Tuesday 18 July 2023

LONDON’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER

SIESTA! THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR SHIFTING OUR WORKING HOURS IN THE SUMMER P15

FCA SET TO GET TOUGH ON MEMES

REGULATOR TO TACKLE NEW FORMS OF FINANCIAL PROMOTIONS ONLINE

CHARLIE CONCHIE

THE CITY watchdog is poised for a social media clampdown as it looks to target ‘finfluencers’ and firms flogging crypto schemes and financial products online with misleading adverts.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said yesterday it will roll out new social media guidance to “modernise the information firms should use when promoting financial products or services online”.

The regulator said it would be looking at promotions using ‘memes’ — viral internet graphics — that are regular features of unregulated financial promotions online.

The new guidelines come as the FCA tightens the screws on the way that firms across the industry promote their products to customers. Crypto firms will be banned from using incentives like ‘refer a friend’ bonuses to customers from October, while buy-now pay-later bosses were threatened with jail time if they fail to fall in line with

financial promotion rules.

Lucy Castledine, director of consumer investments at the FCA, said sweeping new social media guardrails were needed due to a “growing number of ads falling short” of the current guidance.

“We want people to stay on the right side of our rules, so we’re updating our guidance to clarify what we expect of firms when marketing financial products online,” she added.

“And for those touting products illegally, we will be taking action.”

The FCA has also been looking to clamp down on ‘finfluencers’ who tout get-rich-quick schemes and financial tools.

Regulators globally have been looking to stamp out celebrities peddling crypto schemes with illegal and misleading ads, with Kim Kardashian and YouTuber Logan Paul both being fined in recent years.

£2bn boost for London from big gigs

JESS JONES

ECONOMISTS and melomaniacs alike have reason to cheer the capital’s postpandemic musical revival –with the capital’s coffers given a £2bn boost by large and small concerts alike.

Nearly 5m music lovers flocked to the capital last year to attend live music events, according to a report from UK Music, filling hotels, bars and restaurants.

The umbrella body’s chief executive Jamie NjokuGoodwin, writing for City A.M., said the findings are a “testament to just how important a thriving musical ecosystem is for our towns and cities”, warning a number of smaller music venues and festivals are still struggling to survive amid rising costs.

Memes, such as the ‘Swole Doge’, used to promote financial products are set to face FCA scrutiny

With the “right support", UKMusic believes the economic impact of music tourism could “increase significantly” by 2030 as it benefits local economies and creates more jobs.

£ OPINION: PAGE 14

Gresham House to be taken private in £470m deal with US firm Searchlight Capital

CHRIS DORRELL

GRESHAM House will become the latest UK-listed firm to be taken private after agreeing a £470m deal with US-based private equity company Searchlight Capital.

Shareholders in the AIM-listed fund manager, which invests in assets such as forestry and solar

farms, will receive 1,105p per share, a premium of 63 per cent to its closing price on Friday.

The Gresham House board of directors unanimously recommended the offer, announced yesterday, to shareholders.

The board said that its ability to raise funds and access new capital was challenging as a listed company

but could be “accelerated” through the deal.

The existing management team has the support of Searchlight, providing continuity for Gresham House’s clients and stakeholders.

Anthony

Townsend, chair of Gresham House, said the deal represents a “compelling opportunity” in the challenging economic environment.

Searchlight said it was attracted by Gresham House’s position in sustainable alternative asset classes and believed there was a “robust platform”

for future growth.

It saw “significant potential…to make further bolt-on and potentially transformational transactions across asset classes and internationally”.

A slew of UK-listed firms have been taken private in recent months as foreign buyers have enjoyed relatively cheap valuations.

‘I’VE BEEN A LEADER’ WE MEET TORY MAYORAL HOPEFUL SUSAN HALL P12

STANDING UP FOR THE CITY

Some honesty could spice up CEO meetings with Number 10

TO LISTEN to Downing Street, today’s meeting of the great and good of the British corporate world in Number 10 –as part of the “business council” –is part of a groundbreaking relationship between the private sector and policymakers. It would be churlish to critique anything that brings our business leaders closer to government, but it is in truth neither new nor particularly exciting.

THE CITY VIEW

What could liven it up, of course, would be some aggressive honesty from those invited.

Shell’s CEO Wael Sawan, for instance, could berate those present for years of inaction and confusion on UK energy policy.

Sainsbury’s chiefs may also have

something to say on the noises off that supermarkets dealing with unprecedented supply chain inflation are to blame for inflation running out of control. At least BAE Systems can hardly be too grumpy about the country’s build, baby, build policy towards armaments at the moment. The worry for Rishi Sunak et al is that his charm offensive may come too late. Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer are becoming City regulars. The

Tory party –it’s not necessarily Sunak’s fault –has become a byword for incompetence and instability. And economic growth projections, again largely outside the control of the Prime Minister, are distressingly flat. The PM should be alive to chinks of light, though. The Treasury’s clear, thought-through changes to pension fund regulation, working with the Square Mile, went down about as well as any government policy in recent memory.

A TRUE FRIEND South Western Railway hosted a training session for puppies at Portsmouth and Southsea station, as part of the canines’ training to become guide dogs

UK to open trade talks with Turkey as it looks to notch up more post-Brexit deals

CHRISTOPHER MCKEON

THE UK IS set to pursue a new trade deal with Turkey in an effort to deepen relations with the country, the government has announced.

Negotiations on an updated free trade agreement are expected to begin in 2024 after the two countries agreed there was scope to improve the existing deal.

Britain’s trade with Turkey was worth £23.5bn in 2022, but heavily favoured Turkey with the UK importing £6.5bn more than it exported, according to government figures.

The current settlement, which was rolled over after Brexit, is restricted to trade in goods.

UK negotiators will attempt to expand the relationship to cover digital trade and services, reflecting Britain’s status as a predominantly service economy.

Business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch said:

“Turkey is an important trading partner for the UK.

This deal is the latest example of how we are using our status as an in-

dependent trading nation postBrexit to negotiate deals that are tailored to the UK’s economic strengths.

Turkish exports to the UK include vehicles, clothes and electric machinery, while the UK sells power generators and metals to Exports minister Lord Offord will visit Turkey later this month to discuss other potential opportunities.

Memes are democratic things, so we hope whoever originally created the “swole doge” on the front today sees the funny side.

Our research did not unearth a copyright holder. Should one emerge, do get in touch

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

THE GUARDIAN

SOUTH EAST WATER REPORTS £74M LOSS

South East Water has reported a pretax loss of nearly £75m, which it blamed in part on the cost of dealing with last year’s “extreme weather events” including the record-breaking heatwave.

THE TELEGRAPH

CHAIRMAN APPOINTED FOR TELEGRAPH SALE

Lloyds Banking Group has called on Mike McTighe, the veteran technology executive and chairman of BT’s network arm Openreach, to spearhead the sale of The Telegraph. Lloyds seized control of the titles last month.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES

BLACKROCK OFFERS A VOTE TO RETAIL INVESTORS

Blackrock will give retail investors in its biggest exchange traded fund the chance to participate in proxy voting in 2024, as the $9.4trn asset manager moves to rebut Republican claims that it pursues a “woke agenda”.

Summer getaway queues at Dover to last over two hours

NEIL LANCEFIELD AND ANAHITA HOSSEIN-POUR

HOLIDAYMAKERS sailing from the Port of Dover are being warned to expect two-and-a-half hour delays this week.

The Kent port issued the alert ahead of many schools in England and Wales breaking up for summer on Friday.

Enhanced post-Brexit passport checks by French border officials police aux frontieres have increased processing times.

Port bosses have taken a series of

measures aimed at minimising queues during the summer.

The port is also continuing to use a new system for processing coach passengers, involving advanced passenger information checks being carried out away from the main port facility during busy periods.

The port is urging car passengers embarking on summer getaways from Friday to arrive three hours before their booked sailing.

This is up from two hours last year, while before the end of the Brexit transition the port gave no advice for when people should turn up.

WHO OWNS SWOLE DOG

Claims delays for victims of Post Office scandal

JESS JONES

THE GOVERNMENT has been told to urgently address compensation issues faced by wrongly convicted post office workers.

Sir Wyn Williams, who chairs the inquiry into the Post Office scandal, said in a report yesterday that the Post Office and government must fulfil their previous commitments to “promptly” deliver “full and fair” compensation, arguing there is not “any valid legal reason” hindering them.

He launched a probe into compensation issues after hearing testimony from a significant number of affected sub-postmasters who “demonstrated the scale of the suffering and financial loss” caused by the scandal.

It is estimated that over 700 branch managers were wrongly convicted for crimes such as false accounting and theft between 2000 and 2014 after a

fault in an accounting software called Horizon made it appear as though money was missing.

“These poor people have been through enough, without having the Post Office managed scheme haggle down their compensation when executives have walked away with thousands of pounds in unacceptable bonus payments for giving evidence to the inquiry,” Darren Jones, chair of the Business and Trade Committee, said.

Jones added that the compensation scheme should be run independently of the Post Office and government, and called for Post Office executives to hand back 100 per cent of their bonuses as they relate to the inquiry.

The Post Office welcomed the report and said ensuring compensation was provided “remains our priority”.

The government said it will review the report and respond in due course.

Robinhood is set to enter what is a competitive market for share trading apps

Robinhood prepares to storm the UK share trading market

BENJAMIN JAGLOM

US SHARE trading app giant Robinhood is preparing to target British investors, The Telegraph has reported.

The company is best known for its association with so-called “meme stocks”.

These are stocks popular with younger investors that are discussed

Wasserman in sprint finish to bag CSM Sport

LUCY KENNINGHAM

THE SPORTS marketing agency CSM Sport & Entertainment –at which Lord Sebastian Coe (pictured) is chairman –is in advanced talks to be sold to Wasserman, according to reports by Sky News.

Wasserman is a US-based sports, music and culture agency which represents international stars such as Steven Gerrard, the former Aston Villa manager.

on social media platforms such as Reddit and Instagram.

The company has recently opened up job listings on Linkedin for a regulatory expert and an operations lead, as well as a UK chief executive.

According to regulatory filings it is planning a launch before the end of the year.

Robinhood was founded in 2013.

The news was first broken by Sky’s City editor Mark Kleinman who reported that City sources were giving disparate views on the stage of the talks. Some said a deal could be struck as soon as this week whilst others warned the talks could still falter. Further details about the offer remain murky. The deal would consolidate a strong presence in a growing industry. City A.M. has contacted Wasserman and CSM Sport & Entertainment for comment.

Swiss investors set to launch legal challenge of Credit Suisse deal

CHRIS DORRELL

UBS’s TAKEOVER of Credit Suisse faces yet another legal challenge as an association of Swiss investors have announced their intention to file a lawsuit on behalf of former Credit Suisse shareholders.

The Swiss Association for the Protection of Investors said after receiving a “large number of

inquiries”, it has decided to coordinate a lawsuit aiming for a “cash compensation payment for Credit Suisse shareholders corresponding to the value between the share price set by the merger agreement and the share price determined by the court.

In UBS’s takeover deal, Credit Suisse was valued at CHF3bn compared to a market valuation of CHF7bn.

The legal challenge joins the many

existing cases which are challenging the decision of Finma, the Swiss regulator, to write down the value of Credit Suisse’s AT1 bonds to zero. Elsewhere another legal challenge to the deal drew to a close after a committee responsible for reviewing disputes related to credit default swaps (CDS) confirmed that UBS is the sole successor to Credit Suisse. UBS declined to comment.

Citi Europe boss: London hardly hurt by Brexit

CHRIS DORRELL

CITIGROUP’s European head has said Brexit has not impacted the City anywhere near as much as experts predicted.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, David Livingstone, Citi’s Europe, Middle East and Africa boss, said the City has “not been diminished” by Brexit, despite attempts by the EU to attract more firms to the bloc.

Livingstone highlighted a range of factors that made the City an attractive place to do business, including its language and strong legal traditions.

“For me, it’s an absolute certainty that the UK will remain with those characteristics and therefore remain the place that we have our headquarters,” he said.

Many experts warned that Brexit would damage the standing of the City, with some predicting that thousands of jobs would move out of London. But Livingstone said Citi has only shifted “a few hundred roles” out of the City, mainly due to regulatory requirements.

While the EU has been attempting to boost its capital markets since the UK left the bloc, by bringing together the various domestic markets into one market, Liv-

ingstone suggested it still had much work to do.

“The EU post-Brexit has got a lot to build in terms of the depth of its capital markets. It’s got a banking union and a capital markets union, both of which are not progressing as fast in terms of delivering an outcome as a place where corporate clients and institutional clients can raise capital and do it in a seamless way within the union,” he said.

Despite this, he said it was still important that regulators and legislators made steps to boost the City’s competitiveness.

“I still think it is important that the UK focuses on its competitiveness and not rest on the laurels of those characteristics, which are evidently permanent but [require the right regulatory] settings.”

Under the Financial Services and Markets Act, the financial regulators will have to consider competitiveness when making regulatory decisions.

A slew of regulatory reforms focusing on capital markets have also been announced in recent weeks, including streamlining the listings regime, scrapping EU rules on investment research and moves to ensure pension funds invest more in UK companies.

Goldman Sachs has a ‘bullying culture’ says ex-recruitment chief

CHRIS DORRELL

GOLDMAN Sachs has been accused of having a “culture of bullying” by a former recruitment executive in the latest example of banks taking flack for their intense work culture.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Ian Dodd, who worked for the American banking giant in London between 2018 and 2021, claimed that staff often sobbed through meetings.

Citing court documents, The

Telegraph reported that employees were often subject to aggressive language, with some told to “take that as your first punch in the face”.

He is reportedly suing Goldman for £1m over claims working at the bank provoked a mental breakdown.

A spokesman for Goldman said these claims are “completely without merit”.

Two years ago junior investment bankers at Goldman rebelled against leadership, claiming in a leaked note they were working 98-hour weeks.

The New York-based investment bank has a significant employee count in the City

Entain nabs US firm Angstrom in £200m deal

LAURA MCGUIRE

LADBROKES owner Entain has snapped up a US sports pricing and analytics firm for £81m, as it continues on its recent acquisition spree.

The betting giant said that on top of the millions it’s splashed on Angstrom Sports, it will also pay contingent payments over the next three years –meaning future payments of £122m are promised to the seller upon the achievement of specific milestones –taking the total of the sale to a potential £203m.

The FTSE 100 firm already has a presence in the US market, currently operating a joint venture BetMGM, which has proved extremely popular with punters.

Recently Entain has expanded its portfolio with a series of deals, including Polish betmaker STS Holding S.A, which it bought for £750m.

While Angstrom is not a betting company, the firm said that it bolsters the company through its simulation-based predictive modelling which creates “highly sophisticated pricing and forecasting capabilities”.

It works by forecasting either the final odds that a team will win or the point spread, which is the predicted margin by which a team is expected to win, of sporting events such as the NBA or NFL.

“We are delighted that Angstrom will be joining Entain, enabling us to accelerate the development of the Entain Platform,” Jette Nygaard-Andersen, chief of Entain, said.

“Their next generation forecasting, pricing and risk management capabilities will unlock significant opportunities across BetMGM’s US sports betting offering, particularly in the fast-growing markets of parlay and in-play wagering.”

THE FOUNDER of fashion and homeware store Oliver Bonas has complained of “teething problems” related to Brexit making it difficult to grow his brand in Ireland. Olly Tress told The Times that the firm’s expansion plans in the country are “oven ready”, but the fallout from Brexit has made it “hard and expensive to run stores there”. The comments despite the government having signed the so-called Windsor Framework in February, hoping to ease trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Oil prices slide over weak data from China

NICHOLAS EARL

OIL PRICES dipped in yesterday’s trading after sluggish growth figures from China renewed concerns about demand in the second half of the year.

Brent Crude dropped 1.5 per cent to $78.7 per barrel in yesterday’s session, while WTI Crude fell a similar amount –slipping 1.5 per cent to $74.3 per barrel.

China’s post-pandemic recovery is seemingly faltering this year following the lifting of pandemic restrictions, with the world’s second largest oil consumer reporting weakening demand for oil.

The country’s gross domestic product increased just 0.8 per cent from April to June this year compared to the previous quarter, according to the latest data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Chinese refineries processed only 1.6 per cent more crude per day in June than May –which was largely due to reduced processing last month amid spring maintenance.

The softening prices follow a third straight week of gains across both major benchmarks, with oil climbing above $80 per barrel and reaching a three-month high in prices.

Prices are being propped up by encouraging economic data in the US — with inflation down to three per cent and expectations the US Federal Reserve will only hike interest rates one more time, suggesting rebounding demand for oil in the world’s largest economy.

Another factor challenging the latest upsurge in prices is the return of production from OPEC member Libya. The North African nation produces circa 1.2m barrels a day.

IN A PARTIAL reversal of the last three decades, China is now relying on the global economy to achieve meaningful growth Activity in the world’s second largest economy is clearly more depressed than analysts expected heading into 2023.

Domestic demand is easing. China’s once linchpin real estate sector is flagging badly. Retail sales rose 3.1 per cent in June annually, down from a 12.7 per cent expansion in May. Largely, softening activity is down to the sudden burst in spending after zero Covid was ditched now naturally cooling.

Analysts bet Fed to slash rates in 2024

JACK BARNETT

THE US Federal Reserve will in the early part of next year slash interest rates for the first time since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, Wall Street analysts are betting.

The consumption drag on GDP is being intensified by global demand ebbing in the face of high inflation and central banks’ efforts to tame it by raising interest rates.

The worry for the rest of the globe is that a slowdown in Chinese production, or a big rise in production costs, could make imports a bit more expensive.

Whether or not China achieves its around five per cent GDP growth target depends on whether its central bank loosens policy.

Researchers at Morgan Stanley have said they expect the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to bring rates down in the first quarter of 2024, which would be the first cut since March 2020 when the world’s most influential central bank eased rates to cushion the blow from the virus sweeping across the globe.

Monetary loosening will not take place until the Fed sends the federal funds rate –the global financial system’s benchmark interest rate –to a peak of 5.25 per cent and 5.5 per cent on 27 July.

“We have pencilled in March 2024 [for the first rate cut], when we think the trend down in inflation will give the Fed enough comfort that we are bound for the target,” Seth Carpenter, an analyst at investment bank Morgan Stanley, said.

Mace bolstered by international growth as it expects £3bn revenue

LAURA MCGUIRE

CONSTRUCTION giant Mace was bolstered by traction in its consultancy business and completions of landmark buildings abroad and in the UK (such as Battersea Power Station) during the year, hiking its turnover to £1.936bn.

The London-headquartered firm, which plans to reach £3bn revenues by 2026, said that its consultancy business reached £500m in revenue, an increase of 36 per cent from 2021.  Its consultancy arm was boosted by

overseeing the former Athens airport and the neighbouring coastal front regeneration project in Greece and also a multi-billion-dollar project which will extend the Toronto subway network in Canada.

The privately-owned firm did however say that profit before tax fell slightly to £36.5m down from £38.3m in 2021 as it was hit by a £13m exceptional impairment of a loan on a joint venture — meaning that not all interest payments on the loan will be collected.

Paypoint hit with legal claim from fuel charity

NICHOLAS EARL

PAYPOINT faces a multi-million pound lawsuit from a social enterprise, which has accused the payment services business of anti-competitive conduct in the prepayment market.

Social enterprise Global 365 said in a statement that it has begun legal action against the London-listed firm to “recover significant loss and damage” after having troubles launching its own prepayment system, which aims to reduce fuel poverty by enabling energy suppliers to offer price parity between prepayment and credit customers.

Global 365 claims it was “shut out of the market”with Paypoint entering into exclusive agreements with most of the major energy suppliers in Great Britain. This meant it was not able to effectively launch its prepay system and alleged that Paypoint was abusing its dominant position by imposing contract restrictions.

It then complained to Ofgem, which subsequently opened an investigation and reached a provisional view in 2021 that Paypoint engaged in conduct that had the aim of restricting other suppliers entering the energy prepayment market.

Paypoint made “voluntary commitments” to remove and not enforce the offending clauses, and make a donation of £12.5m to Ofgem's voluntary redress fund.

But now Global 365, represented by law firm Addleshaw Goddard, is bringing its own legal proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal. The claim was registered, alleging infringement of Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998.

Samantha Haigh, partner at Addleshaw Goddard, said: “This claim seeks to restore Global 365 to the position that it would have been in had it not been wrongly kept out of the market.

“In being prevented from entering the market effectively in 2019, Global 365 has been unable to offer its services to the suppliers covering the majority of the market.”

A similar case was previously filed by energy supplier Utilita.

The energy supplier is seeking £42m in damages because it alleges Paypoint overcharged it for processing prepayment transactions on its behalf as it was prevented from contracting with other providers to obtain a lower price.

Paypoint were approached for comment. Utilita declined to comment.

Despite the construction sector facing setbacks such as soaring costs on materials and energy, Mace said it was able to secure more than £2.1bn new projects during the year Mace has reduced its exposure to the UK property market and strengthened its balance sheet, improving year end cash from a net debt position of £147m in 2019 to a net cash position of £73m in 2022. Boss Mark Reynolds said a strong “pipeline and growth trajectory” would allow Mace to meet its goals.

Trustpilot flies in former Just Eat executive

CHRIS DORRELL

TRUSTPILOThas appointed Adrian Blair as its new chief executive, replacing founder and CEO Peter Holten Muhlmann.

Blair will join the Copenhagenheadquartered and London-listed review company from Cera, a digital health firm where he was chief business officer. He has held several tech executive positions, including as global COO at Just Eat where he “played a key

role in the successful growth and transition of Just Eat from a lossmaking start-up to a FTSE 100 company generating over £170m of Ebitda” according to Trustpilot.

Outgoing CEO Mühlmann, who founded the company 17 years ago, will take on a brand ambassador role after stepping down in September.

Blair stressed opportunities for Trustpilot as online reviewing would only become more and more prevalent.

“There is an even more exciting opportunity ahead as trust and transparency become ever more important for businesses and consumers around the world,” he commented.

Trustpilot chair Zillah ByngThorne praised Blair’s experience “working with founder-led businesses through to helping lead Just Eat into the FTSE 100”. Trustpilot’s share price was down around one per cent on the news yesterday.

UK chip firm Optalysys bags £21m in funding for ‘groundbreaking’ tech

JESS JONES

A UK CHIP firm has secured £21m in a Series A round of investment as it looks to enhance its "groundbreaking" data-sharing security that could pave the way for new levels of encryption. Leeds-based Optalysys has secured funding led by investment companies Lingotto and Northern Gritstone.

Lingotto is the $3bn fund launched by Italian dynasty the Agnelli family.

Optalysys says the funding will help it improve its enable photonic computing technology to create a new type of secure processing: fully homomorphic encryption (FHE).

For this potentially game- changing encryption technology, Optalysys is working with Google and IBM.

“Optalysys presents a groundbreaking semiconductor technology," said Ashish Kaushik, partner at Lingotto.

The large investment reflects a growing trend of increased funding in optical chips.

Global Market Insights estimates the global FHE market is set to grow to $53bn (£41bn) by 2030.

Mace is working on a project to extend the Toronto subway network

Adrian Blair will join the London-listed firm which posts one million new reviews each month

Tortilla Mexican Grill reports red hot revenues after site expansion

TORTILLA Mexican Grill raked in revenues of £32.7m during the first leg of the year, up 22 per cent compared to the same period last year, off the back of a string of new site openings.

The fast-casual restaurant chain reported that like-for-like revenues also grew 8.4 per cent ahead of the Peach Coffer Tracker benchmark –an industry tool which measures pub and restaurant performance.

Tortilla, which sells Mexicaninspired dishes, opened a series of new sites during the quarter in Derby, Greenwich and Manchester Piccadilly –taking its portfolio to 85 establishments.

It will also open a new site in Northern Ireland this week in Belfast, with another in Bracknell in the coming weeks.

Tortilla said it also made its offering more appealing to evening diners through a series of new menus and happy hour offers.

Smart Pensions snaps up £750m peer Evolve

CONCHIE

CHARLIE

TOP WORKPLACE pension firm Smart Pension has snapped up a peer with some £750m in funds under management as pressure from the government grows for faster consolidation in the sector.

In a statement, Smart Pension confirmed it had bought Evolve Pensions, adding over 128,000 members to its tally.

The deal comes after Jeremy Hunt last week announced plans to push along more pension schemes mergers to help boost savings for customers and encourage more cash into areas like unlisted startups.

Smart Pension has been one of the most acquisitive firms in the sector and has now swelled its funds to over £4bn. Jamie Fiveash, chief of Smart Pension’s Smart UK, said the deal was a “further acceleration of our successful consolidation strategy”.

“It is clear that ‘winning’ in this market means delivering better value for savers.

“Size and efficiency are important for that, but also great technology,” he added.

The Chancellor outlined a slew of reforms last week including winning a commitment from some of the top pension firms to channel more than five per cent of their funds into unlisted companies.

As part of the reforms, Hunt said the government would also encourage more mergers in the sector.

So-called superfunds, which pool pension cash, have also been part of the government’s plans to revamp the way that pension cash is invested.

Simon True, chief executive of superfund Clara-Pensions, told The Times that Clara needed to begin striking deals this year or people would lose patience with the concept.

“There’s no infinite goodwill for superfunds and therefore we have to do something this year,”

Simon True said. True told the paper that Clara was talking to 10 defined benefit (DB) schemes with an aggregate of £3.5bn of assets under management over potential deals.

“We continue to deliver on our disciplined but ambitious approach to new site openings and strategic expansion, with all of our new openings performing well and meeting our expectations,” Richard Morris, chief of Tortilla, said.

“Our franchise sites also continue to perform well with our SSP sites achieving record results and we remain hugely excited by the significant franchise growth opportunities in the UK and overseas,” he continued.

CEASEFIRE Microsoft has agreed to keep the Call of Duty franchise on Playstation

stands at 85 restaurants

NAO launches probe into FCA over new tech

CHARLIE CONCHIE

THE NATIONAL Audit Office (NAO) has launched a probe into the functions of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the regulator’s remit swells to take on oversight of technologies like cryptoassets and artificial intelligence (AI).

In an update on its active work, the NAO said the FCA’s perimeter was facing a major change as ministers push ahead with a postBrexit refresh of financial regulation. The NAO is now set to kick off a deep dive into its operations later this year.

“Recently, significant changes have been introduced or proposed to the FCA’s regulation of the sector,” the NAO said.

“These include the Future Regulatory Framework, a new Consumer Duty for regulated firms, and a proposed statutory secondary objective for the FCA to facilitate the international competitiveness and growth of the UK economy in the medium to long term.”

New technologies like cryptoassets and AI also “provide challenges and opportunities” for regulators, the NAO added. Crypto firms are to be brought into the remit of City watchdogs later this year.

The probe comes amid a major shakeup for financial rulemaking as ministers grant new powers to regulators with the new Financial Services and Markets Bill.

DFS profits under pressure during cost of living crisis as sales slump

LAURA MCGUIRE

SOFA GIANT DFS recorded a four per cent decline in gross sales compared to last year as the retailer warned in a trading update of “significantly worse” market activity during the cost of living crisis.

Earlier this year DFS downgraded its profit expectations to between

£30m and £35m, slashing it by nearly half on the £60.3m underlying profit it reported in 2021-22.

This comes as the group delivered cost savings initiatives and reduced capital expenditure to secure its balance sheet during a tough economic climate.

Tim Stacey, chief executive of DFS

pointed to “increasingly challenging market conditions”.

“We are in the strongest position we have ever been as a group in terms of market share, and when the market recovers, we will be well placed to deliver our strategy and grow our earnings and cash flows towards our longer term plan,” Stacey said.

LAURA MCGUIRE

After

a number of new openings Tortilla’s portfolio now

MICROSOFT’s 10-year agreement to keep the gaming franchise Call of Duty on Sony’s Playstation follows the US’s Federal Trade Commission saying Microsoft’s proposed takeover of Activision would hurt consumers as Microsoft would be incentivised to shut out rivals like Sony. The deal was rejected by the UK’s competition watchdog.

Jamie Fiveash is chief executive of Smart UK

THE NOTE BOOK

Closer link between prisons and firms can work for all

THE GOVERNMENT’s call last week for businesses to hire more prison leavers is to be applauded. At a time when the public sector is short of good news, we should all be celebrating the fact that the number of prison leavers finding work within six months has more-than doubled in the past two years, from 14 per cent to 30 per cent.

A big step forwards was the rollout of Prison Employment Advisory Boards across 91 prisons last year. Rosie chairs the board at HMP Wandsworth and top people from the likes of Oliver Bonas, Greggs and Lotus play the same role elsewhere. The idea is to provide a closer link between prisons and business. So far it seems to be working.

At COOK we’ve been providing jobs and training to people after prison for nearly a decade, through our RAW Talent programme. It’s taught

SAVE OUR SOILS

us to judge people for who they are, not for who they might have been in the past. There are moving stories of lives rebuilt and families reconnected thanks to the power of a good job and everything it entails – dignity, respect, a sense of purpose, friendship, not to mention financial means. Our colleagues, who play a vital role in supporting RAW Talents, see how their work makes a difference and feel a heightened sense of purpose. COOK benefits from a richer culture and a loyal and committed team.

Sadly, there are as many moving stories of people we were unable to help. Often, this comes down to housing. We may be able to provide work but unless a prison-leaver can get accommodation nearby, the job offer is pointless. Somebody needs to be joining the dots.

Sarah Langford quit the city and a career as a barrister to become a farmer. As she recounts in her beautifully written book, Rooted, she fell in love with the idea of farming with, rather than against, nature. ‘Regenerative agriculture’ is the rather clunky phrase for it. It means doing things in a way that puts life back into our fields, hedgerows and soil, using less hydrocarbons in the process. ‘Mimicking nature’ is how one farmer described it to us recently. Hopefully, we are waking up to nature at last, and what we can do to protect it, our food supply and the farming community. Rooted is a great place to begin. To understand food, we need to understand farming, first.

£ Great communities need great shops. It’s something of a motto for us at COOK. July is Independent Retail Month and a chance to celebrate and support our local, independent shops. The death of the high street has been forecast for years. The pandemic was predicted to be a tipping point, with an even more decisive shift to shopping online. Yet the rebound of good old bricksand-mortar has caught many by surprise (not least all those

direct-to-consumer digital brands that raised money at sky-high multiples during lockdown). In and around London there are countless thriving shopping streets, full of cracking independent retailers. Before the end of the month, why not pop into a local, independent store for the first time? Chat to the owner or the team behind the counter. Remind yourself that shopping can be about connection, not just clicks.

£If you can beg for tickets to Dear England at the National Theatre, then do it. The fictional account of Gareth Southgate’s turnaround of the national footballing fortunes is inspiring –and will even get teenage boys through the theatre door and on the edge of their seats. With many of us lamenting a dearth of political leadership, we could all do worse than taking a few lessons from England’s football manager. Keep an eye out for Rishi and Sir Keir in the stalls.

FEW PEOPLE in Britain draw as much scorn as landlords.

It’s easy to understand why. Young people shackled to renting see landlords as a barrier to their homeownership dreams.

Particularly in London, renters hate handing over a huge share of their monthly wage to property investors. Doing so stops them from using their cash in more productive ways. In economics, rent has a high opportunity cost. It is a monthly payment that could be saved up to eventually form a home deposit.

Wasted resources, essentially, for that group.

It isn’t all landlords’ fault. A more than decade-long wage slowdown and ultra-loose monetary policy from the Bank of England pushing up house prices has made it extremely hard for young people to secure their first home.

And now, friction between the wealthy (landlords) and the asset poor (renters) is going to amplify.

Interest rate rises are wreaking havoc in the mortgage market, yes. But it is the rental system that is ripe for a big shake up –and not a pretty one.

Landlords who don’t own their properties outright are either going to have to absorb higher repayments on their buy-to-let mortgages or raise rents to shield profits.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out which move they will choose.

The rental market was not always like this. Amid ultra-low interest rates, being a landlord was a more attractive prospect (if you were happy to be a public pariah).

Lower monthly buy-to-let mortgage repayments kept a lid on rent increases. In fact, in London, rent growth was negative in the summer of 2018 and pretty low before that.

Those conditions compelled people to pour into the buy-to-let market, lifting rental supply. There is a point to be noted here that landlords snapping up properties has made it harder for people to get onto the property ladder by pushing up prices.

We shouldn’t be aiming to create a housing market that extracts profits for landlords at the expense of potential homeowners.

Underlying factors that shape the rental market are shifting due to higher mortgage rates. The Bank estimates that the share of landlords whose rental income covers their interest payments by a maximum of 125 per cent will rise from three per cent to 40 per cent.“Many landlords are likely to seek to raise rents to offset their higher costs,” the central bank said in its bi-annual financial stability report last week. Rents have already risen five per cent over the year to May, among the fastest increases on record.

Don’t leap to judgements just yet. The Bank is alive to renters’ plight.

“Renter households tend to have lower incomes than homeowners (including relative to housing costs) and they are likely to have low savings,” it said last week.

“Higher costs relative to incomes may lead to an increased reliance on consumer credit, or difficulties paying off existing consumer credit or other types of debt. It may also increase their vulnerability to future adverse shocks,” it added.

That is very alarming.

Most of the recent policy debate has

IN DEFENCE OF LANDLORDS, BY THE BANK OF ENGLAND

WHAT I’M READING

Workers can have a pay rise after all, so says the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the rich country club. The 38-member group came to that conclusion in research published last week that found that compared to before the Covid-19 crisis, profits have risen much faster than wages across the bloc. Britain has experienced the second largest profit rise in the G7 over the period, behind only Germany. “There is room for profits to absorb some further increases in wages to mitigate the loss of purchasing power at least for the low paid without generating significant additional price pressures,” the report read. There were just five countries where labour costs rose faster than profits: Portugal, Lithuania, Finland, France and the US. More on that later this week…

centred on whether the government should step in to help homeowners with the impending mortgage crunch.

Spending (probably tens of) billions of pounds to offset an income hit for what is mostly a relatively wealthy group does not seem like a great way to stretch already tight public finances.

If Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are once again going to support households, then cushioning the blow to renters’ finances seems more appropriate. Any additional spending does bring with it inflation risks.

All this pain though is basically music to the Bank’s ears. Governor Andrew Bailey and co have stressed that the full impact of its prior interest rate increases have yet to spread through the UK.

Its financial stability report laid bare that hardship is definitely on the way, and fast. Monetary policy is a stiff elixir to treat inflation.

Hope is not all lost. Optimism, particularly for younger people, came in the form of a report from the Resolution Foundation this week.

Higher rates over the long term could bring the house price-to-earnings ratio down to its lowest level in 20 years.

Perhaps renters can take those homeownership ambitions off the mantelpiece.

City A.M.’s economics editor Jack Barnett takes a deep dive into the state of the economy in his weekly column

WITH THREE by-elections approaching, the race between the now-two Tory hopefuls vying to take on Sadiq Khan (pictured) in the 2024 mayoral election has taken something of a backseat.

But following the exit of former No10 advisor Daniel Korski, the odds have shortened for both those standing.

Former Conservative group leader in the London Assembly Susan Hall is pitching herself against rival Tory candidate Moz Hossain as the no-nonsense, law-and-order option. A Tory member vote closes today.

A former hair salon owner, entrepreneur and council leader, Hall is a robust presence at City Hall debates.

She’s keen to be seen as taking the mayor to task on his record, particularly on policing, which she tells City A.M. would be her top priority if elected.

“My passion in life is policing — always has been,” she says.

“We don’t see police around like we used to, we don’t see response cars, or blue lights. And certainly from talking to residents, people are feeling less and less safe, especially women.

“Many years ago, I was threatened –somebody threatened to kill me. And it suddenly occurred to me that actually to feel safe is more important.

Her experiences have clearly informed her campaign with ‘Safer with Susan’ literature echoing her focus on law enforcement.

She has pledged to take £200m from the City Hall budget to fund a ‘low level’ policing unit to tackle burglaries.

“If you’re burgled it’s not low level, you feel violated,” she adds.

“It’s my first priority.”

Safety is an area that she believes crosses into the economy, affecting

ANNOUNCEMENTS

HE DOESN’T LIKE STRONG WOMEN

small businesses and communities.

“If you’ve got a shop in an area that’s got nothing but gangs running around, you’re going to lose customers, because they’re not going to want to come into your area,” Hall says.

“I do think that the main thrust of what I want to do will help businesses, I want to make the streets safer,” she says. Listening, she says, is crucial, rather than assum-

LEGAL AND PUBLIC NOTICES

CITY OF LONDON CORPORATION HIGHWAYS ACT 1980, SECTION 256

PROPOSED AGREEMENT WITH OWNERS OF LAND FOR THE ADJUSTMENT OF THE BOUNDARIES OF THE HIGHWAY ON ELDON STREET AND FINSBURY AVENUE LONDON EC2M 2QS

ADJACENT TO 1 BROADGATE

NOTICE is given that in accordance with the provisions of Section 256 of the Highways Act 1980 the City of London Corporation (“the City”) as highway authority for the highways known as Eldon Street (part) and Finsbury Avenue (part) in the City of London (“the highway”) proposes with Bluebutton (12702) Limited, B.L.C.T. (PHC 2) Limited (“the Owners”) as the owners of the land adjoining and lying near to the highway to enter into an agreement to adjust the boundary of the highway.

particulars of the proposed agreement are as follows:

shown hatched purple on the plan numbered 15156 (SK) 2512 (“the Plan”) which at present forms part of Eldon Street, and situated adjacent to 1 Broadgate, shall be dedicated as public highway by the Plan which at present forms part of Eldon Street, and situated adjacent to 1 Broadgate, shall be dedicated as public highway by the owners and shall be transferred to the City of London by owners.

costs of entering into the agreement.

4. Any apparatus of statutory undertakers under, in, over, along or across any area of land which ceases to be highway pursuant to the agreement shall have the same rights as respects their apparatus after that area of highway ceases to be highway as they had immediately beforehand

an estate right interest in or charge on the land to be conveyed by the Council to the Owners may claim compensation under the Highways Act 1980 Section 256(5).

A plan of the proposed adjustment of boundaries of the highway showing the land to be conveyed as hatched and cross hatched on the plan and a full Schedule of the owners and the relevant titles will be

ing you know what’s needed.

“It should always be an open dialogue, talk to people, see what they need, see how you can help. The mayor doesn’t always know best… you mustn’t ever assume you know.”

‘I’VE BEEN A LEADER’

Khan and Hall disagree on much. Ulez aside, they’ve butted heads on everything from crime to housing during often testy exchanges. Her pitch that he’s afraid of her, though, is an interesting one. What’s the thinking behind it?

“He clearly doesn’t like women,” Hall

responds. “He absolutely doesn’t like me, you’ve only got to see the videos of it. He literally snarls. He doesn’t like loud women, who will be heard.”

She continues: “One of the great reasons for picking me is I know how City Hall works.

“I know how the boroughs work, because I’ve been a leader of one. I know how the whole mechanism works.

“And I have got the ability to challenge him at least once a month between now and the election. And I have been doing that for six years, I’ve never been a pushover.

“He needs to be called out on these

calling him out.”

Khan’s office declined to comment, but a Labour source close to the mayor hit back, describing it as a “desperate and nonsense attack”.

“Sadiq has been a proud feminist in City Hall, leading the way in areas such as equal pay, combating violence against women and girls, and introducing ground-breaking policies supporting women with the menopause in the workplace,” the source said.“It’s even more ridiculous coming from Susan Hall who has championed Donald Trump and his abhorrent views.”

Jessica Frank-Keyes meets Susan

Hall, the

Tory mayoral

hopeful who doesn’t mince her words as she looks to unseat Sadiq Khan

SPORT Let’s be clear that Formula 1 is not a sustainable sport.

CITY DASHBOARD

FTSE 100: Slowing China economy sends London index into red

LONDON’s FTSE 100 kicked off a fresh week in downbeat fashion, dragged lower by signs that China’s economic recovery from the pandemic is whittling away.

The capital’s premier index shed 0.38 per cent to close at 7,406.43 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, fell 0.87 per cent to 18,404.43 points.

Numbers from Beijing showed growth in the world’s second-largest economy is stalling, with GDP up just 0.8 per cent in the three months to June, down from an expansion rate of just over two per cent in the first quarter of 2023.

Growth was weaker than expected, mainly caused by exports slumping and the real estate sector cooling.

Global demand is thinning owing to

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WE NEED A RABBIT

high inflation and central banks’ efforts to tame it with interest rate rises, weighing on spending for goods manufactured in China.

FTSE 100-listed industrial giants were weaker on the news. Anglo American slid 2.49 per cent, while Glencore tumbled 2.82 per cent. Antofagasta was down two per cent.

Britain’s largest banks helped offset losses in the City, likely due to traders expecting the Bank of England to keep lifting interest rates to tame inflation.

New ONS numbers on Wednesday are expected to show living costs are still rising sharply, up 8.2 per cent annually.

NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC all closed near the FTSE 100’s summit.

Pound sterling weakened 0.12 per cent against the US dollar. It is up more than eight per cent against the greenback so far this year.

Oil prices scaled 1.2 per cent lower.

Peel Hunt has doubled down on their sell rating for Oxford Nanopore on the grounds the valuation of the firm was too expensive after recently downgrading the firm. While a trading update yesterday “optically looks like a six per cent beat”, analysts say, on first revenue expectations no Ebitda were provided for the first half of 2023. They rate it a sell stock with a target price of 190p.

“It’s a big week for markets as the next quarterly reporting season moves into top gear. While US stocks have done extremely well in the first half of 2023, companies are going to have to pull a rabbit out of the hat if they are to sustain this momentum.”

DANNI HEWSON, HEAD OF FINANCIAL ANALYSIS, AJ BELL

DFS is a “clear buy” in the eyes of brokers at Peel Hunt after it shrugged off a torrid year for sofa sellers last year. The sofa industry saw volumes down 20 per cent but DFS’s group market share has increased materially at 38 per cent for the year by Peel Hunt’s analysis. They say DFS is in “excellent shape to take advantage” of the market and have slapped a target price of 200p on the stock.

adding

that

OPINION

EDITED BY SASCHA O’SULLIVAN

Britain’s pro-growth agenda needs a rebrand to convince reluctant voters

THERE is thankfully one thing that everyone in Westminster appears to agree on: growth.

One of Rishi Sunak’s five pledges is to get the economy growing. Rachel Reeves has criticised the UK’s “high tax, low growth spiral”.

Liz Truss launched her new Growth Commission last week, ostensibly to provide alternative economic forecasts to “doomsters” at the OBR.

But when it comes to making difficult policy decisions, growth often gets sidelined. The necessary steps on planning, regulation and investment are ducked or fudged. And all the while, the UK is getting left further behind: the average American could stop working on September 27 and they’d still be richer than the ordinary Brit. The country urgently needs a serious pro-growth consensusand building it might mean abandoning the word “growth” altogether.

Part of the problem is that growth doesn’t cut through on the doorsteps.

Thursday’s trio of by-elections will be more about the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) or local hospitals than flatlining productivity. And what little growth there has been in the economy hasn’t filtered through to rising wages or improved living standards – particularly for those on the lowest incomes or living in the most left-behind towns.

When the economist Andy Haldane

toured the country a few years after the 2008 financial crash, he heralded the economic recovery suggested by national data. Members of the public often asked him: “Whose recovery”?

This antipathy about growth among voters means there’s not enough support for MPs to take the necessary steps to turn things around: building more homes, investing in energy infrastructure, modernising regulation. And it opens space for dangerous degrowth ideas, like the Greens irrational opposition to nuclear energy, to begin permeating our politics, which will ultimately make us all poorer.

GDP doesn’t capture the most impor-

tant element of growth: the identification, development, and dissemination of innovation, embedded in new goods and services. Markets allow investment to flow to the best ideas better than any planned system could. Growth is a byproduct - the goal is using market dynamics to solve our biggest problems. And right now, those problems are piling up.

The time is right to reframe the movement for growth. More than that: we need a new political and policy programme focused on ending our economic stagnation. At the end of last week, a hundred academics, entrepreneurs and policy thinkers gathered at a

conference in Cambridge, put together by the organisation Civic Future, to articulate this new agenda. Conversations coalesced on a single concept: progress. A movement for progress would have at its centre the discovery of solutions to humanity's biggest challenges. How can we generate abundant clean energy? How do we treat or cure the diseases afflicting our ageing population? How might we build cities that make us happy and healthy? Progress means more than just moving frontiers forward – it requires a focus on ensuring everyone benefits from new technologies, by ensuring their costs come down and that wages go up.

London’s music renaissance is a magnet for tourism - not to mention Taylor Swift fans

EVERYONE living in and around London already knows it’s one of the world’s greatest cities for live music and attracts some of the finest global talents to work and record here.

Now, for the first time post-Covid we can see just how important live music and the music fans it brings in are for the capital’s economy - and for our proud status as the cultural capital of the world. Last year, there was a massive bounceback, with 4.9 million music tourists pouring into London for concerts, gigs and festivals, according to a new report, Here, There and Everywhere, by UK Music.

Music tourists spent an astonishing £2bn in 2022 on tickets, travel, eating and drinking as part of their night out at a gig - giving London’s restaurants and bars and wider hospitality sector a much-needed shot in the arm.

And the benefits haven’t just been for local businesses – the music tourism boom has created employment opportunities for Londoners too. A total of 13,200 jobs are supported by music

Jamie NjokuGoodwin

tourism in London.

Of those music tourists who came to the city, 500,000 came from overseas to festivals and our world-class venues like the O2 and the Royal Albert Hall.

4.4 million came from other parts of the UK to see artists including Dua Lipa, Sam Fender, Dave, George Ezra and Nick Cave.

There are huge benefits to being a “music city” and every local area should want to capitalise on its musical potential. Our report outlines the actions local authorities can takefrom using data and mapping, to regenerating empty spaces - to make their communities powerhouses of creativity. Of course, the views of resi-

dents should be taken into account. However, if - as is often the case - the music venue was there before anyone complaining about noise moved in, that should be a big factor.

Some developers are recognising the value of cultural placemaking and are building innovative partnerships with artistic organisations. Ballymore’s collaboration with English National Ballet on London City Island is a brilliant example of how these sorts of partnerships can transform a local area’s cultural identity and generate cultural, social and commercial benefits for all. Music has the potential to rebuild our sense of place, especially at a time when offices are no longer the pull into the capital that they once were. With parts of London still seeing the lingering impact of remote working, music has huge potential in revitalising and re-energising our city and town centres. If we want to draw people back into our urban centres and re-establishing our sense of place and community, a thriving musical ecosystem is one of the most effective ways to do it.

The sector is still facing some real challenges. According to the Music Venue Trust, we are losing about a venue a week across the UK as operators struggle with rising energy cost and staff shortages. Many independent festivals have still not yet returned since the pandemic and recording studios are facing huge increases in costs that threaten their viability.

The music industry exists through symbiosis and when one part suffers, the whole sector feels the impact.

We all saw how miserable life was without live music during the pandemic – and the unprecedented demand for tickets to Taylor Swift’s London dates is just one example of how much appetite there is for live concerts and gigs. Whether it’s big stadium concerts, grassroots gigs or the studios and rehearsal spaces that draw global talent from across the world, music generates huge benefits for London and the country as a whole.

£ Jamie Njoku-Goodwin is chief executive officer of UK Music

Progress is already playing a big role in the US policy debate. Think tanks such as the Institute for Progress inform debates in Washington DC on reforming planning and streamlining science funding. Commentators have developed their own versions of the progress agenda: think of Ezra Klein’s “supplyside progressivism”, Derek Thompson’s “abundance agenda” or James Pethokoukis’s rejection of left or right wing politics in favour of “up-wing” ideas.

The UK is catching up. The journal Works in Progress serves as a hub for ideas to improve the world, while the Tony Blair Institute and my own thinktank, Onward, have launched science and technology programmes to reshape the Westminster debate. The creation of ARIA to focus on blue sky science projects and the establishment of a specific science department in Whitehall suggests that the British state is getting more serious about embracing progress.

What the movement for progress lacks is serious political impetus. We need nothing less than for people to fall back in love with the future, and take the difficult decisions that will unlock prosperity. That doesn’t mean being naive or boosterish - the public are right to have concerns with our current economic model. But we are never going to be able to take on the entrenched interest groups that defend barriers to progress unless our political class can clearly articulate the size of the prize.

At the end of an electoral cycle, amid a cost of living crisis, a new focus on progress might seem like a pipedream. But without it, we’re going to remain stuck in the same permacrisis.

£ Adam Hawksbee is deputy director of Onward and a City A.M. columnist

MOVES LIKE

Adam Hawksbee Local issues such as ULEZ are expected to dominate this Thursday’s by-elections

SWIFTIE Ed Vaizey, the Conservative peer and former Culture Sec, was yesterday bemoaning the likely impact to GDP as parents across the UK put their work on hold to try and secure Taylor Swift tickets. We hear Lord Vaizey was able to skip

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Messages, unencrypted

[Re: New Online Safety Bill sparks privacy and national security concerns among public, July 4]

The new Online Safety Bill has rightly sparked privacy concerns amongst people. Giving government access to end-to-end encrypted data would give Ofcom greater surveillance powers than current intelligence services. While preventing terrorism or child pornography is the main argument for this, it is also opening up the potential for mass surveillance. There is a paradox here in that we don’t want to enable such crime, but there is also no desire for freedoms to be curtailed in such a way. The initial scope of these bills was to prevent people from being exposed to dangerous materials and comments online - breaking the

integrity of encryption could have far wider-reaching ramifications. A better solution to this problem may be for the government to provide a way of proving online identity and having an opt-in solution. For example, if you wish to join an online dating site, you would need to prove a verified identity in order to use the service. Or you may choose to view social media content without verifying yourself, but if you wish to comment the poster could request that all comments can only come from verified identities. Being forced to prove your identity and interact online with a verified account will make individuals more accountable for their actions, curtailing inappropriate interactions. It could also serve to reduce the amount of trolling and hate speech that we see on social media, but it would need a big shift in attitude on digital IDs by the government.

Dan McLoughlin

Siesta! As even Sicilian sunbathers complain, we need to change our working hours

Elena Siniscalco

OVER the weekend, I was amused by a piece recounting an Italian holiday ruined by a heatwave in 2022. Fast forward a year, and Brits are still terrified to board their flights to the Mediterranean with the prospect of having to face temperatures well above 35 degrees - and in some cases, even over 40 degrees.

We should be worrying about heatwaves: as a climate emergency on the rise, they prove particularly dangerous for older demographics and low income individuals who might not have access to air conditioning in their homes and are more likely to work jobs that require being out and about rather than locked in the safety of a chilly office.

But if Brits are worried about the heat of Tuscany’s beaches or Sicilian temples, they should really try spending a summer working in Rome - the “infernal city”, as The Times called it last week.

Temperatures in the capital over sum-

EXPLAINER-IN-BRIEF: THE DEBT PILE BEHIND SUNAK’S UNIVERSITY CRACKDOWN

Ever since Tony Blair announced his target to get 50 per cent of Brits into university, the Conservatives have struggled with their stance on higher education.

Now Rishi Sunak has drawn the battle lines, spelling out plans to ‘crackdown’ on degrees which don’t help young people’s career prospects. This has been framed as a war between humanities and sciences, but really it’s a question of cost-benefit - and we know how Sunak loves a spreadsheet. While 20 per cent of students who go to university would have

been better off starting work straight after school, there is still the 80 per cent whose prospects are improved by academic pursuits.

But on top of that, only 27 per cent of students currently at university are expected to pay off their students loans. And the pile of debt, sitting at £206bn, is forecast to grow to £460bn by the mid 2040s. That’s a lot of money a cash-strapped government will be resentfully handing over every year if they’re not sure they are reaping the rewards of a productive workforce.

mer easily get to around 28 or 30 degrees, but are reaching above 35 this year. Most of the locals are still working in July, before jetting off to more temperate shores in August, so it’s not only tourists sweating in the heat at the moment.

I have very vivid memories of a long summer spent working in Rome - my first experience in journalism. As the intern, I was happily sacrificed on the altar of the news and was the one sent to all the live events and press conferences. At the time, I thought it was incredibly generous; it didn’t take me long to see the true motives as my colleagues lounged around in air-conditioned offices. I faced the heat waiting for buses that never arrived, on trams packed with people and walking up

and down the streets until I finally gave up and rented one ridiculously tiny yellow electric car with only windows for ventilation.

Aside from the obvious dangers to health and wellbeing, heatwaves pose a question of productivity for the workforce - and for big cities. People work differently when the heat around them is unbearable, and cities must take this into account. As giants beasts of concrete and asphalt, they tend to be invariably warmer than the countryside around them. Cast your mind back to last summer in London, when shops and businesses shut their doors as temperatures hovered over 40 degrees.

There is not much research on heat and productivity, but an LSE working paper from 2016 brings some clarity, suggesting - as expected - that more labour intensive sectors are more exposed to heat waves. Sectors with “lower elasticity between labour and capital” are also subjected to the same faith, according to the authors.

In practice, it means cities whose economic output relies heavily on sectors

like construction would face large productivity costs.

The study estimates that “in a warm year in the far future (2081-2100)” the losses to the urban economy could “range between 0.4 per cent of Gross Value Added (GVA) for London and 9.5 per cent for Bilbao in the absence of adaptation”.

Suggested adaptation measures include installing air conditioning and solar blinds, as well as improving insulation. For London in particular, changing working hours - working between 7 and 11 am and then between 17 and 20 - could “save the London economy over 700 million euros by the end of the century”. Watch the Brits embrace the siesta.

London might be fine this summer, but won’t necessarily be over the next ones. So it’d be better, instead of just looking at Europe with fear, to start to prepare, so that when extreme temperatures reach these shores too, employers won’t have to suffer in the sweltering heat like I did on that Roman summer years ago.

Europe is set to record its hottest ever temperature in Sicily and Sardinia this week

These days an iPhone with a middle button is retro. Imagine being the proud owner of the first-edition, unopened 2007 iPhone bought for almost $200k yesterday. The 4GB mobile was described as a ‘red hot collectible’.

HOLY GRAIL First edition 2007 Apple iPhone is sold for $190,000 at auction

MOTORING

FEELING HUNGARY

IN1980s Hungary, the best way to make your Lada, Skoda or Moskvitch go faster was to bolt on the turbocharger from a tractor. Kamm founder Miki Kázmér embraced this make-do-and-mend car culture, turning his talents to Volkswagen Beetles after Communism crumbled in 1989.

Kázmér then travelled to America, set up a film production agency and bought his first Porsche. The bug had bitten and, back in Budapest, he began work on the Kamm 912c. Like the Hungarian hot-rods of his youth, this underdog Porsche does more with less – not least because, well, it isn’t actually a 911. Produced from 1965-1969, the 912 was the Cayman of its day: a cheaper alternative to the 911 with four cylinders instead of six. Its original 1.6-litre engine – borrowed from the Porsche 356 SC – mustered a modest 90hp. Here,

Swiss specialist JPS Aircooled stretches it to 2.0 litres, adding individual DBW throttle bodies, electronic fuel injection and a custom stainless steel exhaust. The result is 190hp in a car that weighs just 750kg.

Key to the Porsche’s minimal mass is carbon fibre: the ‘c’ in 912c. Made inhouse by Kamm, it’s used for everything from the bullet-shaped door mirrors to the beautifully sculpted engine shroud. You can even specify a full carbon body shell, which slashes kerb weight (with fluids) to a mere 680kg.

For context, a new 992 Carrera tips the scales at 1,505kg.

To rein in the 912’s added performance, Kamm fits a Porsche competition clutch, ZF limited-slip differential and AP Racing disc brakes, along with a rally-style hydraulic handbrake. The stock torsion bar suspension is

KAMM 912C

PRICE: £370,000

POWER: 190HP

TORQUE: 168LB FT

0-62MPH: 4.5SEC (EST.)

FUEL ECONOMY: N/A

KERB WEIGHT: 750KG

swapped for Tractive adjustable coilovers, with five levels of adjustment via a dial on the dashboard. Image splitrim alloys and semi-slick Yokohama tyres complete the road-racer setup. Unlike some Porsche restomods, the Kamm keeps a pleasingly low profile. Peel off the stickers from this first production prototype and it could be any classic, short-wheelbase 911. Sorry, 912. It doesn’t even have a ducktail.

That all changes when you fire up the flat-four, which bristles with urgent energy. The 912c doesn’t have a stereo, although you’d struggle to hear one anyway. It’s a different sound to an aircooled 911 – less polished, more rambunctious – with an irate snarl of induction that ambushes your senses beyond 5,000rpm.

Refinement isn’t the Kamm’s strong suit, then – electric air conditioning and a USB socket in the glovebox are the only nods to modernity – but your focus will be elsewhere. With unassisted steering, unservoed brakes and a short-shift manual gearbox, this is an unapologetically analogue experience that demands mental and physical effort. The rewards are worth it, though, the combination of light weight and lack of inertia delivering a virtuous circle of driving fun.

Best of all, it really works on British B-

roads. Passing SUVs on country lanes is a sensor-squawking, buttock-clenching ordeal in most modern supercars, but the slim-hipped Porsche (nearly 400mm narrower than a Cayman) rarely needs to slow down. Wind off the adaptive dampers and it’s relatively supple as well, holding its line and responding to the smallest inputs through the lovely Momo Prototipo wheel.

There’s also a toggle behind the wheel to tweak the Life Racing ECU, bringing idle speed up to a fretful 2,000rpm and making the zesty engine feel even more intense. It’s labelled ‘Drive Me Crazy’, and perhaps the 912c would if you drove it every day. However, as a weekend warrior, it makes for a bespoke, very beguiling alternative to, say, a new 992 GT3 RS. Not bad for a car that isn’t actually a 911.

Tim Pitt writes for motoringresearch.com

TRIUMPH IS BACK WITH RADICAL TR25 ELECTRIC SPORTS CAR

DO NOTadjust your newspaper.

This really is a new Triumph sports car – the first since the TR8 of 1978 – although the TR25 remains very much a concept for now. Revealed in London, it celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Triumph Motor Company.

The TR25 was inspired by the ‘Jabbeke’ Triumph TR2, which broke the production car speed record in 1953. The one-off streamlined special has been reimagined by Makkina, a British design house that usually works behind the scenes for major car manufacturers.

The project has the blessing of the BMW Group, which owns the Triumph name, and its electric powertrain comes from an i3S. After BMW's

successful reinvention of Mini and Rolls-Royce, could the TR25 herald (sorry, car joke) a comeback for this much-loved British brand?

Bold without being brash, and both retro and futuristic, the TR25 is an alternative vision for a modern sports car. Its doors open vertically, the rear buttress incorporates a reversing camera and a modest fly screen is the sum total of its weather protection.

The chassis and body panels are made from carbon fibre, with a singleseat layout for ‘pure driving pleasure’. Remove the cockpit cover, however, and there's also a flip-out jump seat suitable for short trips – perhaps a jaunt to the pub on a summer evening.

The ‘Jabbeke’ TR2 used a 90hp fourcylinder engine to reach its

record-breaking velocity of 124.889mph. Makkina’s version has twice the power and weighs in at 1,090kg – nearly 200kg lighter than an i3S. Zero to 62mph takes a brisk 5.3 seconds, although its maximum speed of 115mph won’t worry the 1953 original.

Makkina founder and director Michael Ani said: “The i3S platform proves that driving an electric car can be fun. The combination of instant torque, acceleration, agility and silence are as compelling now as ever.”

The TR25 is that rare thing: an EV that tugs at the heart strings. A production version is unlikely, we suspect, but it certainly propels Triumph back into the public consciousness. Your move, BMW...

Tim Pitt drives a restomod Porsche with a difference: the lightweight Kamm 912c.

MOTORSPORT

Formula E chief takes swipe at Formula 1 claims on sustainability

MATT HARDY

FORMULA E chief executive Jeff Dodds has hit out at motorsporting rival Formula 1 over its sustainability claims, stating that the world’s premier racing division is not sustainable and that improvements it has made are built upon a very low base.

Dodds is new to the electric racing series, which most recently completed a double header in sweltering conditions in Rome. He’s less than two months into the role but has been installed with generating more theatre in Formula E while staying true to its founding principles.

“Let’s be clear, that [F1] is not a sustainable sport,” Dodds told City A.M. “I’ll give them credit for getting better but let’s not try and convince anybody that that’s a big sustainable sport, because it’s not. There is a market for Formula 1 and people like the series, and therefore I give them full credit for anything they’re doing to try and improve their existing position. “So anything they do that is material and meaningful that makes them more sustainable, they should get credit for. [But] when I say a low base, [it’s] a very low base.”

F1 committed to net zero by 2030 but is unable to go fully electric – like Formula E – until at least 2039 because the electric series has an exclusive li-

cence. The Formula E season consists of 16 races in 11 countries across six months, compared to F1’s 22 races in 20 countries over eight months.

“Based on snippets of information I picked up on Formula 1, the annual impact is around 250,000 tonnes of carbon and I think that excludes things like fan travel and stuff like that,” Dodds added.

“So I’m not surprised Formula One is talking about it. Because they are. You only have to read the press or pick up the newspaper or turn on the telly and they’re talking about sustainability.

“But let’s be clear, you know that they’re talk-

Moeen backs Anderson in crunch Ashes Test

ensure Australia retain the Ashes.

MATT HARDY

ing about sustainability from a very, very low base.”

In response, Formula 1’s head of ESG Ellen Jones said the series had “always been at forefront of innovation, from creating the world’s most efficient hybrid engines to pioneering 100 per cent sustainable fuels which will run in our championship from 2026.

“We are making material changes to our business to reach Net Zero by 2030, reducing our carbon footprint by transforming our logistics networks, enhancing our remote broadcast capabilities, and powering our operations with renewable energy.”

MOEEN Ali has backed the returning James Anderson to make his mark this week as England look to level the Ashes on the pacer’s home turf and take the series with Australia to a decider.

The 40-year-old replaces Ollie Robinson in the only change made by England captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum for the fourth Test, which starts in Manchester tomorrow.

England went 2-0 down in the series before winning the third Test at Headingley last week and must now triumph at Old Trafford to keep alive their hopes of recovering the Urn, with a draw enough to

Alcaraz’s Wimbledon win rivals coronation for TV audience

FRANK DALLERES

CARLOS Alcaraz’s thrilling Wimbledon triumph attracted a peak audience of 11.3m viewers on BBC One – just short of the number who tuned in for the coronation of King Charles.

Alcaraz, 20, came from a set down to beat 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and win his first men’s singles title at the All England Club on Sunday afternoon.

BBC One’s live coverage, which lasted from 1pm to 7:10pm and included the build-up and trophy presentation, averaged 6.53m, an audience share of 58 per cent.

The peak came at 6:52pm as Alcaraz was wrapping up a 1-6 7-6 (86) 6-1 3-6 6-4 victory in an all-time classic final, according to industry monitor overnights.tv.

That was only slightly less than the 12.03m Britons who watched the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla on BBC One in May.

And the figure for Alcaraz’s title does not include the 4.1m who watched online or those who watched in pubs and public spaces.

The all-time UK record is held by England’s 1966 World Cup final triumph, which was 32.2m.

Moeen will bat at No3 due to the continued absence of Ollie Pope, who dislocated a shoulder at Lord’s in the second Test.

“There’s no doubt England are a better team with James Anderson in it,” said Moeen.

“He’s the best bowler we have and have had over the years, 100 per cent.

“Jimmy’s Jimmy, even in the first two games I actually thought he bowled really well. He’s been a bit unfortunate with catches and things not going his way.

“I think anybody that plays at their home ground for England, it’s amazing, but especially for him having his own end here. Being the

best bowler England have ever had, being a legend of a player and a great guy as well, it’s great to see him have the opportunity to play what could be his last one [Test at Old Trafford]. Hopefully he bowls well and gets us the win.”

England have not lost an Ashes series on these shores since 2001 but Australia could change that this week by retaining the urn without needing a result at the Oval in the fifth Test next week.

England have not won an Ashes Test at Old Trafford since 1981, when they beat the tourists by 103 runs, Ian Botham scoring 118 in the second innings.

The fourth Test begins tomorrow and could run until Sunday.

Open champion Smith not worried about LIV legacy

MATT HARDY

REIGNING Open champion Cameron Smith insists he is a better golfer now than when he won the Claret Jug in 2022 and that, after a year on the LIV Golf tour, he doesn’t worry about what people think of him.

Australian Smith won the tournament last year at St Andrews, holding off Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young on the famous Scottish course.

This week’s Open, the 151st edition, is being held at Royal Liverpool, where McIlroy won last time the course hosted the major in 2014.

“I don’t think there’s any added motivation there,” the 29-year-old said.

“I think we’re all here to win the Claret Jug and basically any one of these guys, if they have their week this week, is going to walk away with it.

“I think LIV aside, I’m determined to try my best every week and just try and be a better golfer than I was last week.

“I think the person is the same. I think my old boy would give me a clip around the ears if I was any different.

“I think I’m actually a better golfer now than last year. I’ve never tried too much to worry about what people thought of me.”

McIlroy warmed up for his latest attempt to end a nine-year major drought by winning the Scottish Open at Renaissance Club on Sunday.

Formula E chief Jeff Dodds is less than two months into the role

GOLF

FOOTBALL

Prize money trebles but bonus row drags on

THE WOMEN’S World Cup may not have kicked off yet but it has already been hailed as a transformative moment in the growth of the game, with prize money increasing more than three-fold and, for the first time, most of it being paid directly to players.

But some financial issues, including a bonus row between the Lionesses and Football Association, remain unresolved and look like rumbling on into the tournament, which begins in New Zealand on Thursday.

Perhaps the biggest breakthrough is the headline figure of $110m (£84m) total prize money, a vast increase on the $30m distributed at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France. Four years ago the winners, USA, received $4m; this time it will be $10.5m. That came after extensive lobbying from international players’ union Fif-

Want a snapshot of the evolution of women’s football? See the ads, says Matt Readman

FOUR years ago, the Women’s World Cup was billed as the biggest to date, but despite the hype it was still struggling to be commercially attractive for sponsors and advertisers. As the Women’s Sport Trust explained “when women’s sport is approached using the same commercial frameworks as men’s sport [...] it risks being seen as a poor business decision”.

What made the 2019 World Cup commercially viable was in large part thanks to the rise of the #MeToo movement in the late 2010s. It meant that gender empowerment was a key cultural topic and advertisers used the tournament as a proxy for that very real battle being fought in society.

You can see this in the advertising, which often act as a cultural barometer. The lesser-known players and the on-pitch product were relegated behind bigger characters and narratives: Budweiser used famous English actresses to carry a rousing rendition of Queen Elizabeth I’s speech; Nike used a fictional little girl as the central protagonist of their global spot, and BBC’s Change The Game campaign was fronted by rapper Ms Banks. The tone was sincere and defiant. This was a serious cause worth fighting for.

Fast forward to 2023 and a lot’s changed. On the pitch we’ve seen the Lionesses bring football home, women’s clubs selling out stadiums and star players who are as happy on the Graham Norton couch as they are in the centre circle. This, as always, is reflected in the advertising.

Orange’s ad la Compil des Bleues does the exact opposite of those in 2019. Rather than hiding the players behind better known stars, it literally uses technology – special effects that superimpose male French players onto goals scored by the women – to unmask them and their skill on the pitch.

In Adidas’s spot, the first thing we are introduced to is three players: Germany’s Lena Oberdorf, England’s Alessia Russo and Australian Mary Fowler. Their names are in bold and in your face. They’re wearing fashionable off-pitch Adidas gear but showcasing outrageous on-pitch skills. They’re the

pro, who wrote to Fifa president Gianni Infantino to ask the governing body to raise pay and conditions at the Women’s World Cup to the same level as the men’s edition.

The October 2022 letter was signed by Fifpro’s dozens of member unions from across the globe and 150 players from 25 national teams in what it hailed as “the largest piece of collective action ever undertaken by women’s football players”. Their argument was that increasing the rewards and improving conditions creates a virtuous cycle: more women making a living from football leads to more players, higher technical levels and broader competition, generating

more interest to fund further professionalisation.

BOW TO REQUESTS

While Fifa stopped short of equalising prize money with the men’s World Cup, where $440m was on offer in Qatar last year, Fifpro narrowed the gap considerably and says it is optimistic of levelling the playing field by the next tournament in 2027. Significantly, Fifa did bow to the players’ other requests. For the first time, travel arrangements, the standard of accommodation and facilities, and the size of the travelling delegations will be on par with the men’s tournament. And in another first, a large chunk of

WORLD CUP ADS SHOW

WOMEN’S GAME NOW HAS ITS OWN STARS

The visual world is bright and hyperstylised, the tone is fun, almost funny. The thumping remastering of 90s classic On A Ragga Tip nods to the past but everything else screams future. The subtle references to Ian Wright’s granddaughter are a hint at what’s to come but the focus is on here and now.

HARMONY

Nike’s ads are even more interesting. I say ads, because instead of a single film they are releasing a series. The first to drop, featuring Australian and Chelsea striker Sam Kerr, shows how the player’s backflip is inspiring the world. Note that this isn’t inspiring young girls, it’s all of us.

The second release heroes Norway’s Ada Hegerberg dribbling through an

the prize money will be paid directly to players to minimise the danger of corrupt individuals at national associations creaming it off. Fifpro asked for at least 30 per cent to be paid this way; Fifa has committed to over 50 per cent.

It means that all players at the Women’s World Cup are guaranteed at least $30,000, even if they lose every game or don’t make an

USA banked $4m in 2019 but this year’s winners will get $10.5m

appearance. At the other end of the scale, members of the winning squad stand to bank $270,000 per player. Some of the bigger nations, such as the USA and co-hosts Australia, are paying their players bonuses on top. That is not the case with England, however, despite being European Champions and seen as torchbearers for the women’s game. The Lionesses are said to be unhappy about the discrepancy and have aired their grievances to the FA. Talks on the issue are ongoing but there may not be a resolution before they begin their campaign against Haiti on Saturday.

entire team, to the growing fury of the opposition coach. Again, this spot is a hyperbolic celebration of outrageous skill. It’s clever, funny and a throwback to Nike ads from the men’s game.

Speaking of which, their third release for Brazilian Debinha is a direct reference to some of the most famous Nike adverts ever made with the Brazil national team and Joga Bonito.

This reflection of the men’s game may feel unoriginal, but it’s actually the biggest compliment women’s football can get. It shows that it is a genuine equal; justifiable on its own terms, not as a metaphor for something else. This is no tribute act.

These ads feel fresher and almost cooler than the men’s ads they’re nodding to. They’re just as bombastic and fun but there is a touch of femininity in them too, an element of style that

the men’s game hasn’t always been able to claim. Having the confidence to embrace that femininity is another sure sign that these ads are different for all the right reasons. It’s also the biggest clue of where the women’s game is headed.

Women’s football will stop being used as an overt metaphor for gender empowerment. It won’t be positioned as a rival to men’s football or more family-friendly. It will become comfortable as its own thing; a distinctive alternate version of football. It’s not about forcing fans to choose, it’s about creating something supplementary. These ads are starting to show a world where men’s and women’s football live together in total harmony.

Matt Readman is chief strategy officer at creative agency Dark Horses.

SPORT BUSINESS

Women’s football will stop being used as an overt metaphor for empowerment. It will become comfortable as its own thing

Fifa has heeded players’ calls for better pay and conditions at Women’s World Cup but issues remain, writes Frank Dalleres