Monday 24 July 2023

LONDON’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER

PROFIT WITH A PURPOSE KURT GEIGER BOSS NEIL CLIFFORD ON GROWTH AND KINDNESS P10

BANKS SET FOR RATES SCRUTINY

BUMPER PROFITS LIKELY TO SPARK WESTMINSTER ANGER

CHRIS DORRELL

THE UK’s largest banks are set to report another round of bumper profits this week amid the furore over savings rates and growing concern about the health of the UK economy.

Lloyds, Natwest and Barclays are expected to report another strong set of figures for the second quarter thanks to the impact of rising interest rates.

Rising rates boost banks’ net interest margin (NIM), the difference between what they pay out and receive in interest payments.

Lloyds kick off earnings season on Wednesday, with Barclays following on Thursday and Natwest on Friday. Standard Chartered also report results on Friday.

Analysts at UBS were bullish, predicting the results would show “better net interest income, no real bad asset formation and good capital generation”.

A BOOST FOR 5G ED VAIZEY BACKS VODAFONE’S MEGA MERGER P13

EXCLUSIVE NICHOLAS EARL

OCTOPUS Energy will team up with institutional investors to spend more than £15bn on offshore wind projects over the rest of the decade, City A.M. can reveal. The funds will be channelled

According to analyst consensus, Lloyds will make nearly £1.7bn in the three months to June, down from £2bn last year.

Lloyds’s NIM is expected to have contracted slightly from last quarter as the bank will have paid out more to customers in interest payments. Looking forward, analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence said “NIM comments will be critical for sentiment as pressure to reprice deposits is growing”.

Barclays meanwhile is predicted to rake in £1.9bn, up from £1.5bn last year, while profit at Natwest is expected to rise to £1.5bn from £1.4bn last year.

The return of higher interest rates has seen banks generate some of their highest profits in years, but it has also attracted political attention.

Politicians and regulators have been pouring pressure onto banks to pass on higher savings rates to customers.

Last week the big four banks offered easy access savings rates at a range between 0.9 and 1.75 per cent contrasting with the Bank of England’s base rate currently at five per cent.

The Financial Conduct Authority warned banks that they must inform savers if better deals are available once the new Consumer Duty comes into force at the end of this month.

The impact of rising interest rates will also put pressure on borrowers, forcing banks to set aside higher loss provisions to cope with bad loans.

Despite the increase, Edward Allenby, economist at Oxford Economics, argued that banks were well positioned to weather the storm. “We think the sector is entering this period of slow-burn stress from a relatively good position,” he said.

£ BOSSES TO BE QUIZZED BY MINISTER

OVER FARAGE FIASCO: PAGE 3

IT’S GRIM UP NORTH...

Manchester weather ends hopes of England’s Ashes comeback

JAMES SILVER

ENGLAND’S cricketers were robbed of the chance to tie up the Ashes yesterday after rain wiped out the fifth day of the Old Trafford Test in Manchester.

The draw means England can only tie the series 2-2 even with a win later this week at The Oval in south

through its renewables arm, Octopus Energy Generation, and targeted at the development, construction and operation of offshore wind turbines.

The cash will be sourced from both Octopus’s own resources –with the energy giant including former US vice-president Al Gore’s

Generation Investment Management among its backers –and partners like pension funds.

Octopus is open to new projects across the globe, but its primary focus will be Europe, including the UK, although it has not provided

a breakdown of where the money will be spent.

The company’s generation arm currently manages £6bn worth of green energy projects worldwide.

London, meaning Australia –who won the series in 2021 –will retain the famous urn.

The washout of the entire fifth day and much of the fourth on Saturday has prompted calls for ‘reserve days’ to be built into the cricketing calendar to make results more likely.

£ STOKES’ REACTION: PAGE 20

Octopus Energy Generation, said: “Offshore wind has already rapidly transformed the UK’s energy system – and we’re incredibly excited about the potential for this technology globally. We’ve got big plans to invest in even more of these big fans to help wean ourselves off polluting gas.”

Octopus doubles down on offshore wind with bumper investment plan

STANDING UP FOR THE CITY

Starmer’s ULEZ meddling shows Labour still has a lot to learn

ONLY the Labour Party could turn a night in which they overturned a 20,000 majority Tory seat in Yorkshire into an almighty row over a tax on fewer than 10 per cent of outer London’s cars. The Conservatives’ narrow victory in Uxbridge, which had at least something (but by no means all) to do with opposition to ULEZ, has done just that. Keir Starmer, who has yet to win any major election, has spent the weekend

THE CITY VIEW

gently telling the mayor of London, who has won two, to rethink the policy. Sadiq Khan has said he’ll tweak around the edges, but the principle will remain. Khan even retweeted the Pope’s call yesterday for leaders to take bold measures to protect the

climate. For all that Starmer and his chancellor Rachel Reeves have become ever presents in the Square Mile, the party’s inability to look professional remains a black mark against it for the business community. That a landmark Labour policy in London, previously lauded by the party, could be trashed on the back of a multifaceted by-election result does not suggest that the rest of Keir Starmer’s policy platform can be trusted. Such

amateurism occurs in other areas.

The party’s plan last week to restrict child benefit to the first two children managed to split the party in two on the week that a grown-up political outfit would have been turning its fire exclusively on the opposition. When challenged on major policies, the party’s front bench vacillates. When asked for specifics, they offer platitudes. What reason is there to believe

OPTIMISM BIAS Spain’s left-wing prime minister Pedro Sanchez said he felt

after voting in yesterday’s snap general election, despite a looming right-wing threat

Khan open to tweaking ULEZ expansion but remains determined not to scrap it

JESSICA FRANK-KEYES

SADIQ KHAN is prepared to review the expansion of the ULEZ policy, but remains committed to delivering it, City A.M. understands.

The London mayor has faced criticism after opposition to his plans to roll out the ultra low emission zone (ULEZ) across the capital played into the Uxbridge by-election defeat.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer suggested at the party’s national policy forum this weekend that “we are doing something very wrong if policies put forward by the Labour Party end up on

each and every Tory leaflet”.

The £12.50 ULEZ daily charge for the drivers of polluting vehicles proved unpopular with voters in the car-reliant west London seat, where newlyelected Tory MP Steve Tuckwell led a successful campaign.

It was reported that Khan was in “constructive listening mode”, according to the Sunday Times, and planned to look at reviewing the policy in a bid to help struggling motorists.

City A.M. understands from sources close to the mayor

that he is open to ideas to further mitigate the impact of expansion –such as widening the scrappage fund to help replace old non-compliant cars –as long as they do not reduce the effectiveness of the scheme in combating air pollution.

Ultimately, the sources said that Khan (pictured) still believes expanding ULEZ is the right thing to do to save lives from air pollution and tackle the climate crisis. The policy is currently subject to a judicial review.

that the pledge to find a balance between private and public sector will not be ditched the moment something turns against Keir, and the hard-left Rayner wing of the party finds an opportunity? There is deep frustration with the instability of the various forms of Tory government over recent years in the City, but it is still striking how little enthusiasm there is for Labour. Rishi Sunak, with his Silicon Valley instincts, will surely sense an opportunity.

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

NETANYAHU IN HOSPITAL AS CRISIS ERUPTS OVER ISRAELI JUDICIAL OVERHAUL

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was taken to hospital to have a pacemaker fitted to his heart on Sunday, as a battle over his plans to overhaul the judiciary intensified.

THE GUARDIAN UNILEVER TO COMPLY WITH RUSSIAN CONSCRIPTION LAW IF STAFF CALLED UP Unilever, which owns brands including Cornetto and Dove, has said it will comply with Russian conscription law, meaning its Russian employees could be sent to war in Ukraine if called up.

BLOOMBERG

‘BARBENHEIMER’ DEBUT LIFTS WEEKEND BOX OFFICE TO FOUR-YEAR HIGH Barbie and Oppenheimer brought out movie fans in droves, helping box office revenue this weekend more than double from a year earlier to reach around $302m.

Brewdog boss says rail strikes have cost the business £3.5m

JESSICA FRANK-KEYES

THE BOSS of Brewdog has said that rail strikes have cost the firm £3.5m to date, warning that the strikes are “killing UK businesses”.

Chief executive James Watt took to Linkedin to urge ministers to “step in and sort this mess out”.

Rail workers have been striking on and off for over a year in a dispute with the train companies, causing mass disruption to passengers and commuters.

Watt said the “grim reality” of strikes went far beyond passengers

and warned sales were down 50 per cent on average on picket days, leading to £600,000 in lost staff wages, £1m in lost Treasury VAT, National Insurance and beer duty revenue.

“The strikes are threatening the viability and future of thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands of jobs all over the UK,” Watt said.

But he stressed that after “the last few years, I don’t believe this current government is capable of doing anything productive for the UK people or our struggling businesses”.

“good vibes”

THE FINANCIAL TIMES

UK inflation will top Bank’s target until end of 2024

JACK BARNETT

INFLATION will top the Bank of England’s two per cent target for over a year, hobbling UK economic growth and eroding workers’ finances, new forecasts out today claim.

City analysts last week cheered numbers from the Office for National Statistics that suggested UK inflation has finally entered the early stages of a much tipped decline. June’s rate fell faster than expected to 7.9 per cent from 8.7 per cent, mainly caused by lower petrol prices.

But prices are set to ease much slower than previously expected due to food and energy costs remaining elevated, according to consultancy the EY Item Club.

UK inflation will average 7.6 per cent this year, above the 6.2 per cent forecast by the group in April, extending the squeeze on family finances, with annual pay growth not projected to beat price increases until 2025.

On an annual basis, inflation will average 3.4 per cent in 2024, up from the 2.5 per cent forecast three months ago. Higher prices and interest rates will be a slow-burning drag on the UK economy,

Banks to discuss account closures with Treasury after Farage fiasco

CHRIS DORRELL

BANK BOSSES are set to be called in for a meeting with City minister Andrew Griffith over the closing of bank accounts.

said he would seek a discussion with the finance chiefs “at the earliest opportunity”.

The letter will be sent to 19 banks and financial institutions on Monday, the report said.

with our [the bank’s] values”.

mainly driven by consumers reining in spending and businesses shunning investment.

As a result, the EY Item Club has more than halved their 2024 GDP growth forecasts to 0.8 per cent from April’s 1.9 per cent forecast, although the country is on track to dodge a recession.

The Bank of England has lifted interest rates at the most aggressive pace since the 1980s, up to five per cent from near zero in December 2021, in response to sky-high inflation.

Monetary policy operates with a lag, meaning it takes time to constrain growth, convincing the EY Item Club to downgrade their medium-term GDP forecasts. Rate cuts are not pencilled in until the second half of 2024.

Experts said UK growth prospects are dependent on the cost of living ebbing, allowing the Bank to consider shifting interest rates lower.

“The inflation and interest rate outlook is a key risk for the forecast. Should inflation prove more stubborn than expected, the prospect of even more rate rises than we expect will come very much into play,” Martin Beck, chief economic advisor to the EY Item Club, said.

HIGH SPIRITS Welsh malt whisky maker Penderyn awarded special protection

The BBC reported yesterday that the Treasury has drafted a letter to banks saying the issue of “client debanking” had raised “significant concern” in parliament. Griffith

The letter comes shortly after it emerged Nigel Farage’s bank account was closed by Coutts, a subsidiary of Natwest, because the former Brexit party leader’s views “do not align

Natwest boss Alison Rose has apologised to Farage for comments made about him in the bank’s papers, which described him as having “xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views”.

The government has since announced measures to ensure that customers cannot not be de-banked because of their political views.

Elon Musk says Twitter’s legacy blue bird to be replaced by an X

MICHELLE CONLIN AND MRINMAY DEY

TWITTER owner Elon Musk on Sunday signalled he would do more to take the social media company in a new direction with a rebranding that will replace its well known blue bird logo with an X after acknowledging advertisers have been slow to return. The change, not yet evident last night, followed Musk’s recent admission that advertising revenue remains nearly half of what it once was. Twitter’s cash flow

has been negative as a result of both that and its heavy debt load.

“Interim X logo goes live later today,” Musk said on Twitter adding that “X.com” would now redirect to Twitter’s website. Musk’s X Corp owns Twitter. The company said it would comment on the changes later.

Under Musk’s tenure since October, the company has changed its business name to X Corp reflecting the billionaire’s vision to create a “super app” like China’s Wechat.

WELSH single malt whisky maker Penderyn has been granted special protection by the government under a post-Brexit scheme launched in 2021 to designed to safeguard the quality and origin of geographically significant food, drinks and agricultural products.

PM vows to meet one million homes pledge and cut planning red tape

JESSICA FRANK-KEYES

RISHI Sunak has vowed his government will meet a Conservative manifesto pledge to build 1m new homes before the end of this parliament.

The Prime Minister made the promise ahead of a speech by housing and levelling up secretary Michael Gove detailing measures to slash red tape on loft and barn conversions and extensions.

Sunak says development will be

focused on inner cities where the housing need is greatest, as opposed to “concreting over the countryside”.

Sunak said: “We need to keep going because we want more people to realise the dream of owning their own home.

“Our reforms will help make that a reality, by regenerating brownfield land, streamlining the planning process and helping homeowners to renovate and extend their houses.”

Gove said the government now has a plan to “build the right homes in the

Macquarie’s role in gas network raises concerns

NICHOLAS EARL

MACQUARIE’s growing role in the country’s gas network has raised the concerns of the chair of an influential Westminster committee, after an investor consortium led by the Australian asset manager raised its stake in National Gas last week.

Angus MacNeil, chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee and SNP MP, told City A.M. its near-complete takeover of National Grid’s gas business could spell trouble.

“There is an obvious concern that Macquarie will do in gas networks what they have done in the likes of Thames Water, they will fillet the company, add on debt for bonuses and dividends for themselves. It is quite concerning this model of capitalism, as we have seen in water continues into energy,” he said.

National Gas is the group, formerly owned and spun off by National Grid, which operates the UK’s 4,700 miles of gas transmission pipes, which transport supplies at high pressure around the country.

National Grid sold a controlling 60 per cent stake in the gas arm to a consortium overseen by Macquarie for £4.2bn in March 2022.

But last week Macquarie raised its stake by an additional 20 per cent in the gas business, adding that it aspired to buy the remaining interest “in due course”.

This is still subject to a National Security Investment Act review, but ministers greenlit the initial 60 per cent stake in January earlier this year, meaning it is unlikely that there will be any issues.

However, the deal has attracted criticism following Thames Water’s latest travails, with the UK’s largest water supplier scrambling to shore up funds to maintain operations and tame a £14bn debt pile.

When Thames Water was under a Macquarie consortium-led ownership from 2006 to 2017 its debts rose from £3.4bn to £10.8bn, while forking out £1.1bn in dividends to shareholders.

Trade union GMB said last week that Macquarie’s “stranglehold” on the gas business “should send alarm bells ringing”.

Martin Bradley, Macquarie’s head of infrastructure for EMEA, said it was focused on making the businesses it owns “effective and sustainable” and was “backing significant investment” at National Gas over the coming years.

right places”.

Responding to Sunak and Gove’s comments, Labour’s shadow levelling up and housing secretary Lisa Nandy said: “We don’t need more reviews or press releases, we need bold action to get Britain building. That’s why Labour has set out plans to reform the planning system to build the homes we need,” she said.

“We will restore housing targets, reform compulsory purchase rules and take the tough choices to back the builders, not the blockers,” she added.

AT LEAST IT’S NOT DELAYED Eurostar raises debt worries

French billionaire Patrick Drahi is considering raising his stake in BT

CITY A.M. REPORTER

FRENCH billionaire Patrick Drahi is considering raising his stake in BT, according to a report.

Drahi is mulling upping his stake in the telecoms giant from 24.5 per cent to 29.9 per cent, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday citing City sources.

Over the past 18 months, the entrepreneur has been gradually raising his stake in the FTSE-100 firm via his telecoms firm Altice.

When Altice increased its stake from 12.1 per cent to 18 per cent last year, the government launched a review of the move under the National Security and Investment Act.

The government later cleared the

deal, however, saying it didn’t raise any national security risks.

It is understood that the new stake would also have to be screened by the government, the paper reported. Both Altice and BT were contacted for comment.

It comes after BT announced this month that boss Philip Jansen will step down within the next year.

Gove is set to cut red tape on loft and barn conversions and extensions

EUROSTAR delivered a pretax profit last year of £61m up from a loss of £305m the year before, according to its latest accounts reported by The Sunday Times. However, auditors found a “material uncertainty” over its ability to continue as a going concern. Eurostar said the results showed a “robust recovery” and said it had sufficient cash reserves to repay the £350m loan in question if needed.

British Gas set to heat up bottom line at Centrica

NICHOLAS EARL

BRITISH GASis expected to post record profits this week, powered by Ofgem’s decision to temporarily raise allowances for suppliers in the price cap.

The UK’s largest energy firm, which is home to over 9m customers, is on course to report a massive boost in its earnings over the first six months of trading this year, when its owner Centrica unveils its second quarter results on Thursday.

Investec has estimated that British Gas profits could climb to £857m, a stark contrast to the relatively minor contributions Centrica’s retail arm made to its massive profits last year –with the supplier making up just £77m of the energy giant’s massive £3.3bn earnings last year.

Such hefty earnings would surpass British Gas’s previous record profits of £585m set in 2010.

This follows energy watchdog Ofgem’s decision to hike allowances for suppliers, which are factored into the price cap level to help companies cover the cost of supplying energy to consumers, with the aim of supporting market stability.

Previously, these allowances have been raised to recognise rising wholesale market prices caused by exceptional events such as the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Martin Young, equity analyst for utilities at Investec, said the profits would likely trigger a “media frenzy about energy prices”.

Shapps: Makes sense to ‘max out’ North Sea

NICHOLAS EARL

THE GOVERNMENT will “max out” the UK’s remaining reserves of North Sea oil and gas, declared energy security secretary Grant Shapps –describing Labour’s plan to forbid all future development in the area as ‘madness’.

Shapps told the Financial Times the government’s approach was compatible with Britain’s pledge to reach net zero carbon emissions over the next three decades, and said we have “no option but to carry on buying this stuff” –which we could produce at home –until green alternatives fill the gap.

Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer has announced a Labour government would not revoke existing contracts in the North Sea, but would also grant no new licences if his party wins the next general election.

Shapps warned this position “simply doesn’t make sense” as it would leave the country dependent on costly and more carbon intensive imports from overseas, putting Britain at the mercy of “Putin or anyone else who wants to hold us to ransom”.

Centrica boss Chris O’Shea

EY brings in Lord Gold to investigate failed plan to split the Big Four firm

CITY A.M. REPORTER

EY HAS reportedly hired Lord David Gold to investigate the firm’s failed split attempt earlier this year. After months and months of planning, the Big Four accounting firm ditched its plan to split its audit and consulting businesses in April following opposition from its US unit. Gold, according to a report in the Financial Times, has been brought in to review the processes behind the split plan, known as ‘Project Everest’.

The review, according to the paper, will look at the firm’s governance processes and assess who in the organisation was responsible for any particular failings.

Gold, who previously led law firm Herbert Smith, now known as Herbert Smith Freehills, currently works advising multinational companies on ethics and financial crime compliance issues.

Gold previously worked with RollsRoyce, advising the company on its ethics and governance systems after it

FTSE 100 CEO churn high but few are females

JACK BARNETT

WOMEN are far less likely than men to get the top job at Britain’s largest companies despite FTSE 100 firms shaking up their boardrooms at the fastest pace in five years, a study out today shows.

Just 27 per cent of C-suite appointments on London’s premier stock index in the first half of the year went to females, according to Russell Reynolds Associates. Experts said advances are too slow toward achieving greater gender diversity in the top brass at Britain’s largest firms.

The FTSE 100 is making “progress towards gender parity” and “a gradual ramping up of the rate at which women are being appointed CEO” Laura Sanderson, UK country manager of Russell Reynolds Associates, said.

“But we must also be impatient for change. Until half of the people being appointed CEO each quarter are women, there is still room for improvement,” she added.

Efforts to expand female representation at board level have ramped up in recent years, with FTSE 350 constituents aiming to have four out of every 10 senior jobs held by women by 2025. They met that target in February.

That drive is likely to have helped push the last six months’ female CEO appointment rate above the five-year average of 16 per cent. On the UK’s midcap FTSE 250 index, 10 per cent of leadership appointments were female.

There may be a renewed campaign for greater gender balance in boardrooms in response to signs that boards still “overwhelmingly favour men” for top jobs, Russell Reynolds Associates said.

FTSE 100 companies compare favourably to their international peers when it comes to female CEO appointments. Over the last five years, just nine per cent of those gigs on the S&P 500 have been given to women.

European boards are the most likely to back women for the elite job, with females making up 20 per cent of CEO appointments on the Euronext 100 over the last five years.

Some 11 per cent of FTSE 100 CEO positions changed hands in the first half of 2023, the biggest share in five years and up 38 per cent compared to the same period a year ago.

A change of direction after the end of the Covid-19 crisis was cited as a motivating factor among FTSE 100 firms to oust their chief by consultants at Russell Reynolds Associates.

paid £671m in penalties for paying bribes, and BAE Systems, monitoring the company’s compliance policies after it settled a US corruption investigation.

EY declined to comment on the report. David Gold and Associates was contacted for comment.

Gold’s appointment comes after EY’s global boss, Carmine Di Sibio, who was seen as the driving force being hind the plans, told the firm’s partners last month that he would step down in June 2024.

Allbright ‘set for rescue’ after debt write-off

CITY A.M. REPORTER

A WOMEN-ONLY members club is set to be rescued by investors in a bid to reset itself post pandemic.

Only two per cent of VC funding in 2021 went to firms with all-female founders

MPs warn of a lack of diversity in UK’s venture capital market

CHRIS DORRELL

MPs HAVE slammed the lack of diversity in the venture capital (VC) industry, demanding the government take greater action to improve representation of women and ethnic minorities in the sector.

In a new report, the influential Treasury Select Committee highlighted just two per cent of VC funding in 2021 went to businesses with all-female founders. Less than two per cent went to black and ethnic minority-led businesses.

The committee highlighted that as the government plays an important role in supporting the sector, it could also help to drive change.

Chair of the committee Harriet Baldwin said: “Firms must be compelled to reveal their diversity data when applying to these tax reliefs in an effort to increase transparency and drive change”

The committee did, however, welcome plans to consolidate pension funds, suggesting they are potentially an “untapped source” for developing deeper capital markets in the UK.

Allbright, which was set up in 2017 by the highly-respected London entrepreneurs Debbie Wosskow (pictured) and Anna Jones, will receive an injection of capital from Jonathan Goldstein’s Cain International, the Sunday Times reported. Wosskow and Jones handed over the day-to-day running of the business in September 2022 with chief operating officer Viviane Paxinos taking the reins.

According to the latest numbers, Allbright –which offers everything from networking to mentoring as well as a Mayfair premises –has more than 80,000 members.

Like many clubs Allbright was hit by the shift to flexible working, with the company offering a cheaper virtual membership in an attempt to correct the bottom line.

Cain International is expected to write off around £7m of debt and inject fresh capital, according to the report in the Sunday Times.

The firm is said to have appointed Begbies Traynor to run the administration process.

UK vacancies stay over one million a month as firms remain keen to hire

JACK BARNETT

UK BUSINESSES are still hungry to take on workers despite the economy slowing under the weight of high inflation and interest rates, a new survey out today shows.

Vacancies are up for the fifth month in a row and have now been at least 1m in every month since June 2021,

according to research by Adzuna. It signals that companies are still keen to take on staff despite the UK economy stalling due to rising prices and the Bank of England’s efforts to tame it with tighter monetary policy. GDP was unchanged in the three months to May and annual growth is expected to barely reach 0.5 per cent this year and one per cent next year.

Although down quicker than expected in June to 7.9 per cent from 8.7 per cent, inflation is still very high and has been outpacing wage growth, keeping consumer spending subdued. Although open roles have contracted 12 per cent over the last year, it is an uptick from the 16.8 per cent and 19.45 per cent annual drop in May and April respectively.

Adzuna’s figures suggest firms believe the UK’s economic slump will be short-lived

Gold’s appointment comes after EY’s global boss said he would step down in June 2024

AI in focus as Big Tech giants reveal results

JESS JONES

THE RACE to exploit the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) will dominate investor chatter around big tech this week, with all the big players set to release results to Wall Street.

Ads supremo Sir Martin Sorrell said he expects higher than anticipated revenue growth across the board, albeit down on the last decade.

Alphabet and Microsoft are taking the stage on Tuesday evening in the UK with their second and fourth quarter results, respectively.

Google parent company Alphabet has been somewhat sluggish in the AI race, marked by its underwhelming initial release of chatbot Bard, while Microsoft is rapidly gaining steam.

Commenting on Google’s AI prospects, Sophie LundYates, lead equity analyst at

Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The path to profits from this venture are arguably less clear cut than other giants.”

On Wednesday, Meta will reveal its second-quarter results, after a busy period birthing its new Twitter competitor, Threads. Although Threads hit 100m users just five days post-launch, Wall Street analyst Youssef Squali warned “much work remains for it to become consequential” to earnings.

Amazon releases results on Thursday. The e-commerce giant cautioned demand for its AWS cloud services might lag as businesses trim down tech budgets amid the economic slowdown. Lund-Yates said AWS will steal the spotlight next week after missing expectations in Amazon’s previous quarter.

Autostore had asked courts to ban Ocado from using patented robot technology

Autostore to pay Ocado £200m to settle robot patent lawsuit

HELEN WILLIAM

HMRC recovers £34bn from

tax investigations

CHRIS DORRELL

INVESTIGATIONS into tax evasion and avoidance have yielded £34bn in extra tax revenue over the past year, according to HMRC’s annual report. Although this was higher than the £30.8bn gained last year, it was still lower than the £36bn target.The last time HMRC recovered over £36bn was in 2019-20.

HMRC’s fraud investigations service, who look into the most serious tax fraud, were responsible for recovering £4bn. Their work led to 218 convictions over the past year, the report said.

Analysis by law firm Pinsent Masons revealed £2.7bn of the extra £34bn came from wealthy people underpaying on income tax.

OCADO is to be paid £200m in a deal with Norwegian company Autostore which accused it of breaching patents. In a joint statement released on Saturday, Ocado Group, the automated supermarket company, and Autostore said they have settled their longrunning dispute over robot patents.

A High Court judge ruled in March Autostore’s “patents were invalid” and regardless, Ocado did not infringe them.

In 2020, Autostore tried to protect six patents that it said Ocado had breached, and launched a legal battle. Autostore is to pay Ocado £200m in 24 monthly instalments starting in July 2023 under the new settlement.

Steven Porter, head of tax disputes and investigations at Pinsent Masons, described the total as “remarkable” adding “HMRC is going to be casting its net very widely over the next year” due to high public debt.

Zuckerberg’s Meta will reveal its Q2 results PA

Data released last year showed that HMRC is now tracking 512 firms suspected of using tax havens, an 84 per cent increase on last year.

ENERGY

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

Chinese rebound essential for oil demand

China is the key player in future oil forecasts, admits Fatih Birol, chief executive of the International Energy Agency (IEA). He reiterated the IEA's view that oil markets are expected to tighten in the second half of the year, but recognised the group could revise its growth projections depending on China’s economic performance.

Speaking to reporters at a meeting of G20 energy ministers in India, Birol confirmed there was a case for a further reduction in demand projections. He said: “Yes, but there is also a possibility of revising up, so we will see how the Chinese economic prospects look like. But in any case we see a tightening in the second half of the year.”

Shapps gives nuclear green light but there are still delays aplenty

SNuclear (GBN), leaving everyone awaiting his arrival as if he was an ageing rock star stepping out on an arena tour.

Shapps wasn’t arriving with an obscure new concept album, though. Instead the minister had finally prepared to play the hits to an expectant crowd of energy enthusiasts. This was encouraging, as irrespective of the secretary of state’s tardiness, there is nothing tantalising about the decades of delays in reviving the country’s nuclear ambitions.

The government has now clarified the role of GBN, putting meat on the bones of a high concept premise announced over a year ago, with the state-backed company set to oversee a competition for small modular reactors and help select new sites for nuclear projects, including full-scale GW plants.

Shapps even flashed the cash, putting a £20bn upper limit on setting out a pipeline for these scaled-down power plants, while also confirming over £100m in collective support for advanced nuclear reactors which could theoretically offer hydrogen energy.

NUCLEAR PLANS WILL FIX A 'COLOSSAL MISTAKE'

The frontbench minister's rhetoric was also surprisingly bold, condemning the

In the same week Oppenheimer is set to appear on UK screens, Shapps seemed to invoke the spirit of the Manhattan Project when he slammed the developer-led approach of the past 30 years.

He argued this has led to nothing but delays, frustrations over funding, and just one power plant being built in nearly 30 years – the over-budget and over-time Hinkley Point C in Somerset, that is still awaiting completion.

“We are heralding the beginning of a new nuclear age, a renaissance in Britain’s nuclear industry,” Shapps said, in front of a large painted canvas of the industrial revolution at London’s Science Museum, while also joking that he should be holding a hammer and sickle as he pledged to reindustrialise the country.

With the government’s energy ambitions plagued already by supply chain issues, planning obstacles, dovish investor sentiment and market competition, such a bold backing of nuclear power is surely welcome.

Nevertheless, questions remain over whether the government has done enough to realise its goal of reviving the country’s ageing fleet of reactors in such a tight timeframe.

OUTFOXED Challenger energy supplier dragged over hot coals by power regulator

Outfox the Market has been forced to pay £1.8m to Ofgem for failing to provide essential financial data to the energy regulator, which has been ramping up its scrutiny of energy firms’ finances. The challenger energy supplier – home to around 100,000 customers in the UK – repeatedly failed to provide “an appropriate level of detail” over its financial health, the regulator announced over the weekend.

£ Brits could enjoy a £3.7bn windfall, says think tank Onward, if community benefits are made obligatory for new green projects. The government’s vast targets for wind, solar and electrification will require rural voters’ support, who on average back new infrastructure but think developers should let locals benefit from projects. Onward found 77 per cent of rural voters who are planning to vote Conservative would support local renewables if they come with compensation.

Downing Street’s ambitious energy security strategy includes ramping nuclear power up from 7GW to 24GW over the next three decades, contributing to a quarter of the country’s future energy needs – all while 85 per cent of current generation is set to go offline within the next 12 years. Much of the increase will come from the birth of a generation of 'small modular reactors' which are easier and cheaper, to build.

In such circumstances, it is disappointing that no SMRs will be up and running until the early 2030s, with a final decision on any projects not expected this parliament.

The government’s backstop is 2029, meaning it could be six years before any project is greenlit.

The SMR competition is likely to include a number of runners and riders, with RollsRoyce, Nuscale and Hitachi all in the running, yet the government could pick as few as two technologies to choose from, raising the risk of too many eggs in the basket of one company.

This is already a problem with the larger scale gigawatt power plants, as the UK’s hopes are currently in the hands EDF, the flagging French energy giant which required a full government takeover last year.

Hinkley Point C is on course to cost £33bn,

Sizewell C – a near identical power plant also being overseen by EDF – since last November.

These two plants could provide power to supply 12m homes, but the emphasis remains on ‘could’ until they are built.

While Shapps is confident private sector investment can be found, publicly there have been no bites, with UK investors still wary of supporting nuclear –despite new financing rules meaning taxpayers are on the hook for the initial construction stages.

This means there are real concerns over whether funding could be sustained for largescale plants without immense government borrowing, which would have to be paid for by taxpayers – such as a third full-scale nuclear plant at Wylfa, North Wales.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE FOR NEW NUCLEAR

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and repeated warnings over the lack of sufficient progress on electrification and emissions reductions from multiple climate bodies, time is truly of the essence. Yet there is no galvanising plan outlined for tackling local opposition to new projects, which could see plants scuppered under judicial reviews, or made electorally toxic for politicians.

Shapps has sought to be as diplomatic as possible, and when grilled over whether he would accept nuclear plants in his own back garden, he said there would be no need as every day MPs were lobbying for their own constituencies to build new nuclear plants. Yet YouGov polling shows around 40 per cent of the general public oppose power plants being built near them, in contrast to 17 per cent being against nearby wind farms. While some fear is fuelled by rare instances of disaster such as Chernobyl and Fukushima, also reflected are environmental concerns from charities about building in areas with diverse wildlife, and also storage and maintenance concerns with only a handful of sites suitable for plants.

These are all challenges Shapps and the government will have to face if they want to revive the country’s nuclear ambitions.

SEND US YOUR THOUGHTS

What can we do to tackle our energy challenges? Email energy editor Nicholas Earl at nicholas.earl@cityam.com

G20 climate disagreements heat up as summit fails to deliver joint call

CITY A.M. REPORTER

THE GROUP of 20 (G20) major economies meeting in India have failed to reach a consensus on phasing down fossil fuels following objections by some producer nations. Scientists and campaigners are exasperated by international bodies’ foot-dragging on action to curb global

warming even as extreme weather from China to the US underlines the climate crisis facing the world.

The G20 member countries together account for over threequarters of global emissions and gross domestic product, and a cumulative effort by the group to decarbonise is considered to be crucial in the global fight against

climate change.

However, disagreements including the intended tripling of renewable energy capacities by 2030 resulted in officials issuing an outcome statement and a chair summary instead of a joint communique at the end of their four-day meeting yesterday in Bambolim, in the Indian coastal state of Goa.

THE NOTE BOOK

Profit

right track

ILEFT school in 1983 with a single qualification to my name: an O-level in art.

I was dyslexic, but I didn’t find that out until years later when my son was tested for it. I was lucky enough to be a good talker, and I soon discovered you didn’t need qualifications to sell things. So I quickly moved into retail, getting a job at Debenhams. Retail is the biggest private employer in the UK and there are hundreds of thousands of people out there like me. School isn’t for them for whatever reason, but they have energy, ambition and creativity. The more we can harness that, the better. I have been at Kurt Geiger for almost 25 years, and the pandemic changed everything.

My niece is an A&E nurse, and she was on the front line dealing with people dying in front of her. I remember asking her on a family WhatsApp group whether there was anything we could do.

She said jokingly: ‘A free handbag would be nice’. I picked up a load of gift cards and drove them to the hospital.

My niece told me I wouldn’t believe what that little bit of joy had meant to people working so hard. So I told the board I wanted to do this everywhere we had one of our 57 stores.

We ended up giving away over £1.5m worth of product to key workers. We topped up all of our staffs’ salaries over furlough so noone had reduced pay and the board gave up their salaries for the period.

From that point on, we decided that kindness should be something that was part of our DNA as a business.

We’ve made NHS discounts permanent, and we spent a year creating the Kurt Geiger Kindness Foundation. For each purchase of an eligible item, we donate £1, helping to raise £1m every year. The charity is dedicated to giving young people, no matter their background, the opportunities and support needed to enter the creative industry.

I still love the buzz of the growth and the success of the company, but this work has become equally important.

Where interesting people say interesting things. Today, it’s Neil Clifford, chief executive of London luxury brand Kurt Geiger

ARNIE’S STILL PUMPING UP THE CROWDS

I have become addicted to Arnold’s Pump Club, a daily podcast by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Podcasts are often too long, and you run out of time to listen to them on the dog walk or the commute. This one lasts just five minutes and it’s all about health and positivity. Schwarzenegger shares three tips each morning on fitness, mental health, diet, sleep, avoiding anxiety and much more. I have learned a lot.

WHY FOOTWEAR IS THE PERFECT BAROMETER

We spent the two years of the pandemic selling nothing but sneakers and slippers because everyone was at home. Then we saw a 12-month boom in sales of high heels as everyone enjoyed partying again after lockdown. Now. we’ve reverted pretty much to what we saw pre-Covid: a mixture of sneakers, loafers, sandals and heels that are getting noticeably lower. Footwear is a real barometer of how we are living our lives.

£ We are now in the lucky position where Kurt Geiger is as big in the US as it is in the UK, and that means I spend about a third of my time stateside. This week I am going to Dallas, where I have never been before. I love travel and I particularly love the US. Pretty much everyone there is an entrepreneur at heart and I love their energy, optimism and ambition. The doorman at the hotel or the guy at passport control is fascinated to hear that I’m a handbag salesman. Curiosity is a massively underrated asset and the Americans have it in droves.

Russians strike cathedral rebuilt after Stalin attack

IRYNA NAZARCHUK

A RUSSIAN air attack on Ukraine's southern port of Odesa early on Sunday killed one, injured nearly 20 and badly damaged an Orthodox cathedral, Ukrainian officials said, adding the icon of the patroness of the city had been retrieved from under the rubble.

The missile attacks also destroyed six houses and apartment buildings. Fourteen people were hospitalised, Oleh Kiper, the governor of the Odesa region said on the Telegram messaging app.

The Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Cathedral, or the Transfiguration Cathedral, was severely damaged, Odesa's military administration said. Odesa's largest church building, it is located in the historic city centre, which is a UNESCO world heritage site.

The cathedral's archdeacon, Andriy Palchuk, told Reuters the missile strike had started a fire which only affected one corner of the cathedral containing non-historic religious artefacts for purchase by worshippers.

“When the right altar chapel –of the most sacred part of the cathedral –was hit, a missile piece flew through the whole cathedral and hit the area where we display icons, candles and

RHODES TO RUIN Wildfires sweep Greek island as UK travel operators scrap flights

£ I’m sure that the government realises that scrapping tax-free shopping for tourists was a serious error. I’m one of 320 business leaders who has signed an open letter calling for a rethink, because the impact on hospitality, retail, travel and tourism is very clear. It’s really unfortunate that after Brexit and the pandemic, we’ve managed to tie one hand behind our backs economically. We’ve made ourselves the most expensive place to shop in Europe. So a U-turn is inevitable; it’s just a matter of timing. I would urge the Chancellor to get on with it.

Bain take stake in Adani Capital and Housing

AKANKSHA KHUSHI

books for purchase,” he said.

Ukraine's defence ministry said the cathedral had now been “destroyed twice” –by Russian president Vladimir Putin and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

The early 19th-century cathedral was demolished in 1936 as part of Stalin's anti-religious campaigns and rebuilt when Ukraine gained independence from Moscow in 1991.

On Sunday parts of the building were destroyed, the floors covered in rubble and chunks were ripped off the cathedral's ornate walls. Several local residents from the surrounding area came to assist with cleaning up.

Russia's defence ministry reported strikes on targets in the area but denied it had struck the cathedral and said the building had probably been hit by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile.

Russia has attacked Odesa with missiles and drones several times since it withdrew on Monday from a year-old deal that had allowed for safe exports of Ukraine's grain from Black Sea ports. Odesa's ports were the departure point for grain leaving Ukraine in the Turkey and UN-brokered agreement. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Sunday's attack and vowed payback.

US-BASED investment firm Bain Capital said on Sunday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 90 per cent of Adani Capital and Adani Housing, buying out all of the Adani family's private investments in the company.

Gaurav Gupta will retain the remaining 10 per cent stake in Adani Capital and will continue to serve as its Managing Director and CEO, Bain said.

The investment firm has committed $120 million for Adani Capital and an additional liquidity line of $50 million in the form of Non-Convertible Debentures.

Adani Capital is a non-banking financial arm of the Adani group which started its lending operations in 2017.

The transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, aims to position Adani Capital as a standalone company to expand lending, Bain said.

"I am very happy that a credible investor like Bain is stepping in now and this will help the business grow manyfold from here," said Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani group.

The Adani group has recently been hit by a short-seller attack led by Hinderberg research, but has denied charges of stock price manipulation.

with purpose is keeping us on the

JET2 AND other operators cancelled holidays to a raft of Greek islands due to out-ofcontrol wildfires on Rhodes caused by soaring temperatures. Many of the airlines are instead opting to use these planes to ferry stranded customers back home. Reuters

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ONE-STOP SHOP FOR BROKER VIEWS AND MARKET REPORTS

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research to notes@cityam.com

THE LAST LEG?

Experts bet US and EU central banks set final rate rises this week

USFEDERAL RESERVE and European Central Bank (ECB) officials could launch their final interest rate rises this week as inflation ebbs in their respective economic blocs, experts are betting.

The Fed is on Wednesday tipped to raise borrowing costs 25 basis points to a range of 5.25 per cent and 5.5 per cent, whilst the ECB is projected to lift rates to 3.75 per cent the next day due to an easing in price rises.

However, there is a chance that Fed chief Jerome Powell and ECB president Christine Lagarde leave the door open for another rate increase in September after this week’s rate announcements.

In Britain, figures last week showed the cost of living fell quicker than expected in June to 7.9 per cent.

However, strong core inflation of

nearly seven per cent is worrisome. Financial markets think Threadneedle Street will eventually stop tightening at 5.75 per cent. .

Food price inflation is likely to have eased again in July, the British Retail Consortium’s UK shop price index on Wednesday is expected to show. On the corporate front, UK banks lead the way. The sector is poised to have fattened up profits by charging more for loans –made possible by the Bank’s 13 successive rate rises –while keeping savings rates attritional.

Lloyds Bank updates the City on Wednesday, as does Barclays and Natwest on Thursday and Friday respectively. Santander and Standard Chartered post second quarter results on Wednesday and Friday respectively. Last week the FTSE 100 clocked a very punchy performance, climbing three per cent to finish at 7,663.74 points.

Close Brothers was trading “in line with expectations”, according to a trading statement last Friday. The merchant banking group has seen “increased pressure from the inflationary environment” and faced difficulties from market conditions at its trading business. But analysts at Peel Hunt said “the investment case remains intact”. They maintained a 'Hold' rating with a target price of 977p.

Transport firm Firstgroup reported FY24 trading had been in line with expectations outlined last year. So far £70.9m of a £75m buyback programme has been completed. When it is complete, and subject to AGM approval, analysts at Peel Hunt noted another buy back programme will be launched to return a further £115m of capital. The analysts reiterated a 'Buy' rating with a target price of 185p.

“The final leg of the Fed and ECB’s tightening campaigns could be reached this week. Markets think the pair will lift borrowing costs by 25 basis points on Wednesday and Thursday respectively in what may be their final hikes.”

JACK BARNETT ECONOMICS EDITOR

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

OPINION

EDITED BY SASCHA O’SULLIVAN

Brits want to stop the boats but they also want closer trade ties with the EU

Eliot Wilson

FOREIGN policy almost always has a whiff of politically ionised air. Experts, whether real or selfappointed, can flourish, and this means that it can be quite difficult to establish what the electorate actually thinks.

Since 2019, the British Foreign Policy Group, a think tank, has carried out an annual survey of public opinion on foreign policy and global affairs, in an attempt to fill this significant lacuna. It is instructive to examine the data and pick out one or two major issues on which the government might be more attuned than it has so far.

We left the European Union formally more than three years ago, but the wounds remain exposed. But what do people actually think about our relationship with the EU? Of those surveyed, 61 per cent wanted to see trade barriers between the UK and the EU lowered, a figure which barely diminished—still at 58 per cent—when elicited only from those who had voted Leave. It is often now claimed that buyers’ remorse has set in on the Leave side of the referendum fight, and that, by implication, a future poll would see a majority desire the resumption of the UK’s membership. Given the diabolical and close nature of the referen-

dum itself knowing exactly what people think is important.

It is not as simple as a majority of the electorate wanting to undo Brexit. I suspect these data suggest something more sophisticated, an acknowledgement that something changed irrevocably when we left the EU but that our departure should not mean we do not seek a warm and mutually beneficial relationship as time goes on. Like any bad break-up, for a while it can be too raw to consider, but in the end you must co-exist.

The UK’s departure from the Single Market was always going to mean

some kind of tariff regime for a while. The EU had to see us suffer for a period, if only to discourage others. While the UK imports £430bn of goods and services to the EU, there is £340bn going the other way. These big numbers suggest a degree of mutual benefit, and it is in all parties’ interests that we begin to forge a freer market. Yet the idea of simply rejoining the EU is a policy to which even the Liberal Democrats will only subscribe under very specific conditions, and which has rarely commanded a majority in the opinion polls.

The BFPG survey results suggest that

our political leaders need to reset their approach. The EU needs to stop being our reflexive whipping boy; instead, both sides must draw breath, accept the current situation, and look to a new, closer relationship in future, rather than one which is simply held up against the status quo ante for comparison. That is what finds majority support in the survey, and the government would benefit from rethinking EU policy through that prism.

The other timeous observation from the survey is on the emotive subject of “stopping the boats”. Last week, amid

The next Mayor of London needs to stand up for financial services as well as housing

LONDON’S mayoral race is set.

Although not all parties have declared, Susan Hall is running as the Conservative candidate against Labour incumbent, Sadiq Khan, and the Green’s Zoë Garbett in next May’s election.

The winner will have the opportunity to shape London’s future across a range of areas including housing, transport, and policing. Whilst much of the forthcoming debate will rightly focus on these local issues, London’s place in the national picture must not be forgotten.

The mayoralty is one of the most powerful platforms outside of Westminster politics, so they must make London’s voice heard.

The capital faces unique challenges and has major inequalities, with 2.5 million people – roughly equivalent to the population of Birmingham – still living in poverty.

So drawing resources away from those who need it is not a solution. It is therefore vital that the Mayor cham-

Chris Hayward

pions the case that levelling up the country does not mean levelling down London.

Rather than viewing issues such as levelling up as north versus south, we should instead be looking within regions and within sectors for answers.

Take our financial and professional services sector, for example, twothirds of these jobs are outside London. As the sector thrives, as people learn new skills and develop their careers, it is cities across the country, like Manchester, like Leeds, and yes, London, who benefit.

The key is for places with shared interests – like in financial services – to

work together. This often happens most effectively when business is supported at the local level, such as the Mayor of London working with counterparts across the country on shared challenges.

The Mayor is also an ambassador for London internationally, showcasing the best of what we have to offer around the world.

Yet as outlined by the latest edition of the City of London Corporation’s global competitiveness study, London’s challenge as a global financial centre is significant. This includes post-pandemic recovery and growth.

To meet the needs of global and local businesses, to attract talent and investment, we need a focus on boosting visitor numbers to the capital, which is key to its pandemic recovery. London would benefit from companies having access to growth capital. At present, too many companies are leaving and not returning, choosing to source capital elsewhere.

We need to find local capital, so that

those young start-ups that were made here stay here. We also need to reduce our environmental impact. London is the world’s greatest city, so it is not beyond the reach of our ambitions to become the world’s greenest city. We are the leading centre for green finance, a key part of the solution to tackling this climate crisis, but there is much more that we can do.

Whomever is mayor after the election, it is vital that they support London’s post-pandemic recovery, create an environment for business to thrive, and reduce our environmental impact.

We in the City will be watching the mayoral race intently, hoping that there is a meaningful discussion of the issues that matter to business.

I, like all in the Square Mile, look forward to working with whomever wins and will offer our help to carry London’s baton forward.

£ Chris Hayward is the policy chair of the City of London corporation

rancour and legislative bloodshed, the Illegal Migration Act 2023 was given Royal Assent. Its passage through Parliament was a nasty business characterised by bad faith and insults, but support among the electorate for the legislation stands at 54 per cent, with only 23 per cent opposed to it. This gives the lie to the opposition’s depiction of a country united in outrage at the cruelty of the flint-faced Tories: the act may have its flaws, but there is clearly a desire for something to be done to address the flow of illegal migrants across the Channel. It is interesting to note, in terms of dealing with this problem, that public trust in France has fallen from 55 per cent to 46 per cent in the past year. Less entente cordiale, heading more towards entente froide.

The government talks a great deal about “the will of the British people”. Here is some hard evidence of what they actually want. Rishi Sunak may, as time goes on, find he has done himself some good by pressing on with the Illegal Migration Act, even if it has to be refined; his next task, or perhaps that of an incoming Labour government next year, is to find a way to reboot our relationship with the EU. We need to get beyond a sour and suspicious period and accept our new reality, but find friendly and creative ways to improve on that baseline: we have chosen a future of legislative independence and sovereignty but we are still close neighbours with close economic ties. That really does seem to be the will of the British people.

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

GET A LOAF OF THIS Last week

Angela Rayner said it was ‘great to be in a Keir sandwich’ as she stood in between Sir Keir Starmer and newly-elected 25-yearold Labour MP Keir Mather. We wonder if her newly found desire for cosiness to Keirs has anything to do with rumours of a reshuffle this week

Rishi Sunak with Ursula con der Leyen and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR A starry night all around us

[Re: London’s night sky, daily]

To solve the light polution dilemma, not only in the City but over London and other cities, we need to look at the switch to LEDs. It has been fine and economic indoors, but for street lighting - and looking out of our windows through the night and into dawn - it is hell and now, apart from the moon, the night sky is a blank.

No longer can we see the star constellations and follow the wanderings of the planets. This is very depressing for those of us who spent our childhood and through our adult lives guided by the night sky and loving it through the seasons, the earth's nightly rotations and the the planets' vagaries.

I suggest bringing in Elon Musk. He is good on such matters; and likely might feel the same way.

Margaret Milner

[Re: Some honesty could spice up CEO meetings with No10, July 18]

Big business and lobbyists should not have the intimate, influential relationship with government which you favour.

There is already too much policy making out of the public eye and contrary to the public good. It should be reduced not encouraged.

If big business has anything to say about public policy in matters of direct concern to them let it be open and transparent. Their views on social matters should not be corporate ones at all but personal to each director and employee.

Andrew Smith

AI IN THE BIRTHING ROOM New AI tool to identify risks in maternity units

Vodafone’s merger with Three would help build the 5G network Britain needs

Ed Vaizey

IAM proud of the strength of the UK tech sector. We have produced almost 400 high growth start-ups since 2000, including 144 unicorns (companies with valuations of $1bn or more). These are businesses which are at the cutting edge of the latest industries from green finance, portable DNA sequencing and electric powered aircraft. They have the potential to revolutionise numerous aspects of our daily lives. However, the UK risks falling behind in the race to become global leaders in these industries of the future.

There are myriad problems facing the tech sector, including talent and access to capital. But I want to focus specifically on the importance of creating high-quality digital infrastructure that can power the industry. The government has rightly identified the need to ensure the UK has the broadband and mobile connectivity it needs. This means full fibre and standalone 5G. Standalone 5G essentially operates independently of the 4G network and offers the potential for faster response times and better access to the higher data rates required by many modern technologies. The government has made good progress creating the policy and market conditions to encourage investment in full fibre. It now needs to do the same for standalone 5G.

EXPLAINER-IN-BRIEF: BETTER PIZZA THAN PIZZA EXPRESS

According to Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing, the best pizza in London is the American Hot from Pizza Express. Wareing said he’s been eating it for “the past 20 years”.

If the prospect of eating Pizza Express for more than a decade makes you shiver, we’ve got you covered with some authentic Italian places that deserve a visit. First on the list, L’Antica Pizzeria in Hampstead. It’s a tiny, cosy gem. The pizza comes with Sardinian beer and a compilation of Italian hits from

the ‘80s. Another delicious spot is Oi Vita in Canonbury, with fresh Italian ingredients and lovely staff. And if you want to go for a classic, there’s always 50 Kalò near Trafalgar Square: you’ll pass the test only if you manage to finish the gigantic dough. This summer, do yourself a favour and explore some of your local restaurants; you might find an authentic corner of Italy. You might still like Pizza Express more, but at least you will have tried something different.

ELENA SINISCALCO

Standalone 5G will lead to the unlocking of billions of pounds of economic value and will drive the improvements in productivity we desperately need. Earlier this year, the government recommended nationwide standalone 5G coverage in all populated areas by 2030. However, it also noted the current investment environment to enable this did not exist in the UK.

Without this investment this network won’t get built, and we won’t experience these benefits. Quite simply, the UK cannot cement its position as a science and technology superpower without a leading standalone 5G network, and this won’t happen unless operators are able to invest sustainably in their networks. This means empowering the regulators to make decisions that help boost investment and drive growth, while continuing to protect consumers.

Despite much debate, the recent pro-

Standalone

tion and Markets Authority to grapple with, but, for me, the positives do outweigh the negatives. The opportunity is to secure major investment while ensuring a new company can continue to compete, rather than waiting to see what might happen and hoping for the best.

productivity boost

posed merger between Vodafone UK and Three creates an opportunity to ensure that market reform leads to positive outcomes for the UK. The companies are able to commit to invest and roll out a 5G standalone network to more than 99 per cent of the UK population by 2034 because together they will have the necessary scale to do so.

It’s a big decision for the Competi-

Ultimately a more efficient and competitive communications market holds the key to ensuring that every part of the UK has the opportunity to benefit from the data revolution. If we want to maintain our position as a hotbed for tech start-ups, create even more unicorns and ensure people can benefit from improved public services and higher productivity, then having a better 5G network in place sooner has to be a priority.

£ Ed Vaizey is the former Minister for Culture,

Communications & Creative Industries

5G will lead to unlocking billions of pounds of economic value and a

Vodafone UK and Three are planning to merge

Over the weekend, the government announced plans to develop a tool which will help doctors in women’s hospitals and maternity units. It won’t quite be the case of ‘Hi, I’m ChatGPT, and I’m here to help deliver your baby’ just yet.

A SEYCHELLES HIDEAWAY

SEYCHELLENluxury hotel

Mango House will cause you to abandon your beach book and erect an easel. The charming staff have arranged for me not only a cold SeyBrew and towels, but a tray of acrylic paints. With the encouragement of a brilliant local artist, my creative juices are propelled onto canvas. Inspired by the vista of verdant palms and turquoise sea, born of a flurry of brushwork, the effect is as relaxing – and much more productive –than an afternoon in the soporific spa. This particular paradise has its roots in the visual arts. Opened summer 2021, Mango House was originally the remote getaway of veteran photographer Gian Paolo Barbieri. Mr Barberi, who is known for his work for Vogue Italia and has shot Monica Bellucci, Audrey Hepburn, Naomi Campbell and Veruschka, turned his attention away from fashion to travel photography during the ‘90s. His adventures led him to the south of Mahé, the Seychelles’ main island. Here he took award-winning images of the indigenous people, and designed his own personal base on the Anse aux Poules Bleues, a deserted bay.

A couple of decades later, this family home has been tastefully expanded and converted into a lush LXR Resort –a prestige boutique offshoot from Hilton that focuses on “legendary properties in the world’s most alluring locations”, and this place undoubtedly ticks those boxes.

The Hilton affiliation, and the Seychelles’ success in attracting wealthy western holiday-makers, meant I arrived in Mahé expecting Mango House to be a fairly generic five-star hotel, secluded behind high walls, with spoiled guests sprawled beside its various pools and never venturing outside the property. In fact, it’s not like that at all. The south of the island is incredibly bohemian. There are loads of artists living here, both indigenous and ex-patriate, in communal harmony. It’s a creative and wonderfully at-ease oasis.

We’re half an hour’s drive south of the airport – ideal if, after a minimum 13-hour plane ride, you don’t fancy transferring to one of the 115 other smaller islands. The north of the main island is where you’ll find busier (though still beautiful) beaches and bigger, blander resorts. There are superyachts off the coast, several escaping Russian sanctions. During my visit, oligarch Alexei Mordashov’s 142metre gin palace floats off the capital, Victoria.

The south of the island is quieter and unspoilt, and Mango House feels like a private home more than a hotel. There are 41 rooms, which is not small, but they’re set back from the main house in a number of blocks that blend in with the rocks and are camouflaged behind foliage. Mine – Cliff House – offers its own pool. Each airy bedroom boasts narcolepticly soft net-festooned beds and small sea-view terraces.

The private crescent-shaped beach is

positively Bondian, and empty. I see only maybe a dozen other guests around the resort, and usually not a single sun lounger is taken. It makes my friends and I feel like we’re not paying punters, but guests of a generous chum with a £20 million ocean villa.

The main house, which is almost unrecognisable from when Barberi owned it but retains a fantastic sense of intimacy, is home to an even more sybaritic pool (there are three on the property in total), as well as the spa, gym, a rakish cocktail bar and three of a total four dining options – all of which are phenomenal. They cover Italian, Japanese and Creole – the delicious local cuisine – with an emphasis on seafood, which arrives off the boats a five-minute walk away. Pretty much

all feasting moods are covered here, and it’s ten-out-of-ten all-round.

Nigel Henri is a sort of artist in residence. The chap who encouraged me with the brush (having barely picked one up since my art A-level) also has a TV show focusing on the culture and personalities of the Seychelles. His works, mainly oils of tropical fish, have been purchased by Tony Blair and Leonardo DiCaprio on their visits. He’s the most wonderful guide to tour us around the island. We take a minibus to visit the pristine public beaches of Beau Vallon and Anse Louis. We lunch at Le Jardin

du Roi in Victoria, an institution whose garden dates back to the first French settlers in 1770. I try the fruit bat curry (Nigel orders it at my insistence and offers me a bite). Edible enough, but certainly not pretty. The same might be said of the restaurant’s large family of elderly, giant and rather randy tortoises. Nigel is, of course, the perfect guide to the south’s community of artists. Among the studios we visit is that of Michael Adams, literally next door to our hotel. Adams is the country’s most famous painter. He was born in Malaysia to British parents, settled in the Seychelles in 1972 with his wife Heather, and has never left. His colourful renderings of tropical nature have earned him an MBE, and his UKeducated children are acclaimed artists in their own right, living on Mahé and selling their paintings alongside his on the walls of their childhood home. Alyssa – the daughter – has designed the signature print for Mango House’s silk dressing gowns. Another ex-pat artist of 40 years standing is Tom Bower (not to be confused with the investigative journalist), whose sensual sculptures are created in a shed in his garden. The community welcomes high-end hotels and elite visitors because they bring spend-

ing power, allowing artists to dedicate themselves to their craft.

I find particular joy in the Lazare Gallery. Its owner, known as Toto, mainly stocks a selection of Afrobeat cassettes, old Nokia burner phones and photographs of the Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Phillip and Her Majesty visited the Seychelles on several official tours. Princess Margaret was also a fan, and she had excellent taste in R&R. Wills and Kate came here on their honeymoon, so it has lasting links to the House of Windsor. The islanders I speak with are quietly proud of their royal association, making a change from recent Caribbean headlines.

They're also doing quite well for themselves. 800 miles off the Somali coast and considered part of Africa, the Indian Ocean archipelago has the highest average income per capita of any African nation. Perhaps that goes a small way to explaining why the staff at Mango House have such an easygoing relationship with their guests. There’s no stuffiness, no nervousness. Their energy is warm and confident. They are attentive yet laid back. Again, this feels so much more like a homefrom-home than a hotel, much less a Hilton. A year since it launched, Mango House is already seeing a large proportion of repeat guests, and that comes as no surprise. I would love to return, join Nigel for a SeyBrew, and maybe bring some watercolours next time.

Rooms at Mango House start from around £500-a-night. For more information, visit Hilton.com/en/hotels/sezitol-mango-houseseychelles/

The Seychelles is thriving. Adam Hay-Nicholls checks into a recent opening to find creative inspiration

TRAVEL

Can an Arabic wellness retreat cure me?

IT’S NOTevery day you come face to face with royalty, but at Qatar’s new uber-luxurious spa retreat, I’m shocked to see the queen sweep past with her small entourage, instantly recognisable even draped in a black abaya.

I’m at the Zulal Wellness Resort by Chiva-Som, in one particularly grand space that is at once a library, tearoom, apothecary and art gallery.

In her sixties and rather glamorous, Sheika Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned is the mother of Qatar’s current emir and wife of its former ruler, and often described as the behind-the-scenes matriarch of an ultra-conservative regime. She has long been a passionate campaigner for education and public health, and the ruling family's decision to build a sprawling wellness resort on the secluded northern coast of Qatar, appointing the Thai detox retreat experts Chiva-Som to run it, was partly prompted by the increase in health problems such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease in the Gulf nations. Well, if it’s good enough for the queen… What interested me was the resort’s approach to helping guests tackle modern conditions such as anxiety by using the ancient practices of Traditional Arabic Islamic Medicine (TAIM). We see so many wellness ideas banded around, but Arabic medicine was new to me, not something I hear about in London every day.

“TAIM has existed for thousands of years, but hasn’t really been exposed to the wider world in the same way as Traditional Chinese Medicine or Ayurveda from India,” says Zulal’s director of health and wellness, Sandie Johannessen. “So it made sense to draw on the region’s own traditions and expertise.”

With roots in Greek medicine and influences from the East, TAIM is a holistic healing system recorded in The Canon of Medicine, a medical encyclopedia written in 1025 by the Persian physician-philosopher Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna, which for a few centuries was one of the main texts taught in medical schools in various parts of the world, including Europe.

Like other holistic traditions, it rests on the philosophy that health is a balanced mind, body and spirit. Curious to see whether millennia-old Middle Eastern wellness wisdom could help me achieve balance, I sit down with Bibi Lockhat, a resident TAIM expert, for a health assessment. She is sympathetic as I tell her about my struggles with digestive issues, insomnia and anxiety.

“The hustle and bustle of city life takes its toll,” she says in a softly spoken South African accent.

Soon Bibi has devised my personalised treatment plan, prescribed a daily probiotic plus herbal blend of black cumin, caraway and fennel seed to aid my digestion; chamomile and lavender to help me sleep. She also puts me on a ‘guthealing’ diet rich in fibrous vegetables

and fermented foods like miso soup and sauerkraut, washed down with a turmeric shot or ginger tea, and for dessert there is spirulina sorbet or dairyfree charcoal ice cream.

It’s health food, but far from worthy – everything is delicious and beautifully presented. The only issue is the bijou portions – I’m not a big eater but have to ask to double the set menu and add a few sides. Even so, I notice the calming effect on my digestion almost immediately as I don’t feel bloated after meals. I am especially grateful for this later in the spa when it’s time for an abdominal massage. Normally I don’t like having my stomach prodded, but the treatment turns out to be rather magical.

My lovely therapist, brought over from the original Chiva-Som resort in Thailand, explains that aches and tension in this part of the body are often linked to our emotions. Using her hands and then hot stones, she gently and methodically works her way around my stomach, instinctively adjusting the pressure. It is deeply relaxing, almost trance inducing. Afterwards I feel lighter both in body and spirit.

The spa is an ode to pampering with aqua therapy pools, sauna, steam room, even a snow room, not to mention the calming Himalayan salt therapy area where the warmly lit pink walls emit health-inducing negative ions. The ultimate decadence, however, is a session in the mosaic-tiled hammam where I am scrubbed from head to toe and literally slathered in gold.

There is a cultural difference to be aware of – the spa’s strict separation of women and men. This, according to a young Danish couple I get chatting to, is the only downside to the resort, which they’re otherwise very impressed with, as am I, especially with the team of wellness practitioners. By the end of my stay I have been seen by everyone from the resident naturopath to the physio and reiki master, all clearly passionate about helping people feel better.

And I do. After just five nights I notice that I am sleeping more soundly, waking up free from anxiety, and my gut seems happier. The question is whether I’ll be able to stick to my newfound healthy habits once I’m back home. I know it will take some effort, but I’ve also learnt that a holistic approach to wellbeing means aiming for a sustainable routine. “It’s not a quick fix,” explains Bibi, the TAIM expert, referring to the list of lifestyle recommendations I’ve been given, “but even small and gradual changes help correct imbalances, and over time we see the benefits.”

Healing Holidays (healingholidays.com; 020 7843 3597) can arrange a five-night Taste Of Zulal retreat from £4,239 per person based on two sharing full-board accommodation in the adults-only section of the resort, including flights and transfers, daily massages as well as prescribed treatments, access to all water and spa facilities, classes and activities. See also: zulal.com; visitqatar.com

Could Middle Eastern wisdom be the answer to modern ill health?

Lisa Kjellsson checks into Qatar’s royally appointed new spa resort to find out

a love for Test cricket what will, asks Matt Hardy

ENGLAND can bemoan the rain and they can bemoan the slow over rate throughout the fourth Test, but neither of those are the reason Australia have retained the Ashes.

Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum and England as a whole can only look at themselves for yet another failure to secure the urn at home. The wait is now eight years.

From the early declaration on the opening day of the opening Test at Edgbaston to the countless missed chances and the run chases that needed calm and stability rather than headless hitting, it hasn’t really worked.

So, when in the fourth Test having allowed yourselves to go 2-0 down in the five-match series, England praying for the rain to stop in the hope of taking the series to a decider at the Oval this week is desperate.

Because the reality is this: England lost the Edgbaston Test rather than Australia winning it. And at Lord’s England threw away runs unnecessarily. This Ashes is the second series in the era of Bazball, after New Zealand several months ago, where England have not picked up a series win having had a supreme record across the globe prior to then.

And of course the Ashes matters; it is widely seen as the pinnacle of Test cricket. It has the history, the pedigree, the rivalry. But it’s more than that this time around.

ASPIRE TO BAZBALL

Bazball is an incredible style of cricket, there’s no doubt about that. It has taken what was seen as the dying format of international cricket and made it attractive again. It’s made all five days of a Test, every one of the 15 sessions in a match, interesting.

There’s no denying an early declaration, Zak Crawley’s incredible 189 and the artificially manifested acrimony over Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal at Lord’s have given Bazball even more momentum.

At the weekend, Kumar Sangakkara told how kids in Manchester had approached him to talk about Bazball, and other ex-pros have stated similar. Bazball is a movement, a niche polit-

WHAT IFS REMAIN, BUT BAZBALL MORE THAN ASHES WIN

Bazball is more than results. It is

redefinition of what Test cricket is

ical party trying to infiltrate the establishment. Cricket can be boring at the highest level, and Bazball is the disrupter. So this five-match battle – which will either conclude with a draw or Australia’s first series win in England since 2001 – is just a stepping stone on the pilgrimage to eternal Bazball.

BLANK SLATE

It is understood that McCullum was also offered the white-ball job last year when both positions were available. But he chose the Test job, the blank slate. He took the reins from an opera-

tion that had sunk to one win in 17 matches and gave it life. Bazball is more than results, it’s a reason to enjoy cricket again.

Losing is horrible, and fans and teams alike never want to be on the losing end. But what if England lost every game for the next decade?

Would you rather lose Bazball style, where there’s entertainment and hope, or suffer under a regime of foreshadowing pain and disappointment? It’s easy, isn’t it.

So this series loss will obviously go down as a loss, and one which Stokes and his side will struggle to take given

how they threw two Tests away before deciding to execute operation Bazball effectively.

But it’s more than results. It is a fundamental redefinition of what Test cricket is; a recalibration of the fiveday game some thought would disappear before the turn of the next decade.

The Ashes have been a brutal lesson in playing against some of the best players in the world, but England cannot lose sight of the bigger picture. Because if this series has not ignited a love for the oldest and most traditional style of cricket in operation, what will?

Lionesses yet to find killer instinct at World Cup

GIVEN all the talk about bonus rows and collective bargaining agreements, England fans could have been forgiven for thinking that any problems with striking in the Lionesses’ camp at this Women’s World Cup would relate to industrial action.

Instead, however, it is their toothlessness in front of goal that has emerged as a concern, as highlighted in a 1-0 win over Haiti, the second lowest ranked team at the tournament, in their opening game on Saturday. England were fancied to steamroll the Caribbean minnows in Brisbane but did nothing of the sort. The European champions needed a Georgia Stanway penalty – and a retaken one, at that – to take the lead against Haiti and thereafter looked just as likely to concede as to score again.

On one hand, the match stats paint a flattering picture. Sarina Wiegman’s team had 75 per cent possession, 21 shots, of which 12 were on target, and generated 1.86 expected goals – a measure of the quality of chances that they created – just 0.18 conceded.

Yet they couldn’t translate that numerical dominance into a more emphatic scoreline. Lone striker Alessia Russo had six attempts on goal, five on target, yet England underperformed their expected goal difference by 0.86 – more than any other team so far at this Women’s World Cup.

Lack of cutting edge is not an entirely new phenomenon for this Lionesses

side. They have not scored a goal in open play since the first half of their Finalissima win over Brazil in April –more than five and a half hours, or over seven if you count a behindclosed-doors friendly against Canada earlier this month.

TIME TO GROW

As Euros-winning former England No9 Ellen White points out in her BBC Sport column, this should not be pinned on her successor Russo. She worked tirelessly to hold up play, run the channels and even help out in defence. No wonder if her efforts looked lacklustre when crosses reached her

against Haiti.

At the European Championships, England were runaway top scorers with 22 in six games, threatening not just through White and Russo but also Beth Mead, who shared the golden boot, Ella Toone, Fran Kirby, Stanway and full-back Lucy Bronze. Half of the outfield players have changed and that fluency remains elusive for now.

There is no need to panic – yet. Those who recall last year’s golden summer will remember that England were unconvincing in winning their opening match with Austria 1-0 at Old Trafford. In their next game they hit eight against Norway. They also kept a clean

sheet against Haiti, although that owed more to goalkeeper Mary Earps making several good saves than the solidity of the back four. Millie Bright looked rusty as she worked her way back from injury, while Leah Williamson was missed.

Next up are Denmark – buoyant after a late win against China – on Friday in Sydney, in a match that could decide who wins Group D. But the nature of the draw means there is little difference in finishing first or second. They will meet Australia or Canada in the last 16, with France or Germany potential opponents thereafter.

Wiegman has time to recalibrate England’s on-field collective action. But they will need to do so by the time they reach the knockout stage or hopes of adding the World Cup to their European crown will likely fade quickly.

FOOTBALL

Lacklustre England will need to improve but Euros taught us slow start isn’t cause for panic, writes Frank Dalleres

If the last month hasn’t rekindled

a fundamental

Little brother Alex gets his turn as star Fitzpatrick at Open

FRANK DALLERES

THE last time Alex Fitzpatrick had a close-up look at the conclusion of a major, he was watching greenside as his brother Matt wrapped up the US Open at Brookline.

Thirteen months on, Fitzpatrick junior, 24, was making his own major debut – and outshining his elder sibling – in the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.

Sibling rivalry can be powerful motivation, but even still this was a remarkable performance from the younger Fitzpatrick.

After opening with a 74 on Thursday, he gathered himself to shoot 70 on Friday and a brilliant 65 on Saturday before closing with a 73 to finish on two under par and a share of 17th place –four strokes and 24 places above Matt.

It was by far his best result since turning professional a year ago and earned him

around £150,000. In 24 outings on second-tier tours, he had made 18 cuts but finished in the top 10 on just three occasions. All three of those top-10s came in 2023 on the Challenge Tour, however, and he arrived at Hoylake this week buoyed by fourth place at the Italian Challenge Open. That lifted him from 632 to 559 in the world, and his major debut is set to propel him much further still when the rankings are updated on Monday.

With a four-year age gap, Alex and Matt are different characters: the former is more of an extrovert, the latter more studious and reserved. Those who watched the Netflix docuseries Full Swing may recall the elder Fitzpatrick has kept handwritten notes of every shot he has taken for the last 14 years.

They have taken different routes to elite golf, with Matt turning pro as a skinny 19-year-old almost a decade ago and Alex going to college in the US. Last summer he completed four years at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, where he met his girlfriend, Rachel Kuehn, one of the leading American amateurs. While both siblings enjoyed success before joining the professional ranks, Matt grabbed more headlines with his Boys Amateur Championship and US Amateur victories.

“He’s been very successful for a long time. This isn’t new. I’m very used to being the little brother of Matt,” he said last year.

THE AIG WOMEN’S OPEN HEADS TO SURREY

“When I was younger it definitely frustrated me more than it does now. Now that I’ve matured a bit I see it more as a positive.”

Nothing motivated him quite like witnessing Matt return to the scene of his US Amateur win and claim the US Open, though.

“The biggest thing was seeing all the hard work that he’s put in finally pay off. I felt like he was due one, and all the hard work was bound to pay off eventually,” he added. “Getting your name on those trophies is the reason you play. Seeing him do that was very special and I hope I can do the same.” After the Open, that seems a good deal more plausible.

THE OPEN: FINAL LEADERBOARD

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SPORT

CRICKET

We haven’t won Ashes but we’ve created a legacy, insists Stokes

ENGLAND captain Ben Stokes insists his side’s legacy is as important as winning the Ashes after rain scuppered the hosts’ chance at levelling the series, resulting in Australia retaining the urn until at least 2025.

Rain fell persistently at Old Trafford yesterday on the final day of the fourth Test as England hoped to chase five wickets, draw the Ashes at 2-2, and head to the Oval looking for a historic series win over the Baggy Greens.

Australia were bowled out for 317 in their first innings, with Chris Woakes picking up a five-for, before 189 from Zak Crawley and half centuries from Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Stokes and Jonny Bairstow saw England reach 517 and take a commanding position.

But the forecast was always looking gloomy and Saturday saw just a couple of hours played, in which Root got the only wicket of the session as Australia fell to 214-5, hoping to survive long enough until the rain came.

Sunday proved to be a complete write-off, so Australia can, at worst, draw the Ashes but could still win their first series in England since 2001 should they draw or win at the Oval in the fifth Test, starting on Thursday.

“We want to leave the Test match summer with a win, the reward for

ATHLETICS

THREE STRIKES Why England’s Lionesses need to find their shooting boots at the World Cup PAGE 18

your work isn’t what you get, it’s what you become,” Stokes said.

“We’ve become a team that has been so unbelievably well followed and we will live long in the memories of those who have watched us.

“As much as I would love to be an Ashes winning captain, I want this team to be a legacy team and regardless of what happens over the next period, this 18 months will go down in history as one of the most exciting and proactive teams to go out there and represent England.

“There are some tired bodies and we have a short period until the Oval so we will have to see who is fit then.”

American Brian Harman, 36, won his first major yesterday with his six-shot victory in the Open at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake

Harman leaves stars trailing to take the Open

FRANK DALLERES

England lost the opening two Tests, falling 2-0 behind in the series, before a magnificent win at Headingley to leave the series at 2-1 before the match in Manchester.

But the weather played a major role, and some suggested that England could have declared to try and force a result. Stokes, however, rejected that viewpoint.

“I think anyone who is going to question the declaration in this game probably doesn’t understand the game as well as we do,” he added.

£ BAZBALL FOREVER: PAGE 18

Hughes breaks British 200m record in Diamond League

MATT HARDY

ZHARNEL Hughes starred at the London Stadium yesterday as the Brit set a new national record in the 200m at the Diamond League.

A packed arena of 50,000 watched on as the 28-year-old finished third behind American Noah Lyles – who set a world lead and meeting record time – and Letsile Tebogo in the half-circuit race in east London.

Hughes’ time of 19.73 toppled the time of 19.87 set by John Regis in 1994 – he picked up a $5,000 (£3,889) cheque for breaking the national record this weekend.

Lyles joked before the race that

Hughes could “most definitely” break the British record.

Elsewhere at the first Diamond League meet in London since 2019, Briton Jemma Reekie stormed to victory in the 800m after pre-race favourite Keely Hodgkinson withdrew just moments before the event due to illness.

Dina Asher-Smith impressed to come second in the 100m behind Marie-Josee Ta Lou after Sha’Carri Richardson pulled out and Shericka Jackson failed to challenge.

The World Championships take place in August this year in Budapest.

JOURNEYMAN Brian Harman savoured a long-awaited first major title after completing a commanding victory in the Open Championship at a soggy Royal Liverpool in Hoylake.

The 36-year-old American, who had just two previous PGA Tour wins to his name, kept his cool to shoot a final round of 70 and beat his nearest challengers by six shots.

Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood all threatened to make a charge but none was able to pose a sustained threat to Harman’s frontrunning on Sunday.

“Better late than never,” he joked. “I’ve thought about this my whole

life. To be Open champion feels incredible. This golf course was a real test. It was set up so great even with the weather.”

Rahm was among four players to finish tied for second, along with former world No1 Jason Day, Korean Tom Kim and Austria’s Sepp Straka, with McIlroy a further shot back.

Harman had failed to convert a 54-hole lead into a major title at the 2017 US Open but never loosened his grip on the Claret Jug for long.

He quickly cancelled out two early bogeys before the turn and then responded to his solitary dropped shot on the back nine with two birdies to extend his advantage.

McIlroy fuelled hopes of a last-day charge in search of a fifth major

with three early birdies but failed to build on that and signed for a 68.

Masters champion Rahm was looking to build on his sensational 63 on Saturday but was never better than one under par for his final round and finished with a 70.

Kim, 21, produced the joint lowest round of the day, a 67, to share second place, a remarkable feat given he tore his ankle after the first round on Thursday.

Fleetwood, from nearby Southport and willed on by the Hoylake crowd, saw putt after putt graze the hole on his way to a disappointing 72 that dropped him to four under and a share of 10th.

£ MATT BEATEN BY FITZ JR: PAGE 19

Verstappen wins seventh race in row but Norris shines

MATT HARDY

LANDO Norris impressed at the Hungary Grand Prix but Max Verstappen’s dominance of this year’s Formula 1 season continued in Budapest.

Briton Norris, who drives for McLaren, picked up a second consecutive runner-up finish yesterday at the Hungaroring, behind the Dutch championship leader, who picked up a seventh successive victory – his ninth of the season.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez came home in third, with Lewis Hamilton fourth and fellow Englishman George Russell sixth.

“It was a tough race, not an easy one,”

Norris said. “Especially near the end when Sergio was charging but he didn’t have enough to catch up.

“I had to fight for it at the beginning, it could have been a better start but it’s another podium for McLaren which is amazing.”

On whether he could have won, Norris said: “If Max retires then maybe.”

“At the moment the guys [Red Bull] are too quick unless they make mistakes or there are issues.

“We’re happy with the progress and to be where we are today, fighting for podiums. Our time will come later in the year.”

F1 continues this week in Belgium, the last race before the summer break.

FORMULA 1

MATT HARDY

Stokes said his side has left a legacy on the history of cricket