Marketing Newscast

Hospitality mogul Sacha Lord has said he no longer considers Labour to be the party of “business and growth” and as called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to take urgent action to prevent the collapse of thousands of businesses across his sector. In an open letter, Lord, who was until recently Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s night time economy adviser, added that he is also reconsidering his four-year membership of the Labour Party and called on Reeves to “outline a clear plan” to support the hospitality sector “before it is too late”. “I urge you to act before irreversible damage is done”. “I attended your manifesto launch; I supported you in your bid to become the government and I believed you had a deep understanding of the problems on the ground. Not anymore,” he wrote, citing the Autum Budget for his change of heart, saying its tax hikes will “cripple businesses across the sector, and the consequences of these plans are already becoming visible”. “The hospitality sector is an essential driver of growth, a major employer and an irreplaceable part of our social fabric. It can drive the economy out of the stagnancy it has found itself in. It deserves recognition and support to prevent thousands of closures,” the letter continued.

Rain Newton-Smith, Director General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), will today call on the Government to develop stronger ties with all of the world’s major economic blocs, including China. “There may be tension between the established big blocs – the US, the EU and China. There may be pressure to fall in behind one or more. But we must not,” she will say in a speech. “Engagement is always better than protectionism – or sticking our heads in the sand. “So when it comes to China, we must be practical. Yes, let’s recognise the security concerns. But full decoupling from China is not realistic and it is not right. It does not sit with our commitment to free and fair trade. And it does not sit with our need to answer the global challenges of 2025.” The former Conservative party leader and minister Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who has been sanctioned by the Chinese government, commented to City AM: “This is a classic case of a business leader being myopic and naive when it comes to the real threats that we face. She talks as if though China is another business partner. This is a country that trashed the Sino British agreement, arrests thousands of democracy campaigners from Hong Kong, is committing genocide in Xinjiang and uses slave labour to undercut markets, invaded the south China seas (against the UN’s judgement), continues to threaten war against Taiwan and undercuts the WTO rules for global trade by subsiding companies seeking contacts in western countries. What free and fair trade are we doing with China today when this brutal behaviour of China makes a mockery of the idea of balanced partnership”.

“Ban work from home (WFH) and I’ll look for a new job,” almost a third of adults say according to polling by City AM. Although 58% of employed respondents to the newspaper’s survey said they would comply with a mandate to return to the office full time, but 29% per cent said they would do so while seeking alternative employment.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Chancellor are expected to back the granting of a drilling licence to the North Sea’s Rosebank oil project, one of Britain’s biggest offshore oil field developments, despite its licence being blocked by a Scottish Court last week, and fierce opposition from Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, The Telegraph reports. Miliband has referred to it as “a colossal waste of taxpayer money and climate vandalism” and, in further signs of a rift within the Labour Party, backbench MP Barry Gardiner, a former shadow energy secretary, has also condemned assurances given by the PM to energy producer Equinox that Rosebank will go ahead. “No 10 is dumping on [Labour] and our manifesto pledges,” Gardiner said, adding: The PM and the Chancellor should remember they were elected by voters, not by Equinor.” However, any final refusal to grant a licence for Rosebank also risks triggering a major diplomatic row with Norway because Equinor is its state energy firm, largely owned and controlled by the Norwegian government. Rosebank is expected to generate nearly £7bn of investment and hundreds of millions of pounds in taxes for the UK.

“BT is to scrap diversity measures in its manager bonus scheme in one of the clearest signs yet that British business is rethinking the role of ethnic and gender representation targets.” The Telegraph reports this morning. The telecomms giant has told its major investors that it intends to replace the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) component of its scorecard with a measure of employee engagement from April, telling the newspaper the move has “strong support” from shareholders. Currently, 10% of the annual bonus payable to up to 37,400 managers is based on targets for the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people, and on measures of employee engagement among under-represented groups. The change is being made despite BT CEO Allison Kirkby telling staff recently that BT was still committed to DEI, unlike other companies that were “stepping back from their commitment to inclusion”. However, a BT spokesman said that its top 550 senior managers are eligible for an additional personal bonus which will continue to include DEI measures: “We remain committed to our inclusion and representation targets and are making good progress towards them,” he said.

Aldi has announced it intents to create 1,600 new job roles in the UK this year as part of its store expansion plans, a move in stark contrast to that of rivals Sainsbury’s - which has announced 3,000 jobs cuts - Tesco and Morrisons.

Shares in FTSE 250 miner Ferrexpo plummeted as much as 40% yesterday after the company said a civil claim worth 157 billion Ukrainian hryvnia (£3bn) had been filed against its Ukrainian unit Ferrexpo Poltava Mining (FPM) in relation to the alleged illegal sale of waste products from its iron ore pellet production. The shares recovered somewhat to close nearly 23% down, ahead of another fall of nearly 8% at the time of writing. Ferrexpo said it “rejects these allegations in their entirety” and that the accusations and claim "are without merit and FPM intends to vigorously defend its position in the Ukrainian courts". "The operations of the group remain unaffected. Further updates will be made on the situation as and when appropriate,” the statement added.

The Beauty Tech Group, which owns CurrentBody, a brand of beauty technology used by celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Serena Williams, is plotting a £350m London stock market flotation, Sky News has learnt. City sources told the newscaster that Berenberg had been appointed to steer the company through an initial public offering (IPO). Based in Manchester, The Beauty Tech Group also owns the ZIIP Beauty and Tria Laser brands.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is selling Ineos Hygenics, the business he set up during Covid to distribute hand sanitisers to medical professionals and consumers, establishing six factories within ten days to address a global shortage of sanitising products. Interpath Advisory is said to have been appointed to manage the sale, which Sky News says is thought to be being run as a conventional sale process, rather than on a distressed basis.

YouGov CEO Steven Hatch has stepped down with immediate effect. YouGov’s cofounder and current chair, Stephan Shakespeare, will return as interim CEO while the board searches for Hatch’s permanent successor. Activist investment firm Gatemore Capital Management had called on YouGov to sack Hatch, also advocating an ‘urgent strategic review’ after a dramatic fall in its share price over the last year, during which time sales at the opinion polling firm slowed. The company issued a profit warning in June, causing shares to plunge more than 40% in a day.

Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett has stepped down as a director of nutrition brand Huel, having held the role since 2021. Yesterday, it was announced that Emma Woods, a former CEO of Wagamama had stepped down as a non-executive director. A Huel spokesperson said: “Steve has recently moved to LA and is involved with so many businesses that’s it’s hard for him to commit time to a Huel board role. He remains an investor in the business. Emma will continue to be a supporter of Huel as she steps away from a board position.” Idris Elba and Jonathan Ross are also among Huel’s investors. City AM notes that in August 2024, adverts featuring Steven Bartlett for nutrition brands Zoe and Huel were banned after the Advertising Standards Authority ruled they failed to disclose their commercial relationship with the celebrity entrepreneur. Bartlett also faced questions over his podcast, Diary of a CEO, after an investigation by the BBC World Service looked at 15 health-related podcast episodes which were each found to contained an average of 14 harmful health claims that went against extensive scientific evidence.

The US Postal Service (USPS) has stopped accepting parcels – but not letters - from mainland China and Hong Kong, until further notice. Although no reason for the suspension was given, the decision is likely to be linked to the fact that yesterday, President Trump closed a loophole that allowed small packages worth $800 (£641) or less to be sent to the US without paying tax or fees, a benefit Chinese e-commerce giants such as Shein and Temu have used to reach millions of US customers while bypassing import duties.

Beauty firm Estée Lauder, which owns the Clinique, MAC, Bobbi Brown, Aveda, Tom Ford and Jo Malone brands, has announced it is cutting up to 7,000 citing uncertainty around Trump's tariffs on China, Canada, Mexico and in all likelihood the EU, as cause for concern. The American multinational was already restructuring the business to tackle flagging performance, but now plans twice the number of job losses to manage "the risk of recession... including the imposition of tariffs and sanctions". Estee Lauder, which employs some 62,000 people worldwide, sources its ingredients from various countries, including Australia, Madagascar and Indonesia, and has operational or development facilities in countries including the UK, Canada, Switzerland and China. “As it sells its products in over 150 countries, any ratcheting up of Trump's tariffs and any retaliation could result in extra taxes when goods cross the borders,” the BBC reports.