Marketing Newscast

(Edited 06 February 2025)

Vauxhall owner Stellantis has confirmed it will close its factory in Luton within months. The news came hours after the firm met with Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander. Some 1,100 jobs will be lost in in Luton, however Stellantis plans to invest £50m in consolidating its operations at Ellesmere Port, near Liverpool, instead, and has offered some Luton workers alternative jobs. Previously, Stellantis has blamed the Government’s zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate for slow trade. This mandate requires legally-binding quotas of electric vehicles (EVs) to be manufactured and sold, or else fines will be levied on car makers. The firm says this has forced them to slash prices to hit targets, leading to reduced profits. It is understood the Luton site has interested buyers, but not from those interested in running a car factory. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “This news will be deeply concerning for the employees at Luton who will be affected and their families. We have a longstanding partnership with Stellantis and have engaged with them extensively throughout this process, including discussions over the past week and today. We will continue to work closely with them, the trade unions and Luton Council to put in place measures to support the local community. The UK has one of the strongest EV markets in the world and we continue to back our leading electric vehicle industry with £2.3bn as we work closely with them to deliver the transition to cleaner vehicles.”

Meanwhile, UK sales of Chinese electric vehicles made by BYD have overtaken those of Tesla for the first time. BYD sold 1,614 passenger cars last month, while Tesla sold 1,458, according to data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). That represents a 500% annual increase for BYD, and an 8% drop for Tesla. BYD's cars are around half the price of Tesla's; the two firms’ smallest models have a price gap of around £25,000.

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC) is calling on the UK Government to reduce the 78% in taxes levied on North Sea oil and gas producers, saying they should instead be given tax breaks to help protect the UK against US President Donald Trump’s burgeoning trade war and as a “key first step towards greater domestic energy security”. The AGCC is concerned that oil and gas prices will plummet if Trump’s tariffs dull global demand, and that taxes on the profits earned by North Sea oil producers such as BP and Shell should no longer be so high now prices have returned to near-normal, after being hiked since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Energy Profits Levy (EPL), a 38% windfall tax, is imposed on energy production in addition to Corporation tax at 30% and a 10% supplementary charge, despite UK oil production being at an all-time low, and gas production at near-record lows. AGCC CEO Russell Borthwick said: “The UK’s response to a global energy crisis in 2022 ran contrary to all good sense. Instead of bolstering domestic supply, enabling production from the North Sea and attracting new investment into the North Sea we have become increasingly reliant upon imports. That approach spooked the energy sector and its supply chain and knocked confidence at precisely the moment we should be driving the transition to net zero. With the world on the brink of a trade war, we cannot afford to repeat these mistakes”. “The smart response would be to remove the EPL sooner rather than later – protecting our domestic energy sector and ensuring we’re not putting the UK economy at a significant disadvantage in an increasingly uncertain global context,” he added.

City Minister Emma Reynolds has told the House of Lords’ Financial Regulation Committee that there is too much money stashed away in cash ISAs, when it could be invested in the London stock market. The UK has “failed to drive an investment culture” and so savers are seeing their nest eggs eroded by inflation, she said, asking: “Why have we got hundreds of billions of pounds in cash ISAS?” Reynolds said, suggesting the answer to that question is that: “We’ve regulated so much that we’re not protecting consumers against inflation.” It is now up to parliament and the financial regulators to create a culture where the general public realises that “cash is not a good investment,” she added. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is widely reported to be in favour of scrapping cash ISAs, and several senior City fund managers take a view similar to that of Peter Harrison, former CEO of Schroders, who has said products such as a child’s cash ISA were “almost criminal” due to fact the savings would be eroded by inflation. Over the past two decades, the number of UK households that directly own stocks and shares has more than halved from 23% in 2003 to 11 % in 2022, City AM reports, noting the contrast with the USA where 39% of households’ assets are invested in the stock market.

The Bank of England is expected to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point today, taking the base rate to 4.5%, which would be its lowest level in more than 18 months.

Retail footfall rose year on year in January for the first time since 2016 (excluding Covid lockdowns). Footfall rose by 1.4% on 2024 across all UK retail destinations, according to data from MRI Software, compiled of a 1.8% rise in shopping centre footfall, a 1.4% increase in retail park shopping, and a 1.1% in high street attendance. However, the rise has been attributed to delayed spending, after a subdued Christmas period, with shoppers seeking out January sales instead. MRI also suggests that shortly, the impact of the Autumn Budget is “likely to start being felt by both consumers and retailers alike”.

FTSE 100 UK engineering company IMI has been hit by a cyberattack. In a short statement, the firm said it "engaged external cyber security experts to investigate and contain the incident," adding: "In parallel, the company is taking the necessary steps to comply with our regulatory obligations. An update will be provided as and when appropriate."