It’s been an unprecedented week. The UK has gained a new prime minister, and lost its longest-serving monarch. As the nation embarks on a period of mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, markets are still trading, though business has taken on an understandably somber tone.
Truss Talked Tough on Bills as Shock News Hit
If we wanted a primer to Trussonomics we sure got one on Thursday when new prime minister Liz Truss unveiled a plan to tackle rising energy bills. In her first major parliamentary test, she reiterated (to the chagrin of many) there would be no windfall tax on the bumper profits currently being made by oil and gas (and greener) energy companies. However she agreed to freeze bills at a slightly higher level than the current energy cap for the next two years. This should mean savings of £1,000 savings for the average households — although they may be paying this back via higher levies on bills for many years to come. Crucially there will also be help for smaller businesses. Exactly what this will cost the Exchequer is not so clear. Forecasts suggest a £150bn loan from the taxpayer to energy suppliers to make up the difference between wholesale costs and what they can charge consumers. Further details on these plans are expected in the coming week, but for now the nation mourns, amid a new phrase echoing in parliament: "God save the King".
The Prize is Now Fuel
Winning a game show used to offer a life-changing sum of money — or at least a speed boat, if you were on Bullseye. This week, though, the spin-the-wheel prize draw on ITV’s This Morning offered to pay viewers gas and electricity bill as a star prize — proof indeed of how prices have ratcheted upwards in recent months. This prompted a wave of “what have we come to?” comments on social media, with many complaining it risked trivialising the very real problem of fuel poverty. Others likened the segment of daytime favourites Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby spinning the wheel to a particularly bleak episode of the dystopian drama Black Mirror. One wonders what they will offer as a prize next week. Clothes?
Parmenion is Being Sold Again, at Four Times The Price
In another blow for embattled asset manager abrdn — which last week dropped out of the FTSE100 — a business they sold for just £102m 18 months ago is being sold again, this time with an expected asking price of up to £400m. Parmenion runs an investment platform for financial advisers, and has around £9bn of assets on its systems. It is understood its shareholders are looking to sell a significant stake for between £300m and £400m, making a handsome profit on the March 2021 deal. To rub salt into abrdn’s wounds, almost a third of Parmenion is owned by AssetCo, a vehicle run by abrdn’s former chief executive Martin Gilbert, who left the company in 2020, a few years after the less-than-successful merger of Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life that eventually resulted in the company’s much-discussed lower-cased rebrnd.
Cineworld Regrets It’s Wasn’t a "Meme" Stock
There was an interesting nugget buried in Cineworld’s application to file for bankruptcy in the US. The cinema chain, which for a time was the most-shorted stock on the FTSE, said it regretted not becoming a "meme" stock. For the uninitiated, this refers to the phenomenon of frenzied stock buying by amateur investors looking to punish big banks and hedge fund managers shorting a company. Many have commented on Cineworld’s slowness to restructure, given its huge debts. Was it betting on this kind of action, after rival cinema chain AMC was escaped bankruptcy in similar circumstances? It would certainly have made a good final plot twist to Cineworld’s sorry saga. But as noted it noted in its Chapter 11 First Day Declaration, “sadly, we weren’t so lucky!”
We’re Being Drilled on Our Pension Savings
You might not naturally associate the staid world of pensions with the dynamic world of rap. But the two have collided. UK grime star Big Zuu is now fronting a industry campaign to encourage people to "pay your pension some attention". The campaign features a video rap written and performed by Big Zhu and will signpost a new website that aims to demystify pension jargon and help people understand what kind of lifestyle their current savings will provide. While the new campaign is primarily aimed at younger savers, it may also catch the eye of some older rap fans, including possibly the new health secretary and deputy PM Therese Coffey, who we learned this week has a Dr Dre alarm on her phone.
Lawyers Are Beefing up Their Bankruptcy Teams
Certain sectors still make money in the tough times, and US law giant Squire Patton Boggs proved that this week when it expanded its bankruptcy teams in London with the hiring of five restructuring and insolvency lawyers from a rival firm. The company, which was formed from a merger of two US law firms and a Leeds-based one, said partners in the US received average payouts of more than £1m last year. Will these go up if the UK does slide into recession?
Nigel Farage Has Launched a Gin
It won’t surprise anyone that Farage Gin comes in red, white or blue bottles. The former UKIP leader claims this “artisan” spirit, which will be distilled in Cornwall is a “patriotic take” on a quintessentially British drink. Critics have been quick to point out that gin originated as a medicinal liquor in Europe, and the name derives from the Dutch word for juniper. Meanwhile, the largest names in the Cornish gin market have been quick to deny any involvement with its production. A bottle of this “taste of Brexit” is expected to retail at around £40 — double that of many mainstream gin brands. Indeed, one professor from Glasgow Caledonian University tweeted the drink, like Brexit, would be “bitter, overpriced, leaving you in debt and resulting in a huge hangover undermining your economic prospects”.
Beavertown Just Made a Whole Lotta Money
It’s not just craft gin in the news. London brewer Beavertown — founded by Logan Plant, son of Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant — became the latest craft brewer to be taken over by a major drinks company this week. Heineken, which has owned a minority stake in Beavertown since 2018, has now agreed to buy the remaining shares. Other major drinks companies have also been keen to get in on the booming craft beer market. In 2015 AB-Inbv bought Camden Town Brewery in a £85m deal, while Carlsberg bought the London Field Bewery in 2017, though closed it in 2021. Plant started the business 10 years ago, brewing beer in a rice pan in his kitchen. He will now step down from his role and be replaced by Heineken veteran Jochen Van Esch.
“iDon't like it”: Eve Jobs’ Influence is Real
Steve Jobs is credited with transforming Apple from a nerdy computer niche into a consumer staple. But the company was dealt a fresh blow today when the late chief executive’s daughter mocked the launch of the iPhone 14. The Stanford graduate posted a meme (what else?) of an middle-aged man buying an identical check shirt to the one he is wearing, captioning it “me, upgrading from iPhone 13 to iPhone 14”. Her somewhat waspish comments might reflect the fact that the newest model has been criticised for having relatively few new features — although the price tag has obviously increased. Is Apple going to have to do better? Probably.
A Chimp Has Returned Home And It's Delightful
A bit of good news from Ukraine. Chichi the chimp – who escaped from Kharkiv zoo – was enticed back by its keeper with the offer of her favourite jacket when it started to rain. The chimp happily accepted the raincoat, then hitched a lift back to the zoo on the back of a bicycle. The incident was caught by a bystander on their phone, and the footage has not surprisingly gone viral online. In an update the zoo said that Chichi was settled back into her enclosure, and added that staff continued to look after the animals through the country’s military crisis.
