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The government is set to introduce regulations to oversee buy now, pay later (BNPL) credit in a move designed to provide better consumer protection. The move comes amid concerns about the ease of borrowing money from multiple lenders without credit checks or reporting debts to credit reference agencies. The number of people seeking help from Citizens Advice regarding issues with BNPL increased by 56% in the year to July 2023. The Treasury's proposed regulations would require lenders to conduct affordability checks and provide credit card-style protections to customers. Peter Tutton, head of policy at debt charity StepChange, said: "After years of delays, it's vital that the next government prioritises bringing buy now pay later into the regulatory sphere of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)." FCA data shows that around 27% of adults used BNPL at least once in the six months to January 2023. 

 

The Times

The former boss of LXi Reit, Simon Lee, sent an email to colleagues at Alvarium announcing the launch of Home Reit, despite claiming no involvement with the scandal-hit business. Lee wrote the email in September 2020, weeks before the float of the housing-for-the-homeless group. Home Reit raised an initial £240m before imploding after an attack from Viceroy Research. The shares were suspended, and the company is now under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority. Lee says he played no part in the day-to-day management of Home Reit due to a conflict with his role as CEO of LXi.

 

The Times

Experts say Shein’s potential London listing puts the Financial Conduct Authority under intense scrutiny as the Chinese firm has faced allegations of forced labour and questions over its environmental standards.

 

Financial Times

Social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, has been accused of breaching the EU’s online content rules. The bloc's tech regulator says the platform’s blue tick accounts have the potential to "deceive" users. Officials say users may believe a blue tick – which can be purchased by anyone - means an account is verified. As part of the probe, the watchdog also found a lack of transparency around advertising and said X did not provide data for research, despite EU rules requiring the firm to do so. Breaches of EU's Digital Services Act could see X fined up to 6% of its global annual turnover.

 

BBC News

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned against rescuing struggling shipyard Harland & Wolff due to concerns over taxpayer cash ending up with financiers. Reeves is considering support for the Belfast-based shipyard, which is seeking a £200m loan guarantee to restructure its debt. However, Treasury officials have advised against a bailout, citing potential breaches of post-Brexit state aid rules and the use of taxpayer money to pay off Wall Street lenders. The decision to rescue Harland & Wolff would necessitate overriding civil servants and could face a legal challenge. Harland & Wolff's shares have been suspended since July 1, and the publication of its accounts has been delayed.

 

The Daily Telegraph

A former employee of the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) has filed a complaint with Britain's charity regulator, accusing the non-profit of acting against its mission. The complaint alleges that SBTi's board of trustees acted "recklessly" in announcing plans to allow companies to use carbon credits in their targets, which goes against the organisation's previous rejection of offsets. The former employee claims that the board repeatedly breached company rules and ignored expert opinion. The Charity Commission will now decide whether to investigate the complaint.

 

Daily Mail

Reuters

Thames Water has been hit with almost £39m in penalties for missing a string of environmental targets. The penalties, which include fines for pollution incidents, leakage, supply interruptions, and poor customer service, were revealed in the water company's annual performance report. Despite the penalties, Thames Water aims to raise £3.25bn in fresh equity. Thames Water, which is in significant debt, has been put into special measures by regulator Ofwat and could face administration if it cannot raise additional funds.

 

The Guardian

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is under pressure to appoint a new member to the Bank of England’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). The process of replacing outgoing member Jonathan Haskel was delayed by the general election. Haskel, an economics professor at Imperial College London, is due to leave on August 31 after six years on the MPC. If no replacement is in place, the MPC will be reduced to just 8 members, making a tied vote on whether rates should be changed a possibility. In such a scenario, Bank governor Andrew Bailey has the final say.

 

Daily Mail

Labour will hold bad employers accountable for their actions, according to Paul Nowak, head of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Nowak argues that despite intense lobbying from UK corporations, he expects the King's Speech this week to demonstrate to bosses that Labour's fundamental transformation of workers' rights is proceeding as scheduled. Businesses should be afraid of the changes, according to Nowak, but only if they are among the bad actors. "To good employers, there's nothing to worry about, to bad employers, then I'm sorry," the union leader said. The Labour Party's New Deal for Working People is a set of policies aimed at improving workers' rights. These include raising the minimum wage, prohibiting "fire and rehire" tactics, terminating zero-hour contracts, and providing protection against wrongful termination from day one. While employers and unions have expressed reservations about the proposals, Labour plans to introduce an employment rights bill within its first 100 days in office.

 

The Sunday Telegraph

Post Office chief executive Nick Read is stepping back from front-line duties so he can give his "entire attention" to the "critical" next stage of the Horizon IT inquiry. With the final hearings coming in September, the inquiry is set to focus on current practice at the Post Office and future recommendations for the business. A Post Office spokesman said: “Appropriate preparation ahead of a corporate witness statement is important and enables the business to best support the inquiry’s vital work.” The Post Office's deputy chief executive, Owen Woodley, will step in as acting CEO until the end of August.

 

BBC News

Cruise ship passengers who were confined to their cabins due to a stomach bug outbreak are planning legal action. The outbreak occurred during a ten-day P&O trip to the Canary Islands in April, affecting hundreds of passengers. Some passengers had to be put on drips and were still ill upon returning to England. This incident followed reports of another outbreak a month earlier, which also resulted in passengers being isolated. Personal injury lawyers are now putting together a claim against P&O.

 

The Sun

Hackers are using software that enables them to swipe people's card details with ease, with fraudsters paying subscription-style fees of around £80 per month to access the programs. Cybersecurity firm NordVPN calculates that data from over 600,000 bank cards has been leaked online via this method. In 99% of cases, the data included information such as the victim's name, passwords and usernames. NordVPN says malware known as RedLine is behind six out of every 10 bank card thefts.

 

Daily Mail

Daily Mirror

The devolved nations of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland have experienced significant growth in manufacturing jobs over the past year, in contrast to the decline seen in English regions. According to research by industry group Make UK and BDO, manufacturing jobs increased by 13,000 in Wales, 10,000 in Scotland, and 2,000 in Northern Ireland. However, England saw a decrease of 34,000 manufacturing jobs - with all regions bar the East of England posting a decline. The report highlights the ongoing challenge of finding skilled workers and calculates that there are 64,000 vacancies in the sector. Richard Austin, head of manufacturing at BDO, said:“There is now an exciting opportunity for the sector to work with the new Government on the development of a new long-term industrial strategy." This, he said, "could help address longstanding skills shortages, boost infrastructure, improve productivity and unlock vital investment."

 

Daily Express

Daily Mail

Burberry is facing criticism from investors due to its lacklustre fashion ranges and declining share price, which has fallen by 66% since April 2023. Shareholders are expressing discontent ahead of the company's annual general meeting on Tuesday, with some calling for a complete overhaul of the management team. The low valuation of Burberry has also raised concerns of a potential takeover bid, with French luxury giant LVMH seen as a potential predator. Burberry's new collection under creative director Daniel Lee has failed to attract the target market of wealthy consumers, while aspirational shoppers may be put off by the elevated pricing.

 

The Times

Daily Mail

Consumer goods business Unilever plans to cut a third of its office-based roles in Europe by the end of 2025, accounting for around 3,200 jobs. The firm, which is set to begin a consultation process with those affected by the cuts, said: "We are committed to supporting everyone through these changes." Earlier this year, Unilever announced cost-cutting plans that would affect 7,500 roles globally.

 

BBC News

Financial Times

The Times

The Times

City AM

Superdry has had its last day of trading on the London Stock Exchange, bringing to an end 14 years as a listed company. Shares in the fashion retailer had crashed after a prolonged period of falling sales and widening losses. At its peak, Superdry was valued at almost £1.7bn, but since then the shares have collapsed by 99.8% and they closed their final day as a listed business just above 3¼p. Superdry has delisted as part of a restructuring overseen by Julian Dunkerton, its co-founder, after his bid to take the company private fell through earlier in the year. Dunkerton has pledged £10m as part of a fundraising, alongside plans for rent reductions across its 39 UK stores, as he looks to keep the company trading.

 

The Times

Carpetright is on the brink of collapse and has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators while it tries to secure extra funding. The chain said it has started “promising” conversations with interested parties and that its 272 stores will remain open for now. Kevin Barrett, boss of Carpetright’s owner, Nestware Holdings, said a slump in trade has hit its restructuring plans so it is “seeking a period of protection whilst sale negotiations proceed." PwC has been lined up, but not yet appointed, to handle the administration of the flooring retailer.

 

BBC News

The Times

The Times

Centrica, the FTSE 100 firm that owns British Gas, is working with headhunters to identify a successor to chairman Scott Wheway. Wheway, who became chairman of Centrica in 2020, has been on the company's board since 2016. This means that, under the UK’s corporate governance rules, he will no longer be deemed independent as of May 2025 as he will have served as a director for nine years. Centrica is understood to have appointed search firm Lygon to handle the process and is said to be considering existing board members as well as external candidates.

 

Sky News

Leading advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended that Datalex shareholders vote against the Dublin-headquartered company's remuneration report at its upcoming AGM. ISS opposes the $238,928 sign-on bonus and accelerated stock options granted to the new CEO, Jonathan Rockett. The advisory firm also criticises the vesting period of 3.7m share options, which it believes is not in line with local market standards. ISS has advised against the re-election of non-executive director Peter Lennon, citing his lack of independence as chair of Datalex's remuneration committee.

 

The Irish Times

The government is expected to change the law to make assaulting retail workers a crime. Assaulting, threatening or abusing a retail worker is set to be made a standalone statutory offence as part of Labour’s Crime and Policing Bill. Retailers have been calling for more action to protect their staff amid a rise in crime. British Retail Consortium analysis shows that violence and abuse against shop workers rose to 1,300 incidents a day last year, with incidents against staff up by 50% in the year to September 2023, from 870 incidents a day the year before. Writing in the Times, Ken Murphy, chief executive of Tesco, urges the government to introduce the new law as attacks on store workers mount. Murphy says Tesco has spent tens of millions of pounds on "necessary" preventive measures such as security officers, body-worn cameras, protective screens and door entry systems. He adds: "Sadly they are still not enough. That’s why I am calling on the new Labour Government to introduce a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker in this week’s King’s Speech." Other major retailers, including John Lewis and the Co-op, have also called for more action to protect their staff amid a rise in crime.

 

The Times

The Times

Daily Mirror