Category: Uncategorized

Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has signed an agreement on financial services cooperation with Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, which will help to establish a constructive, mutually beneficial relationship between the UK and the EU in financial services.
This comes as the Chancellor is in Brussels for a series of meetings with European Commissioners, in the first visit from a UK Chancellor in over three years. Commissioner McGuinness is the European Commissioner for financial services, financial stability and capital markets union.
The Memorandum of Understanding signifies an important step in UK/EU relations post-Brexit. The UK is a leading global hub of financial services – of the £11 trillion of assets managed in the UK in 2020, around 44 per cent is on behalf of international investors including the EU.
The agreement will establish an ongoing forum for the UK and the EU to discuss voluntary regulatory cooperation on financial services issues. Both sides will share information, work together towards meeting joint challenges and coordinate positions where appropriate on issues ahead of G7, G20 and other international meetings.
The UK and the EU committed to the Memorandum of Understanding alongside the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. It adds to the growing number of regulatory cooperation arrangements the UK already has with major financial sector partners including the U.S., Japan and Singapore.
Responding to the news Laimonas Noreika, CEO, HeavyFinance said, “Enabling greater economic cooperation between with UK and the EU is critical for driving growth, tackling surging inflation and addressing the climate change emergency. In a challenging economic climate, businesses across these markets need access to crucial financial support and investment to hire fresh talent, reduce their emissions and develop a cleaner, leaner working model.
“This simply cannot be achieved without the financial systems in place to enable a regular flow of funding. This agreement is a step in the right direction to further expanding international collaboration in the financial services industry and will play a vital role in helping businesses transform for the better,” he added.
Fintech entrepreneur Khalid Talukder, co-founder of DKK Partners said: “The UK’s financial services industry is a major driver of growth and building stronger links with the EU is in our national and economic interest. This agreement is another major step forward in develop a blueprint for a truly prosperous post-Brexit Britain, that has strong links with the substantial EU marketplace, but also has the ability to trade internationally in other parts of the world.
“In the face of stubborn inflation and rising interest rates, giving businesses a trade boost should be a top priority for the government this year and beyond,” added Talukder.
Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “The UK and EU’s financial markets are deeply interconnected and building a constructive, voluntary relationship is of mutual benefit to us both.
“In the UK, our financial services sector is a true British success story. Together with the related professional services sector it was worth £275bn last year, making up an estimated 12 per cent of the British economy.
“This agreement with our European partners as sovereign equals builds on our arrangements with the U.S., Japan and Singapore, helping to support the sector’s role as a global financial services hub.”
While the Chancellor is in Brussels he will also be meeting with Valdis Dombrovskis (European Commission Executive Vice-President responsible for an Economy that Works for People, also in charge of Trade) and Margrethe Vestager (European Commission Executive Vice-President for ‘A Europe Fit for the Digital Age and Competition). He will discuss the UK’s competitiveness and growth, the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan and economic security.
Read more:
UK Chancellor signs financial services agreement with EU

Healthy foods business Foodhak is successfully designing nutritious meals by using generative AI to process the results of more than 200,000 clinical health trials, it has announced.
In a world first, the trailblazing company is now at the forefront of utilising state-of-the-art artificial intelligence techniques to perfect its foods which have medicinal benefits.

It has developed proprietary data pipelines which output hyper-specialised health research data sets from hundreds of thousands of academic sources to design wellbeing foods which can target specific diseases and deficiencies.

This machine learning approach means Foodhak can assemble foods with smart ingredient swaps to promote longevity and make active recommendations on what someone should be eating based on their health and life goals. It hopes to soon have data from more than one million trial results to embed into its food production and recipes – and to help design even more precise, personalised diet plans.

Evidence has been unearthed from prestigious publications including The Lancet, The British Medical Journal and New England Journal of Medicine. Foodhak nutritionists learnt from one study how to use cinnamon to reduce period pain while another linked pomegranate to longevity and highlighted turmeric’s anti-aging effects.

This approach has helped the company to achieve growth figures of 100% year-on-year and to unveil a healthy selection of AI-designed snacks like cookies, which incorporate ancient herb ashwagandha and a range of seeded omega and millet crackers containing more omega than most supplement pills.

The super-healthy snacks are the brainchild of entrepreneur and mother-of-two Sakshi Chhabra Mittal, who came up with the concept for the company after fighting off disease herself by changing her diet.

Sakshi said: “Foodhak has constructed its own proprietary model which uses generative artificial intelligence to process hundreds of thousands of clinical health trial findings.

“AI enables us to use evidential data sets with precision and to help us construct new recipes and products, with smart ingredient swaps to target health problems and improve wellbeing, accurately using food as medicine.

“This revolutionary approach is unique and no-one is utilising such huge swathes of data to improve nutrition and wellbeing. We hope to soon have more than one million hyper-specialised data sets which we can further use to laser-focus our products, recipes and personalised diet plans.

“Foodhak was founded on the idea that on one hand, food could be deeply nourishing, healing and restorative, and on the other, it could taste incredible and that the food you eat can, and should, make you happier, healthier, and even help you live longer. Artificial intelligence has enabled us to hone this approach and give unrivalled accuracy and results.”

Foodhak’s UK-wide subscribers receive a weekly box with premium, fine ready-to-eat meals for the week, clinically approved by nutritionists. They all contain low GI, are anti-inflammatory, alkaline, free from gluten, dairy and refined sugar.  An estimated 90,000 deaths in the UK each year are attributed to poor diet – 11 million globally – with many diseases originating in the gut.

Sakshi added: “We can use this technology to recreate any meal, as indulgent as a pizza or a brownie and tweaks the recipes with smart ingredient swaps to make it delicious but add value to your health.  Adults and children alike love these snacks and they are full of goodness and taste -they don’t have to be guilty pleasures any longer. We believe this is the future of food – and the key to longevity.

“The food we are surrounded by is wrong and is pushing us towards developing chronic diseases and we are also working on clinical trials to show disease reversals for diabetes, high cholesterol and other such lifestyle diseases which are killing many people.”
Read more:
Foodhak uses artificial intelligence to scour 200,000 clinical health trials and perfect its meals

Supermarket executives are being questioned by MPs over why food prices are still rising as some wholesale costs are falling.
The UK’s biggest grocers – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – are facing a parliamentary committee examining the cost of a weekly shop.
The price of goods continues to grow but not as steeply as in recent months, according to the latest figures.
Food inflation reached 14.6% in June, the British Retail Consortium said.
That is down from 15.4% in the year to May, but it does not mean prices are falling, just that they are rising at a slower pace.
British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “If the current situation continues, food inflation should drop to single digits later this year.”
However, food prices remain a key reason why the overall rate of inflation in the UK remains stubbornly high.
And with many hard-pressed households also facing rising rents or mortgage costs, there is pressure on the supermarkets to defend the high cost of shopping.
On Tuesday, MPs will grill senior supermarket bosses about food and fuel price inflation, asking if prices will come down this year.
Politicians, trades unionists and the governor of the Bank of England have all questioned why prices on supermarket shelves have not fallen as rapidly as the cost of some ingredients such as wheat.
They have suggested that retailers may be failing to pass on savings and are banking the profit instead.
The Competition and Markets Authority is examining the issue.
Supermarkets deny they are profiteering from high prices and claim their profits are being squeezed.
The grocers say they are cutting prices where they can, arguing falls in commodity prices take time to filter through to the consumer.
Most of the big chains have recently introduced high profile price cuts to staples, with Sainsbury’s on Monday the latest to announce it was investing £15m to reduce the cost of basics such as rice, pasta and chicken.
Tesco, Morrisons, M&S, Aldi and Lidl have all reduced prices on basic foods such as bread, milk and butter in the past few months.
However, some items such as milk and eggs remain relatively expensive compared to pre-Covid prices.
“These latest price cuts will help reassure customers that we will continue to pass on savings as soon as we see the wholesale price of food fall,” said Rhian Bartlett, food commercial director at Sainsbury’s, and one of the executives due to appear before MPs on Tuesday.
As well as pointing to recent price cuts, the executives are likely to tell the committee that not all commodities have been falling in price, said Ged Futter, a retail analyst and former senior buying manager at Asda.
“Yes, prices have come down for some things, but other things have gone up like sugar, potatoes [and] chocolate,” he said.
Wheat, which has fallen in price on global markets, is largely supplied from UK growers, and food manufacturers will still be buying last year’s crop at last year’s prices, Mr Futter said.
“They won’t get a new price until they get into a new contract. Just because prices have gone down globally that doesn’t mean the price here goes down immediately,” he said.
Similarly, cheese sold today has been made with milk bought up to 12 months ago, so won’t reflect recent falls in milk prices, he said.
Jamie Keeble, co-founder of sausage and burger maker Heck which supplies most of the major supermarkets, told the BBC’s Today programme that the price of pork was expected to remain high for the next 18 months.
He said the only way supermarkets could lower their prices was by asking suppliers to cut costs, but he added: “We’re certainly not in the position to start giving cost decreases on our products.
“At the end of the day, [the supermarkets] are going to have to take a cut in their margins if they really want to lower the prices on the shelf, that’s the only way to do it.”
The British Retail Consortium has previously said there is typically a three- to nine-month lag for price falls to be reflected in shops.
Mr Futter thinks supermarket executives will point to other costs affecting food retail, from rising wages to the added charges related to Brexit, such as veterinary certificates.
A study by academics at the London School of Economics last month found nearly a third of food price inflation since 2019 was due to Brexit.
Read more:
Supermarkets questioned by MP’s to explain explain high prices

After losing the argument over Gary Lineker’s employment status, HMRC plans to appeal the ruling at the Upper Tribunal
The First Tier Tribunal ruled in favour of Lineker in March this year, after he appealed a tax demand from HMRC for unpaid tax of £4.9m related to earnings between 2013 and 2018 for TV presenter work for the BBC and BT Sport.
In total, HMRC is pursuing Lineker for £3,621,735.90 in income tax and £1,313,755.38 in national insurance contributions (NICs).
The litigation involved the IR35 intermediaries legislation which is designed to clamp down on contractors who charge for their services through personal service companies.
Lineker provided his services via a partnership through Gary Lineker Media LLP and this type of arrangement was not covered by the IR35 rules. Unless the rules are changed retrospectively it would seem unlikely that HMRC could win the argument.
At the First Tier Tribunal, Judge John Brooks said: ‘As a matter of law when Mr Lineker signed the 2013 BBC contract, the 2015 BBC contract and the BT Sport contract for the provision of his services, he did so as principal thereby contracting directly with the BBC and BT Sport.
‘As such, the intermediaries legislation cannot apply – it is only applicable ‘where services are provided not under a contract directly between the client and the worker’. In this case, Mr Lineker’s services were provided under direct contracts with the BBC and BT Sport.’
Read more:
HMRC to appeal Gary Lineker IR35 case

A loan provided by the Government to Cardiff-based Celsa Steel which secured 1,800 jobs has now been repaid in full and delivered a significant additional payment for taxpayers, Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has confirmed today.
In 2020, the Government provided an emergency £30 million loan to Celsa Steel to help them continue trading during the Covid pandemic, saving over 1,500 jobs and creating a further 300 since the loan was provided.
This loan has now been repaid in full, and the company has made additional payments to the Government triggered by their strong economic performance following the loan.
These payments are in line with the terms which the Government secured to make sure taxpayer money was protected when it provided the emergency loan to Celsa Steel.
Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said: The swift action of the UK Government in 2020 not only secured 1,800 high-skilled jobs, it has also now provided a welcome boost for taxpayers.
This government is backing our vital steel industry, and we’re doing so with a sensible approach that ensures the future of an industry that is critically important in helping to grow the UK economy.
Secretary of State for Wales David TC Davies said: More than a thousand highly-skilled jobs at Celsa were protected by the quick action of the UK Government and the company to secure a deal amid the Covid pandemic.
We have a long and proud history of steelmaking in Wales and we will continue to work to ensure the success of this vital industry.
Carles Rovira, CEO of Celsa UK, said: We were extremely grateful for the Government loan at the height of the pandemic in 2020 in recognition of the strategic importance of Celsa UK and our supply to major iconic construction projects.
We are also extremely proud to have fully satisfied all the terms of the loan and to have completed the repayment. We look forward to ensuring sustainable construction in the UK through our low carbon footprint and our contribution to the circular economy.
In its loan to Celsa Steel in 2020, the Government included a series of legally binding conditions including commitments to protect jobs, climate change and net zero targets, to make sure the loan would benefit not only the company’s workforce but also the country overall.
The Government has taken extensive action to support the UK steel industry more widely, including the British Industry Supercharger, announced in February 2023. This will bring energy costs for energy intensive industries, including steel companies like Celsa, in line with the world’s major economies.
Industrial sectors, including steel, have also been able to bid for several government competitive funds to support them going green and cutting carbon emissions, and the Government has updated its Steel Procurement Policy Note to create a level playing field for UK steel producers.
The Government has also implemented a robust trade remedies framework to protect domestic industry as well as acting to resolve market access constraints on steel trade with the US and the EU.
Read more:
Government loan saves 1,800 steel jobs and secures additional payments for taxpayer

Oracle Red Bull Racing, the leading Formula One (F1) team, and its official Team Partner Rokt, a global leader in ecommerce technology, today announced that they are launching a global talent search for female F1 sim racers.
The talent scouting initiative, announced at Oracle Red Bull Racing’s International Women in Engineering Day celebration at its technology campus in Milton Keynes, England, is part of the two organizations’ efforts to promote diversity in esports, technology and commerce across the globe.
Oracle Red Bull Racing and Rokt will work together to identify six female sim racers to invite to the “Rokt the Rig” women’s sim racer development program, where Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports will work with them directly to help develop their racing talent and provide opportunities for them to compete or work with the team in another capacity.
The six participating sim racers will receive mentoring from the Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports team’s pro drivers, engage directly with the team and esports community via Discord, and have the chance to win prizes, including elite performance equipment.
“Rokt is deeply committed to fostering greater diversity in technology, sports and business and we are thrilled to launch this search for talented female F1 sim racers as part of our continuing partnership with Oracle Red Bull Racing,” said Srishti Gupta, Chief Product Officer at Rokt. “As a woman in tech, I well understand the need to break down the barriers that women have traditionally faced in too many professions and arenas. This program will not only help make sim racing and esports more welcoming to female gamers but will help highlight many of the other career opportunities in esports that are available to women.”
“This program will offer an open and inclusive platform for women around the world to prove their sim-racing talent and provide support to help them develop that talent to its full potential,” said Joe Soltysik, Esports Lead, Oracle Red Bull Racing. “We couldn’t be prouder to partner with Rokt to create a more equitable world where everyone is empowered to develop their professional knowledge and capabilities and succeed in any career path they choose.”
The program will kick off with a Driver Accelerator Day at the Red Bull Racing technology campus in Milton Keynes, where the six women will receive individual mentoring from an Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports driver, tour the Oracle Red Bull Racing factory, and visit the “Erena,” the team’s state-of-the-art esports training and competition facility.
Following the Accelerator Day, the participants will receive monthly group training with a pro esports driver and have an opportunity to participate in races on-site at the Erena. In addition, they will be invited to join the Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports Discord community, where they can directly communicate with the team and its drivers. Top racers will also receive prizes that further empower them to continue their esports journey.
“As a lifelong F1 fan, I’m thrilled that Oracle Red Bull Racing and Rokt are making esports and sim racing more welcoming to women across the globe,” said Ash Vandelay, an American Motorsport streamer, advocate for more women in the world of motorsports and an official content creator for the Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports team. “This talent search will go a long way to demonstrate that playing, enjoying and competing in esports is for everyone—regardless of sex, identity, background or income.”
Read more:
Oracle Red Bull Racing and Rokt Launch Talent Search for Female F1 Sim Racers

A water company boss has blamed people working from home for a new hosepipe ban.
South East Water will impose the first hosepipe ban of the summer from Monday, affecting more than two million homes and businesses across Kent and Sussex.
Its chief executive, David Hinton, said in a letter to customers that post-pandemic working from home was a “key factor” behind the ban, as it has “increased drinking water demand”.
He wrote: “Over the past three years the way in which drinking water is being used across the southeast has changed considerably.
“The rise of working from home has increased drinking water demand in commuter towns by around 20% over a very short period, testing our existing infrastructure.”
Mr Hinton also blamed low rainfall since April for leaving water butts empty, as well as pointing to a recent spell of hot weather which he claims led to a spike in demand for drinking water.
“Our reservoir and aquifer stocks of raw water, essential to our water supply but not ready to be used, are in a good position. However, demand for treated mains water, which takes time to process and deliver, was greater than we could meet,” he said.
“Over the past week we have needed to find water to supply the equivalent of an additional four towns the size of Maidstone or Eastbourne every day.”
Greg Clark, the Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells, told The Times: “Their only job is to deliver drinking water.
“But in my constituency, they have run out of water twice in six months – once just before Christmas when we had a cold snap, and now after a small and unexceptional heatwave.
“What they’re describing in terms of people working for home is by no means specific to this area.
“There has been for some time a tendency for people to work more from home. A water company should be able to predict and accommodate for this.”
A spokeswoman for the water regulator Ofwat said: “South East Water must do better to predict and manage operational issues, help customers, and engage with them on what is happening and why.
“Customers will be asking why, for the second time in six months, their water company is being caught out by the weather.”
South East Water’s Head of Service Management, Steve Andrews, defended the ban, saying it was “introduced to ensure that we can deliver drinking water to all our customers consistently”.
He added: “We want to thank our customers for being mindful of their water use and remind them to continue to use water wisely over the coming weekend.”
Read more:
Water company boss blames people working from home for hosepipe ban

German-owned discount supermarket Lidl can have an injunction to stop rival Tesco copying its logo, London’s High Court has ruled, despite hearing it will cost Tesco nearly £8m pounds to remove them all.
Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco in April lost a trademark lawsuit brought by Lidl after Tesco adopted a yellow circle against a blue background to promote its “Clubcard Prices” discount scheme.
Lidl then sought an injunction preventing Tesco from infringing its trademark, arguing last month that it was needed to stop Tesco from deceiving consumers.
Tesco’s lawyers argued it was unnecessary to impose an injunction and that its infringement of Lidl’s trademark could be resolved by paying a small amount of damages.

The retailer’s head of legal, Ryan Hetherington, described in a witness statement how difficult it would be for Tesco, which he said uses more than 8 million Clubcard Prices logos in its stores, with more in online, TV and print advertising.
This ones after Tesco reported a nine per cent increase in UK sales, with its new chief executive saying there are “encouraging early signs that inflation is starting to ease”.
But Judge Joanna Smith ruled on Wednesday that Lidl is entitled to an injunction, which will not take effect until any appeals by Lidl and Tesco – both of which have said they will challenge her original ruling – have been resolved.
“The only certain way to put an end to the loss that Lidl is incurring by reason of the continuing use of the (Clubcard Price) signs is to grant a final injunction,” she said.
The judge said Tesco will have nine weeks to remove all Clubcard Prices logos once the proceedings are over, in the event Tesco is unsuccessful on appeal.
Tesco declined to comment. Lidl did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read more:
Lidl gets injunction over Tesco trademark infringement which could cost UK’s biggest grocer £8m

Mortgage holders will get a 12-month grace period before banks begin repossessions on their homes, Jeremy Hunt has announced, after a crunch meeting with lenders at No11.
The Chancellor said ministers were “particularly worried” about people falling behind on payments or having to switch deals at the end of a fixed rate mortgage.
He announced measures agreed with banks to cool simmering inflation and a growing interest rates crisis, including a 12-month ban on repossessions.
After summoning lenders including Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC, Natwest and Santander for crunch talks this morning, Hunt told broadcasters the banks had agreed to three “very important things”.
Borrowers will be able to talk to their bank or lender with “no impact whatsoever” on their credit score, he said.
While anyone who switches to interest-only or extends their mortgage term, will be able to switch back within six months with “no questions asked” and no effect on their credit score.
Hunt said he thought the move would “give people a lot of comfort and stop people worrying about conversations with their banks when they are worried about their financial situation”.
And mortgage holders who are at risk of losing their homes will have a “minimum 12-month period before there’s a repossession without consent,” he added.
The Chancellor and former health secretary also pledged that tackling inflation was he and prime minister Rishi Sunak’s “number one priority”.
He said: “We are absolutely committed to supporting the Bank of England in doing what it takes. We know the pressure that families are feeling.
“We will do what it takes and we won’t flinch in our resolve because we know that getting rid of high inflation from our economy is the only way that we can ultimately relieve pressure on family finances and on businesses.”
Read more:
Hunt and big banks set to ease mortgage pain with repossessions grace period