Wednesday 6 September 2023

P12

IN THE RED

MANCHESTER UNITED SHARES SINK ON WALL STREET AFTER REPORTS OWNERS TO PULL SALE

Onshore wind U-turn fails to impress firms

NICHOLAS EARL

PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak’s U-turn on onshore wind will not be enough to win over sceptical renewable energy firms, a top trade body has warned.

The government has opted to streamline planning rules following increasing pressure from backbench MPs lifting onshore developments out of a de-facto moratorium that saw just two onshore wind turbines built in England last year – less than in war-torn Ukraine.

17.71%

FRANK DALLERES MANCHESTER United’s share price tanked by as much as 20 per cent yesterday following reports that the Glazer family have shelved plans to sell the Premier League club. United’s share price was down from $23.66 at close on Friday to $19.19 when the New York Stock Exchange reopened following Labor Day. It dipped as low as $18.83 –a fall of 20.4 per cent on last week and almost 30 per cent less than its 12-month high in February –before rallying slightly.

That brought United’s market capitalisation below $4bn (£3.2bn), around half of what

the Glazers have been seeking in talks to sell the club.

The Americans have so far rebuffed offers of around £5bn from British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani.

The Glazers alerted would-be buyers to their willingness to sell when they invited interested parties to make offers for some or all of the club in November last year.

Despite reports that Sheikh Jassim was undertaking due diligence with a view to completing a deal, it is understood that talks remain at an impasse.

Further reports at the weekend suggested the Glazers might now take the 20-time English champions off the

market in the belief that their asset will grow in value.

Ratcliffe’s bid was for a majority stake but would allow the Glazers to retain a minority holding, while Sheikh Jassim’s was for full control.

The Glazers remain unpopular with supporters for taking money out of the club in the form of dividends and debt servicing.

A United fans’ group last month staged a protest at the first home game of the season, calling on the owners to sell up or make their intentions clear.

The Florida-based real estate tycoons, who also own NFL team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, bought United for £790m in 2005 in a leveraged takeover.

Downing Street’s plans include removing the right for a tiny minority to reject new projects and added the option for communities to identify local sites for future developments.

But industry group Renewable UK said there was still a lot of scope for local authorities to hold back developments.

James Robottom, head of onshore wind at Renewable UK, which represents hundreds of wind farm operators, said he feared the changes “don’t go far enough” and will still lead to a “planning system stacked against onshore wind that treats it different to every other energy source or infrastructure project”.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

CITY AM'S NEW APP IN YOUR HANDS

Gelato serves up a reminder that immigration makes London tick

AN 8pm queue for a Stoke Newington gelato joint may not be an obvious starting point for a column about the City’s competitiveness, but start there we will. Every evening, especially in this welcome burst of long-overdue sunshine, there is a line of at least 10-or-so outside of Romeo & Giulietta.

STANDING UP FOR THE CITY THE CITY VIEW

Amongst the families bribing small children are a host of young professionals, seemingly

half of them wearing corporate tshirts. And what keeps them in London? Well, their jobs, but also the gelato. There are hundreds of little spots like that across the city that make London a place to be, not to leave. God knows housing costs do enough

to encourage the latter, but still, the melting pot of cultures and ideas and the sheer number of people around provides the ingredients to the capital’s competitiveness.

In short, there is a symbiotic relationship between the baristas, the chefs and the gelato artisans and the thriving financial, tech and professional services businesses we feature in these pages. As Britain continues to pen its post-Brexit future,

immigration is once again hovering into view as a redbutton political issue. Driven by concerns about small boats, the British public wants something done –and government must, in order to give itself the space to develop a mature immigration policy. It has got the tech and the finance side, to it’s credit, right.

KIER AND THE GANG Labour’s front benches strutted their stuff yesterday as the opposition held its first shadow cabinet meeting since leader Sir Keir Starmer’s reshuffle

PMIs: Recession risks looming as UK’s services sector falls into negative territory

CHRIS DORRELL

THE UK’s all-important services sector fell into contraction in August, the first pullback since January, as the economy felt the impact of higher interest rates and the risks of a recession grow.

The services purchasing managers’ index (PMI), released yesterday and compiled by S&P Global and CIPS, fell to 49.5 last month, down from 51.5 in July. The 50 mark separates growth and contraction.

While the reading signalled a contraction, it was higher than economists expected and revised upwards from the

initial flash estimate of 48.7.

Service providers noted caution among clients and fewer new business opportunities, linked to rising interest rates, squeezed disposable incomes and worries about the economic outlook.

“After a modest recovery over the past six months, service sector businesses are now clearly feeling the impact of rising interest rates on client demand,” said Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence. “Worries about the broader business climate also dampened spending in August.”

New orders from overseas increased at the slowest pace since December

2022 with Brexit cited as one factor. The rate of input price inflation was the joint lowest since May 2021. The composite PMI, which combines services data with figures from the manufacturing sector released last week, fell to 48.6 in August.

Experts were more optimistic for the future of the UK economy than the gloomy PMI data implied, suggesting the UK would avoid recession.

Samuel Tombs of Pantheon Macroeconomics noted improvements in business confidence and said falling energy prices and rising incomes will help GDP grow 0.2 per cent in the third quarter.

But the difficulty faced by bars, restaurants, coffee shops and all the rest of them in filling their own vacancies could well defeat the point. Cities are ecosystems, and every bit must thrive.

Let’s hope the baby isn’t thrown out with the bathwater ahead of the election –and as for Romeo & Giulietta, we recommend the watermelon flavour.

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

BLOOMBERG

EU ANTITRUST CHIEF STEPS

DOWN TO GO FOR TOP EIB JOB

Margrethe Vestager, the long-time scourge of tech giants and rate-rigging banks, has stepped aside from her role as the EU’s competition commissioner after her bid to lead the European Investment Bank (EIB) became formal.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES WARNER MUSIC TAKES MAJORITY STAKE IN LABEL RUN BY SON OF TOP RIVAL

Warner Music has acquired a majority stake in record company 10K Projects, the upstart label behind the rapper Ice Spice, for an undisclosed sum, according to a person familiar with the matter.

THE

GUARDIAN

COUNCILS IN ENGLAND IN CRISIS AS BIRMINGHAM ‘DECLARES ITSELF BANKRUPT’

The crisis in local authorities was laid bare on Tuesday as Birmingham city council in effect declared itself bankrupt, with experts warning that others across the UK were now living “hand to mouth”.

Labour: Planning rules still stacked against onshore wind

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

The government has only slightly amended requirements for projects to appease communities, now expecting developers to “appropriately” rather than “fully” address local concerns, and local authorities can still dictate the land for local energy developments.

“While industry will work with the government to see how these changes might be able to support a limited number of new developments, this is a missed opportunity to reinvigorate onshore

wind in England after eight years of lost progress,” Robottom said. Ed Miliband, shadow climate and net zero secretary, said the Conservatives had “bottled it again” on onshore wind.

“It still remains easier to build an incinerator or a landfill site than onshore wind. The planning system remains stacked against onshore wind. This will mean higher bills and energy insecurity for Britain.”

Michael Gove, however, defended the changes, arguing they will help “build on Britain’s enormous success as a global leader in offshore wind”.

Better research needed to nudge funds into stocks

CHARLIE CONCHIE

THE UK must improve the quality of research it produces on homegrown companies in order to unlock more pension cash to flow into the stock market, the mastermind of a major review of UK investment has warned.

Hogan Lovells lawyer Rachel Kent, who authored the recent governmentcommissioned Investment Research Review, said the quality of investment analysis in the UK had declined in recent years and reviving it would be crucial to boosting domestic investment.

A slump in the number of analysts based in the UK has accelerated in the past five years after EU-era Mifid II rules forced an overhaul in the way that companies pay for analysis.

Among the recommendations in her July review, Kent tabled a new platform that would produce

cheaper analysis with funding potentially committed by the industry or government.

She told City A.M. that if the UK wants to get pension money invested in a broader range of UK equities “then we need more research and it needs more funding”.

An overhaul of the research landscape was described by London Stock Exchange chief Julia Hoggett as one of the key “five fingers” of reform needed to revive the market this year.

Calls have been growing for more pension cash to flow into UK-listed firms after two decades of sharp de-equitisation in which pension cash has fled the market. Just four per cent of the UK stock market is now held by pension funds, down from 39 per cent in 2000.

“I’m personally very much on the side of solving this problem — encouraging pension schemes to invest more in equities would have a beneficial effect for them,” Kent said.

Easyjet questions whether NATs is up to the job after air traffic chaos

GUY TAYLOR

EASYJET’s CEO has questioned whether Britain’s National Air Traffic Services (NATs) is fit for purpose following the failure of the UK’s air traffic control systems last week. Speaking to City A.M. on the sidelines of a London conference, Johan Lundgren said a review of the situation should determine if NATs is

Banks under renewed pressure as City watchdog begins review into PEPs

CHRIS DORRELL

FIRMS denying banking services to politicians will come under renewed scrutiny as the City watchdog launches its review into domestic politically exposed persons (PEPs). Having written to politicians and civil servants in August to assess the scale of the problem, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Rising rates to see wealthy receive £60bn

CHRIS DORRELL

RISING interest rates will create a windfall for the wealthy, according to new analysis, with household savings accumulating tens of millions more than in recent years.  Interest income paid on households’ savings is set to rise to £90bn in 2024-25 year, up from just £5bn in 2021-22 when interest rates were at historic low, according to research from the Resolution Foundation.

However, the savings boon will be distributed unevenly across the UK’s £1.7 trillion savings pot, with the top tenth of households in terms of savings accumulating 65 per cent, or £60bn, of the £90bn.

The bottom half of households meanwhile will receive just two per cent of the total, or about £1.8bn.

“really fit for purpose, not only on the systems but on the technology, on the staffing levels and what is needed to avoid air traffic disruption that has been unacceptable this summer”. NATs said the incident was caused by incorrectly-entered flight plan data and has launched a preliminary investigation into what happened, although there have been concerns over the inquiry’s independence.

The Resolution Foundation also forecast that real disposable income for the typical working-age household will remain stagnant next year, having already fallen by four per cent over the past two years.

“Never in living memory have families got so much poorer over the course of a parliament,” the think tank said.

will now investigate how banks enforce the rules.

The FCA will consider how firms are applying the definition of PEPs to individuals and assess whether the risk assessments are proportionate.

Firms will also be scrutinised on how they make decisions to close accounts and on how they communicate with PEPs.

The review will report by the end of

June 2024 and the FCA will take prompt action if any significant deficiencies are identified in the arrangements of any firm assessed.

“These rules follow international standards and are designed to keep the financial system clean, free from corruption and guard against financial crime,” said Sarah Pritchard, executive director of markets at the FCA.

Lundgren said the review needs to look at staffing levels and the body’s technology

Natwest’s controversial closure of Nigel Farage’s Coutts account triggered the inquiry

Rachel Kent led a government review into investment

Wilko cuts more jobs as HMV owner mulls bid

LAURA MCGUIRE

WILKO’s administrators yesterday confirmed that 1,300 jobs and 52 stores will be terminated, but talks with HMV owner Doug Putman to purchase some of the remaining stores are ongoing. The locations of the stores and distribution centres that will be closed down will be published today after administrators at PwC have notified all of the staff who will be made redundant because of the closures.

It is the second round of redundancies announced after Wilko’s collapse. The firm let go of 269 staff at its support centre last week.

Earlier yesterday, rival discounter B&M said it would buy 51 Wilko sites; however, it did not mention if jobs would also be saved as part of the deal. It comes following reports in Sky

News that HMV owner Doug Putman’s rescue deal will likely not include the majority of the Wilko portfolio. Putman, who also owns the Canadian arm of Toys R Us, is understood to have reduced his offer from 300 stores to 200 after he encountered difficulties during bidding talks.

Without naming Putman, PwC appeared to confirm this report later, saying: “It has become clear from

The troubled retailer went into administration almost one month ago

these discussions that some stores do not form part of any ongoing interest in the Wilko store portfolio.We continue to explore all interest in the remainder of the business and are actively working with potential buyers.”

Doug Putman was contacted by City A.M. for comment.

Asda chair: Supermarkets owed ‘debt of gratitude’ rather than profit jibes

LAURA MCGUIRE

ASDA’s chair has said supermarkets are owed a “great debt of gratitude” as he rebuffed claims the grocer is profiteering from rising prices amid the cost of living crisis.

Stuart Rose told LBC all retailers have seen their profits over the last year go “backwards”.

“If you look at what we make at

Rich snap up £1.3bn worth of London offices

LAURA MCGUIRE

THE WORLD’s mega rich are pouring their spare millions into offices around London, gobbling up £1.3bn worth of space in the last 12 months. According to a new study by estate agent Knight Frank, ultra-high net worth investors from Europe have led activity in the space, accounting for 48 per cent of the deals which took place over the last year.

UK investors followed behind, representing 14.4 per cent of all transactions over the past year.

London’s West End accounted for 45 per cent of deals taking place, with investors generally targeting buildings under £100m so they can secure debt-free purchases.

London’s office market has been hindered in recent years, due both to the move to hybrid working patterns and economic uncertainty fuelled by the pandemic and cost of living.

In the West End, office vacancy rates are below the central London average at 7.1 per cent.

“On a lot of levels it is now an excellent time to invest in the best London office assets, particularly for cash-rich buyers,” Nick Braybrook, head of London capital markets at Knight Frank, said.

BY LIDL Supermarket opens largest ever warehouse worth £300m in Luton

Asda, we make 1.7p for every pound that you pay us. So we’re making 1.7 per cent,” he said.

“Tell me what person would universally start a business on that basis today. All retailers over the last 12, 14, 16 months have gone backwards in terms of profit.”

He added that the business could no longer afford to sell petrol as a loss leader, which it had done occasionally.

“Governments of any colour owe us a great debt of gratitude. Never has the cost of food, the cost of clothing, or the cost of electronics been so cheap in real terms in terms of disposable income,” he added.

Yesterday, MPs also wrote to one of Asda’s owners, Mohsin Issa, raising concerns that the grocer’s ownership structure could be holding back its ability to offer customers a good deal.

LIDL has opened its biggest warehouse worldwide, which is worth £300m, in Luton, creating over 1,000 new jobs. The German discounter said the 1.2m square foot site in Houghton Regis, Luton, will service 150 stores and open up 1,500 new positions.

UK rowing back on dirty money crackdown

JESSICA FRANK-KEYES

MPs HAVE criticised the government for “dragging its feet” over the Economic Crime Bill, after a string of measures aiming to toughen up dirty money protections were voted against or watered down.

Peers had passed a series of amendments to the legislation aimed at fighting back against economic crime, fraud and illicit wealth prior to parliament’s summer recess.

However, the government overturned amendments made by peers, with business minister Kevin Hollinrake arguing they would “pose significant and disproportionate burdens on business”.

The amendment would have meant the failure to prevent fraud offence applies to all firms, of any size.

Proponents of the measure in the Lords want to place the responsibility to catch fraudulent activity onto the com-

LOONEY STICKING TO HIS GUNS BP chief executive Bernard Looney pledges to stick to plans for oil and gas output costs

panies themselves rather than law enforcement or regulatory bodies.

But MPs yesterday voted to exclude SMEs from the new offence, meaning it will only apply to around 0.5 per cent of UK firms, unless a compromise with peers over its wider application is later reached.

Dame Margaret Hodge, an MP and anti-corruption campaigner, urged the government to think again, saying: “This is a real missed opportunity to start turning the tide against dirty money.

“Everybody knows, including the ministers, that a strong ‘failure to prevent’ offence is a real game changer – it would finally change behaviour and deter wrongdoing.”

Seema Malhotra, Labour’s shadow minister for business and consumers, said the bill must “go further” to “clamp down on economic crime”, which she said cost the UK £290bn a year.

BP BOSS Bernard Looney has said he will not further scale back his energy transition strategy, despite investors penalising the group over its plan to cut oil and gas output. “We’re holding our nerve on the transition,” Looney told Reuters. BP is the only major oil company aiming to reduce oil output by the end of the decade.

Enquest decries windfall tax after half-year loss

NICHOLAS EARL

ENQUEST has warned the government the current fiscal regime is damaging confidence in the North Sea, and has called for further changes to the windfall tax to encourage investment.

The oil and gas producer has blamed the windfall tax for a swing from profits to losses, and fears the levy is jeopardising the UK’s

investment conditions.

Enquest boss Amjad Bseisu said: “The UK’s oil and gas sector faces significant challenges and loss of competitiveness due to uncertainty following the adverse changes to the fiscal regime.

“While we appreciate the government’s intentions to improve the attractiveness of the sector through the Energy Security Investment

Mechanism, we believe timely legislative reform is required to restore confidence in the UK oil and gas sector to protect jobs and deliver both energy security and decarbonisation.”

The comments came after the group posted a reported loss after tax of $21.2m (£16.9m) in its half-year results, in comparison to profits of $203.5m just 12 months prior.

Shares fell 12 per cent yesterday.

Ontario Teachers snaps up London wealth manager

CHARLIE CONCHIE

ONTARIO Teacher Pensions Plan (OTPP) has snapped up a majority stake in London-based Seven Investment Management (7IM) for £255m as it continues its swoop on private British companies.

The Canadian pension giant, which has £249bn assets under management and has built a reputation for splashy bets on private firms, yesterday announced it had struck a deal to buy a stake in the investment manager from British firm Caledonia Investments.

Set up in 2002, 7IM has some £21bn assets under management on behalf of more than 2,300 financial advisory firms and 7,000 private clients across the UK.

The deal marks OTPP’s latest raid on British companies after leading a number of major rounds into UK-based firms over the past two years.

Among its recent investments are buying a 25 per cent stake in the electricity transmission business of Scotland-based energy provider SSE, as well as investments into growth tech companies Beamery and leading a £210m round into Lendable.

In a statement yesterday, OTPP chief Inaki Echave said the investment could now herald a number of new deals for 7IM. “7IM is one of the highest-quality, fast-growing financial services platforms

in Europe and a perfect example of our strategy to make control investments in our high-conviction sectors,” he said.

“We intend to leverage our sector expertise and flexible capital to accelerate 7IM’s growth organically and through M&A. We look forward to helping 7IM’s first-class management team to fulfil their ambitious growth plans.”

OTPP is now eyeing a major push into UK wealth management and the deal will give the firm a platform for longterm capital and “expertise to help execute its growth plans over the next decade”, it added in a statement

7IM chief Dean Proctor said the firm was now “well positioned for our next phase of growth” alongside OTPP.

The deal is subject to approvals from the Financial Conduct Authority and is expected to go through in late 2023 or early 2024.

It will bring an end to Caledonia’s ownership of the firm after it snapped up a stake in September 2015. Cash from the sale is now set to be held on deposit for future investment, Caledonia said.

Caledonia has pocketed a hefty premium on its stake in the firm. In its audited accounts at the end of March, the firm judged its stake in 7IM to be worth £187.1m, excluding a further £13.2m which will be invested into the business prior to completion of the deal.

THE FUTURE OF CITY AM IS HERE DOWNLOAD

NBrown boss confident in online future

LAURA MCGUIRE

N BROWN chief executive Steve Johnson (pictured) said he expects online retailers to “kick on” again in the new year, following a lull period driven partly by customers returning to physical stores in order to shop around amid the cost of living crisis.

Speaking to City A.M., Johnson, who heads up the business behind online size-inclusive clothing brands such as Simply Be and Jacamo, said he noticed a “reset” in shopping attitudes post-pandemic.

“There does appear to be a bit of

a reset into omni-channel businesses [stores which have both a physical and online presence] from pure play [retailers] this year,” he said. Since joining N Brown more than five years ago, the financial services pro has been implementing a transformation plan for the business — taking it from a brand once synonymous with catalogue order books to a heavyweight in the digital shopping space. This included closing the brand’s 20 stores on the high street in 2018.

His comments come as the trend towards online shopping, accelerated by the pandemic, seems to be easing. In May, online shopping fell 3.3 per cent, but showed signs of rebounding in the middle of summer, rising by 4.1 per cent in July, according to government statistics.

“This year, I think there’s a bit of a restatement [from physical shops] but I suspect the pure play businesses will start to kick on again from next year onwards,” Johnson said.

Cardboard king DS Smith cuts prices as costs ease

PRENA

BEDI

BRITISH cardboard maker DS Smith yesterday said it was reducing prices for its packages as it benefits from easing raw material costs and customers re-stocking their inventories. “[The] cost of raw materials and energy has fallen quite a bit over the last year, so the price of our packaging is actually being reduced,” CEO Miles Roberts said in an interview with Reuters, without

giving details of the price cuts.

DS Smith, which operates in more than 34 countries and counts the likes of Amazon and Unilever as its customers, said it was seeing signs customers are re-stocking inventories, particularly in southern and eastern Europe and the US, although box volumes remained below year-ago levels.

“We believe DS Smith box demand has passed the trough, with easing de-stocking supporting the

reaffirmed... outlook,” analysts at Davy Research said in a note.

The packaging firm said it was trading in line with market expectations for the year.

Analysts on average expect DS Smith to log a pretax profit of £706m ($888.6m) for the year ending 30 April 2024, according to a company-compiled consensus.

The London-headquartered firm reported a pretax profit of £661m a year ago.

Packaging producer DS Smith saw a boom in business during the pandemic as online shopping took off

Watchdog chief: Fines have burnt gambling firms

JESS JONES

THE BOSS of the UK gambling watchdog has said escalating regulatory action in the UK has made a difference and penalties have caused the industry some “real distress”.

“They are very profitable companies but it does cause undoubted distress,” Andrew Rhodes, chief executive of the Gambling Commission (GC), said in a parliamentary hearing yesterday.

Fines against betting operators have increased in size in recent years with the past year throwing up the two largest penalties ever levied in the UK.

In March, the GC fined three William Hill Group businesses a total of £19.2m for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings in the regulator’s largest penalty ever.

Previously, Entain held that record after the GC slapped them with a £17m fine in August 2022 for similar offences.

However, Rhodes said the picture is improving: “We are definitely seeing less egregious cases.”

Compliance level is at 95

STV expects to score with Rugby World Cup after ad revenue drop

JESS JONES

STV GROUP has said it expects major sporting events like the Rugby World Cup to help claw back falling advertising revenue.

down from the same period in 2022.

STV has forecasted a three to five per cent increase in total advertising revenue in its third quarter, as the Women’s Football World Cup is predicted have provided a boost.

and well ahead of our 50 per cent target as we become a more resilient and more balanced media business.”

per cent this year, up from 20 per cent in the first quarter of 2022-23, he said.

“But we are not seeing their absence altogether,” added Rhodes, who was appointed to the top role at the GC in June 2022 after a year-long stint as interim boss.

On Saturday, the GC suspended In Touch Games’s licence to operate in Britain, suspecting the online betting firm of neglecting rules related to money laundering, fair and transparent terms and practices, and reporting key events.

Last month, 888 Holdings reported revenues of £882m for the first half of the year, largely thanks to its 2022 acquisition of William Hill. For the same period, Entain said it raked in nearly £2.4bn and £1.5bn in gross profit.

The GC is currently implementing the government’s gambling white paper, published in April, which aims to tighten up regulations including a statutory levy and stricter checks on losses.

The Scottish broadcaster, which is exclusively streaming the Rugby World Cup live, is hoping to offset weak ad revenues, which fell 14 per cent in the first half of the year

STV boss Simon Pitts said: “We’re expecting more than 60 per cent of our profit will come from those new growth areas this year, reducing our reliance on traditional TV advertising

Panmure Gordon media analyst Jonathan Barrett said while “the impact from weaker advertising cannot be recovered… STV is executing on the strategy that is improving the group’s long-term growth potential and profit diversification.”

Jet2 appoints successor for chair and founder Philip Meeson

GUY TAYLOR

JET2 HAS announced a replacement for long-time chief and founder Philip Meeson, the entrepreneur who transformed the company into the UK’s leading package holiday airline.

Senior independent non-executive director Robin Terrell is stepping in, following an announcement in July that 75-year-old Meeson was to depart after nearly 40 years at the helm.

Terrell has been at Jet2 as director

since April 2020 and previously held senior roles at Amazon and John Lewis. When Meezon’s departure was announced in July there was a 10 per cent slump in the company’s shares as investors fretted over the firm’s future.

Terrell’s appointment was welcomed by analysts, with Jefferies saying the move would “support sentiment” among investors due to Terrell’s “extensive experience”.

However, Jet2’s share price closed slightly down yesterday.

Low-cost airline Jet2 has appointed a new boss after 40 years

Gambling watchdog chief Andrew Rhodes

Russian oil sales pushed down by G7 price cap

NICHOLAS EARL

PRICE caps on Russian oil and gas have managed to drive down oil revenues and keep prices in check for consumers, experts have suggested, even though the country still has no shortage of buyers for its supplies.

Callum Macpherson, head of commodities at Investec, told City A.M. the sanctions and cap mechanism unveiled by the G7 this year has achieved their aim of limiting oil revenues from Russia, without unduly inflating oil prices amid OPEC supply cuts. He said: “The sanctions have not led to a significant curtailment in Russian output as the market has been able to reorganise itself to reroute trade flows to keep Russian crude in the market. Russia has had to accept a significant discount to achieve this. Had sanctions led to significant reductions in Russian output, oil prices could be very

much higher than they are now.”

Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, added: “It has helped, not in the sense of forcing down exports, but in keeping the price in check. However, given the current global tightness Russia has no problem finding willing buyers.”

The G7 – which includes the UK – entered into a coalition with the European Union and Australia to set caps on the price of seaborne Russian oil products in February.

Research from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air has forecast that the price cap on crude oil is costing Russia around £137m per day.

However, China and India are both continuing to take large volumes of discounted Russian oil, ensuring revenues still remain higher than initially hoped from the sanctions.

THE G7 cap on Russian oil was met with much scepticism at the time of its launch, but it has managed to secure a difficult balancing act.

This is that it has restrained Russian revenues, while still enabling allies to buy supplies if they need to do so.

However, countries operating outside the cap have simply seen the option for discounted supplies and taken advantage, with China and India both eager to meet consumption needs.

OPEC’s tightening of markets

Gas prices rise after news of Chevron strikes

NICHOLAS EARL

GAS PRICES rose yesterday after Chevron workers at a key liquefied natural gas plant in Australia said they would engage in a full-scale strike for two weeks this month.

“The Offshore Alliance is escalating protected industrial action to demonstrate that our bargaining negotiations are far from ‘intractable’,” the unions said in a Facebook post.

could worsen this situation, reducing supplies from allegedly friendly vendors such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

This is the latest escalation between Chevron and its employees in an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions. The strike action will begin on 14 September.

The extensive industrial action raises the prospect of further tightening in gas markets. Prices rose 2.2 per cent on the Dutch benchmark, and 2.8 per cent on the UK benchmark yesterday.

NICHOLAS EARL

The West deserves praise for its resilient outlook in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine, but with winter looming, demand will naturally spike worldwide and it remains to be seen whether international collaboration continues.

A Chevron spokesperson told City A.M.: “We’re looking to narrow points of difference with Gorgon and Wheatstone downstream employees and their representatives through further bargaining mediated by the Fair Work Commission.”

THE NOTE BOOK

BOUNCING BACK

WE AREin the midst of a workplace revolution and the traditional world of office landlords and tenants operating in an almost feudal relationship is coming to an end.

An old school property landlord once told me that there is a reason why the word landlord includes the word ‘lord’ and the word tenant includes ‘ant’. That sums up the master-servant relationship which continued for so long in the traditional office property world, with those landlords boasting about tenants being ‘on the hook’ of a 25-year lease.

That world is now being swept away – it was dying before the pandemic and the revolution has been accelerated now. Flexible offices, whereby companies have the freedom to sign leases as short as a few weeks up to five years, with all costs included, are transforming London work.

Big companies that want the flexibility to expand and contract their office space love the

optionality of flexible offices and start-ups that don’t want to overcommit themselves love these workplaces for the community feel because occupation is high.

Flex is more expensive to buy on a per-desk basis, but in real terms it is cheaper. You might pay £700 for a desk in a flexible office –comparatively on a ten-year lease that might work out at £400 but there is no one at it for the vast majority of the week.

My 16-year-old daughter will be entering the workplace in the next few years. The places she works in and how she works will be very different from the traditional longlease property that the City has embraced over the last 50 years. The good news is that the big owners are realising this too –British Land, Landsec and GPE are among the listed owners who are now offering excellent flexible office options. They are becoming much more customer focused in recognition of the changes now driving the market.

Tim Rodber is CEO of The Instant Group, a workspace consultancy, and played rugby union for Northampton, England and the Lions

At The Instant Group –where for over a decade we have been acting as the Booking.com for the office world, every year finding workspaces for 12,000plus businesses among space managed by5,000 owners and operators of real estate –we can detect the biggest workplace trends immediately. In the first six months of 2023, demand in London for flexible offices – as opposed to space signed on a long lease from a landlord for up to 15 years – has not just improved but has seen the strongest post-Covid recovery in any major property market, up 40 per cent compared with the first half of 2022.

£ I was recently asked my views on the woes afflicting English rugby’s World Cup warm-up campaign and my take on this is quite clear. In business, the role of the CEO is to hire the best people and then put the necessary strategy in place, which allows them to use their strengths and execute. As has been the case in English

rugby for some time, the senior leadership team appear to be managing on a very tactical basis with an over-exacting degree of preparation removing any sense of self-determination or spontaneity from the players. The coaching team set

out the strategy and the senior players take full control of execution on the pitch – in short, they need to play what they see in front of them, NOT what was set out in the pre-match briefing.

The office market is clearly having its “retail moment” – the dilemma facing landlords bear many similarities to that which retailers experienced more than 20 years ago when they had to face up to the challenge of the ecommerce revolution.

It has taken much of those two decades for retailers to not only recognise but adapt their business models with many falling by the wayside during that time.

In many ways the office market challenge is even more profound. Retail has adapted to the challenge of e-commerce by providing richer experiences in high street environments and knitting together the physical and the digital. The office market not only has to create an effective strategy in both areas but also productise itself by creating a transparent, easily purchasable set of products with a defined customer experience. Not an easy challenge but one we are enjoying taking on.

The future office exists, but it looks a lot different

OFFICE SPACE HAS ITS RETAIL MOMENT

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD

WHEN second-hand car platform Cazoo announced a shift onto the public markets in 2021, it looked from most angles to be a true-blue British success story.

Just three years after its foundation, this Amazon of old cars would debut on the stock market and pocket its founder Alex Chesterman the multimillion dollar payday most entrepreneurs dream of.

Cazoo sought out the vehicle du jour in 2021 and listed via a merger with a special purpose acquisition (SPAC) at a blockbuster $8bn valuation.

The bruising caveat to that all, of course, was that it would do so in the US –where high growth firms were just “better understood by investors”.

Cazoo’s move hints at a familiar sentiment floating around the Square Mile this year as London’s markets languish in the doldrums: the promised land may lie across the Atlantic.

A string of bosses have either ditched their listings or threatened to pack their bags for the Big Apple in recent months, with trading platform Plus500 and polling specialist YouGov among the latest firms to fire a threat at London’s staid pool of investors.

The rationale often shows a similar gripe.

“I think that once, or if, we’ll be listed in the US we’ll be valued more,” Plus 500 boss David Zruia said last month.

“I think the markets are better at supporting companies like ours there,”

YouGov chair Stephan Shakespeare said the very same day.

However, the later stages of Cazoo’s public market tenure point to a more complex picture for UK firms mulling a New York hub. The used car firm crashed into reality and has plunged more than 99 per cent in value since its IPO. Boss Chesterman stepped down as chief at the beginning of this year.

Others, like Babylon, were wildly hyped when they arrived on the New York markets. Investors felt the pain, though, when the digital health startup’s shares crashed, before a bankruptcy process earlier this summer.

While a deep and more willing investor base may be waiting for some in the US, and US firms do in general trade at better multiples than their UK counterparts, it’s not a universal truth.

“It’s the business fundamentals that matter, right. It’s just not that the grass is greener,” Scott McCubbin, EY’s head of IPO, told City A.M.

“It should always be where are you

best to list –that should be the first question. And that isn’t automatically the US. We have seen some valuation stories that haven’t panned out, particularly when you’re a small fish in a big pond,” he said.

The wider list of UK firms in the US paints a similarly troublesome picture. British firms to float in the US are, on average, trading down 39 per cent on their IPO price. For those that merged with SPACs, they are down by around 86 per cent, according to figures from the London Stock Exchange.

Many of the firms to hint at a New York swap this year are run on a far more sound basis than Cazoo, which rode a dual growth-stock and used car bubble before they burst.

But investors are global animals in the modern market and, as Peel Hunt analyst Damindu Jayaweera points out, “high-quality capital will find good-quality companies regardless of listing venue”.

“Markets can of course be a voting machine near term, as opposed to being a weighting machine longer term,” he added.

“This means during times of ‘hype’, the more liquid US market can push valuations higher than any other

market, but as was the case post dotcom, and post the more recent Fedbubble, those valuation bubbles don’t last,” he said.

But in a deepdive on valuations of technology firms across the UK, Europe and US, Peel Hunt found that valuations are “dependent on company performance, and not on the listing venue”.

Jayaweera points to the tale of UKlisted payment processor Boku as a warning. Boku’s top shareholders include one of the largest US asset managers, Capital Research, one of the largest Nordic asset managers, Danske, and one of the largest private equity firms active in public equity, Vitruvian.

“Arguably, Boku’s US-listed peer, DLocal, has a lower quality holder list by comparison, as its story is lost among the land of giants like Microsofts and Nvidias. If DLocal were listed in the UK, it likely would have garnered more attention from higher quality investors,” Jayaweera added. While a host of firms may have fired barbs at the malaise of London’s markets over the past year, bosses could do well to heed the tales of Boku and Cazoo when looking to New York as the land of milk and honey.

Land of milk and honey? Charlie Conchie asks if New York may not be a panacea for UK firms after all

British firms floating in the US are, on average, trading down 39 per cent on their IPO price

CITY DASHBOARD

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LONDON REPORT BEST OF THE BROKERS

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

London markets fall after poor PMI data raises recession risk

LONDON’s markets ended in the red yesterday as investors grew concerned about the state of the UK economy following poor data from the all-important services sector.

The FTSE 100 ended 0.21 per cent lower at 7,437.11 while the mid-cap FTSE 250 fell 0.16 per cent to 18,494.85.

Investors were concerned after the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for Britain’s services sector showed a reading of 49.5 in August, down from 51.5 in July.

It is the first time the index showed a negative reading since January, with any score below 50 indicating that the sector has shrunk, heightening the risk that UK could head into a recession later this year.

“Service providers saw customer

spending reverse course during August as higher borrowing costs, subdued business confidence, and stretched household finances all acted to curtail sales opportunities,” Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, which compiles the survey, said.

The pound hit a 12-week low against the dollar, falling to $1.25, as investors bet interest rates will not rise as high as previously thought.

Markets were also concerned due to fresh concerns from China, where the PMI for services in August fell to 51.8 from 54.1 in July – well below consensus expectations of 53.0.

Centrica and BP rose to the top of the index, rising 1.9 per cent and 2.0 per cent respectively.

The biggest faller in the FTSE 100 was bargain retailer B&M, which closed down around 3.4 per cent.

Shares in Ashtead finished in the red yesterday after the industrial equipment rentals firm cut its UK revenue growth forecast. But analysts at Peel Hunt were not too concerned, saying the company remained “in great shape” and that its 2024 outlook looked confident. “The shares continue to offer good value in our view,” analysts said, rating them an ‘add’ with a target price of 6,000p.

CHINA CONTINUES TO SET THE TONE

Construction firm Keir has acquired key rail assets from Buckingham for £9.6m in what Peel Hunt regards as a “strategically enhancing” move for the group. Analysts said shares remain undervalued, with a confident outlook expected in the group’s results next Thursday. Peel Hunt reiterated its ‘buy’ rating and slapped on a 150p target price for the stock.

“Undoubtedly expectations for a Chinese economic recovery following the removal of zeroCovid measures got way ahead of themselves, but the manner in which things have panned out is probably worse than even most of the sceptics would have predicted.”

RUSS MOULD, AJ BELL

OPINION

EDITED BY ELENA SINISCALCO

Hot mic moments show us the real side of our leaders, for better or worse

Simon Neville

WHO DOESN’T love a hot mic moment? They break through the monotony of the highly polished executive or politician, determined to get their line across at any cost, with something more honest and human.

This week it was the turn of Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, who asked an ITV News reporter at the end of an interview: “Does anyone ever say, you know what, you've done a f***ing good job because everyone else has sat on their arses and done nothing?". Only she knows why she made her outburst despite being well-versed in the rule that any microphone could be on - especially one that’s literally clipped to your body.

A personal favourite hot mic moment from the world of business was former Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe singing “We’re in the money” as he waited in front of a camera to be interviewed. This too was with ITV News, and the clip now forms part of a number of media training packs as how not to do it, along with ex-Persimmon chief Jeff Fairburn’s strop on BBC News.

Coupe’s case was interesting because ITV News had to make a decision on whether to run the clip or not, considering what was the news value in running it and what the consequences

would be.

They decided to do it, and they were right in doing so, as they were with the Keegan clip this week. These moments are important, because they show the public a different side to our political and business leaders. Sainsbury’s were said to be furious and business editor Joel Hills was in the dog house with the supermarket for several months - it’s thought relations remain strained.

Admittedly with Coupe’s hot mic moment, all we learned was he had seen West End musical 42nd Street the night before and had an earworm for one of the tunes. Alas, maybe singing “We’re in the Money” the day you’re announcing a mega merger with Asda and the focus is on whether you’ll get a big bonus from the deal, is not a good look. The serious side of the incident led some to question his judgement at such

a sensitive time. But, ultimately, everyone decided it was harmless and created space for humility from Coupe. The same outcome appears to be the case for Keegan - she comes across as passionate about the issue in question.

But the key difference between Coupe and Keegan is that the Education Secretary had to go out and defend her position whereas Sainsbury’s comms team could take on the clean up for their

Politicians must understand that taxation is not a substitute for economic growth

IN A speech last week, the leader of the Scottish Labour Party provided a ray of sunshine. I am not taking bets, by the way, on the number of times this particular sentence has been written.

But Anas Sarwar was making a serious point which is of critical importance not just for Scotland, but for the UK as a whole.

The specific context was an attack on the tax increases of the SNP, both actual and proposed. But the Scottish Labour leader went much further. Taxation, he said, “has been used as a substitute for economic growth, and it’s actually choking off opportunities”.

Just over a year ago, the Office for Budget Responsibility published a document entitled “Fiscal risks and sustainability”. They highlighted three major areas where demographic changes will put increasing pressure on the public finances. An ageing population means, they wrote, increasing demand for health, pensions and

Paul Ormerod

social care.

Fortunately, the real problems these create won’t kick in to the full until the 2030s. But every year that goes by, the pressures produced by an ageing population grow.

The immediate demands from the electorate are almost insatiable. Repair the schools, ease the burden on students, give the NHS more money, better pay for public sector workers, are only some on the list. But there is not enough money to do everything the electorate wants. In the past fifteen years - from 2007 - the UK economy grew by just 1 per cent a

year. In the fifteen years before 2007, it grew at 2.7 per cent a year. As a broad rule of thumb, each additional 1 per cent on the level of GDP yields an additional £10bn in tax receipts. If the economy had grown at its 1992-2007 average in the past decade and a half, the government would have had some £300bn a year more to either spend or to cut taxes. This simple figure highlights the fundamental importance of growth. As Anas Sarwar says, taxation is not a substitute for growth. Imagine if taxes were £300bn higher than they are now. Why would anybody bother to make an effort? The economy would grind to a halt. There is strong evidence that high levels of taxation have an adverse effect on the real driver of economic growth, innovation. Increasing the marginal corporate tax rate has an even bigger impact. An analysis of all the patents filed with both the US and European Patent Offices over a twenty-

five year period shows there is a strong negative correlation between marginal tax rates and the fraction of inventors who remain in their native country. The brain drain is real. Higher public spending, or lower taxes, can of course be paid for by issuing government debt. But the natural experiment carried out by the Truss government a year ago is thought by most to show the severe limits to this particular strategy. Or does it?

The difficulty for any government will of course be to persuade the markets that any extra borrowing, either for spending or tax cuts, will in fact be a stimulus and that growth won’t be used to appease particular interest groups.

At least Labour understands that growth is essential. Taxation is not a substitute.

£ Paul Ormerod is an author and economist at Volterra Partners LLP

boss’s mess. Keegan’s apology broadcast round is almost as good as the original sin.

Her unease is only bettered by Gordon Brown’s hot mic moment during the 2010 election where he called a voter a “bigoted woman”. For him, the next broadcast round after the hot mic was with the BBC’s Jeremy Vine, where the audio was played back to him for the first time. His look of horror at realising in real-time what had happened is harrowing, and the self-inflicted pain is exacerbated by the radio studio having a camera in place.

There is a lesson here for politicians and business leaders of the future. Probably assume anything said is on the record unless told otherwise, treat any microphone as being on and avoid West End musicals. But perhaps most importantly, don’t panic too much about whether it might happen to you. If it does and the comments come from a place of integrity and authenticity, then the outcome will probably be fine.

If you show honesty that reveals selfishness or egotism, then there will be a blow back. Keegan may well face perceptions of both, depending on where you fall on the political spectrum. But political leaders should know that vulnerability can be extremely powerful when trying to land a message and embrace it where they can.

Keegan asked why no one tells her she’s doing a “f***ing good job”. Well, this week she has - in reminding us about hot mic moments and their impact on how politicians and business leaders are perceived.

£ Simon Neville is Media Strategy and Content Director at SEC Newgate, he was formerly City Editor at Press Association

HURRAH

Gillian Keegan was caught swearing on camera this week

FOR KEMI She might have stayed clear of the news cycle lately, but Kemi Badenoch is the favourite Cabinet member of Tory supporters, according to a Conservative Home poll. She has replaced former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace at the top of the charts

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Banks should support SMEs

[Re: High street banks pull back from SME lending despite increasing demand, August 30]

After the turbulent economic landscape of the last few years, it’s no surprise demand for business finance is spiking amongst UK SMEs. That makes it even more concerning if high street banks’ appetite to lend is being rolled back at the precise moment it’s needed most. Our research highlights how precarious the financial position of many SMEs is at the moment. Two in five (39 per cent) say they’re concerned about the future of their organisation as funding is so hard to access. And rapidly rising interest rates are making the situation worse.

With data showing banks are reticent to

lend, it’s no surprise that we found half of SMEs don’t believe banks understand their business. One size fits all lending products aren’t the answer for rapidly growing businesses. Finance providers need to ensure they offer personalised, agile and effective funding solutions that cater to the demands of the SMEs seeking a financial injection. Alternative finance providers play a crucial role here - particularly as many have retained a strong appetite to lend to the UK’s innovative and world-leading SMEs.

Ensuring access to cashflow is vital to supporting businesses of all sizes but especially SMEs, who have more limited options in the current market but play an integral role in fuelling the UK economy. If lenders fail to keep this funding pipeline open, we only risk prolonging current economic struggles.

Richard Prime Co-founder of Sonovate

FIGHTING HUNGER Almost 30,000 kids to get free school meals in London

Redefining what green belt means could solve the housing crisis in London

Joshua Bond

THE SCANDAL of schools having to close because of the risk of dangerous, crumbling concrete is making the headlines this week, and for all the right reasons. However, primary schools were already closing across London’s boroughs over the past months, for different causes. Our capital is increasingly unable to house its young families, who get priced out and have to move out of London. As issues like these bubble under, housing is taking centre stage as one of the next general election’s defining battlegrounds.

Over the summer, housing secretary Michael Gove announced new funding to unlock 56,000 homes on small pockets of brownfield land, converting betting shops and takeaways into much-needed homes. It was an attempt to set the government’s housing policy apart from Labour’s plans to release land from the green belt. Yet this policy, however positive, falls hopelessly short of the estimated 300,000 homes a year needed to meet demand, dropped as a mandatory target by Rishi Sunak.

London mayor Sadiq Khan expanded the provision of free school meals for 287,000 seven to eleven-year -olds. According to City Hall, this will save families around £440 per year. Khan, who used to receive free school meals himself as a kid, said the “emergency intervention will help ease the burden”.

EXPLAINER-IN-BRIEF: A SHAKE-UP OF THE SICKNESS BENEFIT SYSTEM IS ON ITS WAY

Yesterday, Work and Pensions

Secretary Mel Stride unveiled changes to the sickness benefit system, with the aim of getting more people back into the workforce. The government wants to reduce the number of people who are considered to have “limited capability for work-related activity”. The number of people on this classification of universal credit is at 1.1 million. The government’s take is that not all the people in this category should be staying at home -

they just haven’t received any support in looking for work that suits their needs. Ministers have been at pains to stress that the new system will still support those who really cannot work, but help others find alternatives - for example taking work from home jobs. Over 700,000 people who are on sickness benefits want to work, according to the Centre for Social Justice. The Centre’s analysis shows helping these people into work could save the Treasury £7bn.

The poorly understood distinction between green belt and brownfield land lies at the heart of these decisions. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that guides England’s planning regime states that local authorities should prioritise brownfield development. This seems logical, as it allows the repurposing of already-existing sites and aligns with the public perception that the green belt must be preserved at all costs. Conversely, brownfield sites are popularly believed to occupy vast expanses of land that could be easily converted to housing.

However, a significant portion of what is often considered brownfield land is not so classified. In fact, a substantial amount of previously developed land falls within the green belt, subjecting it to strict planning restrictions. While preserving land with genuine ecological value is important, the idea that the green belt was created with environmental protection in mind is something of an urban legend. There is no requirement for this land to possess special aesthetic or ecological qualities; it doesn’t even need to be green.

Parts of the green belt have genuine ecological value, but some don’t

Far from “concreting over the countryside”, to quote Gove, a fifth of this land could be more accurately described as a "grey” belt: it’s made up of car parks, rubbish dumps and inaccessible wasteland. When it was introduced in the 1930s, the green belt covered an eighth of its current size. Over time, it has sprawled to 12 per cent of England’s land area, dwarfing equivalent protections of our European neighbours.

Nowhere is this more pronounced than in London, with the Metropolitan Green Belt spanning half a million hectares, three times the size of the city itself. Paradoxically, this requirement pushes Londoners further out, leading to longer commute times and higher house prices. Releasing even a fraction of this land for development could make a huge difference for young people and families living in the capital. These land designations are just one example of where our planning system relies on arbitrary distinctions that do

not align with reality. Although well-intentioned, this decades-old thinking is inadequate for today's pressured housing market. We need a sensible rethink to fast-track development on land that can accommodate not just homes, but the necessary infrastructure, while ensuring ecologically valuable land remains protected.

A few years ago, Centre for Cities proposed a practical solution in the form of releasing protected land around railway stations. This would create two million homes while providing fast access to the inner city for commuters. Innovations like these could address the desperate need for housing for London's families, while preserving green space without the need for blanket protection. By reimagining our planning system, we can ensure that housing meets the high-quality standards that Londoners deserve.

£ Joshua Bond is the founder and managing director of Bond Land

WINE-DOWN WEDNESDAY

TIME TO GO AU NATUREL?

September has been deemed Organic Month, so it seems only fitting to talk about the trend for organic wines. The idea of organic wine used to be met with suspicion – but those funky tasting bottles are thankfully a thing of the past. Now we have widely available, quality organic, biodynamic and natural wines, although they all mean slightly different things. In simple terms, ‘organic’ relates to the farming of the vines with no synthetic chemicals, herbicides or pesticides. Biodynamic wines take things further, viewing the vineyard as part of an interlinked harmonious ecosystem combining the astronomical calendar and encouraging active biodiversity. Both are increasingly felt to be beneficial for the land as well as the wines.

Natural wine, once beloved of the hipsters and now embraced across the world, is not a legally recognised term,

except for very recently in France. However, in general terms it tends to mean organically or biodynamically grown grapes turned into wine with minimal intervention from the winemaker. To advocates of natural wine, it is the truest representation of the wine. In

truth, I feel that sometimes Mother Nature may need a little help, but there are still some fantastic places to dive into the thriving natural wine scene in London.

Soif in Battersea is my friendly neighbourhood bistro, a stone’s throw from

Brodie

Wine without the snobbery, by Libby

written menus, tiny, candlelit bar and vintage record player. I have never had a bad plate of food here, but they also offer an interesting list of natural and biodynamic wines and an ever-changing list by the glass.

The cavernous Winemakers Club in the vaulted brick arches of the Holborn Viaduct offers wines from around the world as a shop by day and a wine bar by night, with a reputation for supporting diverse producers and indigenous varietals. It has low-key vibes and affordable wines for the casually curious, with corkage just £14 on top of the retail price. They even waive this between 12-4pm. Some would argue that P.Franco was the OG of the natural wine scene. An intimate bar with a loyal following, it abruptly closed but has found new life as 107 Wine Shop & Bar in Hackney. 107 focuses on Old World organic wines and maintains a good personal relationship with many of the winemakers they stock. A shop by day, it also offers a fun rotation of guest chefs Thursday to Sunday evening.

Clapham Junction station. It specialises in small scale winemakers and a hearty but concise menu from local organic farmers and producers. When asked for my favourite restaurant in London I often recommend Duck Soup in Soho with its daily hand-

Growers and winemakers are increasingly taking responsibility for the health of their soil, plants and waters for future generations – and the more we know about our environmental impact, the more the idea of land stewardship matters. Drinking delicious, expertly made wines while benefiting the planet? That’s worth raising a glass to.

ASK THE EXPERT: LONDON DONE PROPERLY

Michelin starred chef Jun Tanaka (The Ninth, Fitzrovia) on where he likes to eat in the capital on his day off

LYLE’S

I love this restaurant! The food is deceptively simple, however the clarity of flavours that James achieves is incredible. Their sauces are very light but have an intense and clean flavour. For me, they have the best desserts in London. The menu is hyper seasonal using the very best of British produce. It’s the kind of menu that I read and I want to eat everything on it. I was lucky enough to stage here and I found it very inspiring!

PERILLA

I have been coming here for a few years. It gets better and better each time I visit. Ben is a super talented chef, he takes humble ingredients and transforms them into creative, beautifully presented dishes that are just so delicious. Juste, their sommelier is very knowledgeable and always chooses the perfect wine to match my taste. I’m such a fan of this restaurant that we took our whole team here for dinner because we wanted to inspire them.

HUMO

I dined at the restaurant just a few weeks after they opened in January and it was as if they had been open for years. The food and service was faultless. Miller Prada has created a truly unique dining experience in London. At Humo, their food is inspired by the art of grilling over different species of wood with quality British produce and influences from Japan. As soon as I left the restaurant, I wanted to book my next visit.

PRIMEUR

This is my go- to restaurant when I don’t want to cook at home. It’s literally around the corner from where I live and it’s the perfect neighbourhood spot. It offers simple, delicious European dishes and a concise selection of natural wines. The menu changes daily which is perfect because I eat here more often than any other restaurant.

CADET

This place is another neighbourhood spot which I love. It’s a natural wine bar and shop from Tom, Francis and charcutier George. They offer a well curated list of natural wines and charcuterie to sit in or take away and a daily changing menu of European dishes from Jamie. I feel lucky to have a restaurant like this in my neighbourhood. It’s the kind of buzzy place that every neighbourhood should have - interesting wines, delicious food and warm service.

It’s Organic Month so there is no better time to check out these amazing natural and organic wines

LISTENING WITH FRIENDS: YOUR FAVOURITE PODCASTS RECORDED LIVE

The London Podcast Festival returns tomorrow. Here are seven live events not to miss, says Adam Bloodworth

Watching podcasts live rather than listening to them is catching on: since its launch in 2016 the London Podcast Festival has welcomed over 50,000 visitors and over 600 podcasters. You can book tickets separately for each of the live podcasting events on the Kings Place website, or listen to them via the KPlayer, a pay-per-view digital platform streaming the events. Here are five events we rushed to book.

THE DIVORCE SOCIAL

How can we have a ‘good’ breakup? These days divorce is possible without having to blame the other partner, a sign that many of us are trying to take a mature approach to the reality that relationships end. The future of the break up is the focus of this live podcast by broadcaster Samantha Baines, who welcomes a series of guests to discuss how they managed their breakups, from the paperwork to the tears and “listing your ex’s belongings on eBay.” Saturday 9 September, 930pm

NORTHERN NEWS

We often criticise London for being southern-centric, well, the Northern News podcast is here to change all that. Two northerners living in London, Ian and Amy, will be bringing the “hottest, creepiest and downright

FOOD NEWS

peculiar news stories from the North” to London, scouring the northern newspapers for the best stories of the week. Expect stories about pigs stuck on roundabouts and world gravy wrestling championships. Sunday 10 September, 2pm

NO SUCH THING AS A FISH

Over 425 million downloads later, No Such Thing As A Fish is the quick-witted comedy podcast based on weird and wonderful facts. Each guest reveals the most interesting thing they’ve learned in the past seven days

BLACK PROSE

Making its debut at this year’s London Podcast Festival, journalist Yolanthe Fawehinmi of Black Prose introduces novelist Dorothy Koomson, award-winning writer of 18 adult fiction books. The duo will discuss the issues black writers in particular face, such as being “overlooked despite fearlessly examining cultural stigmas.” The idea of the podcast is to inspire the next generation of black writers. 15 September, 9.30pm

NEURODIVERGENT MOMENTS

Presenters ADHD Abigoliah and Autistic Joe meet different guests each week to talk about being neurodivergent in life and at work and the best ways of navigating that in a world set up for neurotypical people. The podcast is making its debut at the festival but has appeared at other festivals like Latitude, and topics for discussion often include ADHD, Autism, OCD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Borderline Personality Disorder. 14 September, 9.30pm

PITCH YOUR PODCAST TO PRESS

If you have a podcast you’re wanting to generate attention for, this session will tell you how to make it appealing to press. Presented by Fiona Fraser, founder of the UK’s first and only podcast PR agency, she will reveal the best marketing and PR habits to get your podcast featured on TV, radio and online. She has worked on Ferne Cotton’s podcast as well as Kew Gardens Unearthed.

16 September, 11.30am

SUSTAINABLY

INFLUENCED LIFE

and hope to blow each other’s minds. But are they true facts or lies? After having its own televised version commissioned for BBC 2, the podcast returns to King’s Place for one night only. A modern classic well worth a watch. 14 September, 7pm

This podcast examines how we can better look after the planet and ourselves. We all feel the short-term stresses of climate change as we look to find sustainable solutions for the future, but what is the long-term mental impact our changing planet is having on us, and is it possible to rid ourselves of eco anxiety when it feels like so much is so bad?

17 September, 7pm

LOST GIANTS DINNER

Outcrop, the new restaurant, bar and arts space at 180 The Strand, is hosting a series of dinners that will pay homage to one of the UK’s ancient trees. It will be hosted alongside Marshmallow Laser Feast and with help from John Chantarasak (AngloThai), Brad Carter (Carters of Moseley), Chantelle Nicholson (Apricity) and Skye Gyngell (Spring). The series will run at from 10-17 September with tickets priced at £85 per person; outcrop.social.

OYSTER COMPETITION

Richard Corrigan, chef parton at Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill, has announced the return of The London Oyster Championships this September. On 19 September participants from London’s top restaurants will compete in two heats; best dressed oysters followed by a speed round with the shucking of 30 oysters. The winner will go on to represent London on an all expenses paid trip to the World Oyster Opening Championship in Galway.

GEODE OPENING SOON

One of the biggest openings in a year packed with big openings, Geode on Beauchamp Place will open its doors next week. It will focus on open-grill cooking with Mediterranean and Asian influences in a stylish 5,500 sq ft venue, with cocktail bar, late-night dining area and mezzanine conservatory with an open kitchen where guests can see the Robata grill, rotisserie station and pizza oven.

ARTESIAN EXPERIENCE

Artesian at The Langham is launching a new food and cocktail pairing experience, featuring chef Angelo Sato's Japanese dishes paired with cocktails by head bartender Giulia Cuccurullo. The new creations have been designed to reflect the sustainable culinary practices of the restaurant and incorporate elements from the bar’s ‘Ingredients of the Future’ cocktail list.

Available from September 13

NEW IN AT PRET

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RUGBY UNION

‘Sleeping giant’ Gloucester hunt for trophies

IN THEIR 150th season, everything should be looking rosy for Gloucester as the Cherry and Whites have spent the last couple of years dodging the financial woes that have caused other Premiership clubs to cease trading.

But they aren’t exactly thriving on the pitch. Having never won a top flight professional domestic trophy or claimed the Champions Cup, Gloucester haven’t won anything since the 2014-15 Challenge Cup – Europe’s second-tier competition – and other clubs across the continent are starting to overtake them in stature.

The club seem to be forever in a rebuild, whether that’s on the pitch, in the coaching box or around the boardroom table.

This off-season is no different.

Three years of George Skivington has seen the former London Irish coach

take on more responsibilities, while Alex Brown has been confirmed as Lance Bradley’s successor as chief executive. Bradley’s reason for departure remains a well-kept secret. But Gloucester have no top-flight European rugby this season, with a disappointing 10th place finish in the Premiership last term not enough to qualify.

THE PINNACLE

“The Champions Cup is what everyone wants to play in, it is the pinnacle, the piece you look at the start of the season and go ‘oh we have Munster or Toulouse’, the big clubs that roll off the tongue.

“And in our history you’d say Gloucester was a big club and we need to get back to that status where Gloucester are recognised as a force in Europe. That goes back to us winning.

“If we get that winning mentality and deliver then that’s where that will lead us. Gloucester isn’t a small club, I think it is a sleeping giant.”

The club this summer have recruited bulldozing back-row Zach Mercer from Montpellier in addition to Wales centre Max Llewellyn, among others. But there remain worries surrounding the future of the club.

Owner and chairman Martin St Quinton completed a majority takeover of the club in 2016 – alongside his role as

chairman of Cheltenham Racecourse, home of the Gold Cup –but the club remains one unable to make a consistent profit. And the game itself does not currently feel like one where participation benefits bankrolling owners.

“[Martin’s commitment is] never wavering, Brown added. “He loves the game, he loves the club, he lives locally.

St Quinton has been majority owner since 2016

“I speak to him regularly and we have a really lovely relationship and long may that stand. I know his family, his children, are very much part of the journey as well.

“He has very much got an association here, as well as Cheltenham Racecourse, so I can’t see him leaving any time soon.”

Gloucester are a fascinating club with fans to rival any European team, but with performances many actively try to

So in their 150th anniversary, with a new chief executive at the helm, time will tell as to whether this is yet another false dawn in the West Country.

CHOOSINGyour wild card picks is one of the toughest parts of being a Ryder Cup captain but Luke Donald deserves 10 out of 10 for his European selection.

I only had two captain’s picks when I captained Europe in 2002; Donald had six, which is a lot, and I think he has done a really good job.

Swedish rookie Ludvig Aberg’s inclusion has naturally attracted a lot of attention given that he only turned professional earlier this summer.

Aberg, 23, has been talked about as a possible pick for months, which might seem hard to imagine until you watch him play.

Donald had a chance to see his talent up close when they played together in Detroit, where Aberg impressed him by going nine under through 16 holes.

European vice-captain Edoardo Molinari also gave Donald a glowing report after being drawn alongside Aberg at the Dubai Desert Classic this year.

His special win at the European Masters on Sunday removed any doubts and I think the former amateur No1 is a really great selection.

As a captain, you want players who are in great form heading into a Ryder Cup and Aberg definitely ticks that box. It’s difficult to say how good he can go on to be but he has already shown what he is capable of – and the mental strength to win the last qualifying event.

EXPERIENCE AND CLASS

Of the other picks, Tommy Fleetwood will bring bags of experience and class. He was fantastic in Europe’s last home Ryder Cup in Paris.

Fleetwood seems to relish the competition. He is a fighter with loads of heart and won’t be scared by anyone or anything.

He takes everything in his stride. He is a charming bloke and even when things aren’t going well he brushes it off and comes back.

Sepp Straka was next in the world points list after Fleetwood, so there can be no complaints about his selection. The Austrian has two wins on the PGA Tour and finished tied for second

DONALD DESERVES 10 / 10 FOR HIS RYDER CUP PICKS

at the Open. He will also bring strong knowledge of the American players.

It will be hugely important to have the experience of players like Justin Rose, who has also had a great season.

Rose won on the PGA Tour earlier this year, is back in the world top 35, and had a good run at the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

He is a veteran of five Ryder Cups but will always be a classy player and still has plenty left in the tank.

Shane Lowry brings Major-winning credentials and could be a good partner for Rory McIlroy.

That’s not why he’s in, but it’s another string to his bow. He has a wonderful short game which makes him fantastic in foursomes, while he also makes loads of birdies, which is great in fourballs.

Donald’s hardest decision would have been choosing young Dane Nicolai Hojgaard over another potential rookie, Adrian Meronk. Both have won the Italian Open at

Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, which is staging the Ryder Cup later this month.

Meronk has had more success but Hojgaard probably had the edge on current form, with three top-10 finishes in his last six tournaments.

STRENGTH IN DEPTH

The big Pole will be gutted but he can’t feel hard done by. He was definitely next in line and, at 30, is young enough to go again and qualify for the next Ryder Cup.

Overall, it shows the strength in depth of Donald’s side, which has been less affected than the US team by players joining LIV Golf.

Egos are left at the door for Ryder Cups, but I don’t think the European team has any big egos in it anyway.

One of the great things about playing in the event, especially as a rookie, is that you can tap into the knowledge of true greats in your dressing room.

I remember sitting alongside players like Bernhard Langer and Seve Ballesteros, who were only too happy to help with any element of your game.

It’s an incredible opportunity for youngsters and someone like Aberg will be able to learn so much from those who have done it before like McIlroy.

Donald has done an amazing job of assembling his team. Now I can’t wait to watch them go into battle with the US in Italy.

Sam Torrance OBE is a former Ryder Cupwinning captain and one of Europe’s most successful golfers. Follow him @torrancesam

Aberg’s special European Masters win removed any doubts and I think he is a really great selection

It’s the club’s 150th anniversary and their new CEO is determined to make the club big again, writes Matt Hardy

SAM TORRANCE ON GOLF

Luke Donald deserves 10/10 for his Ryder Cup picks

Strong England team ‘should be priority’ for new rugby deal

MATT HARDY

A NEW Professional Game Agreement for rugby must have the ultimate aim of improving England’s fortunes, new Gloucester Rugby chief executive Alex Brown has told City A.M. The deal between clubs and the Rugby Football Union, which dictates salary caps and player release rules among other aspects of how the top flight functions, is due for renegotiation at the end of the season.

“[We need a] Premiership model that’s a fiercely competitive league and it supports the national team,” Brown told City A.M. “Ultimately the end goal here is to have a really competitive Premiership product that competes in Europe and then produces an international quality team that we can all be proud of. That’s got to be the goal and the intention is there to do that.

“The 10 team league is the start of that and it filters down to the minutiae, the academy set-up, the relationship with the RFU, the new broadcast deal and all these important pieces of the jigsaw puzzle.

“I think we have a far greater understanding of the pressures now and we’ve been through the tough times.”

The Premiership lost three clubs –Worcester Warriors, Wasps and London Irish – last season having strug-

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gled its way through the Covid-19 pandemic.And the sport has been battling with a number of financial issues in recent years.

Brown took over from former chief executive Lance Bradley having steered the club on an interim basis over the summer.

The national team features just one Gloucester player, Jonny May, and the Cherry and Whites have had their number of international participants drop of late.

“The World Cup is here and that’s exciting. We clearly want England to do as well as they can,” Brown added.

Gauff obliterates Ostapenko as Djokovic wins

MATT HARDY

“That’s the goal. Hopefully with a bit more consistency we can get that.

“I know [England coach Steve] Borthwick has a big job ahead of him, he’s gone a certain way and picked a team with experience which is what he wants to do and I don’t blame him for doing that.

“But what we need to be fair to him is to give him time like we do with any other senior appointment, we need to give him time to put his mark on things and it’s probably come too soon. We will get there.”

England get their World Cup campaign underway on Saturday against Argentina.

Henderson branded ‘not an LGBTQ+ ally’ over Saudi move

FRANK DALLERES

ENGLAND vice-captain Jordan

Henderson “has shown he is not an ally” of the LGBTQ+ community by moving to the Saudi Pro League, say campaigners.

Henderson, previously a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, defended his lucrative summer transfer to Al-Ettifaq in an interview with The Athletic this week.

The 33-year-old said he remained the same person and would consider wearing rainbow laces for his new team if it didn’t “disrespect the religion and culture in Saudi Arabia”, where homosexuality

remains illegal. “What would the impact be on local LGBT people? If it’s going to cause a backlash and harm to them, do not do it,” said Joe White, co-chair of Pride in Football.

“What’s the reason for him doing it? He’s shown he’s not an ally in the choices he’s made. Actions speak louder than words.

“If he’s doing it just to try and regain some form of respect, it’s not going to work.

“It feels like it’s a way of him trying to rebuild his image and nothing he’s said is either convincing or makes any kind of difference. It just re-establishes the disappointment.”

AMERICAN Coco Gauff demonstrated her US Open Grand Slam winning credentials last night with a spectacular 6-0 6-2 thrashing of Jelena Ostapenko.

The 19-year-old former French Open finalistwas facing the Latvian conqueror of world No1 Iga swiatek but made light work of Ostapenko in Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows, New York.

Having handed 20th seed Ostapenko a bagel in the opening set after just 20 minutes, Gauff completed her quarter-final battle in just 68 minutes.

“It feels great,” Gauff said on reaching her first ever US Open

semi-final. “I’m so happy. Last year I lost at the quarter-final stage and I wanted to do better this year. I still have a long way to go, but I’m happy and I’m ready to get back to work for the next one.”

“Honestly, I didn’t feel comfortable at all the whole match, even on the match points,” she said. “I know the game [Ostapenko] plays. She has the ability to come back no matter the scoreline. So I was just trying to get every point, put every ball in. It’s really tough against her because you can’t really be aggressive. So I was trying my best to be aggressive when I could.

“She’s a tough player and she had a great tournament.”

Novak Djokovic reached his 47th

19

Grand Slam semi-final with a 6-1 6-4 6-4 victory over American Taylor Fritz. The Serbian overcame a minor injury scare to reach the last four. Today’s US Open play sees No2 seed Aryna Sabalenka face Qinwen Zheng of China, who has been performing superbly in New York. Elsewhere Daniil Medvedev faces Jack Draper’s conqueror Andrey Rublev while Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova faces American Madison Keys and No1 seed Carlos Alcaraz takes on Alexander Zverev of Germany. Alcaraz is looking for a second successive Grand Slam having won on grass at Wimbledon in the summer and is the defending champion in New York.

Spain sack coach Vilda and apologise for Rubiales row

FRANK DALLERES

WOMEN’S World Cup-winning coach

Jorge Vilda has been sacked as the recriminations following last month’s tainted victory continue.

Luis Rubiales, the president of the Spanish football federation (RFEF), remains suspended for publicly and forcibly kissing star player Jenni Hermoso on the lips after the final. And having lost one of his key supporters in Rubiales, Vilda too was removed from office on Tuesday by acting president Pedro Rocha. Vilda and the RFEF were the subject of formal complaints by more than a dozen players on the Spain team last

year, most of whom missed the World Cup in protest. But it made no reference to that or Rubiales in a statement confirming his departure.

“The RFEF would like to express its gratitude to Jorge Vilda for the services provided, for his professionalism and dedication during all these years, wishing him the best successes in the future,” the RFEF said.

“We value [Vilda’s] impeccable personal and sporting conduct, being a key piece in the notable growth of women’s football in Spain.”

Spain appointed Montse Tome as their head coach with the Spaniard becoming the first female to occupy that role for the national team.

RUGBY UNION

Brown played over 200 times at lock for Gloucester Rugby

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