Category Archives: Business

European cities hope jet-setting Taylor Swift fans will splash the cash for Eras tour

Posted on by

The superstar arrives in Europe next month – and Swifties, tourist boards and venues are already preparing

Tim Brown, 44, and his wife, Marcella, 34, may not consider themselves bona fide “Swifties”, but when it was announced last June that Taylor Swift would be visiting their corner of the globe this summer they could not resist joining the scramble for a pair of tickets.

A post-pandemic appetite for live music events has fuelled huge worldwide interest in the American singer-songwriter’s Eras tour, which surpassed in $1bn sales in November to become the highest-grossing series of concerts in history.

Continue reading...

Shell says it ‘lobbies for energy transition’ during climate ruling appeal

Posted on by

Company is fighting Dutch court ruling that says it must emit 45% less CO2 by 2030 than in 2019

Shell has argued that it “lobbies for, not against, the energy transition” on the final day of its appeal against an important climate ruling.

The fossil fuel company is fighting the decision of a Dutch court in 2021 that forces it to pump 45% less planet-heating CO2 into the atmosphere by 2030 than it did in 2019. In court on Friday, Shell argued the ruling is ineffective, onerous and does not fit into the existing legal system.

Continue reading...

Abu Dhabi state oil company reportedly looked at buying BP

Posted on by

Adnoc decided move was not right fit but it is latest sign of foreign buyers circling UK firms

Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil company reportedly recently explored a multibillion-pound bid for BP, in a sign that depressed share values in London are making even the biggest British businesses takeover targets.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) considered options including buying BP or acquiring a large stake before deciding it was not the right fit and abandoning preliminary discussions, according to Reuters.

Continue reading...

Everton paid £30m in interest to lender with links to tax exile, documents suggest

Posted on by

Exclusive: Charges relate to £225m debt with Rights & Media Funding, with records suggesting a trail leading to Michael Tabor

Everton has paid about £30m in interest charges to an opaque lender associated with a tax exile, corporate records suggest.

The charges appear to have reached about £438,000 a week, according to the troubled Premier League club’s most recent set of accounts, a figure more than three times the reported wages of the Everton and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

Continue reading...

Interest rates need to stay higher for longer, says Bank of England policymaker

Posted on by

Megan Greene dampens hopes of August cut while underlying causes of inflation remain ‘persistent’

Cuts in UK interest rates should be “a way off”, according to a Bank of England policymaker, who has said that inflationary pressures will keep the cost of borrowing higher than financial markets expect.

Megan Greene, a member of the Bank’s nine-member monetary policy committee (MPC), which sets interest rates, said financial markets were betting “in the wrong direction” when they judged how quickly the central bank would make its first rate cut.

Continue reading...

Royal Mail urged to investigate claims of Chinese-made fake stamps

Posted on by

Minister says he will work with business to investigate, while China dismisses suggestion of state role as ‘absurd’

The Post Office minister, Kevin Hollinrake, has called on Royal Mail to investigate allegations that factories in China are mass-producing fake British stamps for export.

Use of a counterfeit stamp can result in a £5 fine but realistic fakes are being sold online and bought unwittingly by the public and smaller retailers.

Continue reading...

Australia’s major supermarkets accused of purchasing properties to ‘turf out’ independent stores

Posted on by

Metcash, the owner of IGA and Foodland brands, tells Senate inquiry that ‘if they can’t buy the store, they try and buy the property’

The head of the food division at Metcash, which owns the IGA and Foodland brands, has accused major supermarkets of paying inflated prices to buy out competitors, and purchasing properties to “turf out” independently owned stores at the end of their leases.

Grant Ramage, the chief executive of Metcash Food, told a Senate inquiry on Thursday that the practices diminished the network of independent stores by removing successful businesses.

Continue reading...

Heathrow urges government to scrap £10 fee for transit passengers

Posted on by

London hub says charge for overseas travellers using UK airports puts country at competitive disadvantage

Heathrow has called on the government to scrap a new £10 charge for overseas travellers using UK airports to connect to other flights, warning that it puts UK airports at a competitive disadvantage compared with other European rivals.

The government introduced the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) in November for non-UK residents travelling to the UK from Qatar, with a wider rollout for other countries throughout 2024.

Continue reading...

Ex-MP tells inquiry Post Office ran a ‘behind-the-scenes deception process’

Posted on by

James Arbuthnot says concerns about reliability of faulty Horizon computer system were ‘brushed off’

A former MP has told a public inquiry that the Post Office appeared to have been operating a “behind-the-scenes deception process” about the reliability of its faulty Horizon computer system.

James Arbuthnot, who is now a Conservative peer, began campaigning for post office operators in 2009 after taking up the case of Jo Hamilton, who was wrongly convicted of theft.

Continue reading...

Ratings agency downgrades China debt outlook over economic uncertainty

Posted on by

Fitch cut to negative comes as country moves away from reliance on growth from property sector

Fitch has downgraded the outlook on China’s debt as it warned of increased risks to the economy while the country moves away from its reliance on growth from the property sector.

On Wednesday the US-based agency said it had revised China’s sovereign credit rating from stable to negative, saying this reflected the “increasing risks to China’s public finance outlook” as the country “contends with more uncertain economic prospects”.

Continue reading...

Boeing whistleblower’s safety claims under investigation by FAA, reports say

Posted on by

Federal Aviation Administration looking into claims US aircraft maker knew of flaws but covered them up to speed production

Claims that Boeing knew of safety flaws in the manufacture of one of its largest passenger jet aircraft, but covered them up to speed production, are under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), according to a reports.

The information came from a whistleblower inside the beleaguered US aircraft maker, and relates to the structural integrity of the 787 Dreamliner jet, a report published by the New York Times alleges.

Continue reading...

Panama Papers: trial begins of 27 Mossack Fonseca employees

Posted on by

Law firm’s founders among those to face money laundering charges after leak of 11.5m files in 2016

A criminal trial of 27 employees working for the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers on money laundering charges has commenced in a Panamanian court.

Eight years ago, leaked financial records from the law firm Mossack Fonseca sparked international outrage at the use of offshore companies by wealthy individuals to commit tax fraud and hide assets.

Continue reading...

Australia’s Macquarie among lenders to Thames Water’s parent company

Posted on by

Controversial investment bank could play important role in fate of Britain’s biggest water firm

The Australian investment bank Macquarie, which has been criticised for its role in the privatisation of England’s water industry, is understood be among lenders to Thames Water’s troubled parent company.

The former Thames Water shareholder could, along with other lenders, play an important role in determining the fate of Britain’s biggest water company, after its parent company Kemble Water Finance defaulted on its debt.

Continue reading...

Tesla settles lawsuit over 2018 fatal Autopilot crash of Apple engineer

Posted on by

Walter Huang was killed when his car steered in to a highway barrier and Tesla will avoid questions into its technology in a trial

Tesla has settled a lawsuit over a car crash which killed an Apple engineer in 2018 after his car veered off a highway near San Francisco, court documents showed on Monday.

The settlement was made as the trial was about to start over the high-profile accident involving Tesla’s driver assistant technology, ending a five-year legal battle over the case.

Continue reading...

Global economic risks ‘could eclipse anything since second world war’, says JP Morgan boss

Posted on by

In annual letter to investors, Jamie Dimon warns ‘wars in Ukraine and Middle East could become far worse’

The boss of the US bank JP Morgan has warned that the world could be facing the most dangerous moment since the second world war, putting lives and economic growth at risk.

In his annual letter to investors, Jamie Dimon said the world had been “generally on a path to becoming stronger and safer” in recent years but had suffered a major reversal in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Instagram ads in UK promoting ‘butt lifts’ in Turkey as part of holidays in potential breach of rules

Posted on by

Watchdog warns cosmetic surgery providers abroad as analysis reveals thousands of Facebook adverts

A post on Instagram shows the back of a woman in tight blue leggings, her lower body taking up most of the frame. The words “Temptingly sexy curves ahead … Ready to turn heads and break hearts?” are written in the caption. It is from a company offering Britons the chance to get a Brazilian butt lift while enjoying a luxury holiday abroad.

The advert is one of thousands on social media promoting cosmetic surgery tourism by companies in Turkey to UK residents, including gastric band operations, hair transplants and Brazilian butt lifts (BBL) – a process that involves fat taken from elsewhere on the body being injected into the buttocks – in a trend that has triggered safety concerns among doctors in Britain.

Continue reading...

Food inflation in world’s rich nations falls to pre-Ukraine war levels

Posted on by

Rate declines for 15th consecutive month across 38 OECD countries from 6.3% in January to 5.3% in February

Food prices across the world’s richest nations rose in February at the slowest rate since before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to figures that show easing inflationary pressures on households.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said food inflation declined for the 15th consecutive month across its 38 member countries from 6.3% in January to 5.3% in February.

Continue reading...

TSMC to make state-of-the-art chips in US after multibillion subsidy pledge

Posted on by

World’s most valuable chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor to set up third facility in Arizona using funding from Biden policy

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is to build its most advanced chips in Arizona after receiving a pledge of as much as $11.6bn in US government subsidy as part of Joe Biden’s efforts to attract computer chip production.

TSMC, the world’s most valuable chipmaker, says it aims to start producing the two-nanometre chips at a new factory in Phoenix, Arizona, by 2028.

Continue reading...

Elon Musk faces Brazil inquiry after defying X court order

Posted on by

Multibillionaire called for resignation of judge who ordered platform to block far-right users

Elon Musk faces a legal investigation in Brazil after becoming embroiled in a public row with a supreme court judge over an order requiring the social network X to take down some far-right accounts.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes had issued a court order forcing the site formerly known as Twitter to block several users as part of his investigation into the former president Jair Bolsonaro’s attempts to stay in power after his 2022 election defeat.

Continue reading...

UK rent rises forecast to outpace wage growth for three years

Posted on by

Average 13% increase by 2027 will put millions of households under further pressure, says thinktank

Rent rises in Britain are forecast to outpace wage growth, despite having already surged at the fastest pace on record after the Covid pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

The Resolution Foundation expects added pressure on millions of households and said average rents could increase by 13% over the next three years as current high growth in the private rental market work their way through existing tenancies.

Continue reading...