Marketing Newscast

120 business leaders who signed a letter in support of The Labour Party ahead of the May General Election have been tracked down by City AM, and only 28 of them are now willing to reiterate their support now Labour are in Government. Just under 90 failed to respond to multiple requests for comment; three declined to comment, and several were keen to stress that they signed in a purely personal capacity. The representatives of two signatories said they were currently “uncontactable.” One prominent signatory said they felt they had been “duped” after facing pressure from party officials to sign the letter. “I signed it, I was asked twice to sign it and I do feel stupid. We were lied to on that, they said they were pro-business and they said they had changed,” the executive said, asking to remain anonymous. Even among the 28 who stood by their decision to endorse Labour, several said they now have concerns about the series of punishing tax rises laid out at the Budget. Nic Laurens, a former Conservative Councillor who runs Shrewsbury-based tool seller Severn Diamond said: “I went to a couple of events before the election, and listened to Rachel Reeves, and what I’m seeing now is not what I was hearing before the election”. “They really wanted businesses to be on board, and they were listening to what we had to say. But since the Budget date, they’re not listening,” he said. While Laurens said he stands by his endorsement and believes this is a “much better” Government than the previous one, the party’s claims of working in partnership with business are beginning to ring hollow, he added. William Reeve, the founder of LoveFilm who now runs property start-up Goodlord, stood by his decision to sign the letter but added that Reeves’s fiscal plans did the opposite of what was previously suggested as it came down hard on “working people” “The surprising thing about the [National Insurance hike] has been that it actually penalises low paid jobs the most. That’s not necessarily what you’re expecting out of a Labour government, and possibly that’s a slightly unintended consequence of what she’s doing,” he told City AM. Last week, Tom Kerridge, the celebrity chef and restaurateur who put his name to the letter, said Labour’s plans would have a “catastrophic effect” on the hospitality industry.

Property mogul Nick Candy has defected from the Conservatives to be Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, and will its new chief fundraiser. Last night he told The Sun: “I will raise Reform more money than any political party in the UK has ever raised - Nigel is going to be the PM.” The former Tory donor, who is married to pop star Holly Valance, said he has resigned his membership of the Conservative Party” as “there have been too many broken promises and a complete breach of trust with the wealth creators in our country”. Farage said he “warmly welcomed” the defection a week after former-Tory Minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns also jumped ship. Former Home Secretary Suella Braveman’s husband Rael has also defected to Reform in the past few days, as has Boris Johnson’s former adviser Tim Montgomerie, the founder of the Conservative Home website.

A helicopter factory in Yeovil, Somerset, is said by the Telegraph to fear the loss of 3,000 jobs because of delays confirming status of a vital Government contract. Although the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said last month the existing supply of RAF Puma helicopters will be retired in March, it has yet to award a £1bn contract to replace the outgoing fleet, the so-called New Medium Helicopter (NMH) procurement. Leonardo, the Italian defence giant responsible for running the Yeovil factory, is currently the sole bidder involved in the NMH procurement, but the delay is fuelling concerns the NMH order might be scrapped in favour of the MoD acquiring existing helicopter models to save money. The Unite trade union said its General Secretary Sharon Graham met recently with Defence Secretary John Healey and urged him to press ahead with the order, but when responding to questions about the order in Parliament, Defence Procurement Minister Maria Eagle said no decision is imminent.

Thames Water saw a 40% increase in pollution incidents in the first half of the year, the BBC reports. The UK's biggest water firm reported 359 so-called category one to three pollution incidents in the six months to 30^th September, which it said was due to a wet spring and summer. Thames is facing huge fines for pollution incidents, yet has debts totalling some £16bn, and is fighting for survival.

Equipment hire firm Ashtead is considering moving its primary stock market listing to the US in a fresh blow to the London Stock Exchange. Most of the FTSE 100-listed company’s profit comes from North America, and its CEO, HQ, and the majority of its 25,000 employees are based there. Ashtead says it will discuss its proposed move with shareholders before putting it to a vote. It will keep a UK listing.

Games Workshop has reached a final deal with Amazon to adapt its Warhammer 40,000 universe into films and television series, together with associated merchandising rights. The FSE 250-listed firm also granted an option for Amazon to license equivalent rights in the Warhammer Fantasy universe following the release of any initial Warhammer 40,000 production. "Production processes in respect of films and television series may take a number of years," the company said in a statement.

Mince pie prices have increased by up to 40% according to The Telegraph, which hired Assosia to chart price rises rooted in poor harvests in the international sultana market. Prices for some of Tesco’s premium mince pie packs – including its salted caramel crumble topped pies – have jumped by £1 to £3.50, or 40%, while other supermarkets have increased prices between 9% and 20%, the newspaper says. On average, across Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons, prices for mince pies are up 26% over the past two years. For a basic range of six own-brand mince pies, prices have risen by 11p, or 8%, across those four supermarkets. According to the Expana Benchmark Prices for Turkish sultanas, the costs of buying the dried fruit from the world’s largest producing country neared record highs over the summer. Currently, Turkish sultanas are selling $3,600 a tonne (£2,800), down from $4,060 in July, but still well above the $1,550 recorded in late 2022.

Lord Harrington, the former minister who oversaw a review of Britain's foreign direct investment strategy for then-chancellor Jeremy Hunt, is being lined up as the next chairman of Make UK, Britain's most influential manufacturing trade body, Sky News reports.

Sir David McMurtry, the co-founder of global engineering firm Renishaw, has died aged 84. McMurty launched the company in April 1973, originally to develop a precision measuring tool for use on the Concorde supersonic jet. Today, the company makes aircraft and high tech bikes, medical and dental equipment, as well as countless other products. It employs 2,600 people in Gloucestershire, and a similar number in 36 countries round the world. “A brilliant engineer, [Sir David McMurty] was employed at Rolls-Royce plc, Bristol, for 17 years, where he became the company's youngest ever Assistant Chief of Engine Design. He was responsible for 47 patents at Rolls-Royce and went on to be named on more than 200 patents for Renishaw innovations,” the BBC notes.

Rupert Murdoch has lost a court bid to change a family trust to consolidate control of his media company around his eldest son Lachlan. A Nevada commissioner ruled against Murdoch yesterday, The New York Times reported, saying he had acted in “bad faith” and manufacturing a “carefully crafted charade” in his attempt to amend the trust, which currently divides control of Fox News and News Corp. A lawyer for the billionaire business mogul said he intends to appeal the ruling.

US advertising giant Omnicom Group has bought rival media holding company Interpublic Group in a $13.25bn (£10.4bn) that will see London-listed WPP lose its crown as the world’s largest advertising group.

China has launched an investigation into US computer chipmaker Nvidia, alleging it has violated of anti-monopoly laws. Nvidi is one of America's leading tech companies; stands at the forefront of the development of chips that power artificial intelligence (AI); and has a market value of more than $3tn. The action by China appears to be the latest battle in a trade war with the US involving the lucrative semiconductor market. Last week, the US tightened restrictions on sales of chip exports to around 140 Chinese companies, while China restricted the sale of key minerals to the US.