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The Times

The Independent

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds have hosted a meeting with business representatives and trade unions to discuss the government's plan for workers' rights. The Employment Rights Bill aims to ban the "exploitative" use of zero-hours contracts and end "fire and rehire" practices. Ministers hope to introduce changes including parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal from the first day of employment. While unions have largely welcomed the proposals, some business groups have expressed reservations. Following the meeting, Rayner hailed "a new era of partnership," saying participants had "agreed to wipe the slate clean and begin a new relationship of respect and collaboration." The Institute of Directors stressed the importance of meaningful dialogue to determine the impact on economic growth, while Christina McAnea of Unison highlighted the importance of collaboration in solving Britain's problems and driving economic growth.

 

BBC News

Financial Times

Sara Murray, the founder of electronic monitoring device firm Big Technologies, has increased her stake in the business following the sudden departure of its chairman. She has seen her holding grow to about 27% after she and other directors exercised options agreed when the business floated in 2021. AIM-listed Big Technologies emerged from a company called Buddi that Murray founded in 2005. Both firms are being sued in the High Court by five investors who have made allegations of insider dealing. The claimants allege that a group of offshore companies with undisclosed connections to Murray were used to unlawfully push minority shareholders out of Buddi at a much lower price than Big Technologies achieved when it floated.

 

The Times

Elon Musk's Dublin-based Twitter International UC has been ordered to pay an Irish record unfair dismissal award of €550,131 (c.$600,000) to a former senior employee. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found that the company unfairly dismissed the former director, Gary Rooney, for not responding to Musk's 'Fork in the Road' email. Musk acquired Twitter's global business in 2022, and shortly after, 140 employees at its European HQ in Dublin were made redundant. Twitter International UC contested Rooney's claim, but the WRC ruled in his favor. The record award includes remuneration losses and future remuneration losses. Rooney has since secured a new role in the banking sector. Musk's company has the option to appeal the ruling to the Labour Court.

 

Waterford News &Star

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that UK inflation rose to 2.2% in July, the first increase in 2024. The Bank of England expects inflation to go up to 2.75% in the coming months before falling below its target rate of 2% next year. ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said that while price growth “ticked up a little” in July, “inflation pressures at least in the short run are fairly moderate.” Economists predict that July’s slight increase in inflation could see policymakers opt to keep interest rates on hold in the immediate future. While Peter Arnold, EY UK’s chief economist, expects officials to keep the base rate at 5% in September before delivering another cut in November, RSM economist Thomas Pugh said the ONS data may not prompt a rate cut in September but “does open the door to two more cuts, rather than just one, later this year.” Sanjay Raja, chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank Research, says it is “entirely conceivable to think that we could get multiple more rate cuts this year," Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said the latest ONS data “may not alleviate the Bank’s concerns about persistent price pressures entirely.”

 

Sky News

BBC News

John Lewis is set to improve customer service by putting storeroom workers on shop floors. The company aims to free up more employees to work on checkouts and serve customers in fitting rooms by eliminating separate backroom workers. In addition, John Lewis plans to change staff hours to have more workers available during busier times. The company will invest £5m in digital headsets to remove unnecessary tasks for staff and introduce more mobile payment devices for customers. However, these changes will result in 153 job cuts. John Lewis is consulting staff on the proposed changes. Peter Ruis, executive director of John Lewis, aims to replicate Selfridges' attentive approach toward shoppers. The department store has faced criticism over its level of service and has been battling to maintain its position as the seventh largest retailer in Britain. Last year, Waitrose also implemented staff changes to improve customer service and has since started to regain market share.

 

Daily Telegraph

London Evening Standard

The Times

The GMB union has called on Asda to take "urgent action" to protect jobs as the supermarket is "in a fight for survival." Asda's sales fell by 6% in the three months to 4 August, resulting in the retailer's share of the UK take-home grocery market dropping to 12.6%, the lowest level in at least 13 years. The decline in market share comes amid a chaotic period at the top of the group, which was bought by the Issa brothers and TDR Capital. Nadine Houghton, national officer for the GMB union, said urgent action was required to protect jobs. "Asda's plummeting market share is entirely down to TDR Capital's financial mismanagement and Asda is now in a fight for survival," Houghton said. Stuart Rose, the chair of Asda, expressed embarrassment over the supermarket's performance and suggested Mohsin Issa should step back from running the company. Asda has said it is investing an additional £30m in stores this year to improve customer service and product availability.

 

The Guardian

Carpetright owed nearly £350m when it collapsed into administration with the loss of more than 1,500 jobs before being rescued, according to a document filed with Companies House by administrator PwC. Carpetright's secured creditor will not receive any of the £120m owed, while preferential creditors, mainly employees, are expected to receive all of their money. HMRC, which is a secondary preferential creditor, is owed an estimated £9.2m. Unsecured creditors are owed more than £213.8m. The carpet and tiling retailer was acquired by rival Tapi in July.

 

City AM

A cross-regulatory group which includes the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Financial Conduct Authority, Charity Commission of England and Wales, Companies House, and HMRC has launched a discussion paper on the future of digital reporting in the UK and is calling for stakeholder feedback. Ther paper looks at changes in the regulatory landscape and the impact of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. Key topics include potential alternatives to the European Single Electronic Format taxonomy for UK regulated markets; proposed changes to structured digital reporting to support regulatory disclosure initiatives; and considerations for mandatory assurance of digital tagging. Mark Babington, the FRC’s executive director of regulatory standards, said: “Market intelligence, information, and data are increasingly important for both decision making and monitoring outcomes, so it is crucial that we set a strategy for UK taxonomies that will continue to deliver for business in the future.”

 

Law360

Pensions Age

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Forex TB (FXTB) £276,100 for providing investment advice without authorisation. The fine would have been £1.215m but FTXB demonstrated that a penalty of this scale would cause it serious financial hardship. Contract for differences firm FXTB, which also traded as Patron FX, “frequently” provided its customers with investment advice, despite not being authorised to do so. The firm was ordered to stop providing services to UK consumers in April 2021 and has not held any FCA permissions since October 2023. Therese Chambers, the FCA’s joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said: “FXTB’s misconduct was particularly egregious since it relied on the exploitation of customers who, because of their inexperience, were particularly vulnerable.”

 

FT Adviser

City AM

Citigroup has scrapped an EU-imposed bonus cap, saying material risk-takers (MRTs) can now earn a bonus worth up to six times their base salary, replacing the previous ratio of 2:1. The cap was introduced by the EU in 2014 as officials looked to limit risk-taking following the financial crisis. UK financial regulators last year announced that the restrictions would be lifted. Citi has followed Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Barclays in saying the bonus cap will be scrapped or loosened.

 

City AM

International students are facing an uncertain future as governments around the world crack down on immigration. In the UK, the Labour party has vowed to retain a ban on international students bringing dependents, while in the Netherlands, a far-right coalition is proposing restrictions on foreign students' access to Dutch universities. Canada and Australia are also implementing clampdowns on foreign enrollments in universities. The impact is already being felt, with visa volumes to the UK, Canada, and Australia down between 20% and 30% from the previous year. The moves are being framed as a way to improve education quality and stamp out abuse, but critics argue that they are politically motivated. The US is benefiting from the crackdown, becoming the preferred study destination for international students. However, economic arguments about the benefits of the international education sector are taking a back seat to political ones as the electoral tide swings against immigration.

 

Bloomberg

The government has been urged by tech bosses to reassess visa guidelines. New guidelines implemented earlier this year include a hike in the visa salary threshold for skilled workers. Centuro Global, an AI-powered SaaS platform, has called for a re-consideration of the guidelines, arguing that they have caused disruptions for UK businesses. Centuro Global believes that the new rules are detrimental to future generations of professional talent. The effects of the guidelines have already been felt by some firms and graduates, with job offers being withdrawn. A survey of senior business leaders by global relocation platform Jobbatical saw more than half say that new immigration policies have harmed UK businesses, while 60% say there is a need for more international workers.

 

City AM

About 46% of job hunters use AI to search and apply for posts, according to HR start-up Beamery, while Neurosight found that 57% of student jobseekers have used ChatGPT to support applications. 

 

Financial Times

Dame Amanda Blanc, the chief executive of insurance giant Aviva, has warned Chancellor Rachel Reeves that a tax raid on pensions could disrupt millions of workers’ retirement plans. Her warning comes amid reports that the Treasury is considering cuts to pension tax relief as officials look to plug an alleged £22bn black hole in public finances. It has been suggested that there could be a flat rate of tax relief at 30p in the pound, meaning higher-rate payers would face an effective 10% tax charge on their retirement contributions. Dame Amanda said: "If you really want people to save for the long term, pensions are a long-term game,” arguing that they “are not something that you do something with today and then don’t have consequences in five, 10, 15, 20 years’ time.”

 

The Daily Telegraph

The Times

The tax office has hit mobile network operator Lycamobile with a winding-up petition – a formal legal process used against a company that is unable to pay its debts - over a long-running dispute over VAT worth £51m. A tax specialist tribunal last month ruled in favour of HMRC in the VAT dispute, while audit firm PKF Littlejohn said in June that it was unable to sign off Lycamobile’s accounts as it had “not been able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion.”

 

City AM

The Guardian

A commission of energy experts, the Energy Crisis Commission, has been established to review the impact of the recent gas crisis and ensure better preparedness for future crises. The commission, chaired by David Law, will bring together representatives from Energy UK, the Confederation of British Industry, Citizens Advice, and National Energy Action. The Commission aims to address rising gas prices and will work towards improving energy resilience and protecting households and businesses from price volatility. Areas of focus will include catalytic green investment, home energy efficiency, and the UK's pathway to net zero.  It will publish its findings in the autumn and make recommendations on how the country can mitigate the impact of future energy crises.

 

Daily Mail