking email, Telegram, and web accounts. More than 20 members of the Israeli crypto community also had their Telegram accounts hacked thanks to Fink’s infrastructure.

To step up to its new role as telecoms cybersecurity regulator, Ofcom needs the right resources and support to develop its knowledge and expertise.

But given the telecoms industry is so inter-connected, with each new generation built on top of the previous one, the issue is larger than any one regulator or the UK alone. Organisations must ensure the right routing and filtering signalling protection is in place. Globally, operators and regulators must cooperate closely to identify these vulnerabilities better as they emerge, armed with the latest threat intelligence.

£ John Hughes is Head of Mobile Security at Enea

EYES ON THE BALL

guide health care decisions in the UK public health system. In the authors’ own words, “we find that having extended the lockdown for as long as three months consistently generates costs that are greater – and often dramatically greater – than likely benefits”.

Economics can be of great value in the policy making process as these examples show. It was the choice of the government of the day to follow another route.

Patrick Vallance’s change of mind on the role of economists is to be applauded unreservedly. It takes courage to do this in the context of public policy.

But open mindedness and a willingness to carry out a fundamental reappraisal of previous policies are essential if we want to get better, as a country, in the way we value the costs and benefits of our strategies.

£

Paul Ormerod is an author and economist at Volterra LLP

Some of the communication protocols allowing our mobile networks to work date back to the 1970s

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR A revamped Square Mile

[Re: We used to overlook tourism in the City, now it must become the key to its recovery, June 26]

I am writing this letter to express my enthusiastic support for the efforts to transform the reputation of the Square Mile and make the City of London more than just the business district. It is heartening to see the City has not only recovered from the challenges posed by the pandemic but has surpassed pre-Covid-19 levels of retail spending and weekday evening activities. This resilience demonstrates the City's ability to adapt - a quality that has been integral to its global significance. At the City of London Chamber, we are working with the City of London Corporation to support businesses throughout the Square Mile adapt to

the post-pandemic economic environment. They have recognised the need for a change in response to the evolving needs of businesses, workers, and visitors here. From St Pauls to the Barbican to the Guildhall art gallery, the City of London hosts some of the best attractions in London. The transportation infrastructure is already in place in the Square Mile as it serves about 500,000 people daily. These attributes provide a solid foundation for the City's rebranding as a leisure destination, and by capitalising on them, we can create a self-perpetuating cycle of attracting visitors, businesses, and investment, leading to sustained growth. The City of London Chamber and I offer my full support for this journey and look forward to witnessing the City's future successes.

Alderman Prem Goyal Founding Chair of the City of London Chamber

Teachers need the help of parents to come out of this time of crisis for education

Maria Taylor

PRODUCTIVITY is expected to take a hit in England today and on Friday, and it’s not because Wimbledon has started, but because teachers have gone on strike.

Ultimately, we all want teachers back in the classroom, whether you’re a parent forced to re-enact the home schooling we all got so used to during the pandemic or a business that can expect productivity to drop.

But while the headlines all seem to focus on money, underneath the surface there are plenty more different issues facing teachers than just what they take home each month.

The sector is facing a crisis of confidence with teachers leaving in droves. Those who stay say that classrooms are still struggling from the aftermath of Covid-19 and behaviour has become more challenging.

According to the Department for Education, 40,000 teachers – almost 9 per cent - left the state school sector in 2021-

Committing fraud is a crime on the rise, but data from the Ministry of Justice show the number of fraud offenders prosecuted has fallen extensively in the past decade. The government has promised to reduce the number of annual fraud offences to 3.3 million from the 3.7 million of last year.

EXPLAINER-IN-BRIEF: RISHI SUNAK’S ISSUES WITH MIGRATION COME LEFT AND RIGHT

The list of Sunak’s migration troubles keeps getting longer, expanding this week to include around 20 of his MPs trying to push for more intransigent migration rules. The New Conservatives are young, many of them from the “Red Wall”, and possibly all of them completely irrelevant after the next election. But this group represents a new stream within the party; this tendency of tilting to the right of the right when it comes to migration is unlikely to go away in Britain. They call for an end to the workers’ visa for overseas

care home staff and for the permit for foreign students to stay here for two years after their degrees. Also on Monday, the Illegal Migration Bill suffered 11 defeats in the Lords. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled the Rwanda plan unlawful on the basis that the African country is not safe for asylum seekers. In short, Sunak is pushed by one side who wants him to clamp down even harder on numbers, and by another who wants him to adopt more humane policies. He seems to be stuck in the middle.

22 before retirement. Further data from the Crisis Prevention Institute found there was a 12.4 per cent increase in the previous year. On top of that, 12.5 per cent of newly qualified teachers leave the profession after just 12 months.

We also found that four out of five teachers point to disruptive behaviour as a major contributing factor for leaving. One in three said they had received no training for managing this kind of behaviour and of those who did, only 32 per cent said they felt the training had been properly implemented in their school.

Teachers clearly want to feel safe and many said poorer behaviour since the pandemic has failed to improve. Postpandemic teaching environments are requiring educators to address more

student anxiety and trauma than ever before, as students and teachers re-acclimate to in-person learning.

But one particularly worrying issue is how often the teachers refer to feeling like they aren’t getting enough support from parents. Some teachers reported parents actively encouraged ill-discipline, while others said they felt parents were struggling with their own anxiety.

The point here isn’t about blaming parents, yet it’s important to scrutinise the role they can play in ensuring teachers feel safe. It may sound simplistic but happy parents tend to mean happy children, leading to happy teachers.

Too often the education profession can end up siloed. I know from experience that teachers can put in place all the right safeguards and training to help pupils who are struggling, but without parents on the same page, the work can be less effective.

One route to supporting parents is for employers to recognise the extra demands those employees face. Flexibility has certainly improved in the workplace and this will have a huge impact for parents, finally able to talk with teachers at school gates.

But with the cost-of-living crisis, rising inflation and mortgage payments soaring for families, employers may also want to consider offering further support, either through better access to mental health services, extra days off or help with childcare advice.

This will allow parents to engage more productively with schools and teachers, while ensuring they can also be more productive in the workplace.

We have found that simple things can go a long way, like keeping parents in the loop regarding classroom expectations, and giving them a clear understanding of what they can expect from teachers.

But without the flexibility required from employers, this will prove tricky. We need to do more to educate bosses so they understand that supporting staff will mean better results for their clients and customers. It will reduce the amount of time away from work for parents of children who might be struggling and, ultimately, it could mean a better environment for teachers and fewer days like today.

£ Maria Taylor is the training director for education at the Crisis Prevention Institute

There are plenty more different issues facing teachers than just what they earn

More than 12 per cent of new teachers leave the profession after a year

FREE FRAUD Fewer than 1 in 3,000 fraud cases result in prison sentence

TOUR DE FRANCE: THE BEST WINES TO ENJOY AS YOU WATCH THE FAMOUS RACE

If you’re an aspiring King of the Mountain, check out these amazing Ventoux wines, says Lily Thomas

With the Tour de France returning on Saturday, it seems fitting to consider Ventoux, a place where cycling and wine meet.

Ventoux, one of the most celebrated stages of the Tour de France, has a long history with the sport, the Tour having ascended the summit eighteen times since 1951.

Mont Ventoux, or La bête de Provence as locals refer to it, is the highest mountain in the Rhone valley, sitting at 1,910 metres above sea level on a ridge between the Rhone and the Alps, making it one of the most feared mountain climbs in the race.

It’s omnipresent in the region, looming over the quaint Provencal towns and rolling vineyards that circle all three routes to the summit: the brutal, relentless Bedoin, the toughest of the three routes; Malaucène; and the ‘less challenging’ Sault.

And while this all spells hard times for cyclists, it’s good news for the local wine business. The Mistral, the local winds that blow through Provence, cool the vineyards to ensure grapes retain acidity. Most vineyards sit to the east of the mountain and profit from the cool air that descends, producing some of the freshest wines in the Southern Rhone, notably different from both Provence's Luberon (known for gris rosé) in the south and Chateauneuf-du-Pape in the west.

Reds make up a large part of the region at around 59 per cent, made up of a mix of traditional South of France grapes including Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, often with a touch of boldness from Mourvèdre or Carignan. Many favour Grenache, which combines light structure with soft ripe fruits and

spice. Whites include Grenache blanc, Clairette, Viognier, Roussane and Vermentino (or the old French name Rolle), making bright, exciting blends with styles that change dramatically from domaine to domaine.

One of the most prestigious Ventoux vineyards, found north of the Mountain at around 550 metres above sea level, is Chêne Bleu, which converts that high altitude terroir into harmonious, generous cuvees. It uses oak barrels to produce impressive red wines full of spiced dried fruits, leather and tobacco notes, complete with that Ven-

Chêne Bleu converts the high altitude terroir into harmonious, generous cuvees using oak barrels

toux cooling freshness. Like many wines in the region they sit at around 14% but wear the alcohol surprisingly lightly.

So ingrained is cycling in the culture of the region that Terra Ventoux makes a rosé in homage to local cycling hero Eric Caritoux, who cycled the Tour eleven times. With freshness being key here, Ventoux’s rosés tend to be crisp and lean, bursting with ripe fruits like strawberries, cherries and raspberries.

In homage to those who have completed the climb, meanwhile, Domaine Vintur produces a velvety Grenache

and Syrah dubbed The Gentlemen, complete with a cyclist on the label. Another to watch out for is Chateau Pesquié, situated east of the Bedoin in the shadow of the mountain. It makes complex, rich wines including its white blend Juliette, rich in florals, dried apricot and green almonds. Ventoux is a place where winemaking and cycling exist alongside one another harmoniously. If you’re tuning into the action over the coming month, make sure you pick up some of the local wine to really get into the spirit.

FOOD NEWS: ALL THE LATEST HAPPENINGS IN LONDON

A NEW PERUVIAN-ASIAN MENU

Peruvian and Asian restaurant Chino Latino has launched a new collection of sushi, dim sum, taquitos, and skewers as well as a new cocktail menu inspired by the heady spirit of South America. The restaurant, which boasts 180-degree panoramic views of the River Thames and Houses of Parliament; perfect for post-work drinks.

BESPOKE INDIAN CUISINE

Michelin Bib Gourmand Indian restaurant Pahli Hill in Fitzrovia is launching a chef's counter experience, where two or three diners will be

hosted by head chef Avi Shashidhara (Great British Menu 2023). They will get the chance to discuss their food preferences with the chef, who will then curate a bespoke seven course menu.

CHANNEL YOUR INNER FRANCOPHILE

Chris and Jeff Galvin’s quintessentially French Galvin Bistrot & Bar will celebrate Bastille Day on Thursday, 14 July with the usual joie de vivre. They will host a three-course Bastille menu for £30 (available lunch and dinner), including free flowing wine, with the Parisian singer and accordionist Fifi la Mer providing entertainment.

BRITISH STREET FOOD AWARDS

The British Street Food Awards will return for 2023 from 18-20 August, this time moving to London’s East End. The event will now be held at canal-side eating and drinking venue Hackney Bridge, with food provided by names including MEATliquor and Bao. The heavyweights of the street food world will compete against each other, to be judged by a panel including cookbook authors Sophie Ellis Bextor and chefs from two of Hackney’s three Michelin-starred restaurants, Andy Beynon and Tom Brown. Early Bird tickets are priced at £8 and include entry, a vote and a free Cobra beer.

REVIEW: SLOWBURN BLACKHORSE ROAD

Nothing says gentrification quite like a restaurant that pops up three times a week in a jeans factory in a commercial estate at the bleak end of Walthamstow.

Blackhorse Road is one of those enclaves of London that town planners forgot about until a few years ago, during which time it has gone from a series of grey warehouses and some reservoirs to one of the trendiest upand-coming parts of the city, now boasting eight breweries, a brandy distillery, at least three artisan bakeries, a handful of excellent coffee shops and, now, a genuinely decent restaurant.

There’s a kind of thrill when you walk into SlowBurn that comes from being somewhere that you probably shouldn’t. You’re flanked on either side by workbenches stacked high with cuts of denim, strange industrial tubes coiling from the ceiling. Everywhere around are little boxes stuffed with rivets and zippers and whatever else is used to make jeans. My table was at the far end of the factory floor, a few feet away from a vast industrial washing machine. There are only a few tables, perhaps enough for 25 or 30 covers (getting a table is difficult), with the kitchen presumably purpose-built to feed the factory workers; considering eating dinner and making jeans are two entirely different categories of things, it’s a surprisingly light and pleasant place to dine.

The first question from our server

was, of course, if we would like to have the menu concept explained, a sentence now so inevitable it’s starting to feel a bit like an inside joke. The concept is, as always, that there isn’t a concept – you order a bunch of stuff from different sections of the menu and share it, hoping that you manage to strike the right balance, which you

never really do. The menu is vaguely modern European – a rather useless descriptive I admit – with Asian and Nordic accents. “Healthy” and “sustainable” are the buzzwords here, with vegetables predominant throughout the menu and most dishes painted in various hues of green. There were four of us and we essentially ordered every-

thing on the menu. Scallops with pickled carrots and ginger and lemongrass sauce are an excellent coming together of simplicity and flavour, as is the perfectly executed asparagus and hollandaise (now sadly out of season).

Black bean “gyoza tacos” lacked the punch to really register but the cauliflower fritter with handsome little blobs of garlic aioli was more delicious than it had any right to be. Taglioni with basil pesto, manitou pesto and pecorino romano, from the “middle” section of the menu, is big enough to be a stand-alone main but is another excellent example of ingredient-led

cooking, as were two huge salads of lion’s mane mushrooms and charred hispi (at this stage it became apparent we had ordered far too much.) Still to arrive were an exceptional, stripped back half roast chicken and – the star of the evening – lamb shoulder in a sea of neon green: peas, kohlrabi, confit shallots and wild garlic.

There’s some really, really great cooking on display here – unflashy and without any frills, as you would expect of a kitchen borrowed from an atelier. If more proof was needed that Blackhorse Road is now a destination, this is it – and I should know, I live there.

ASK THE EXPERT: LONDON DONE PROPERLY

56 West Smithfield Bar & Shop Wine sommelier Katherine Brook on the best places to eat in the capital

ELLIOTS

Elliot’s has been my go-to ever since I stumbled across it a few years ago. The small natural wine bar and restaurant is tucked away in Borough Market. Alongside its great selection of wine, there’s an ever-changing menu created using many of the Market’s seasonal produce. It’s all about delicious food, made to be shared and washed down with some delicious wine.

JOLENE

tI like a menu that fits on a chalkboard. This chic urban bakery and restaurant first caught people’s attention with its amazing bakes, from breads and pastries to delicate patisserie. If you go for a mid morning croissant – which you should – I highly recommend staying for lunch too. Grab a few small plates and tuck-in. For the quality of the ingredients, unique flavours and presentation, it’s incredible value for money at Jolene.

t 56 WEST SMITHFIELD

Call me biassed, but 56WS really has got it right when it comes to wine bars. Owned by a family of winemakers from the South of France, it’s cosy yet sophisticated but without any of the snobby wine stuff. There’s a relaxing lounge that will take you captive for hours, as you share stories with friends and drink your way through the ever expanding wine list - probably alongside some cheese & charcuterie. And the bar is a great place for people watching or speaking to the friendly staff. Even better, it’s only £5 corkage on our take away prices and most of it is organic. You should join me for a wine tasting some time - check our website for dates.

I judge a restaurant on the quality of its bread. To me, it’s a non-negotiable first course. I want thick slices (preferably sourdough), served with overly salty butter. Rochelle Canteen does bread exceptionally well. But it also has some of the best dishes in London, with a seasonal and daily changing menu, celebrating classic and modern European flavours.

tGROVE LANE DELI

Sometimes you just want a sandwich. GLD will get your mouth watering from the moment you open the Instagram feed, where they share their sandwiches of the week. The coffee is also very decent, and I’m a sucker for a cinnamon bun.

ROCHELLE CANTEEN

This regular pop-up restaurant in a Walthamstow jeans atelier is an unexpected gem, says Steve Dinneen

ATHLETICS

Hughes gives Britain sprint hope for Worlds

UNTIL very recently you had to go back to the year of the European single market’s founding and just prior to Kylie Minogue’s fifth studio album to find a British man setting a national record in the 100m.

Now, in the year of Barbie the Movie, an attempted Russian coup and the anticipated release of Minogue’s 16th album, track and field fans have witnessed what almost felt unthinkable.

Because 30 years on from Linford Christie’s British record of 9.87 set in Stuttgart, Zharnel Hughes last month clocked a 100m time of 9.83 in New York City. At last, Britain has a new fastest man.

His hasn’t been the only eye-catching British sprinter. Eugene Amo-

FORMULA 1

Norris is the pick of current F1 grid, his former mentor Trevor Carlin tells Matt Hardy

YOU know that feeling when you’ve helped someone out, given them advice and seen them go on to do something special? Well that’s a feeling motorsport team manager Trevor Carlin must have daily about his roster of Formula 1 alumni.

Carlin Motorsport, founded in 1996, can lay claim to six of the current 20 F1 drivers – including the likes of Carlos Sainz Jr, Lando Norris, and George Russell – as well as former multiple world champion Sebastian Vettel and fan favourite Daniel Ricciardo.

And who does the man behind it rate the highest? Well, British rising star Lando, of course.

“Any time you put him in a car where he has to be competitive and be fast, he is fast,” Carlin tells City A.M.

“There’s a great story I tell the youngsters that drive for me. Lando did the British F4 with us in 2015, he then did the Toyota race series in New Zealand at the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016.

“He then did the Renault Euro Cup in 2016 and he did some British F3 races with us. He did four different championships with three teams over a twoyear period.

“He qualified on the front row in 98 per cent of those races, over different circuits all around the world, in different weather conditions, with different setups.

“There’s no way he always had the best car but he managed to always put it on the front row. That’s not a coincidence. It’s not luck. Even if you haven’t got the best car at McLaren, he outperforms it.”

Norris finished fourth in Austria at the weekend, a best for the season, and is 10th in the 2023 driver standings.

But Carlin describes the Brit in the same sentence as world champion Max Verstappen and F1 legend Ayrton Senna. And the 60year-old can not speak highly enough of the current F1 leader from the Netherlands.

“What would be your

Dadzie, 30, who only took up sprinting four years ago, broke the 10-second barrier for the first time last month in Austria, when he clocked what was then the year’s fastest time. Whether the 2023 60m indoor national bronze medalist can continue his run of form into next month’s World Athletics Championships in Hungary remains to be seen, but there is more data on Hughes to assess how repeatable his run is. Typically a sprinter will compete in 10 to 15 races per year at the very highest level, whether that be World Championships, on the Diamond

League circuit or at national events.

This year Hughes has run eight, clocking two sub-10 times – 9.83 and 9.99. Last year he recorded four sub-10 times in 13 races, and the year prior it was one in nine. Hughes missed the 2020 season but in 2019 he clocked four sub-10s in 12 races, while in 2018 he clocked five in 12. The 27-year-old, then, has been pretty consistent and it was in 2018 where he ran the fastest wind-legal time of his career before 2023 – 9.91. That form has helped Hughes start in some of the world’s strongest fields, a factor many current and for-

mer athletes cite as improving performance.

Christie, in his record-setting 1993 year, ran three sub-10 times in nine races. His two fastest of the year – the 9.89 and a 9.97 – were at the same event. He was in the zone.

Previous to Christie it was Jason Livingston with the record, a 10.09 set in 1992. That shows how far sprinting has come in 30 years. But some trends stick. Livingston was a Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers athlete, as is Hughes. And how does his time compare with performances at the World Championships?

LANDO THE RISING SON

best racing driver? Well, the talent of Ayrton Senna, Max Verstappen or Lando Norris and the money of Nikita Mazepin,” he adds.

“I watch driving in Formula 1 now and everyone says it’s the car. And of course the car is incredible, but his driving is perfection.

“He just doesn’t make mistakes, he doesn’t do anything silly, he just drives around at high speed watching on the big screens.

“Usain Bolt was the fastest man in the world because he was born to be a sprinter. These top drivers are the same.”

CREST OF THE WAVE

F1 continues to expand. Wrexham AFC owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney recently invested in Alpine, Netflix’s Drive to Survive continues to captivate new audiences, and this year will see a trio of races in the United States for the first time since 1982. But how does that impact the British pyramid, which is already congested and spearheaded by those with the cash to compete?

“[British motorsport is] actually riding the crest of the wave from Drive to Survive,” Carlin adds.

“What’s happened is it started to put motor racing in everybody’s lounge so

“So poor old dad, when his son comes into the kitchen after watching Drive to

Hughes has the fastest time of any Brit in the last 10 years – 9.97 in 2022 in Eugene – and the fastest of the three British times set in a final –10.03 in 2019, but Britain has mostly struggled to produce a consistent championship sprinter.

Dasaolu’s 9.97 from 2013 is the only other sub-10 time clocked by a British man at the World Championships in the last 10 years. Nine have competed across that decade.

So whether Hughes and Amo-Dadzie can change the trend remains unknown, but to have two Brits running sub-10 within a week and be in the top five Brits of all time bodes well. Let’s hope so, anyway, otherwise it’ll be another 30 years when Hughes’ record is broken, and Kylie will be on album No25 by then.

Survive, goes and does some karting.

“The base of people wanting to be racing rivers has grown hugely, and racing of any form, even go-kart, is expensive.

“After a while most drop off, but if 50 per cent [of the new breed] stay you’ve doubled your base and another 20 per cent stay on, then the next level of F4 racing will be bigger.

“We’re noticing that people wanting to do Formula 4 has doubled in the last three years. If your pull at the bottom is bigger then you’re going to have more good drivers coming through.”

Some 30 per cent of the current F1 grid have graced Carlin Motorsport’s ranks. He is not keen to say who will be next.

But while you may not know Zane Maloney, Oliver Gray and Ido Cohen now, there’s a good chance you will one day.

For the first time in 30 years Team GB will go to a major championships with a new fastest man, writes Matt Hardy

Trevor Carlin (left) and former star pupil Norris (main)

Usain Bolt was the fastest man in the world because he was born to be a sprinter. These top drivers are the same

every young man and woman, hopefully, are thinking ‘God, I’d love to be a racing driver’.

TENNIS

Root calls for Headingley 2019 spirit –but no boos for Aussies

ENGLAND’S Joe Root has urged fans not to boo Australia and instead channel the spirit of Headingley 2019 for this week’s must-win third Ashes Test. The tourists’ contentious dismissal of England’s Johnny Bairstow in the second Test led to taunts of “same old Aussies, always cheating” and even saw them heckled by some Lord’s members on Sunday.

But Root has called on supporters at Headingley to dial down the animosity and focus on cheering on England to a repeat of the Ben Stokes-inspired heroics of four years ago when the Ashes series resumes on Thursday in Yorkshire.

“You come here to support your nations –it should never go beyond that. Everyone should be here to enjoy the cricket and it shouldn’t be about anything other than that,” said Root.

“So come here, support your team, do it to the best of your ability, we’ll play to the best of ours. Create that brilliant atmosphere that has been created at this ground on so many previous occasions, like in 2019, and we should have a fantastic week.”

Former England captain Root insisted it was “time for everyone to move on” from the Bairstow stumping row, but said that, unlike Pat Cummins, he would not have up-

FOOTBALL

held the appeal.

“Personally, I try to put myself in that position and I like to think I’d have dealt with it very differently,” he said.

“As a team, we want to play our cricket a certain way, we want to leave a certain legacy, and clearly it’s been very different how we’ve gone about Test cricket in the last 18 months in terms of how we play our cricket physically, but I also think we play our cricket in a slightly different way in that respect as well.”

England’s hopes of fighting back from 2-0 down in the Ashes suffered another blow on Tuesday

when they lost batter and vice-captain Ollie Pope for the rest of the series with a dislocated shoulder sustained in the second Test.

“It’s a big blow,” Root said. “Ollie has been phenomenal for us for the last 18 months. He has stepped up as vice-captain and the more responsibility that has been given to him the more we have got out of him as a player and a leader in the group.

“He will be a big miss for us, he’s a hell of a player and he’s a great mind to have in the group as well. He’s been an integral part of this team and will continue to be for many years to come.”

England striker Russo joins Arsenal from Man United

MATT HARDY

ENGLAND international striker

Alessia Russo has left Women’s Super League club Manchester United and joined Arsenal ahead of the 2023-2024 season.

The 24-year-old is said to have rejected a number of offers from United but has ditched the club after three years.

“I want to win trophies –as does everyone in this club,” said Russo.

“I can’t wait to get stuck in and grow as a player. It’s a new challenge and a new environment.

“I think the growth of the women’s game has been incredible,

but particularly at a club like Arsenal.

“The sell-out against Wolfsburg at Emirates Stadium last season was fantastic. I’m just really excited to be part of this club.”

England’s Lionesses will head down to New Zealand and Australia for the World Cup this week, where they will face Haiti, Denmark and China.

The Fifa World World Cup begins on 20 July, when New Zealand play host to Norway and Australia play the Republic of Ireland.

The final takes place on 20 August while the third place match takes place a day earlier.

19

Murray through as Rybakina survives scare

MATT HARDY

ANDY Murray’s hopes of winning a third Wimbledon title got off to a solid start as the former world No1 beat a fellow Brit in the first round at the All England Club.

Murray beat Ryan Peniston 6-3 6-0 6-1 on Centre Court on Tuesday as Murray booked a second round tie with either Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas or Austrian Dominic Thiem –the duo are set to complete their match today after weather hampered their efforts yesterday.

“I was quite nervous at the beginning and I wanted to play well but once I got the break in that first set I think I played some good stuff,”said Murray. “There were good signs there.”

Elsewhere British No1 Cameron Norrie beat Tomas Machac 6-3 4-6 6-1 6-4 in the opening round on Court One and will face either Christopher Eubanks or Thiago Monteiro in the next phase of SW19.

“The last two years that was me waiting around in the rain,” said Norrie. “So it was nice to have a run last year and then to be able to play on this court.

“It’s nice to get it done and get the first one out of the way.”

Dan Evans lost 6-2 6-3 6-7 6-4 to Frenchman Quentin Halys.

Elsewhere defending women’s champion Elena Rybakina got off to a shaky start with a 4-6 6-1 6-2 win over American Shelby Rogers.

Male No1 Carlos Alcaraz beat Jeremy Chardy 6-0 6-2 7-5 in his

opening match as he looks to dethrone Novak Djokovic –who has won the last four Wimbledon titles.

“I don’t feel I’m the best of my generation,” said Alcaraz. “Sinner is there. Rune, as well. They are playing a great level.

“It’s 1-0 head-to-head against Rune, he’s up on me right now and I’ve had great matches with Jannik.”

Last year’s women’s finalist Ons Jabeur beat Magdalena Frech 6-3 6-3 to make it to the second round while Aryna Sabalenka beat Panna Udvardy 6-3 6-1 in her domination of the Hungarian.

Tomorrow sees Jodie Burrage in action alongside the likes of Iga Swiatek and Heather Watson.

Brentford splash £23m on Wolves defender Collins

MATT HARDY

BRENTFORD have broken their transfer record to sign Republic of Ireland defender Nathan Collins from Wolves for £23m.

The centre-back has signed a six-year contract with the Bees, who have now spent more than £50m this summer.

“I’m very pleased we've managed to sign Nathan,” said Brentford head coach Thomas Frank.

“He has a lot of very good abilities that we value a lot. His character is really good. He will fit into our culture, I have no doubt about that.

“I see leadership potential in Nathan. He's a perfect Brentford player - hungry

and ambitious with a desire to learn.” Collins, 22, has moved for the third summer in a row. He joined Burnley from Stoke in 2021 and moved to Wolves last year.

He follows £22m Germany forward Kevin Schade and £11m Netherlands goalkeeper Mark Flekken in signing for Brentford in this transfer window. His departure from relegated Wolves follows that of star midfielder Ruben Neves, who joined Al-Hilal of the Saudi Pro League for £46m.

Brentford begin their Premier League season at home to Tottenham Hotspur before traveling to Fulham.

Brentford finished ninth in last year’s Premier League.

FRANK DALLERES

Root has called on supporters to dial down the animosity

FOOTBALL

LANDO THE FUTURE? Trevor Carlin has six alumi on the F1 grid, but why is Norris the one to watch? PAGE