Tom Saunders

Interesting Calastone figs:
* North America-focused equity funds saw net outflows of £330mn in July, the first outflow since October 2024.

* Global equity funds (which are 60-70% US weighted) saw their second consecutive month of outflows, first time in Calastone's 10-year records.

Tariffs D-Day now just weeks away for Etsy export crew President Trump is closing the loophole that allows small businesses to send shipments to the US without paying duty — and he is doing it sooner than expected

In less than a month's time, the de minimis exemption will end for any business exporting to the US. I spoke to businesses in the UK about what it means for them:

www.thetimes.com/article/b8bd...

Trump’s tariffs are still too high, EU businesses warn Europe’s trade deal with the US has winners and losers, but as one leader put it, ‘When you’re expecting a hurricane, you’re grateful for a storm’

European semiconductor businesses were among the few clear beneficiaries of yesterday's trade deal between the EU and US as much of their exports will be exempt from tariffs.

On the other hand, EU spirit makers failed to secure an exemption, at least initially:

www.thetimes.com/article/bde6...

Thousands of firms struck off Companies House register in crackdown Police and regulators using new powers to act against economic crime

Earlier this year, a cross-department raid on company formation agents led to 11.5K companies being struck off Companies House

One agent registered ~5K firms at a single address in London. Most of which were based elsewhere in the UK, or not in the country at all

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

FTSE 100 breaks 9,000 milestone Blue-chip index is outperforming global indices as a safe haven from global volatility

The FTSE 100 broke 9,000 words today, then closed below it - but I wrote 1,000 words about it anyway.

Interesting point - since 2019, defence companies have risen from 7% to 11% of the FTSE 100. Over that same period, energy companies have fallen from 19% to 11%.

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

UK shipping insurers are caught in Iran oil sanctions grey zone Conflicting US and British rules pose a headache for firms trying to keep up with regulations meant to curb Iran’s shadow fleet

EXC: At least 7 vessels exported Iranian oil or related products while holding British insurance from two British shipping insurers.

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

Entry-level jobs plunge by a third since launch of ChatGPT Retail, IT and accounting and finance are among the worst hit sectors since the AI tool began operating in November 2022

The number of entry-level jobs has fallen by nearly a third since ChatGPT was introduced in Nov 2022

More importantly, the share of vacancies which are entry level has shrunk over that same period to just 25%, suggesting AI is having a unique effect on grad jobs

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

How UK businesses disappeared from world’s biggest trade fairs The scrapping of a scheme providing grants for small and medium-sized businesses to attend overseas shows has been blamed for a drop-off in numbers

It's a similar story across most industries, and is largely the product of the Treasury's decision, during the pandemic, to jettison grants of up to £2.5K for UK businesses looking to attend major trade fairs.

Read more here:

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

UK plc have been disappearing from the world's largest trade fairs.

Pre-pandemic, UK biz were the 2nd largest exhibitors at Drinktec with c 100 companies attending. This year, just 25 will go.

The disappearance has become so noticeable that even the CEO of CES commented on it earlier this year.

Ivy owner apologises for demanding discounts from suppliers Restaurateur Richard Caring says a letter demanding a mandatory 2.5 per cent reduction as a result of the ‘current increased cost of trading’ was sent in error

"This letter should not have been written in the manner that it was. I had not seen it and certainly had not approved it. I want to apologise to our suppliers for the letter, which is totally incorrect,” Caring said.

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

Richard Caring has apologised after his restaurant empire sent a letter to suppliers demanding a 2.5 per cent "discount" on bills due to the "current increased cost of trading".

Caring told The Times that the letter (attached) had been sent in error and was "totally incorrect".

Northern Gritstone leads funding for energy-efficient AI start-up Literal Labs, spun out of Newcastle University, offers an alternative approach to machine learning

Almost all artificial intelligence models are based on the principle of neural networks, a computational model inspired by the human brain.

However, are there other, more efficient ways of building AI models? One start-up spun out of Newcastle University thinks so:
www.thetimes.com/article/d34d...

Hey Kevin - I'm a journalist at The Times. I'm writing up an article on DragonForce's links to the recent M&S cyber incident. I was wondering whether you could give me a follow back so I could DM you?

Looks like the UK's tariff rate will be 10%, according to the poster Trump is holding up at his press conference.

It looks like tariff rates are discounted by 50% though a global minimum of 10%

Donald Trump’s steel tariffs hit UK exports with $3.4bn at risk New US tariffs threaten $3.4 billion of UK exports to the US. One expert suggests this is a negotiating tactic, but will it work?

Among the products facing duties as a result of Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs - fancy ovens and farm equipment.

Various estimates have put the amount of UK steel and aluminium product exports affected by the tariffs at ~ $3bn. Read more here:

www.thetimes.com/article/e6c9...

Residents count the £4bn cost of councils’ bad property bets ‘Unsophisticated borrowers’ have left four local authorities in London’s commuter belt owing up to 1,500 per cent of their annual income

Spelthorne council, which invested over £1 billion in properties including BP's main campus, is to be taken over by government-appointed commissioners.

I wrote about bad property bets made by the council and three others in London's commuter belt last year.

www.thetimes.com/article/resi...

For the first time ever, Rolls-Royce's market cap has surpassed that of BP.

The vast majority of this is down to individual performance.

Though Trump factor - combination of tariffs + European rearmmament likely pushing both over the edge.

Coca-Cola bottler will add fizz to FTSE 100 in reshuffle With a market cap of £31.5 billion, CCEP will be one of the biggest companies when it joins the index this week, as Hiscox drops out

CCEP is almost guaranteed to join the FTSE 100 at the next reshuffle.

Combined with the other Coca-Cola bottler already in the index, Coca-Cola HBC, it will mean nearly 2% of the entire FTSE 100 market cap is dedicated to bottling or selling Coca-Cola products.

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ fuels lucrative trade in old tankers Moscow’s use of vessels bought from Britain and the EU for its oil trade is pushing prices up by 60% and raising questions over shipping dangers and sanctions

The Times has partnered with Shadow Fleet Secrets, which shows that more than a third of the tankers in the Shadow fleet were previously owned by European and US shipping companies, producing sales of more than $6 billion.

This includes ship owners from the UK:

www.thetimes.com/article/1be0...

UK law firm that acted for Putin’s warlord Prigozhin 'broke no rules' Exclusive: Taking cash from a sanctioned Russian mercenary chief to enable him to sue a British journalist is not an abuse of our legal system, solicitors' regulator finds

Update on Yvegeny Prigozhin's legal case against me - UK law firm that acted for Putin’s warlord Prigozhin 'broke no rules'
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/uk-law-fir...

Russian ships seen in UK waters 40 times since 2022 Ukraine invasion The Yantar, a Russian research and intelligence vessel, passed through British waters this week

Military contractors, weapons-carrying cargo ships, and an enormous Russian military tugboat... @tomjss.bsky.social and I took a look at what Russian ships are up to in British waters

www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/a...

Russian ships seen in UK waters 40 times since 2022 Ukraine invasion The Yantar, a Russian research and intelligence vessel, passed through British waters this week

Yesterday the defence sec said that the Yantar, a known Russian intelligence ship, was spotted passing through British waters.

It's not the only Russian ship with military links to pass through UK waters since Feb 2022.

With @yeomans.bsky.social

www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/a...

UK trade to lag GDP over next decade, report warns British trade will grow by 0.7 per cent a year to 2033, Boston Consulting Group warns, well below its estimate of a global growth average of 2.9 per cent

From BCG's Trade report: UK's Trade with China is set to decline by 2.3 per cent a year - despite the UK's more neutral stance as supply chains respond to the demands of the rather more heavyweight US and EU.

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

UK’s Darktrace turns ‘more acquisitive’ with Cado Security deal Cybersecurity group announces shift in strategy since going private last year in deal for cloud security specialist

EXC - Darktrace makes its first acquisition since it went private last year - only the second in its history as the company is set to become "more acquisitive" now that it is off public markets.

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

This is a map of just some of the companies that Neville Taylor was listed as the director of.

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

‘Insolvency avoidance scheme’ still running despite crackdown Creditors left empty-handed as owners of struggling businesses use Atherton scheme to dispose of debts and distance themselves from failure

In November, @jamesdhurley.bsky.social and I wrote about how an 'insolvency avoidance scheme' used Neville Taylor to help companies drop debt

Today Taylor, who was listed as the director of over 400 companies, has been banned from running companies for nine years.

www.thetimes.com/article/inso...

The Top 10 biggest fallers and risers in the FTSE 100 + FTSE 250 over the last year (excluding the stocks that dropped out of the FTSE 250 altogether).

Read more about the best and worst-performing stocks over the year:
www.thetimes.com/article/911d...

AstraZeneca paid £45m to doctors in Russia since war began Analysis of data by The Times shows that the British pharmaceutical company has made the payments over two years at a time when other multinationals have pulled out of Russia

AstraZeneca has made about £45 million in payments to doctors and healthcare organisations in Russia since the war against Ukraine.

It made payments of about £24.4 million in 2022 and £20.6 million in 2023.

with @alexralph.bsky.social

www.thetimes.com/article/ac81...

How one telecoms player solved the PFI puzzle Helios Towers, which operates telecom tower sites across Africa, has bucked the trend and successfully used public investment to reassure private investors

The story of Helios Towers, the FTSE 250 telecoms provider, is in indicative of both how the model can work but also why it so often doesn't.

www.thetimes.com/article/d751...

How one telecoms player solved the PFI puzzle Helios Towers, which operates telecom tower sites across Africa, has bucked the trend and successfully used public investment to reassure private investors

Do public-private partnerships work as a way to channel private capital into infrastructure projects in the developing world?

Short answer is, as far as the evidence suggest, probably not.

Though in some areas, namely Telecoms, the model has proved effective.

www.thetimes.com/article/d751...