Category Archives: Business

‘Absolute mayhem’: Eurostar passengers tell of stress and tears

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Those affected decry ‘disgusting’ lack of communication, while others had to pay £1,000 to travel the next day

What promised to be a romantic New Year’s Eve in Paris ended in tears and travel trauma for Sean Winterbottom and his partner, Amy. The couple were among about 30,000 passengers to have their Eurostar journey cancelled on Saturday because of a flooded tunnel under the Thames.

“We were going to go for a flash dinner and … we had bookings, hotel reservations and everything,” Sean said of the trip they had been looking forward to for months.

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‘How can such a tiny woman drive a big truck?’ Japan’s labour shortage forces it to rethink gender stereotypes

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Freight and logistics sector is turning to women to fill gap as demand for drivers grows alongside cap on overtime

When Mayumi Watanabe tells people what she does for a living, most struggle to hide their surprise, and not just because of her diminutive stature. As a truck driver with 23 years behind the wheel, she is one of a small but growing number of women coming to the rescue of an industry that is the beating heart of Japan’s economy.

“I can see they’re thinking, ‘How can such a tiny woman drive a big truck?’ ” Watanabe, who is 152cm (5ft) tall, told the Observer as she prepared for the busy run-up to the end of the year. “But I’ve always loved cars, so it felt natural to want to be a truck driver.”

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‘Not what I had in mind’: Eurostar cancellations leave thousands stranded

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Dismay at St Pancras International in London as services cancelled due to flooding of Thames tunnel

When Ilse Deurloo arrived at St Pancras station after a festive holiday with her boyfriend in London, she was shocked by the scenes of chaos and disruption as thousands of travellers were left stranded.

“This is not what I had in mind,” said Deurloo, 20, who was planning to return home to Amsterdam on Saturday. Her train, like all expected high-speed services between Ebbsfleet International and London St Pancras International, was cancelled due to flooding in a tunnel under the Thames. Thames Water said it believed the incident was caused by a fire control system malfunction.

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‘I feel like a criminal for quitting’: nurses in the US fight ‘stay or pay’ agreements

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Filipino nurses for Ohio-based company say they have been forced to pay thousands in fees after signing training contracts

Filipino nurses are calling for the US’s top labor watchdog to review controversial “stay or pay” training repayment agreement provisions that have left them facing lawsuits and thousands of dollars in fees after they quit their jobs.

Training repayment agreement provisions (Trap) are contracts employers require workers to sign before beginning a job and stipulate that if a worker leaves the job before a specified time, they owe substantial fees.

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China cracks down on negativity over economy in bid to boost confidence

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Record high youth unemployment and struggling property sector are among increasingly sensitive topics

China is cracking down on negative commentary about the financial market and other sectors as the authorities seek to boost public confidence despite challenging economic headwinds.

This month the Weibo account Weibo Finance, which has more than 1.5 million followers, issued an instruction against posting any comments “that bad-mouth the economy”. The post appears to have since been deleted. Bloomberg reported that several other finance influencers had been told by Weibo to “avoid crossing red lines” and to post less about the economy. Weibo did not reply to a request for comment.

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‘Flamin’ hot’ Doritos seasoning causing breathing difficulties in Australian factory workers, union alleges

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Smith’s Snackfood Company says it is installing extra fans in Adelaide factory where some workers reported symptoms including eye and skin irritation

Smith’s is installing extra fans in an Adelaide factory after workers claimed they were having difficulty breathing and experiencing skin irritation from dealing with the seasoning used to make “flamin’ hot” Doritos.

SafeWork SA is looking into the claims after the United Workers Union alleged employees at the Smith’s Snackfood Company factory raised significant safety concerns about the “improper handling of strongly irritating substances”.

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Britons cut back on dining out and buying clothes, Barclays reveals

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Annual card spending report says consumers are prioritising travel and nights out and buying value-range groceries amid cost of living crisis

Hard-pressed consumers cut back on eating out and buying new clothes to prioritise spending on travel, entertainment and a visit to the pub over the past year, as soaring inflation and rising bills sharply curtailed the rate of spending growth.

Consumer card spending increased by 4.1% year-on-year in 2023, almost two-thirds lower than the 10.6% rise in 2022, as the sharp increase in the cost of living took its toll on households.

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Retailers to pay for consumers’ e-waste recycling from 2026 under UK plans

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Households will be able to drop off cables and other electrical waste in-store or have home collections, says Defra

British households will benefit from improved routes for recycling electronic goods from 2026, under government plans to have producers and retailers pay for household and in-store collections.

Consumers would be able to have electrical waste (e-waste) – from cables to toasters and power tools – collected from their homes or drop items off during a weekly shop, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said in a consultation published on Thursday. The ambition is for retailers, rather than the taxpayer, to pick up the tab for these new ways of disposing of defunct, often toxic products safely. The measures are due to come into force in two years’ time.

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Jeremy Hunt fuels election speculation as 6 March spring budget announced

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Chancellor has asked the OBR to prepare forecasts for the economy and public finances to be presented to parliament

Jeremy Hunt has announced that a spring budget expected to feature a host of tax cuts will be held on 6 March, fuelling speculation over an early general election.

While government sources insisted nothing should be read into the date, it is the earliest the set-piece fiscal event has been held in 13 years of Conservative government – apart from 2021 when the Treasury was trying to kickstart the economy after Covid.

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How a spring UK budget could fire the starting gun for an early election

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UK economic prospects are bleak but an agenda-setting fiscal event such as sweeping tax cuts in March offers another roll of the dice

To grasp the nettle, or wait in the hope that things somehow miraculously improve. This is the choice Rishi Sunak will be weighing for the next general election, as the Conservatives limp towards the finishing line of another challenging year.

After Jeremy Hunt announced the government would hold an earlier than anticipated budget, with a date set for 6 March, the possibility of a poll in May, in the afterglow of some electioneering tax cuts, is clearly being given considerable thought.

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Chinese gaming sector in turmoil as regulators announce new proposals

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Measures include spending limits for online games and ban on rewarding players for logging in each day

China’s $45bn (£31.3bn) gaming industry has been dealt a blow by proposals to limit the time and money spent on the sector.

New rules including spending limits for online games, a ban on games from rewarding players for logging in every day and a ban on lucky draw features from being offered to minors were announced by regulators last week, sparking panic among investors.

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UK students launch Barclays ‘career boycott’ over bank’s climate policies

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Campaign at leading universities such as Oxbridge and UCL warns lender it will miss out on top talent if it finances fossil fuels

Hundreds of students from leading UK universities have launched a “career boycott” of Barclays over its climate policies, warning that the bank will miss out on top talent unless it stops financing fossil fuel companies.

More than 220 students from Barclays’ top recruitment universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, and University College London have sent a letter to the high street lender, saying they will not work for Barclays and raising the alarm over its funding for oil and gas firms including Shell, TotalEnergies, Exxon and BP.

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Pint of wine anyone? UK looks to bring back ‘silly measure’

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Winemakers question plan as government champions Brexit ‘freedom’ to allow old-fashioned size

The poet Robert Burns imagined a man toasting his lover with a “pint o’ wine”, and Winston Churchill was perhaps the most famous proponent of the pint bottle for champagne. Now, Rishi Sunak’s government has spied a “Brexit opportunity” to legalise the sale of wine by the pint once more – if it can persuade anyone to make the bottles.

Still and sparkling wine will be sold in 200ml, 500ml and 568ml (pint) sizes in 2024, alongside existing measures, under new rules, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) announced on Wednesday. It said the change was made possible by Brexit.

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Boxing Day footfall rises but number of shoppers is well down on pre-Covid levels

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Weaker Christmas spending amid cost of living crisis and fewer shops opening cut visitor numbers by 30% on 2019

Retailers have recorded a small pickup in Boxing Day footfall, but visits to stores remained well below pre-pandemic levels as several high street chains stayed shut.

Retailers have been braced for weak spending over the Christmas period as the UK economy stagnates amid the cost of living crisis.

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AstraZeneca buys Chinese cancer therapy firm Gracell for $1.2bn

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Gracell Biotechnologies acquisition marks China’s growing importance to the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker

AstraZeneca has struck a deal to buy a Chinese cancer therapy company for up to $1.2bn (£950m), as Britain’s biggest drugmaker expands its footprint in its second-largest market.

The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical firm announced on Tuesday it would acquire Gracell Biotechnologies, which is focused on a type of cancer therapy known as CAR-T that modifies a patient’s cells to fight the disease.

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Hackers steal customer data from Europe’s largest parking app operator

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Owner of RingGo and ParkMobile says data including parts of credit card numbers taken in cyber-attack

Europe’s largest parking app operator has reported itself to information regulators in the EU and UK after hackers stole customer data.

EasyPark Group, the owner of brands including RingGo and ParkMobile, said customer names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses and parts of credit card numbers had been taken but said parking data had not been compromised in the cyber-attack.

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Ski resorts battle for a future as snow declines in climate crisis

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International Ski Federation urged to cut emissions, while activists warn of damage through heavy use of snowmaking

After promising early dumps of snow in some areas of Europe this autumn, the pattern of recent years resumed and rain and sleet took over.

In the ski resorts of Morzine and Les Gets in the French Alps, the heavy rainfall meant that full opening of resorts was delayed until two days before Christmas, leaving the industry and the millions of tourists planning trips to stare at the sky in hope.

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Boxing Day sales: retailers expect shoppers to spend $1.25bn amid cost-of-living crisis

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Australian Retail Association predicts $23.9bn in spending for sales period ending on 15 January

Retailers are expecting Boxing Day shoppers to spend $1.25bn on Tuesday as the sector hopes for relief from a drop in discretionary spending.

Retail sales have been sluggish throughout 2023 as cost-of-living pressures bite.

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Labour to crack down on ‘dodgy’ candy stores in push to revive high streets

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Party says American-style sweetshops – some under investigation for tax evasion – are ripping off public

A Labour government will launch a crackdown on “dodgy” candy stores if it wins the next election, as part of plans to revitalise Britain’s high streets.

There are more than 20 of the US-themed sweet stores on Oxford Street, London, alone. Many of them appeared during lockdown as high-street stalwarts closed down and landlords faced the prospect of long-term empty shops.

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Christmas Eve shopper numbers fall amid Sunday trading and cost-of-living crisis

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Footfall was nearly 7% lower than last week and more than a fifth down on 2022 levels

The number of in-person shoppers has fallen on Christmas Eve compared to last year amid Sunday trading hours and the cost-of-living crisis.

Footfall across all UK retail destinations up to 5pm on Sunday was 6.8% lower than last week, and 20.6% lower than 24 December 2022, the latest data from industry analyst MRI Software shows.

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