Members of Keir Starmer’s leadership team have been taken through the inner workings of government by senior civil servants.
It’s standard, of course, in the run-up to a general election for the opposition to be allowed behind the scenes. It doesn’t mean that Labour is a shoo-in. Nevertheless, the disclosure adds to Tory jitters that their time could soon be up.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is going out of her way to emphasise not to expect too much from Labour – there simply isn’t the spare cash to go round. But that’s not how it feels for some in the business sector right now. Forget the dangers of wage inflation: FTSE 100 bosses are lobbying to be paid more, saying they’re slipping behind their American rivals. Which begs the question of the best approach to performance and reward?
Meanwhile, Sir Richard Branson stands to receive more than £650 million ($830 million) from the sale of Virgin Money to Nationwide. He will collect £400 million for his 14.5 per cent shareholding. In addition, he will be paid a cool £250 million as an "exit fee" just for the use of the Virgin brand.
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While the name is employed for the next four years, he will be paid annual fees totalling £60 million. Then, once it’s ditched, he can look forward to a one-off payment of £250 million.
Proof positive that for all his laid-back persona, Branson drives a hard bargain. Evidence, too, that the careful, meticulous Nationwide, a humble building society after all, is prepared to chuck big money around when it wants to.
In a further sign that large City deals may be back, Elliott, the US investment group, wants to buy Currys, the electrical retailer. It bid £700 million, or 62p a share, for the group. The Currys board, backed by their main shareholders, had other ideas, rejecting Elliott’s approach. Elliott said £757 million, 67p a share. Currys again refused to budge. Elliott has now gone away, since it did not have the requisite commercial information to justify an increased third tilt.
The price Currys would seriously consider? Between 80p and 100p a share. This for a company that was trading at 43p a share before Elliott made its move.
There’s a strange dissonance to it all, of a UK economy flatlining, constant pressure brought to bear upon public spending and others seemingly talking up ever higher numbers. What is really happening is that the UK stock market is ridiculously cheap.
Look at Currys. The firm sold its Greek business recently for £156 million or 7 per cent of group sales. That amounted to 30 per cent of the group’s value, pre-Elliott.
Currys also has another section, the iD mobile network that is worth £350 million. Put that together with the Greek sale and you have the total worth of the entire company. In other words, the UK and Scandinavia, where Currys is also a leading operator, were being priced in at zero, give or take.
Under boss Alec Baldock, Currys has embarked on a new strategy – adding repairs and providing expert advice. It’s no longer a high street-showroom-for-the-internet, the same problem that has befallen other retailers.
It may work, and good luck to him – Britain’s towns and cities desperately require shops that are open and alive. It’s not as if the UK and the Nordics were not generating revenue – Currys enjoys sales from them of £9.5 billion a year.
Yet the City did not care, writing them off as old-fashioned, a "legacy" retailer, offering no future in bricks and mortar.
Elliott saw the potential and effectively alerted investors to what they were missing. The affair, say analysts at J O Hambro, underlines “the absurdity of UK stock market valuations”.
That finds an echo in the Virgin Money deal and the FTSE 100 chiefs moaning they’re not paid enough. While the Branson windfall is eye-watering, that is not the case in other parts of the world.
In the parsimonious UK, we instinctively resent parting with large sums of money to individuals for, as we see it, doing nothing. It buys into our downbeat nature, just as we struggle to celebrate success and frown upon ostentation.
The truth is that Branson has worked for it, albeit in the past when he was establishing the Virgin identity. He may not have to lift a finger to receive the £250 million but he once did and as a result the brand has a reputation and a price.
In the US and places that are more appreciative of underlying value, the Branson payment would not raise an eyebrow.
The highest-paid FTSE 100 chief is Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca, with a package of £17 million a year. In the US, the top earner is Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, Google’s parent, with $226 million.
It’s a gulf that explains why Britain’s biggest companies are struggling to attract the best talent. They are finding it more difficult to compete. Namal Nawana quit as chief executive of Smith & Nephew, the medical device maker, because it would not match what his US peers were making. Smith & Nephew’s institutional shareholders – UK pension funds – would not countenance it.
As a way round the problem and of hanging on to the highly rated Nawana, the Smith & Nephew board seriously contemplated relocating to the US so they could pay him the higher local rate.
Arguably, a top chief executive in the UK does a similar job to a leading US boss, regardless of being in the same sector. There was Laxman Narasimhan, in the midst of a turnaround at Reckitt Benkiser, maker of Dettol disinfectant, among a range of household staples. He was being paid £6 million a year when two years ago he suddenly left to take charge of Starbucks in Seattle. He more than trebled his pay, securing a $28 million (£21.7 million) package.
Dettol and cups of coffee may seem far apart but the job of running the business that produces them is not.
Britain is ground down, at risk of being held back. Calls for bosses to be paid more are predictably met with howls of outrage from the trade unions and Labour.
They’re often voted down by asset managers and institutional investors who hail from public sector pension funds (although these very same shareholders will vote in favour of higher packages in other countries).
What it means is that London will continue to slip, its stock market no longer the magnet for companies seeking to list. Where are they heading? Mostly to New York, where they appreciate and understand. Funny that.
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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Company%20profile
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Stuck in a job without a pay rise? Here's what to do
Chris Greaves, the managing director of Hays Gulf Region, says those without a pay rise for an extended period must start asking questions – both of themselves and their employer.
“First, are they happy with that or do they want more?” he says. “Job-seeking is a time-consuming, frustrating and long-winded affair so are they prepared to put themselves through that rigmarole? Before they consider that, they must ask their employer what is happening.”
Most employees bring up pay rise queries at their annual performance appraisal and find out what the company has in store for them from a career perspective.
Those with no formal appraisal system, Mr Greaves says, should ask HR or their line manager for an assessment.
“You want to find out how they value your contribution and where your job could go,” he says. “You’ve got to be brave enough to ask some questions and if you don’t like the answers then you have to develop a strategy or change jobs if you are prepared to go through the job-seeking process.”
For those that do reach the salary negotiation with their current employer, Mr Greaves says there is no point in asking for less than 5 per cent.
“However, this can only really have any chance of success if you can identify where you add value to the business (preferably you can put a monetary value on it), or you can point to a sustained contribution above the call of duty or to other achievements you think your employer will value.”
THE%20SPECS
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Bombshell
Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
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The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
The specs: 2018 Mazda CX-5
Price, base / as tested: Dh89,000 / Dh130,000
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder
Power: 188hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 251Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.1L / 100km
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
SPECS
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Where to Find Me by Alba Arikha
Alma Books
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What went into the film
25 visual effects (VFX) studios
2,150 VFX shots in a film with 2,500 shots
1,000 VFX artists
3,000 technicians
10 Concept artists, 25 3D designers
New sound technology, named 4D SRL
Brief scores:
Toss: Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi, chose to field
Environment Agency: 193-3 (20 ov)
Ikhlaq 76 not out, Khaliya 58, Ahsan 55
Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi: 194-2 (18.3 ov)
Afridi 95 not out, Sajid 55, Rizwan 36 not out
Result: Pakhtunkhwa won by 8 wickets
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
T10 Cricket League
Sharjah Cricket Stadium
December 14- 17
6pm, Opening ceremony, followed by:
Bengal Tigers v Kerala Kings
Maratha Arabians v Pakhtoons
Tickets available online at q-tickets.com/t10