Monday 10 July 2023

LONDON’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER

CITY PAGES ANNA MOLONEY CURATES OUR SELECTION OF SUMMER READS P14-P15

HUNT: WE WANT FUNDS TO INVEST

CHANCELLOR TO UNVEIL PLANS TO BOOST INVESTMENT

JESSICA FRANK-KEYES

JEREMY Hunt (pictured) will tonight tell the City’s pension funds the government is clearing the way for them to invest in high-growth British businesses.

Speaking at Mansion House tonight, the Chancellor will spell out his plans to encourage schemes to invest cash in infrastructure, startups and green tech – in a bid to rocket power the UK’s growth while avoiding adding to the debt pile.

One top industry source said Hunt will unveil a list of insurers and asset managers who have agreed in principle to invest more in alternative assets, according to the Reuters news agency.

“Everything we do we will seek to secure the best possible outcomes for pension savers, with any changes to investment

BALMY BEQUIA THE GRENADINES ISLAND FULL OF HISTORY P16

YEARNING FOR THE URN England win to keep Ashes alive

structures putting their needs first and foremost,” he will say.

The wide-ranging measures build on the Edinburgh Reforms of 2021, though the pensions industry has said it opposes mandatory investment quotas.

The Chancellor will also pledge to prioritise a “strong and diversified gilt market” in a bid to soothe fears the funding push could damage the government’s bond market.

“We will always prioritise a strong and diversified gilt market. It will be an evolutionary not revolutionary change to our pensions market.

Those who invest in our gilts are helping to fund vital public services and any changes must recognise the vital role they play,” he is set to say.

Lobby group The City UK said the government needed to follow the example of Australian and Canadian pension funds to create growth and deliver higher returns.

“We need to follow

their example, encourage consolidation of schemes and deliver better retirements, which will also support growth,” it said in a statement.

The ‘Mansion House Reforms’ echo Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s priority to grow the economy by making the UK the most globally innovative and competitive financial centre, while reiterating that bringing down inflation remains the government’s core priority.

Financial and professional services industries employ over 2.5m people and generate more than £100bn in tax revenue, paying for half the cost of running the NHS, Hunt will highlight.

He will also hail the importance of the traditionally “nimble” and “agile” sector for the government’s vision of Britain as a science superpower and the world’s next Silicon Valley.

The Chancellor has also played down the possibility of tax cuts in the short term, and suggested the government may rule out inflationary pay rises.

ENGLAND’s hopes of regaining cricket’s Ashes from the Aussies were kept alive yesterday as the hosts toppled the tourists at Headingley, Leeds, to get their first win of the series.

England went into day four on top but it quickly started to unravel, with concerns their Bazball playing style could be the death of them.

But Harry Brook, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood starred on the same

crease now-captain Ben Stokes hit his memorable Ashes ton on in 2019 to leave this year’s series in the balance at 2-1 to Australia.

There’s a break until the fourth Test –a week on Wednesday at Old Trafford –but a win in Manchester would see the capital play host to the decider, at the Kia Oval.

Australia are looking to win their first series on these shores since 2001, but England are back in the race.

£ REACTION P20

Thames Water scrambles for emergency cash as it looks to avert collapse

CITY A.M. REPORTER

THAMES WATER is racing to secure an emergency funding injection from shareholders as it scrambles to avert collapse and nationalisation, according to reports.

The utilities giant has been plunged into crisis in recent weeks

as concerns grow it will collapse under the weight of a £14bn debt pile.

The embattled utilities firm has now asked its shareholders to sign an equity support letter to commit to funding the firm to help it avert collapse, Sky News has reported.

Canadian pension fund Omers and

the Universities Superannuation Scheme are reportedly among the investors to have committed to backing the new funding request.

Thames Water is set to update the market on the capital raise today, Sky News reported. The current size of the fundraise was yet to be revealed but one source told Sky

News it was unlikely to be greater than £1bn, which shareholders had already committed to providing last year.

Thames Water was contacted for comment.

The sudden exit of Thames Water boss Sarah Bentley two weeks ago triggered a rapid descent into

crisis for the firm, with ministers drawing up contingency plans for a potential collapse.

Water regulator Ofwat has been accused of being “asleep at the wheel” by MPs over the Thames Water affair.

Ofwat will face a grilling from MPs on Wednesday.

MATT HARDY

STANDING UP FOR THE CITY

A new business group for the City lands at just the right time

LOST amongst the ifs and buts of whether the CBI could survive the phalanx of governance failings it stood accused of was the question of whether it, or the other business groups, were doing their job in the first place, or what they were for. A corporate human shield for business leaders that didn't want to put their heads above the parapet? A lobby ground for the wider business community, or a special interest operation for its

THE CITY

VIEW

members? The same questions could easily be thrown in the direction of the other acronymheavy groups who dominate the airwaves, from the FSB to the IoD. Well, they'll need to figure out their purpose quick. There’'s a new player in town: The Jobs

Foundation, launched over the weekend. It has –perhaps appropriately for a group that will argue for the animal spirits of capitalism to be let loose –spotted a gap in the market: a campaign organisation not beholden to the strata of the business community from which it draws its members, but as a wider voice banging home the message loudly and repeatedly that the only way Britain will create the jobs and growth it

needs is to encourage the creation and scaling of businesses.

The Jobs Foundation has some impressive names behind it.

Matthew Elliott has been the architect of a series of successful SW1 campaigns; Georgiana Bristol and Patrick Spencer, too, are serious people. The Jobs Foundation will provide a welcome electric shock to our national debate, not ‘speaking for business’ but having the

FLOWER POWER A pack of elite riders tear across a sunflower field during the eighth stage of the 100th edition of the Tour de France between Libourne and Limoges

argument about the very purpose of enterprise.

It will, at times, be an uphill battle. Polling suggests that the majority of Brits derive their views of the business community from our foremost entrepreneurs (think Karren Brady and Alan Sugar) and from their interactions with our biggest firms in rail, energy and water –and it’s certainly true that few of these are right now covering themselves in glory.

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

THE FINANCIAL TIMES

US AND GERMANY RESIST PRESSURE TO ADVANCE UKRAINE’S NATO BID

The US and Germany are under intense pressure from other allies to show greater support for Ukraine’s eventual membership of Nato, just days before the group’s leaders meet in Lithuania.

THE TIMES BBC SUSPENDS PRESENTER FOLLOWING EXPLICIT PHOTO ALLEGATIONS

The BBC has announced a male member of staff has been suspended following allegations a presenter paid a teenager for sexual images. It said it first became aware of the allegations in May.

THE GUARDIAN JEREMY HUNT REVEALS HE WAS REFUSED MONZO BANK ACCOUNT

Jeremy Hunt was refused a bank account with Monzo last year, which the chancellor said was an example of the “barriers” faced by people wanting to work in public life.

London economy steams ahead of every other UK region

JACK BARNETT

LONDON’s economy is steaming ahead of every other region in the UK, but there are signs higher interest rates and a return of recession jitters is holding the capital back, a new survey shows.

Economic growth in London in June was far above the UK average and even its closest competitor, the south east, according to Natwest’s latest regional purchasing managers’ index (PMI).

The bank’s activity index hit 56 last month, far above the 50 points threshold separating growth and contraction, though it slipped from 58.5 in May.

June’s slowdown was triggered by consumers and businesses reining in spending in response to the Bank of England hiking interest rates aggres-

sively to tame inflation, Natwest said.

Governor Andrew Bailey and the rest of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) have lifted borrowing costs 13 times in a row to five per cent. But there is a possibility the Bank could pile even more pressure on the capital and UK’s economy.

Traders are betting rates will peak at around 6.5 per cent and that the MPC may repeat last month’s 50 basis point increase in August.

“London remained the standout region of the UK economy in June with the sharpest expansions of both activity and new business of the 12 monitored areas, yet the capital was not immune to a slowdown in growth,” Catherine van Weenen, Natwest London and the south east regional board, said.

“While continuing to signal a sharp upturn overall, new business rose at a much slower pace than in May, as some firms cited that economic uncertainty and rising interest rates had dampened client spending,” she added. Anxiety about a recession has amplified lately due to expectations of further rate hikes.

Every indicator on Natwest’s PMI was in positive territory for London, signalling its economy is still growing.

Employment is up, as are new business and expectations of future income but resilient demand is keeping inflation high. Costs are also rising rapidly in London, mainly driven by higher wages and energy prices. The input price index hit 68.9, also the highest in the country.

Natwest’s PMI showed positive signals for every indicator in the capital

John Lewis in hot water over housing plans

LUKE THOMAS

JOHN LEWIS has defended itself from criticism over plans for a housing development in London, after local councillors accused the company of a “lack of respect”.

The head of Bromley local authority branded the proposed development as “just not acceptable” due to an overwhelming lack of affordable homes.

John Lewis submitted a planning application for the Bromley project in late June, detailing 353 one, two and threebedroom flats above a Waitrose store.

John Lewis previously warned locals that as little as 20 per cent of homes would be classed as affordable at the Bromley site, and said grant funding would be needed to increase affordable supply.

Julie Ireland, councillor and leader of Bromley Liberal Democrats, criticised the plans and said John Lewis “should

be able to fund this from within their own resources”.

“People would not be happy thinking that their council tax money is being used to subsidise this new project from John Lewis,” Ireland told The Telegraph.

“In Bromley in particular, there is a real dearth of affordable housing to the extent that we almost have no options for key workers, such as teachers and the NHS, as well as young people looking for their first home. There’s just nothing in that range at the moment,” she said.

A John Lewis Partnership spokesperson told City A.M. the company is “committed to achieving” an affordable housing rate of 35 per cent in its housing developments.

It comes as the business attempts to pivot its interests away from retail, with chair Dame Sharon White aiming for 40 per cent of profits to be generated from outside retail by 2030.

British Airways hopes to see passenger numbers return to pre-pandemic levels next year

BA boss vows to save summer season

JESS JONES

BRITISH Airways (BA) boss Sean Doyle has said he is determined to salvage the summer season as the airline attempts to recover from a series of setbacks and poor customer service under former chief exec Alex Cruz. Doyle has set his sights sky-high in a comprehensive overhaul of the

carrier’s operations as he looks to “rebuild from the bottom up”, according to an interview with The Sunday Times.

The leader said he is now focusing on modernising BA’s outdated IT systems, with the appointment of 400 tech professionals, and revamping the airline’s service.

To address the legacy issues caused

by cost-cutting measures, Doyle has replaced several executives inherited from Cruz, bringing in fresh talent from outside the company.

The latest investment from BA’s parent company, International Airlines Group, totalling €600m (£510m), will primarily be allocated to cloud-based data centres, along with a new website and app.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to be a boon for the secondary market

JESS JONES

TICKETS for Taylor Swift’s European tour are set to go on sale this week, with predictions of sky-high prices on the secondary market.

The star’s highly anticipated “Eras Tour” is expected to make a significant impact as it heads to Europe, with projections it will become the highestgrossing tour of all time, surpassing $1.5bn (£1.17bn) in box office takings. As tickets go on pre-sale for European dates this week, demand is expected to far exceed supply, leading to long virtual queues and, later on, a subsequent surge in resale prices on platforms like Viagogo.

Boss of Viagogo, Cris Millar, has said it is “unlike anything” he has ever seen. He believes lessons must be learned from the US leg of the tour, after it experienced overwhelming demand, resulting in website crashes, long wait

times, and a cancelled public sale.

“We believe the industry must do more to put fans first,” Millar said.

Fans and lawmakers expressed outrage, calling for increased competition in the ticketing industry and a reevaluation of the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger.

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour is already on track to earn a cool $1bn (£779m) in sales, potentially making it the highestgrossing tour in history, overtaking Elton John’s farewell tour.

However, with additional concerts and global dates, industry experts at concert data tracker Pollstar suggest that the total gross revenue could reach $1.4bn (£1.1bn).

The high prices charged by secondary markets will no doubt come under scrutiny from politicians and others.

The ‘Love story’ and ‘Shake it off’ singer’s next live show has become one of the most coveted tickets of the year

as devoted fans, known as ‘Swifties’, have already endured hourslong virtual queues just for a chance to secure tickets to her shows.

The stakes are high for the 33-year-old’s return to European stages, as this marks her first tour in the region since 2018 before the pandemic disrupted live events.

Last year, Swift’s ‘Midnights’ album propelled her to the top of Forbes’ list as the highest-paid female entertainer globally, as she pocketed a jammy $92m (£72m).

AYLOR SWIFT’s Eras tour is expected to be the highest grossing of all time. She’s bigger than The Beatles. Demand will far outstrip supply when tickets are released, with millions of people joining virtual queues for hours on end, themselves doing little for worker productivity.

As the world’s leading ticket marketplace, we anticipate large numbers of tickets will then be listed for resale on our Viagogo platform. Sellers, who set the price they’re looking for, will likely pitch high values at this peak moment for the hottest ticket in recent times.

But in a market, prices change and often reduce over time. We recommend fans wait for demand to settle and see if a listing meets their budget.

The lack of information quickly becomes the greatest contributor to the ticket buying hysteria.

We believe the industry must do more to put fans first.

FANS NEED FLEXIBILITY

Often we don’t know how many dates an artist might add, the number of tickets actually available to the public in the first place, and when and how they will be released. Event-goers need more transparency from the businesses in control.

No fan should ever have to reach into a black market alleyway. It should be our collective responsibility to provide safe options to attend The Eras Tour, with the flexibility to purchase on a platform that you choose and trust.

Fans also need to be given the flexibility to let another Swiftie attend and not be out of pocket if their plans change. We try to provide a regulated and compliant platform for legitimate exchange to take place.

The record-breaking US leg of Swift’s tour highlighted these lessons. We’ll be doing everything in our power to make sure it’s not a Cruel Summer for Swifties in the UK and the world.

Cris Miller, CEO of Viagogo

‘HURRICANE TAYLOR’ IS UNLIKE ANYTHING I’VE EVER SEEN’

Fintech funding craters amid UK rate rise doom

EXCLUSIVE

CHARLIE CONCHIE

FUNDING for the UK’s fintech sector cratered in the first half of the year as further interest rate hikes and economic volatility continue to weigh on investors’ appetite for the market, according to new data.

Total cash raised by UK fintech firms slumped to $2.9bn in the first six months of the year, down 37 per cent on the second half of 2022, according to new figures from industry body Innovate Finance, shared exclusively with City A.M.

Investment also began to taper off towards the end of the half, with 111 of the 199 deals in the first half of the year –some $2bn worth of the total – taking place in the first three months.

The slowdown comes amid a torrid 12 months for global fintech funding as investors sour on loss-making high-growth startups amid wild swings on the markets.

In the first six months of 2023, there were 1,714 deals globally with a total capital investment of $27.3bn, down from $31.7bn in-

Labour to market itself as party of house buyers at crunch talks

JESSICA FRANK-KEYES

vested across 2,500 deals in the second half of 2022.

Chief of Innovate Finance Janine Hirt said the drop in global and UK Fintech investment was an “expected result of the current economic landscape” and reflected the “cautious investor sentiment as seen across equity markets over the last 12 months”.

Volatile public markets have shuttered potential IPO exits for investors and forced firms to slash their valuations as they raise more cash from private investors.

A host of big names have been forced to write down their value after a post-pandemic funding frenzy in 2021.

Despite the slowdown, the UK retained its position in second place in terms of fintech investment.

The United States remains top with $15.6bn invested across 663

For the first time, four of the top 10 markets are in Asia, with China in third place attracting $1.7bn, Singapore in fourth position with $764m, India in fifth position with $729m and South Korea in ninth position attracting $390m.

THE LABOUR party is set to hold crunch talks with mortgage brokers this week amid a brewing repayments crisis. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged homeownership will be the core of her ‘securenomics’ philosophy as she claimed Labour is now the party of house buyers.

Barratt Developments share price in focus following interest rate rise

LAURA MCGUIRE

THE MARKET will turn its focus to Barratt Developments’ trading update on Thursday to see how soaring mortgage rates and a tumultuous period for the property sector is impacting housebuilding companies.

The housebuilder’s shares have fallen by around a tenth over the past year and more than half from their pre-Covid levels as investors have shied away from pumping money into the firm.

Last month, the Bank of England’s rate hike sent high street lenders to increase the costs of their mortgage deals.

“Lower volumes, flatter pricing and higher costs mean analysts are looking for a drop in adjusted pretax profit to £865m from £1,055m a year ago,” investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, said.

Damning reports about the current state of the UK’s housing market have hindered shares in fellow FSTE 100 and 250 companies.

Reeves and shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy will attend the summit with brokers on Wednesday to hear the impact of interest rate rises on first-time buyers and homeowners.   She is expected to vow that Sir Keir Starmer’s party’s plans to put rocket boosters under housebuilding will bring security to families and the national economy.

And she will add that Labour “is now the only choice for people who dream of owning their own home”, with a four-point plan to help people get and stay on the housing ladder. The party want to see 70 per cent of people own their homes and say they will achieve this via a plethora of new initiatives including planning reform and a state-backed mortgage insurance and guarantor scheme.

The volume of homes being built in Britain is running at its lowest level in 14 years

UK Finance CEO Janine Hirt said investors remained cautious

Wetherspoonsto reveal strength of demand for pints amid inflation

HENRY SAKER-CLARK

PUB CHAIN Wetherspoons is set to shed light on cost inflation and customer spending habits in an update to the markets this Wednesday.

The firm, which runs 834 pubs across the UK, is expected to post another rise in sales as Britons enjoyed drinking in the warmer summer weather.

Investors will be hopeful that the budget pub group could also be a beneficiary of higher pricing

elsewhere across the hospitality sector, which has absorbed jumps in the costs of energy, labour and food and drink over the past year.

In its previous announcement in May, the company predicted record sales for the current year as it cheered a strong recent sales performance.

Founder and chairman Tim Martin said “positive momentum” continued into spring but nevertheless warned of continued pressure on the hospitality sector from higher costs.

Like-for-like sales jumped 12.2 per

UK M&A appetite returns –but long way to go

takeover bid for Swiss rival GAM.

cent over the three months to April 30, Wetherspoons announced in May. Analysts have suggested the firm is in a strong position to continue growth despite pressure on household budgets.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “As punters feel the pinch, JD Wetherspoon has been mopping up new business, as it’s managed to keep prices lower to pull in the crowds. Shares are around 40 per cent higher since the start of 2023.

UK tax system punishing families: CPS

JESSICA FRANK-KEYES

THE UK tax system must be reformed so that families are no longer unfairly penalised, a think tank has warned.

DEALMAKING in the UK’s financial services sector reached its highest level in a decade in the first half of the year as top firms scrambled for safety in scale amid economic volatility, fresh data has revealed.

Financial services M&A hit a high of 160 deals in the six months to the end of June, up from 138 in the same period in 2022, according to figures from EY shared exclusively with City A.M. Deal value slumped, however, as market turmoil and a gloomy economic outlook continued to spook dealmakers in the UK.

Total deal value fell from £11.5bn in the first half of 2022 to £4.7bn in the first half of 2023, representing the lowest level of activity by value since the start of the pandemic, according to the new figures.

Asset managers, brokers and smaller investment banks have been at the forefront of the deals flurry this year as they hunt for scale in a more tricky investment environment. Among the headline deals of the half was Deutsche Bank’s swoop on Investment bank Numis, a tie-up between brokers Finncap and Cenkos, and Liontrust's

Tom Groom, UK financial services strategy and transactions leader at EY, said the figures pointed to a rebound in appetite for dealmaking “in the wake of the pandemic” but sounded a note of caution over the significant drop in value of deals.

“Economic headwinds at the start of the year – such as rising interest rates and inflationary pressures – caused many lenders to pull back from financing large deals, and the value of M&A activity is now less than half of where it stood during the same period last year,” Groom said.

The number of non-UK firms acquiring UK targets increased to 35 in the first half of 2023, up from 30 in the first half of 2022, but total value fell from £3.0bn to £0.2bn over the same period.

As for UK firms acquiring overseas targets, deals dropped from 34 to 28, and from £4.9bn to £2.8bn.

“The key drivers of M&A – being growth, innovation and synergies between businesses – remain, and as firms develop approaches to deliver M&A in this higher rate environment, we anticipate a return to higher deal values,” Groom said.

Iceland set for red hot profits amidst supermarket scrutiny

ICELAND has revealed forecasts that would mean the frozen food chain makes its highest profit in a decade this year, according to The Times. Iceland said last week in a set of financial results shared with bondholders that this year’s underlying profit will likely be its strongest in ten years. The news comes as supermarkets face pressure from the government over profiteering and ‘greedflation’ claims, due to food price inflation.

Executives from the top supermarkets received a grilling from MPs just two weeks ago.

Iceland, however, has pinned down their success to cost-cutting measures and sales growth.

Last year, Iceland’s sales rose 6.9 per cent to £3.7bn but underlying profits fell by £20.7m to £120.2m due to energy costs.

Current executive chairman Richard Walker took over from his father Sir Malcolm in January.

City A.M. has contacted Iceland for comment.

Couples with two children and a single earner of £60,000 will pay over £7,000 more tax than if both parents earned £30,000 each, Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) researchers found.

Research found single-earner married couples on the average wage in Britain would pay more tax here than in France, Germany, or the US –and more than the OECD average.

The centre-right-leaning think tank is urging ministers to prioritise turning the marriage allowance into a transferable parental personal allowance, at a cost of £3.6bn in a bid to slash poverty.

A move by the government, when it can afford to cut taxes, to create a personal transferable allowance would reduce poverty by 4.3 per cent, with one in 10 households seeing a net income rise of more than five per cent and poorer families benefiting the most, the CPS said.

Ranil Jayawardena, chairman of the Conservative Growth Group, said: “Families should be free to keep more of their money and spend it however they want. They earned it and they should keep it. That's why we need to reform income tax to make it family friendly.”

Accelerating UK redundancies ‘big concern’ for economy, experts warn

JACK BARNETT

ACCELERATING redundancies sparked by businesses sweating over whether the UK economy is on course for a recession are a “big concern” for the country, experts have warned today. Company layoffs have pushed the volume of unemployed workers available for jobs to its highest level

since December 2020, when the UK was in the teeth of tough Covid-19 restrictions, according to research from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and consultancy KPMG.

The pair’s candidate availability index climbed to 57.6 points in June, up from 55.6 in May, hoisted upwards by an increase in idled permanent and

part-time staff.

“The sharp upturn in candidate availability this month – the highest for two and a half years – is a big concern for the economy reflecting the effects of a sustained slowdown in recruitment along with increasing redundancies across many sectors,” Claire Warnes, partner, skills and productivity at KPMG UK, said.

LUKE THOMAS

The frozen food chain has forecast profits that would be its highest in a decade

LUCY KENNINGHAM

Chairman Tim Martin delivered a strong trading update in May

New rail system a ‘gamechanger’ for Luton

Guy Taylor speaks to the CEO of London Luton, Alberto Martin, about a new dawn for the airport

THE LAUNCHof the Luton Direct Air-Rail Transit System (DART) rail system has “simply been a gamechanger for the airport,” the boss of Luton’s popular hub has said, amid plans to expand its passenger cap to upwards of 19m.

Speaking to City A.M. Alberto Martin, London Luton’s CEO, said that the new rail transit system will also play a “pivotal role” in the airport’s future plans for sustainable growth, with connection to the airport now “as good as, if not better” than other London hubs.

The £290m DART – seven years in the making – opened on 27 March after nearly two years of added delay. It provides passengers with a rapid route to Luton airport’s terminal from the nearby rail station – in just under four minutes – and was built with the goal of reducing journey times for London customers travelling from St Pancras.

Martin said the route has been “transformational” for the Luton Airport Express service, which links the airport to the capital.

“It will also play a pivotal role in sup-

porting our plans for sustainable growth by reducing the environmental impact of journeys to and from the airport,” he adds.

“It’s already clear that it is making rail travel to the airport more attractive for many passengers previously put off by the shuttle bus.”

Yellen: Recent US talks with China show ‘progress’

big enough for both of our countries to thrive.”

The project faced criticism for high fares with its £4.90 fee ousting Heathrow Express as the most expensive transfer service in the UK by distance.

Luton Rising – the Luton Councilowned enterprise who financed the DART – have hailed the new rail sys-

tem’s success, announcing earlier this week that the route had served 650,000 passengers in its first 100 days.

The airport enterprise estimates this has saved customers more than ten years of total journey time already, with a 32-minute total journey time to the airport for passengers travelling

from St Pancras.

“Even with ongoing rail strikes, which are keeping a lid on the rail sector and the number of passengers who can use the DART, we can see the benefits that customers are receiving in terms of convenience,” said councillor Javeria Hussain, chair of Luton Rising.

Luton Airport itself is currently plotting to up its passenger cap from 18m to 19m, with the Department for Levelling up and the Department for Transport reviewing a planning application submitted in February.

Martin told City A.M. that the airport also intends on investing £20m on refurbishments for its security hall – installing new body and CT scanning technology, as well as longer security lanes to boost capacity.

“We will also be looking to expand our route network and continue growing the range of shops and restaurants in our departure lounge,” he said.

The airport’s expansion plans, which it hopes will help it compete with rivals London City, Stansted and Heathrow, come amid a slew of activity in the sector.

Gatwick last week announced it had submitted an application to the Planning Inspectorate for a £2.2bn second runway.

Meanwhile, London City awaits the outcome of a consultation from Newham Council today over plans to raise its passenger cap to 9m – largely by extending the airport’s operating hours.

London Stansted Airport has also asked for permission to handle 43m passengers a year.

US TREASURY secretary Janet Yellen said 10 hours of meetings with senior Chinese officials in recent days were “direct” and “productive”, helping stabilise the superpowers’ often relationship as her four-day Beijing trip ended.

Before departing China on Sunday, Yellen said the United States and China remained at odds on a number of issues but expressed confidence that her visit had advanced efforts to put the relationship on “surer footing”.

“The US and China have significant disagreements,” Yellen told a press conference at the US embassy in Beijing, citing US concerns about what “unfair economic practices” and recent punitive actions against US firms.

“But President Biden and I do not see the relationship between the US and China through the frame of great power conflict. We believe that the world is

With US-China relations at a low over national security issues, including Taiwan, US export bans on advanced technologies and China's state-led industrial policies, Washington has been trying to repair ties between the world's two biggest economies.

Secretary of state Antony Blinken visited Beijing last month, the first trip by the top US diplomat in Biden’s presidency. Climate envoy John Kerry is expected to visit this month.

The US diplomatic push comes ahead of a possible meeting between Biden and President Xi Jinping at September’s Group of 20 summit in New Delhi or a Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering scheduled for November in San Francisco.

Yellen said her visit aimed to establish and deepen ties with China’s new economic team.

Yellen said she expects more communication

Threads launched last Thursday in over 100 countries, providing a platform for text-based conversations

Meta-Twitter rivalry intensifies as lawsuit looms

JESS JONES

META and Twitter’s rivalry has escalated with the successful launch of Threads and the threat of a lawsuit, but analysts suggest that Twitter still has fight left.

Threads, Meta’s new app, amassed over 70m subscribers within days of its recent launch. The app’s availability caused a staggering 455 per cent surge in Meta’s stock, leading analysts to speculate a potential $1 trillion

(£779m) market valuation.

“Twitter isn’t dead yet,” said CMC markets analyst Danni Hewson, suggesting users who have spent years building up a following will want to retain that –though it has “potential to be a major disrupter”.

Meta shares are up two per cent over the last five days, which “doesn’t indicate great fear or excitement around this new venture,” according to Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst, Sophie-Lund Yates.

CEO Elon Musk announced on Friday that Twitter is set to take legal action against Meta, alleging the misappropriation of intellectual property by hiring ex-Twitter employees to create Threads, which bears striking similarities to Twitter. “Competition is fine, cheating is not,” said the billionaire.

Meta has denied the claims stated in Twitter’s legal letter. City A.M. approached both parties for further comment on the legal action.

ANDREA SHALAL

DART will also play a pivotal role in supporting our plans for sustainable growth

Martin says the new train station to terminal shuttle service will put Luton’s convenience on a par with other London airports

THE NOTE BOOK

AI will make people skills more, not less, important in finance

LAST WEEK, Goldman Sachs lost its first-place M&A advisory ranking for the first time in five years. This provides a timely opportunity to examine the shifting sands of the financial research landscape, in the context of the mass adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).

By automating laborious tasks –and improving results on complex ones –across the financial sector, AI is already beginning to streamline operations, reduce costs and enhance overall productivity. Access to advanced automation tools empowers organisations to deploy their human talent better, allocating more time and energy to strategic thinking and critical analysis.

By leveraging AI, finance professionals can harness their intelligence and expertise more effectively, leading to better-informed decisions and improved outcomes.

The potential of AI to revolutionise the finance industry is immense, with the ability to reshape data processing, optimise workflows and elevate decision-making processes. Its wide-ranging impact promises a more efficient and effective approach to financial research, analysis, and operational practices.

Until now, M&A research has been somewhat the short straw of a consultant’s work: researchers must manually analyse near-endless data sources in a process taking weeks or even months, tying up vast people-hours. The repetitive nature of the work is seldom thrilling or morale-boosting for staff, and its time-consuming nature comes at a cost to both consultancy and client. These inefficiencies hold true throughout most financial research, not just M&A.

AI: THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (but without the pollution)

There is absolutely no doubt that AI will have an enormously positive and profound impact on the global economy in the years ahead. Throughout history, significant technological advancements –such as the invention of the wheel, industrialisation, mechanisation, and the internet –have led to increased GDP and economic growth. Even a very conservative estimate that our own tool, Grasp, will halve the time spent on financial research, would result in a substantial increase in productivity and a significant reallocation of resources. AI technologies will reshape the job landscape and create new roles and opportunities. With the emergence of these innovative positions, individuals have the chance to secure better jobs without necessarily relying on extensive industry experience. This redistribution of wealth, driven by AI, opens up avenues for smart and adaptable individuals to thrive in the evolving job market and participate in the wealth created by these transformative technologies.

THE ONLY BUSINESS BOOK FOR ME

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries has been an inspirational and instructive read for me in building a business. Ries extols the virtue of continuous innovation, customer feedback and validated learning, which is really something I’ve taken on board with Grasp. I’ve read so many books that claim to have the best method for building a business, but this is the first I truly resonated with. I couldn’t recommend it more highly!

£ I met my co-founders, Simon and Johan, at the Stockholm School of Economics. With our experience across traditional finance and AI engineering, it became so clear to us towards the end of the last decade that there was extraordinary inefficiency and friction in financial research, despite the cost involved in deploying a team to work on it, and that the solution had to lie in technology.

Where the City’s movers and shakers get a few things off their chest. Today it’s Richard Karlsson,CEO of AI firm Grasp

ENERGY

OIL SORTED? OPEC GAMBLES ON DEMAND REVIVAL TO BOOST FLAGGING PRICES

CHINA’s sluggish revival from the pandemic, hawkish central banks grappling with inflation across Europe and North America, and growing fears of a global economic downturn have dampened last year’s fossil fuel rallies – with prices easing to near normal levels again.

While this is a setback for oil and gas majors, as it likely signals the beginning of the end for the global commodity cash-in that powered them to record multibillion dollar profits, no one is more worried than the world’s most influential energy cartel.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, met last weekend in Vienna to discuss a dilemma that seems increasingly beyond their control.

The latest conference was remarkable for two reasons: firstly, frequent adversaries Iran and Saudi Arabia held talks for the first time since diplomatic ties were renewed in March, and secondly, Western media outlets were largely excluded from the twoday proceedings.

Journalists from Reuters, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal were barred from covering the event in person – for the second month in a row –despite having been recurrent reporters at previous gatherings. While no reason has

been specified for their snubbing, it reflects an organisation that is under sustained pressure.

OIL’S DOWNWARD JOURNEY TROUBLES OPEC

OPEC+ pumps more than 40 per cent of the world's oil supply, and uses its leverage to prop up prices in times of wilting demand, normally through heavy cuts to production.

The group bullishly protects its own interests, and has unsurprisingly unveiled a raft of supply cuts since both major benchmarks began to slide from their warfuelled peaks last summer.

Much of this slashed output has been driven by de-facto leader Saudi Arabia alongside key ally Russia, with both countries deepening their reduction rates into August.

None of this is remarkable.

Instead, what is noteworthy is how little effect OPEC+ has managed to have on prices, with investor sentiment over the economy wiping away their supply

Oil prices soared to a 14-year high of $139 per barrel on 7 March 2022, two weeks after conflict erupted in Ukraine, and remained elevated above the century milestone for much of last summer. Since then, however, markets have been calmed

by a warmer-than-expected winter and Europe’s successful scramble for fossil fuels amid a Russian supply squeeze. When prices dipped to around $90 per barrel last October, OPEC+ intervened with a 2m barrels per day cut in output, which was shared across its members. These hefty cuts drew the ire of US President Joe Biden, after his persistent pleas with the cartel to raise production fell on deaf ears last year. However, Biden ultimately had no need to fret, as oil markets were barely influenced by the decision, ticking up for a few days, before subsiding back to their winter slump.

A surprise further slash in oil output in April also failed to kickstart a sustainable shift in prices, which spiked $9 per barrel to above $87 per barrel before the tidal wave of gloomy economic data across the West and China washed away those gains.

As it stands, Brent Crude and WTI Crude are trading around $79 and $74 per barrel – well below the level both benchmarks were at before OPEC+ first intervened.

ANOTHER RALLY? OIL SHOWS SIGNS OF RECOVERY

There are, however, signs oil prices could finally be moving upwards after four consecutive quarters of decline –with trading closing on a nine-week high last Friday.

Saudi Arabia, the de-facto OPEC+ leader, and Russia have both deepened production cuts – taking collective

GOVERNMENT UNSURE ABOUT ONSHORE

cuts across the cartel around 5m barrels per day –around five per cent of global oil demand.

This could be the first sign of a major breakout in prices, with the cumulative weight of cuts finally overpowering poor productivity and waning fuel data from China, sustained interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and recession fears in developed economies.

The cartel still expects prices to rise later this year too, powered by a demand growth of 2.4m barrels per day in the second half of this year, with rival forecaster the International Agency predicting a similarly chunky increase in its latest forecasts.

OPEC+ believes that its cuts will be vindicated by resurgent demand, which will drive up prices again and allow its members to cash in – reflecting its influence across energy markets.

Yet, if it is mistaken, and prices fail to rise in line with its proactive policy positions, it might be time to reassess its influence, and the value of its insight.

SEND US YOUR THOUGHTS

Will OPEC maintain its influence on markets? Email energy editor Nicholas Earl at nicholas.earl@cityam.com

It has taken over six months, but the government has finally wrapped up the consultation phase for onshore wind reforms. Sadly, the industry is not optimistic that the proposed reforms will revive the flagging sector –with turbines unlikely to be brought in line with other infrastructure projects. Clearly Downing Street is still scared of NIMBY opposition, but if it can't fend off the intransigence of localist campaigners for the most popular source of energy in the country, it deserves to lose the next election.

£ Industry sources still anticipate Rosebank will be approved before recess on 20 July later this month. After months of heated debate over the largest undeveloped oil and gas field in the North Sea, it would be great to get some clarity from regulators. Decision making over projects and the multiple hurdles new developments have to jump through reflects poorly on Britain, especially when energy security is of the essence. It’s time things started getting built in this country again without perpetual agonising –even a clear no would make more sense.

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

Biden’s pleas were ignored by OPEC

CITY DASHBOARD

YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP FOR BROKER VIEWS AND MARKET REPORTS

LONDON REPORT BEST OF THE BROKERS

To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com

BRACED FOR ANOTHER HIKE

Wage growth passes its peak as Bailey set to address the City

WORKERS returning to the jobs markets and boosting the volume of candidates are poised to put a lid on wage growth, analysts are predicting official numbers this week will show.

Pay growth is said to have “passed its peak” after raging for over a year, fuelled by staff demanding wage increases to compensate for inflation .

Regular pay, which strips out bonuses and other one-off payments, is predicted by the City to have grown 7.1 per cent over the three months to May – Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures tomorrow are tipped to unveil – down slightly from the 7.2 per cent jump clocked in the previous quarter.

Separate data from the ONS on Thursday is projected by analysts to show the extra bank holiday to celebrate the

King’s coronation in May would have sent the UK economy into contraction.

“We expect GDP to have fallen by 0.4 per cent [month on month] in May,” consultancy Oxford Economics said.

Raja agreed, explaining: “An unwinding of industrial action to some extent should automatically boost GDP, partially offsetting the hit from the extra bank holiday.”

Britain has narrowly avoided an official recession so far this year, though experts have warned the Bank of England risks igniting one with its interest rate rises.

Governor Andrew Bailey will provide clues on whether he agrees with financial markets’s expectation that interest rates will peak at around 6.5 per cent in his annual speech at Mansion House today.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will also speak at the annual bankers’ dinner.

Peel Hunt have marked JD Sports as a “buy” with a target price of 250p. Its acquisition of Iberian Sports Retail Group should complete in October leaving JD with net cash of £1.4bn. “There was progress last week with franchises starting in the Middle East so JD is not dragging its feet as it grows [internationally]. We continue to believe the global growth story here is materially undervalued, analysts said.

Peel Hunt have rated YouGov a “buy” as the market research and polling company looks set to acquire GfK SE’s European Consumer Panel Business. The deal will be YouGov’s largest ever acquisition. Although “cost synergies are not expected to fully materialise until FY25E,” analysts said. They slap on a target price of 1,295p.

“Much like the US, Britain’s jobs market has become the most closely watched indicator for the path of the economy over the coming year. An upside surprise on wage growth in tomorrow’s numbers is sure to ramp up interest rate bets again.”

JACK BARNETT ECONOMICS EDITOR

OPINION

EDITED BY SASCHA O’SULLIVAN

My not-so-learned friends: an epidemic of puffed-up Twitter famous barristers

many areas of public policy.

SOCIAL media contains a contradiction. It is by nature enormously democratic and levelling: everyone has access to the same platform, has the same number of characters in which to express themselves and has the same potential to be seen by the general public. Yet at the same time that inherent equality tends to confer advantage on those who can boast some expertise. They have the specialist knowledge and the status to stand out from the multitude.

One group which has fought its way into the spotlight recently is members of the Bar of England and Wales. One of the most high-profile of this new online legal elite is Jolyon Maugham KC, a tax law specialist with 425,000 followers on Twitter who founded the Good Law Project in 2017. The GLP is an activist group which seeks to achieve policy change through the courts. It has been supporting a case by transgender activists Mermaids to challenge the designation of the LGB Alliance as a charity; the case was dismissed last week because Mermaids has no standing. The GLP described this as a “technical ground”, though it is one of the most fundamental elements of a case.

Maugham is not the only barrister out there practising advocacy beyond the courtroom. Steven Barrett, who specialises in commercial and financial services, has been writing for The Spectator and tweeting since 2020, mainly on political, parliamentary and constitutional issues. He is especially supportive of Brexit and Boris Johnson, acts as a consultant to Johnson cultist the Conservative Democratic Organisation, and is a Conservative councillor in the Chilterns. He has been very exercised by the House of Commons Committee of Privileges’ inquiry into

Johnson’s lying to Parliament, criticising the committee, which is not a court, for not acting like a court.

From the family Bar comes Dr Charlotte Proudman, another Twitter grandee with nearly 80,000 followers. She acts for victims of male violence against women, and alongside her legal practice is a fellow of Queens’ College, Cambridge, in law and sociology, with a doctorate in the law and policy on female genital mutilation. Proudman has written extensively on sexism in public life, particularly as it is reflected in the law.

I am not a lawyer, and am generally very cautious in commenting on, let alone challenging legal experts on, matters of law. Where I reluctantly but firmly do push back against learned friends is in exploiting professional status in general matters of public debate. I refer to the specialisations of the barristers named above because lawyers mostly have their own bailiwicks. From chancery to admiralty law, these practice areas are discrete and often technical. But there is a growing trend for counsel to roam beyond their natural hunting ground and campaign on

A liberalised Indian market would be a boon for London’s financial services

INDIA is a vital trade and investment partner for the United Kingdom. The South Asian powerhouse is home to 1.44 billion people; having overtaken China earlier this year, it is now the world’s most populous country. The Indian market, with its gigantic domestic customer base, is increasingly dynamic as the Modi government pursues an ambitious development programme to power the world’s fifth largest economy.

But like the United Kingdom, India’s economy cannot be driven by domestic consumption alone. The Modi government has cautiously sought to liberalise capital markets, the insurance sector, and legal services to entice foreign interest.

Such reforms are broadly welcomed by the City’s financial and professional services firms, hungry for the chance to develop a previously closed market.

New opportunities would help build upon the United Kingdom’s strong bilateral trading relationship with India, which is the second largest sin-

Chris Hayward

gle investor into our country, and, as a result, responsible for 95,000 jobs. But as with most processes of largescale reform, it hasn’t been smooth sailing.

Foreign businesses want certainty around investment protections, digital data provisions, and legal services, before entering India’s market.

Though the currently negotiated UKIndia free trade agreement is a matter for governments, City businesses will be looking for reassurance from both parties that these issues will be addressed. Working together, the Indian and the UK governments have the potential to break new ground for financial and professional services.

Against this backdrop of challenges and opportunities, I am currently in India meeting with senior figures across business and government to represent the Square Mile and strengthen our trade relationship. Take sustainable finance. Given our experience, our skills and our commitment to a green future, our ambition should be for the City to become a onestop-shop for companies looking for capital and expertise to meet their climate goals. India, whose green finance sector is in its infancy but growing fast, has a real opportunity to collaborate.

Only a couple of weeks ago the City hosted the UK-India Sustainable Infrastructure Summit as part of UK-India week. It brought together business and regulatory leaders from both countries to discuss how sustainable finance can be part of the climate solution.

On fintech, the City’s strengths are well-known. London alone has a fifth of Europe’s fintech unicorns, with more fintech workers based in our capital than either New York city or

California. India is moving fast too. Its Universal Payments System is working with fintech to extend banking to 400 million new customers and decrease reliance on cash. Mutual investment in fintech will drive economic growth and inclusion for both.

And then there is the question of legal services. As a global hub of legal services, home to the world-famous Old Bailey, the Square Mile’s network of international law firms could be deployed to help India accelerate access to global markets.

The recent liberalisation of legal services in India, whilst yet to reach its full potential, must be welcomed. It will spur two-way investment, strengthen market access, and support regulatory coherence.

As India enters the next phase of its ambitious economic development, we in the City must make the case for our services to be at the heart of their economic agenda.

£ Chris Hayward is the policy chairman of the City of London Corporation

Of course they are as entitled to do this as anyone. My concern is that people will see the legal qualification and read across to assume expertise in whatever is being discussed. This may not be deliberate deception, but those with professional standing are undoubtedly aware of the power of their status, of how their legal standing elevates their interjections. Whether it is a sin of omission or commission, hiding under a wig is potentially an unfair advantage. There is also a tendency— Barrett does this often—to present themselves as disinterested observers giving legal commentary, rather than political partisans just as dirty with the dust of the arena as the rest of us.

Twitter has more than 23 million users in the UK—that’s more than one in three of us. So whether we like the platform or not, it is a potent pulpit, fully part of the ecosystem of how we talk to each other about society. That opportunity, especially for those with tens of thousands of followers, must carry with it a responsibility to be who you are, and be aware of who you might seem.

Barristers, as a regulated profession, need to keep that in mind, and exercise a little humility when speaking in mufti. If they do not, there is a risk of a wider public backlash which could threaten not only their standing but the whole notion of expertise and authority. And those are qualities which, God knows, social media cannot afford to be without.

WELCOME TO SWIFT WEEK Some

£ Eliot Wilson is co-founder of Pivot Point and a columnist at City A.M.

Eliot Wilson

A handful of barristers have a significant social media following

quarters of Europe will grind to a halt this week, not for strikes, but for the release of Taylor Swift tickets. The superstar’s tour is expected to pump tourism money into the UK and the Eurozone, with tens of millions registered to buy access to see her live

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

All steam ahead for digital AGMs

[Re: No teas or coffees for shareholders at M&S AGM as chairman tells them to go digital, July 2]

The in-person vs virtual debate at M&S’ AGM has dominated headlines this week. However, a crucial aspect is being overlooked: for the first time ever, nominee shareholders could attend the AGM, meaning those who bought their shares through an online broker were able to have their voices heard. This is a huge step forward in shareholder democracy. Attending an AGM as a retail shareholder has long been like breaking into Fort Knox. In short, if you buy shares through a broker, your name is

not directly registered with the company you've invested in. So, until M&S' approach becomes the industry standard, many retail shareholders will remain in the dark and locked out of AGMs.

As for the virtual debate, the reality is physical only meetings are incredibly restrictive. The vast majority of shareholders can’t attend physical meetings in the middle of their working day, they need the flexibility of a virtual or hybrid option. Data from Lumi actually reveals that incorporating virtual access at AGMs increases engagement and attendance. Yet, fixating on the format here misses a significant point, the real issue is granting retail investors equal access to the meeting, regardless of it being in person or online.

Peter Fowler Lumi

THREAD IT UP Westminster spends weekend on Meta’s Twitter rival

A Covid-19 inquiry longer than the pandemic is almost certain to teach us nothing

Chris Hirst

THERE is a wonderful scene in Armando Iannucci’s The Thick of It where the hapless minister, Hugh Abbott, is caught by the press dissembling about the sale of a second home. We watch as he waits anxiously in a broom cupboard in Downing Street for word of his fate. At length, he’s told that the PM has decided, rather than sack him, there will be a public inquiry - news greeted by Abbott and his team with whoops of joy; the whole sorry story is to be kicked into the long grass and, we presume, left there to naturally decay.

This is an all-too familiar story, and as the gears of the government’s Covid19 inquiry continue to grind, it is hard to conclude it doesn’t face a similar fate.

Many people died as a result of the pandemic, often in especially distressing circumstances, huge amounts of the nation’s wealth was spent to get us through and many of our institutions remain damaged by its consequences. Short of war, it’s hard to imagine an equivalent. An understanding of the country’s preparations and response is of the greatest consequence. Even more importantly, clear unambiguous recommendations should be made, and implemented, to ensure we do better next time; an observation so obvious it hardly needs making.

EXPLAINER-IN-BRIEF: THE PRIME MINISTER SNUBS CLIMATE POLICY AT HIS PERIL

Rishi Sunak has a thorn in his side that won’t go away: the climate crisis. Last week, his government faced legal action over its revised climate strategy from campaign groups including Friends of the Earth and Good Law Project. These groups say the strategy is unlawful because it doesn’t provide much clarity about what the government would do if various policies contained in the document are not carried through. Less than two weeks ago, Zac Goldsmith resigned as a minister for the international

environment with a heated letter in which he accused Sunak of being “simply uninterested” in fixing the climate crisis. Sunak hasn’t made climate a priority of his government, focusing instead on tech regulations, migration and other policy areas. But young voters are on average extremely worried about climate change; making climate awareness a prerogative of the Labour Party alone could be a strategy Sunak regrets at the next general election.

ELENA SINISCALCO

Baroness Hallett’s Covid enquiry is estimated to last around four years, having already taken a year (at least) longer than it needed to get started. In total it will take twice as long as the pandemic and about five times as long as the production, testing, manufacture and supply of the first vaccines. Urgency, it seems, has no role to play.

It is difficult to believe a process of such sloth will result in action and improvement. Indeed, to believe that is even its overriding priority.

The logic is, presumably, that they must be thorough, everybody must be spoken to, all opinions heard, every avenue thoroughly explored. Who could possibly criticise being thorough?

Colin Powell, the US General and statesman once said, don’t take action if you only have enough information to give you a less than 40 per cent chance of being right, but if you’ve waited until you’re more than 70 per cent certain, you’ve waited too long.

People and politicians have short memories. Already the pandemic feels an age ago, fresh crises have come and gone, many more will emerge. By 2027 we’ll be nearing the end of a new parliament, the majority of ministers and officials are already no longer in post, many will no longer even be MPs. It may be satisfying to berate them from a position of hindsight, but it will do almost nothing to help us be better. And being better next time is the most important role the inquiry can play. The process seems designed by lawyers rather than leaders; focused on quantity rather than action. And it

is action we need. The lethargy of the process will inevitably translate to lethargy of implementation. By 2027 the moment will have passed. The report will be huge, thorough, erudite, studious, legally secure and yet by then almost entirely ineffective against its most important task.

Effective organisations don’t avoid failure: imperfection is inevitable. Rather they learn from it – and consequently are better next time. A learning process that lasts half a decade cannot be effective. The inquiry's duration is a sign that its design is a subterfuge for inaction. It should proceed at the pace of a well-run boardroom, not that of a courtroom.

Society, if not the government, may feel they would like to apportion blame, but we must not conflate that with being better next time. Conclusions delivered in the 40 - 70 zone will be prompt enough to have a chance of being enacted. Conclusions that are “right”, but that lack proximity and urgency will make no difference at all.

£ Chris Hirst is a CEO and author. His latest book, No Bullsh*t Change, is out June 1

Already the pandemic feels an age ago, fresh crises have come and gone

Boris Johnson’s WhatsApps will be included as part of the Covid-19 inquiry

Threads, launched by Mark Zuckerberg last month, has won approval among the political class, with Keir Starmer, Lindsay Hoyle and James Cleverly all signing up to the app. Despite the support, Zuckerberg might yet face a lawsuit from Elon Musk.

CITYPAGES

EDITED BY ANNA MOLONEY

SUMMER MUST READS

BIRNAM WOOD

BY ELEANOR CATTON

To read Birnam Wood is to cruise through New Zealand, with its delicate environment and politics. Catton’s latest novel lies in the noman’s land between thriller and political commentary, contrasting the idealistic, often self-defeating politics of young eco-conscious with the extremes of capitalism.

TERMUSH

BY SVEN HOLM

The qualities of a perfect holiday read –a hotel resort backdrop: tick; a thin paperback that you can squeeze in your hand luggage: tick; a post-apocalyptic disaster setting: bear with me.

Y/N BY ESTHER YI

Y/N is not a book for everyone; but if you are fascinated by what a combination of magical realism and K-Pop extreme fandom would look like, you’re in the right place.

Y/N tells the story of a woman who abandons her sullen life in Berlin to try and find Moon, a K-Pop star who has just recently quit his band and disappeared from public life. This journey takes her back to her homeland, South Korea, and then further in a world where dreams and reality collide.

This book is a bit pretentious at times - and the dialogues would never take place in real life, making it difficult to relate or sympathise

YELLOWFACE

BY REBECCA F KUANG

When a book is as hyped as this one is, it is easy to approach with trepidation, but have no fear here: Kuang’s newest novel is an unequivocal triumph.

Kuang, who has said she will not write in the same genre twice, has this time gone for a pop dark satire which is as twisted as it is brilliant.

Written from the point of view of a jealous friend who steals her late friend’s manuscript and posthumously publishes it in their own name, this book explores the politics of art, race and ownership without ever being cliche.

A book about book publishing, Kuang holds the reader in her hand

VICTORY CITY

BY SALMON RUSHDIE

It’s Rushdie, so you know it’s gonna be good, but this is really good. Framed as a translation of a 15th Century Sanskrit epic poem about the founding of the fictional Bisagna empire, Victory City is a metafictional masterclass in storytelling.

with the characters. But if you stick till the end, it will be full of precious surprises.

Elena Siniscalco

and tells them so. Yellowface is funny, gripping and written right on the cutting edge, I wanted it to go on and on. AM

Sascha O’Sullivan

It does so without sacrificing on a thrilling narrative, as a young environmentalist Mira tries to figure out if she can trust billionaire Robert Lemoineto keep her group, aptly described as a ‘guerilla gardening collective’ a secret. The latter half is almost entirely consumed with plot, occasionally straying into the unbelievable, but gripping all the same.

SMALL WORLDS

BY CALEB AZUMAH NELSON

If you don’t mind weeping, Small Worlds is the choice for you.

Azumah Nelson’s second novel retains all the lyricism and sensitivity of his debut Open Water, but takes a father-son relationship as its central subject.

Set over three summers in London and Ghana, this novel looks at the intimate connections that define us all, yet never once teeters on the overly sentimental.

If you’re tired of London, and perhaps of life, this book will remind you of the city’s magic promise and, most of all, its music (you can even find a Spotify playlist to accompany this book).

Steeped in nostalgia, grief and heartbreak, yet somehow still hopeful, this is one of the best books I’ve read all year. AM

A dystopia written in 1967, this novella may not seem the obvious poolside choice, but for those of you who don’t mind a dose of catastrophic dread with your pina colada, consider Termush. Set in a luxury hotel reserved by the ultra wealthy in the case of nuclear disaster, Termush is a biting satire that explores rhetoric around borders and infection –no prizes for

MONEY

BY MARTIN AMIS

Asked how a writer conceives the idea for a novel, the late Martin Amis described “a throb or a glimmer, an act of recognition”. One “may even be secretly appalled or awed or turned off by the idea”.

In spawning the creative genius behind his masterpiece Money: “I had an idea of a big fat guy in New York, trying to make a film. That was all.” It wouldn’t be all. Money would become the ultimate comedycritique of 1980s consumerist Britain. Anti-hero John Self – a “semi-literate alcoholic” – is a grotesque parody of the transatlantic businessman. Thrilling, probing, postmodern,

why this has been reissued. At just over 100 pages, Termush is small but packs a punch. AM

The story centers around the 237year long life of Pampa Kampana, a demi-goddess and prophet who breathes Bisagna into existence and whispers its inhabitants’ lives into their ears. That this is a story about storytelling is not exactly subtle, but nor is it meant to be: Victory City is a bold and vibrant read. To pastiche an epic is a ballsy choice, lucky this is in capable hands. Combining tragedy, comedy and romance, this is what an epic is meant to be. AM

THE SHARDS

BY BRET EASTON ELLIS

As new authors make their mark on the literary landscape, Bret Easton Ellis reminds you nothing is more exciting than the revival of an old master. After years of tiresomely banal postmodernism, Ellis has returned with The Shards –his finest work since he freshened up the fiction scene with the powerful onetwo punch of Less Than Zero and American Psycho three decades ago.

The Shards is a provocatively lurid, semi-autobiographical novel centred around the hedonistic lives of wealthy high-schoolers in the Hollywood Hills in the 1980s, disrupted by the arrival of the serial killer ‘The Trawler’.

What follows is a schlocky but engrossing narrative, that makes you question everything you’re told.

Nicholas Earl

From classic to contemporary, thriller or literary prize winner, this selection will match any mood or destination

obscene, Money is ultimately a critique on a cultureless landscape by a writer with an unparalleled literary legacy. Lucy Kenningham

THE NAME walks into the room long before you. So it brings baggage, for want of a better word,” Hannah Rothschild tells me. A businesswoman, philanthropist and writer, I am meeting with Hannah to talk about her latest novel High Time, but I can’t help but also ask about her extraordinary upbringing.

A primogeniture-led family, it was expected that Hannah’s brother would grow up to be active in the family businesses, but it is Hannah who now finds herself more involved as a board member of RIT among countless others. On top of that, Hannah has also always been a keen writer, though only turned to fiction in her fifties, something she tells me she’d always dreamed of doing but found too daunting.

Recalling memories of being briefed on how to “talk finance” at nine years old ahead of family dinners with potential donors, that finance forms the backdrop to Hannah’s latest novel High Time is no surprise, though her ability to make it quite so fun was certainly not as guaranteed. Asked whether her own experience of business has proven as exciting as her novels, punctuated by the likes of high camp swindlers and multimillion pound art hoaxes, Hannah is unequivocal in her answer –“No! Thankfully,” she tells me.

“You know, you want nice returns, you want capital preservation, you don’t necessarily want to shoot the lights out. I mean where I come from anyway. So I would say the experience in High Time is very different. And some of that comes from sitting in quite a lot of board meetings and imagining what would happen if we weren’t just always focusing on, I don’t know, what the yen is doing.”

Writing about the business world is also a means of escape from it then, though it is clear Hannah takes neither her role as writer or businesswoman lightly.

“I should say, I don’t want to sound pompous, but I do take the positions I have on boards very, very seriously. Because it is, it’s very serious business… As I say, in my kind of writing world, I think that’s nice, I can have an alternate existence,” she says.

Yet Hannah proves as scrupulous about her writing as she is about business. Hannah knows she can’t pull one on her readers, she tells me, and is meticulous about the details. Cryptocurrency, which finds a surprising place at the heart of her latest novel, is something Hannah didn’t understand when she started writing her pitch.

“I didn’t get it. And then you might say, well why on earth would you write about it? Well, I think I did it because I wanted to understand it,” she tells me.

Speaking to investors, foraging through chat rooms, Hannah says she taught herself about cryptocurrency “right from the bottom up” to ensure she got the details

THIS month, the City A.M. Book Club proved its breath, going from bonkbuster to Booker as it traded in Cleo Watson’s Whips for this year’s international Booker prize winner Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov. Written originally in Bulgarian in 2020 and translated into English this year by Angela Rodel, Time Shelter is an expansive novel about time, memory and nationhood.

The story begins in a “clinic for the past”, a place in which each floor recreates a different decade as a way to treat Alzheimer sufferers by transporting them back to a more secure past, and progresses to a European-wide referendum on time, in which each country votes for which year they’d like to return to.

HANNAH ROTHSCHILD

Writer and businesswoman Hannah Rothschild talks to Anna Moloney about writing, crypto, and not being a silly novelist

QUICKFIRE ROUND

TOP OF SUMMER READING LIST

TRUST BY HERNAN

DIAZ

FAVOURITE PLACE TO

READ:

IN BED WITH A CUP OF TEA

FAVOURITE PLACE TO

WRITE:

IN BED WITH A CUP OF TEA

BEST WRITING TIP: HAVE A GO

BOOK CLUB

Conceptually brilliant and gripping, this book provides a commentary on national nostalgia and amnesia. So what did Book Club think? Well, we were certainly intrigued. This is a novel that asks a lot of questions, and also left us with a lot of questions. Book Club was filled with a lot of thoughtful ‘mmms’ and vague recalls of university-learned concepts –honourable mention to Benedict Anderson –as we tried to dissect exactly what had happened in this novel. One thing’s for certain, this is not a book to be rushed –a rude awakening for some of our less organised Book Club members.

right. Will she be investing with her newfound knowledge? “Emperor’s new clothes,” she tells me. “Though I think it’s here to stay, I should add.”

Another world that makes its way into High Time that Hannah is no stranger to is that of art. Becoming the first woman to chair the board of trustees of the National Gallery in its 200-year history in 2015 –a role she applied for after seeing an ad in The Guardian –Hannah does not shrug off the significance of the appointment.

“It was both a bit shocking, frankly, but also quite important and I felt an enormous responsibility to get it right in inverted

A combination of sun, aperols and the illusive protagonist Gaustine left Book Club a little confused, but enthusiastic nonetheless. Lucky for one member, whose book also suffered from the sun, with a chunk of 50 pages falling out on said member’s holiday, Time Shelter is far more idea-driven than plot-driven, meaning this was really little loss. Brimming with stories within stories, even if the overall thread was lost, Time Shelter provides a knot of sub-characters and storylines that we all agreed were fascinating. If you’re looking for something thought-provoking, this gets the thumbs up from us, but it’s not our Booker.

THE PUB

Feeling European, Book Club this month

HIGH TIME BY

HANNAH ROTHSCHILD

Set among the upper echelons during the Brexit referendum, Hannah Rothschild’s latest novel High Time brings high jinks to high finance, and proves that even cryptocurrency can make for a compelling subject.

A comedy of manners about the eccentric Trelawney family, High Time is a satirical comedy of manners on the ways business and finance interact –and is a whole lot of fun too.

Wonderful and fanciful –not least that its central protagonist Ayesha Scott manages to outwit the international mafia all while writing an awardwinning dissertation on art – High Time is fast-paced and high energy, but also contains moment of real sentiment. Hannah proves her deftness for wit and style in this Mitfordesque satire. High art hustles and Cornish castles, High Time is perfect escapist reading with real heart.

Asked whether she thinks such categorisations undersell her writing, Hannah tells me she does. “There’s a mismatch there to be honest in what I’m trying to do and how I think it’s been sold… I’d like it to be presented differently. But you do have to listen to what the pros say.” “I mean, what I’m trying to do is not write a silly novel… So although it’s funny, I hope it’s not silly… and if I’ve failed, then I failed. And I have to own that. And when people say oh, it’s like Jilly Cooper, and I think Jilly Cooper is brilliant, but that’s not who I want to be,” she adds.

commas. Because if you are going to break a glass ceiling and be the first person in whatever it might be to take a job, you’ve got to do it right. That was an added pressure,” she says.

While being a woman in business was and still is challenging, as I talk to Hannah it is clear that pigeonholing is not only reserved to the world of finance. High Time does not shy away from serious issues, especially the repercussions of business, but it is also a fun, fast-paced and, God forbid, funny novel written by a woman –a combination that can be ripe to characterisations as silly or frivolous.

Indeed, with its sharp wit and multigenerational cast of charming but quirky relatives, Hannah’s novels stray far closer to the likes of Nancy Mitford in its tone and style. And while the thrills and high drama of finance played out in her novels may be pure fiction, what about the eccentric family who star? Not quite. “No shortage of anecdotes,” she laughs. Hannah tells me her and her family are very clear with each other about what they think –“we work together, we have to be” –so writing her novel also meant preparing for her greatest and closest critics. Luckily she needn’t have worried, with Hannah telling me she thinks her novel is the first one her father has read since university –“now that was the real gold star”.

, a French bistro nestled beside Southwark Cathedral that sources most of its produce from the neighbouring Borough Market. This spot offers a cosy terrace, an eclectic aesthetic and craft beers that are perfect for pairing with your confused but insightful discussions of highbrow literature. If you need a stimulus for something sophisticated yet esoteric to say, just take a trip to the zany toilets downstairs, you won’t be short of inspiration.

Lawson Sargeant is bent over a scrubbed bench, fixing a tiny sail on a carved, wooden boat. It’s a fiddly and intricate business. In his workshop in Port Elizabeth, on the Caribbean island of Bequia, wooden replicas of yachts and sailing boats are lined up on turquoise-painted shelves all around the room. You might first think that you’ve entered some kind of niche toy store, but the Sargeant Brothers Model Boat Shop is much more than that, with the miniature boats taking months to build and selling from $3,000 upwards (one mini superyacht is for sale for $10,000).

Working alongside his brother and other craftsmen, Lawson uses aged hand planes, small chisels and carving knives to create detailed and realistic replicas. Some boats, he reveals, are commissioned by rich yachties who have heard about the shop on the grapevine and stop off while sailing around the islands; others are simply inspired by the vessels he’s grown up around. He’s even made one for the Queen – a model of The Royal Yacht Britannia –gifted to her in 1985, when she visited Bequia as part of her official tour of the Caribbean.

Turns out that the island, pronounced ‘Beck-way’ and found some 15km south of St Vincent in the Windward Islands, has a long history of boat-building – and not just miniature ones. Beginning in the 1800s, Bequians built a reputation as some of the finest shipwrights in the West Indies, renowned for their superbly crafted fishing boats, schooners and whaleboats.

In fact, drive around the island and you’ll soon spot the reoccurring image of the whale everywhere – painted on the side shops, carved into wooden posts and even featuring on restaurant menus. It’s a nod to the fact that Bequia is one of the few places in the world where, controversially, whaling is still allowed. No more than four whales are allowed to be landed each year

TALL TALES AND WINDSWEPT SHORES

although, in reality, it turns out that hardly any are ever caught. This is a land that has long beckoned sailors and explorers; buccaneers and pirates – with even the notorious Blackbeard (otherwise known as British Captain Edward Teach), reaching its shores in the early 18th century.

In the early 90s, a sailor of a different kind also felt Bequia’s pull. During a sailing trip around the Grenadines, Swedishborn property developer Bengt Mortstedt came across the island in 1992. It was New Year’s Eve, and compared to the glitz of other Caribbean islands, such as Barbados,

he fell in love with its sleepy nature –“much like a vintage postcard”. He continued to return to the island over the years until, one day, he spotted a closed B&B up for sale. With a vision in mind, he slowly set about transforming the dilapidated property, buying up adjoining land in the process. “Initially I just wanted a low-key place for all the family to stay,” he says. Instead, what was going to be a villa gradually turned into a hotel, opening in 2009, symbolically on New Year’s Eve. Bequia Beach Hotel – one of the only hotels on the

island – is the result. “I built the sort of place that I would want to stay in,” he says.

The hotel is as barefoot and laid-back as its homeland. At night, you fall asleep to the soundtrack of the waves crashing on the beach. Colonial-style four-poster beds are dressed with bedspreads stamped with mini pineapples, your bedside lamp is a kitsch ceramic parrot, and retro travel posters adorn the walls.

Mortstedt might describe himself as an ‘accidental hotelier’ but, somehow, things feel just right here. Dinner at the main restaurant, Bagatelle – of barbecued amberjack, jerk chicken and rice n peas – is as satisfying as only soul food can be. The central lounge, with its twirling ceiling fans, bamboo armchairs and library of books, could have been styled in the 40s yet, with a rum punch in hand and the sound of the cicadas outside, it feels wonderfully timeless.

From dips in the saltwater infinity pool to walks along the palm-fringed Friendship Bay, where the hotel is found, days unfold slowly here.

Mornings start with a glass of soursop and banana pancakes, maybe with a side of plantain. You might spend the day soaking up the sun or perhaps you’ll book a day trip to Mustique aboard the hotel’s own Benetti yacht, The Star of the Seas.

A venture to Jack’s Bar, the hotel’s outpost on the northern side of the island, is a must for lunch of conch croquettes and coconut shrimp.

Just seven miles long, there is no mass tourism on Bequia, no large resorts or noisy tourist towns. Instead – offering the very essence of slow travel – its unfussy

The island of Bequia in the Grenadines has long attracted mariners and sailors yet has kept off the mainstream tourist path. Angelina Villa-Clarke soaks up its old-school appeal

charm is found in driftwood-strewn beaches and frangipani-framed chattel houses. Down by the waterfront in the harbour, rastas sell guava and mangos and Beresford Hammond’s two-step reggae is on a loop. Ferries dock here, bringing workers, and a handful of tourists, from neighbouring islands. This is as busy as it gets.

A drive north takes you to the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary, founded by Orton King, a retired fisherman. Here, in a series of seawater pools, rescued Hawksbill Turtles are nurtured until they are strong enough to face the depths of the ocean again. Stay long enough and you’ll hear his seafaring tales of shipwrecks and terrific storms.

A ride in one of the brightly-painted dollar taxis will take you past fishermen on the rocks hauling out their catch of snapper and tuna. An undulating string of hills stretches the length of the island, making some of the roads impossibly steep to navigate yet also giving epic views across to the islands of Pigeon and Petit Nevis. Locals, chattering in patois, salute friends along the roadside, or break off from their conversation to holler a one-liner at someone they know. With a population of just 5,000, no one is a stranger.

Back at Bequia Beach Hotel, Bengt is gearing up to open his latest luxury villa, part of his newest project called Grenadine Hills. The collection of three high-end homes, adds a new dimension to accommodation on the island, with the villas of-

fering slick spaces with infinity pools, wine cellars and views over the southern Grenadines. The newest, opening this summer, is the eight-bedroom Rock Villa, boasting locally-influenced architecture and Caribbean design touches. While it will be fancy enough to call in an A-list clientele, it will more likely welcome families and friends who holiday here every year.

“Many of our guests, come back year after year,” says Bengt. “Once people discover Bequia, they just keep coming back for more. Just like me.”

After a day or two on the island, you begin to walk more slowly, meandering along shell-encrusted paths, catching glimpses of hummingbirds in the trees. Meals of lobster and fried okra taste delicious while looking out across the aquamarine sea. In no time at all, the sun dips and watching the sunset streak the sky lilac, gold and pink is as high-energy as it gets.

NEED TO KNOW

Stay seven nights, B&B, at Bequia Beach Hotel with Exsus Travel, from £2,425 per person. This includes return flights from London Heathrow to Barbados, and interisland flights to Bequia with Bequia Air. Exsus.com

GOLF

Smith claims LIV London and boost for Open

OPEN champion Cameron Smith secured a timely boost ahead of his defence of the Claret Jug next week by claiming his first win of the year at LIV Golf London on Sunday.

Smith completed a wire-to-wire victory with a round of 68 to finish on 15 under par at Centurion Club in St Albans, one better than team-mate Marc Leishman and Patrick Reed. He fell agonisingly short of leading his Rippers to glory in the team competition however, a bogey at the last dropping them behind Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces.

“It’s a bit of mixed emotions at the moment,” Smith said. “I’m obviously thrilled about the individual win but it

WHEN Gaizka Mendieta, one of the most lauded midfielders of his era, moved to Middlesbrough in 2003 he gave England a taste of the best that Spain had to offer. Now, 15 years retired, he is doing the same in a more literal sense through a string of restaurants offering high-end Spanish cuisine to Londoners.

Mendieta is one of the investors in the popular chain Iberica, which is overseen by Michelin starred chef Nacho Manzano and has branches in Canary Wharf, Marylebone, Fitzrovia and Victoria. He is also a backer of a new paella-focused central London eatery, Arros QD, and a third brand, Mercado Central in Cambridge.

“I saw the business opportunity. I wanted to be involved in something that was real,” Mendieta, who won 40 caps for Spain, tells City A.M.

“I love not only the food but the learning. I try to be involved as much as I can in the projects, from selecting venues, how we design the space – not so much on the chefs – but I like to have input.

“I’ve always been intrigued by business. With food, I was a client of Iberica and over time I got to know some of the shareholders. The opportunity came there and I took it. The food took me to the business, but I love both.”

Mendieta’s restaurants pride themselves on their authenticity. At Arros QD, three Michelin-starred chef Quique Dacosta imports Spanish wood from almond and orange trees and ships over his stock in tins in pursuit of the perfect flavours.

It and Iberica attract a well-heeled crowd of regulars, among them footballers from Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham.

“People from Valencia who live in London come and congratulate us. Believe me, for Valencia people to do that means a lot.

“I’ve grown up with paella. I never thought it would be part of my business life eventually, but there you are. When they talked to me about paella, I said ‘hey, wait, I know a little bit about that’,” he smiles.

ADRENALINE

Mendieta’s love of food comes from his background. He was born in the gastronomic hotbed of the Basque Country and grew up in the home of paella, Valencia, where he made his name. Yet the former Barcelona and Lazio player, once one of the world’s most expensive players, had no plan to go into the hospitality trade when his career wound down.

“I invested in real estate, stock markets, the usual but I didn’t know what to do next. That was definitely something I didn’t want to do for the rest of my days,” adds the 49-year-old.

“They used to tell me, ‘there’s noth-

Claret Jug holder regains his winning touch ahead of Major defence in Liverpool next week, reports Frank Dalleres

would have been nice to get up there with the boys. I hit a good putt too.

“It’s good to see Leish playing really good golf, he played incredible this week. It was a gutsy win over the weekend. I definitely didn’t have my best with the driver, there’s still some work to do on that, but I’m really happy with the win.”

IDEAL TIMING

Smith led by three shots overnight and stayed out in front all day but came under pressure over the closing holes

from Reed and Leishman.

Reed’s seven birdies in his last 10 holes lifted the former Masters champion to within two shots of Smith, and Leishman joined him on 14 under with a birdie at the last.

Smith then found a bunker with his approach to 18 and although he produced a fine recovery shot, he missed his par putt to trim his winning margin. Nonetheless, it represents ideal timing just 11 days before he begins his Open defence at Royal Liverpool. Smith has been playing well without

winning titles, finishing fourth at the US Open and in the top 10 at the US PGA Championship as well as recording five consecutive top-12s in LIV Golf events.

This win moved him up to second in the individual standings, seven points behind Talor Gooch, a three-time winner this year.

His late bogey denied Ripper a first win in the LIV Golf London team competition and

FROM THE PREMIER LEAGUE... TO PAELLA

ing in life like football’ – the adrenaline of being in a stadium of 90,000 people. It’s tough to find something like that.”

Restaurants give him a “different satisfaction”, Mendieta says. He divides his time between them, football media work and other ventures including Player4Player, which connects current and former footballers with trusted companies. He is also working with AxisStars, which offers a networking platform for athletes during and after their careers and was founded by former Manchester United and France forward Louis Saha.

Mendieta spoke to City A.M. at a football match for players whom AxisStars has helped to plan their next step, including Matt Jarvis, Rachel Yankey. Cherno Samba and Emma Beckett. Not everyone is as enterprising as the Spaniard, however, and he is passionate about helping other generations make the difficult transition to life after football and all its trappings.

“A football career is maximum 20 years; 10 years maximum of great contracts, so you have to be very wise in how you invest that money to last you

saw 4Aces take a second victory, having also triumphed in Adelaide in April. Johnson’s team, who took the overall title in LIV Golf’s first season, lead the standings by 39 points from Joaquin Niemann’s Torque. Louis Oosthuizen was fourth in the individual leaderboard on 12 under, two shots ahead of Johnson in fifth. England’s Richard Bland was among a clutch on nine under par, along with Henrik Stenson, Thomas Pieters, Pat Perez and Cameron Tringale. Ian Poulter was a further shot back on eight under after a round of 66.

double or treble your age. It’s a long journey, not just financially but mentally,” he says.

“Mentally it’s very tough. The drop-off is huge. If you don’t have routine and stability it can be tough. People don’t realise because [they see] fancy cars, fancy trips, fancy life but believe me there is more on the other side.

“Until you come to that place, it’s hard to appreciate. We need to help current players to appreciate this so that they’re better prepared.”

Mendieta (left) with Michelin-starred chef Quique Dacosta of Arros QD in London

Post-football, Gaizka Mendieta gets his kicks in the restaurant trade, he tells Frank Dalleres

I wanted to be involved in something real. The food took me to the business, but I love both

SPORT BUSINESS

SPORT

ENGLAND KEEP ASHES BID ALIVE

CHRIS Woakes insisted that nerves didn’t come into play until England needed just four runs after the all-rounder hit the winning shot against Australia at Headingley to keep the Ashes series alive.

Woakes, who was excluded from the opening two Tests in the series, finished yesterday’s innings on 32 not out as his partnership with Mark Wood got England over the line and on the series scoreboard, which Australia lead 2-1.

“[We were] probably not [nervous] until we needed four,” Woakes said. “We’ve got a crazy spell in us, when me and Harry [Brook] were there and got it down, their heads seemed to drop. There’s always twists in Ashes, when Woody went six then four, it calmed us.”

England came into the fourth day of the third Test with 27 runs, chasing 251 with 10 wickets in hand to win their first match of the series.

But Ben Duckett fell for 23 before impromptu No3 Moeen Ali made just five. Zak Crawley was closing in on his 50 but departed for 44 through the bowling of Mitchell Marsh.

Joe Root exited for 21 and when captain Ben Stokes was out for 13, England were on 161-5, needing another 90.

Jonny Bairstow made just five runs but a brilliant partnership between Harry Brook and Woakes steadily ate into the required run figure.

PREMIER LEAGUE TO PAELLA Gaizka Mendieta on food, business and life after football PAGE 19

Swiatek wins after saving match points

HARDY

MATT

IGA Swiatek overcame a scare to progress through to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time last night on Centre Court.

The world No1 and favourite to win at the All England Club went a set down to Switzerland’s No14 seed Belinda Bencic before saving two match points in the second and fighting her way back to win 6-7 7-6 6-3 in three sets.

Brook was dismissed by Mitchell Starc for 75 before Wood and Woakes hit the remaining runs to keep the Ashes alive, much like Stokes did in 2019 at the same ground.

“What you see is what you get with Harry, not much, he’s just laughing and joking around,” Woakes added. “It’s his way of staying clear.

“He’s a very good player, he’s got a calm head on his shoulders.

“His 75 was the difference, I wish he was there at the end.

“What an amazing game to be a part of.

Watching the first two Tests from the sidelines, we didn’t want to be 2-0 down but that’s how we found ourselves.

“We wanted to put in a good performance, it was up and down, but to be 2-1 going into Old Trafford and still in the series is a great place to be.”

Stokes said: “[It was] really good, another down to the wire game so it’s nice to get over the line and keep our hopes alive.

“It is great when you make decisions [like picking Woakes] and they come off.

“He’s a quality performer and every time he puts the shirt on he gets the job done. I am really pleased for Woakesy and if he gets another opportunity later he can make the most of it.”

The Ashes continue a week on Wednesday at Old Trafford, Manchester, with England needing a win to take the series to a final Test at the Oval.

Bayern apply pressure with improved £70m Kane offer

FRANK DALLERES

BAYERNMunich have tested Tottenham Hotspur’s determination to keep Harry Kane by making an improved offer of around £70m for the England captain.

The German champions had an opening bid of £60m rejected last month but have now increased that to £68m plus performance-related bonuses.

Kane has just one year left on his current contract and can leave on a free transfer next summer but Spurs have shown no indication that they are interested in a sale.

Real Madrid and Manchester United have also been linked with Kane, who

turns 30 this month and is already the all-time record goalscorer for club and country.

Bayern are in the market for a new centre-forward after former Liverpool striker Sadio Mane failed to fill the gap left when Robert Lewandowski moved to Barcelona last summer.

Tottenham could raise significant funds by cashing in on Kane while they can but are unlikely to be able to replace a player who has averaged 23.3 Premier League goals per season over the last nine years.

Bayern could virtually guarantee the silverware that, for all of his individual accolades, has eluded Kane throughout his whole career at Spurs.

The result means Swiatek will face wildcard Elina Svitolina in the last eight after the Ukrainian beat seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on No1 Court –the duo did not shake hands after the match and Azarenka was harshly booed by the Wimbledon crowd.

“It wasn’t easy, she had a match point and I don’t even know if that’s happened in my career [saving a match point before going on to win],” Swiatek said after the win.

“I’m really happy because I feel like I needed that win to believe in myself a little bit more on this surface. It was not easy but I wanted to be solid and I am happy I was disciplined.”

Elsewhere 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva reached the fourth round of the Championships with a 6-2 7-5 victory over Anastasia Potapova yesterday.

The Russian qualifier will face Madison Keys this morning on No2 Court with a last eight tie against either second seed Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka or fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova.

If Andreeva were to win the tournament she’d be the youngest Ladies’ Singles winner since Martina Hingis won the title aged 16 and 278 days. Lottie Dod won Wimbledon in 1887 in the amateur era aged 15. Elsewhere, Andrey Rublev took five sets to beat Alexander Bublik, while American Jessica Pegula toppled Lesia Tsurenko 6-1 6-3.

Norris gets first British podium as Verstappen’s march goes on

LANDO Norris picked up his first podium at Silverstone as the McLaren finished behind a recordequalling Max Verstappen at the British Grand Prix yesterday. It was the 23-year-old’s best finish since Monza 2021 and contributed to a successful race for his team, with fellow driver Oscar Piastri taking fourth place, one behind Lewis Hamilton.

The win for Dutchman Verstappen was his sixth in a row and Red Bull’s 11th in succession –

matching McLaren’s all-time record. It was Red Bull’s first victory at the iconic track since 2012. Not since 1999 had two Britons both made the Silverstone podium, when David Coulthard pipped Eddie Irvine.

“Pretty insane –big thanks to the whole team they did an amazing job,” Norris said. “None of this would be possible without the hard work they put in. They put me on hard tyres –I don’t know why, they are still ambiguous on some things.

“Was an amazing fight with Lewis to hold him off, I made too many mistakes maybe.

“It is a long lonely race when you are in the middle but it is amazing.”

FORMULA 1

MATT HARDY

FOOTBALL

TENNIS

for another classic as deficit to Australia reduced