Category Archives: Business

Post-Brexit watchdog ‘ready’ to investigate flood of cheaper Chinese electric cars

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Remarks by head of trade authority come amid fears UK firms could be undercut ‘to extinction’

The head of Britain’s post-Brexit trade watchdog has said it is ready to follow Brussels in launching an investigation into Chinese companies flooding the market for electric cars, but the government has not asked it to do so.

Oliver Griffiths, the chief executive of the UK’s Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), which advises the government on trade defence, said it was keeping lines of communication open with ministers and had been in close contact with the car industry. “We’ll be ready to go if anyone does come to us,” he told the Guardian in an interview.

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Warren Buffett’s Squishmallows firm sues Build-A-Bear amid ‘knock-off’ claims

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Jazwares claims that rival has created its own pillow-like toys to cash in on its viral success

The company behind Squishmallows, the squidgy pillows-with-a-face that count Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian among their fans, has filed a lawsuit against Build-A-Bear over claims it has produced a “knock-off” to cash in on its success.

Jazwares, which Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway acquired two years ago as Squishmallows became a global TikTok sensation, said that Build-A-Bear Workshop’s new Skoosherz toys look too similar to its own plush, huggable toy.

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US inflation hotter than expected in January at 3.1%

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While inflation has fallen sharply since peaking above 9% in June 2022, many are still feeling the pinch of high prices

Inflation was hotter than expected across the US last month as it continues to fall back from its highest levels in a generation.

Price growth dropped to an annual rate of 3.1% in January, according to official data; above economists’ expectations of 2.9%. In December, the consumer price index stood at 3.4%.

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The Body Shop collapses into administration in UK

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Hundreds of jobs at risk less than three months after cosmetics chain was bought by German firm Aurelius

The Body Shop has collapsed into administration in the UK, less than three months after it was taken over by a private equity company, in a move that puts hundreds of jobs at risk at the cosmetics chain.

Aurelius, the German buyout company that bought The Body Shop for £207m in November, said it had been unable to revive the fortunes of the business after dismal trading over Christmas and new year.

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UK pay growth slows less than expected as workers bid up wages

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December figures prompt predictions Bank of England may cut interest rates later than previously expected

Pay growth slowed less than expected in December, prompting predictions the Bank of England could start cutting interest rates later than previously expected.

Earnings growth, excluding bonuses, fell only modestly to 6.2% in October to December 2023 from a revised 6.7% in the previous three months, as workers continued to bid up their wages amid skills shortages and a record number of people with long-term sickness.

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The Body Shop files intention to appoint administrators

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Process likely to lead to job losses and store closures, and threaten source of sales for global network of small farmers and producers

When Anita Roddick sold The Body Shop in 2006, she left behind not just a thriving cosmetics and skincare empire but living proof that a business could follow strict ethical guidelines and still make healthy profits.

But on Monday, the private equity-owned company filed the intention to appoint administrators.

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Australia politics live: flight chaos across country after air traffic controller no-shows, Senate told; Linda Reynolds announces retirement

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Airservices Australia were grilled in Senate estimates after nationwide flight disruptions due to the missing staff. Follow the day’s news live

Dutton says Liberals will bin ‘right to disconnect’ if they win next election

Switching gears now – Peter Dutton has vowed to scrap the “right to disconnect” if the Liberal party wins the next election. Last week, Dutton told Sky News:

If you think it’s OK to outsource your industrial relations or your economic policy to the Greens, which is what the prime minister is doing, then we are going to see a continuation of the productivity problem in our country.

And as the Reserve Bank governor pointed out, if you don’t address it you’ll see interest rates continue to climb or you’ll see them stay higher for longer.

We’ve been overwhelmed by positive feedback from people who say - yeah, it’s not right that I should be on call 24/7 when I’m not getting paid for it.

And Peter Dutton wants you electronically bound to your boss, and having to answer calls 24/7, even if you’re not getting paid for it.

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UK workers should expect smaller pay rises this year, warns HR body

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Employers are reining in hiring plans despite improved business confidence driven by services sector

Workers in the UK can expect less generous salary settlements this year, as employers rein in hiring plans, according to a report from the professional body for human resources.

In its regular labour market outlook, which gauges employers’ expectations for the year ahead, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said employers were pencilling in the most meagre pay rises since the pandemic.

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Printworks London may reopen by 2026 after developers submit plans

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British Land and AustraliaSuper want to create cultural venue that will include offices and shops

Printworks London, the 6,000-capacity post-industrial superclub, could reopen by 2026 after property developers that own the site filed their plans to Southwark council.

British Land and its partner AustralianSuper, one of the country’s largest pension funds, submitted a detailed proposal to the council on Monday to redevelop the site in Rotherhithe into a permanent cultural venue just over a year after the cavernous club shut its doors.

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More than 11 million Britons have less than £1,000 in savings

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Resolution Foundation calls for auto-enrolment into saving schemes, as millions have no ‘rainy day’ fund

More than 11 million working-age people in Britain don’t have basic “rainy day” savings of at least £1,000, according to a report that warns that the poorest households are struggling to build up financial resilience amid the cost of living crisis.

The Resolution Foundation said people across Britain faced a “triple savings challenge” of insufficient savings, an inability to cope financially with major life events such as family breakdown, and inadequate retirement incomes.

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Fujitsu bosses have been paid £37m since it won Post Office contract

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Spotlight turns on seven executives who presided over Horizon contract that led to huge miscarriage of justice

Bosses at Fujitsu have collected about £37m in pay, bonuses and compensation for loss of office since the technology company won the contract to supply the software at the heart of the Post Office Horizon scandal, it has emerged.

Accounts going back 25 years reveal the seven-figure sums paid out to executives of the UK division of the Japanese-owned technology company, even as more than 900 people were prosecuted as a result of flaws in the system their company supplied.

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MoD firefighters’ pensions delayed after Capita Group blunders

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Trade union Unite tells of concerns about 2025 contract to administer civil service pension scheme

Retired firefighters who were responsible for tackling blazes on military bases have been unable to access their full pension due to “numerous” blunders by the outsourcing group Capita, it has emerged.

Capita won a £525m contract to run the Ministry of Defence’s fire and rescue service in 2019, renaming it the Defence Fire and Rescue Project (DFRP) after the privatisation.

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Fujitsu won £1.4bn in new government contracts after court ruling on Post Office software bugs

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MPs find Treasury-affiliated bodies have engaged Horizon firm since damning 2019 high court judgment

The Japanese technology company Fujitsu, whose flawed technology for the Post Office led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters, is confirmed to have held contracts worth more than £3.4bn linked to the Treasury since 2019.

Figures published by the Commons’ treasury committee show £1.4bn of contracts were awarded to Treasury-affiliated organisations after a high court ruling in December 2019 over the company’s software. The judgment found that “bugs, errors and defects” in Fujitsu’s Horizon system could cause shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts.

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UK farmers vow to mount more blockades over cheap post-Brexit imports

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Inspired by French action, British campaigners say they will continue slow tractor protests after Dover roads were blocked

Farmers say there will be further French-style blockades following a slow tractor protest at Dover against low supermarket prices and cheap food imports from post-Brexit trade deals.

Around 40 tractors and other farm vehicles blocked roads around the Kent port for several hours on Friday evening by driving slowly and carrying signs with slogans such as “No More Cheap Imports”.

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German firm BASF to pull out of Xinjiang after Uyghur abuse claims

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Chemicals producer says audits revealed no wrongdoing but recent media reports crossed red line

The German chemicals producer BASF has said it will withdraw from its two joint ventures in Xinjiang, after media reports about alleged human rights abuses relating to its partner company, which BASF’s CEO said crossed a red line.

In a statement on Friday, BASF said that while “regular due diligence measures including internal and external audits have not found any evidence of human rights violations in the two joint ventures”, the recent reports “indicate activities inconsistent with BASF’s values”.

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UK anti-dumping body recommends lifting limits on steel imports

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Proposal to suspend safeguarding measures on certain products follows news of Tata’s Port Talbot closure plans

The government’s anti-dumping body has recommended that measures limiting the import of certain steel products be lifted after the decision to close the blast furnaces at Port Talbot.

The Trade Remedies Authority, which is charged with protecting UK industry from dumped or subsidised imports, said its preliminary view was to advise the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, to suspend safeguarding measures on imports of hot-rolled flat and coil steel for a temporary period of nine months.

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Dover Port health body fears gangs of meat smugglers looking to bypass new post-Brexit checks

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Authority weighs up legal action against government over new checks on imported meat taking place 22 miles inland

The Port of Dover could become a target for criminals smuggling illegal and diseased meat into the country under new post-Brexit plans that will involve lorries from the continent being checked 22 miles inland, the port’s health authority has warned.

The Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA) is now considering legal action against the government over its decision to end physical checks of imported meat at a post within the port. Instead, lorries will be directed to a new checking facility half an hour’s drive up the M20 at Sevington, Ashford.

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Call for UK utility firms to face higher fines for ‘street scars’ on pavements

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Government adviser says water and telecoms privatisation is to blame for disfiguring streets with concrete slabs

The government must increase fines on utility companies that dig up pavements for roadworks, then pour in concrete rather than fixing the mess, a government adviser has said.

Telecoms and water companies are creating “street scars” in a “wasteful process” that is marring British high streets, Nicholas Boys Smith, who chairs the Office for Place in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has said in a report.

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Chocolate maker Hershey issues warning over record cocoa prices

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US firm expects rising costs to hit profits and sales as consumers cut spending on treats

The US chocolatier Hershey has warned on profits and sales after a sharp increase in the cost of cocoa to record levels pushed up the price of chocolate, hitting cash-strapped consumers in the pocket.

Global cocoa prices hit a new peak of $5,874 (£4,655) a ton on Thursday in New York as dry weather continued to affect crops in west Africa, with poor harvests driving up prices in the region, which produces the majority of global supply.

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‘Deadly serious’: Australian regulators criticise PwC refusal to hand over report into tax leaks

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Consultancy’s global executive says report suggests there’s no evidence confidential information was used for commercial gain

PwC has faced furious rebuke from politicians, the country’s tax office and a regulator for repeatedly refusing to share a report it used to argue that a damaging tax leaks scandal was isolated to Australia.

The report, by law firm Linklaters, was cited by PwC’s global executive to assure regulators there was no evidence that confidential details about multinational tax laws received by the firm’s international partners were used for commercial gain.

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