BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY CITY A.M. AWARDS BORN IN THE USA SIGHTS AND 2019’S BUSINESS OF SOUNDS OF SPRINGSTEEN’S THE YEAR NOMINEES NEW JERSERY ROOTS P22-23 – REVEALED P15 MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019 ISSUE 3,472 CITYAM.COM FREE TECH ON TRACK Entrepreneurs spout optimism on British talent CORBYN KICKS ALEXANDER MATT UP FRESH ROW WITH ASHLEY SEBASTIAN MCCARTHY owners who don’t pay their tax.” giving them the power to appoint @SebMcCarthy “At the end of the day, it is interest- and fire at least two members of a ing Corbyn has chosen Newcastle as club’s board of directors. A NEW footballing rivalry was formed that is where his votes are falling Ashley has become a divisive figure over the weekend after Jeremy Corbyn through the floor,” they told City A.M. in Newcastle, bearing the brunt of took aim at retail tycoon Mike Ashley The fresh war of words comes in the criticism for the team’s recent lack of for his running of Newcastle United. wake of Corbyn’s plans to radically success, with many fans blaming the The Labour leader has taken his war shake up the Premier League retail magnate for a lack of invest- on corporate bosses to the football rulebook if he moves into Downing ment in the club. pitch after branding the high street Street. The Sports Direct owner, who has billionaire “a bad owner” and accus- The Labour party has pledged to been spending the last year snapping ing him of self-interest. allow football support- up prominent retail chains on the “[Clubs] are too important to be left ers’ trusts to buy high street, has attempted to sell off in the hands of bad owners like Mike shares when clubs Newcastle United a number of times Ashley who put their business inter- change hands, in the last decade, most recently this ests ahead of everything else, mar- summer for a reported £350m. ginalise supporters and even put This weekend Corbyn also vowed EMILY NICOLLE cent of business leaders also hope to the financial security of clubs at to launch a review into fan @emilyjnicolle raise investment, rising seven per risk,” Corbyn said as he joined a participation in sports governance at cent from three months ago. protest with Newcastle United foot- all levels, which is understood to AROUND four-fifths of the UK’s tech However securing the right talent ball club fans. include tests for who can be a leaders remain bullish on hiring top continues to be British entrepreneurs’ One source close to Ashley hit director and greater financial talent, as ongoing Brexit uncertainty top concern. Around 66 per cent of back at Corbyn by describing transparency. fails to dampen employment and leaders cited access to skilled workers his comments as “cheap Other proposals which have been investment intentions. as a potential obstacle to growth, 12 politics”, adding unveiled by Corbyn were a demand Seventy-nine per cent of young tech per cent more than in June. that the Labour that the Premier League invests five companies surveyed intend to Studio Graphene founder Ritam leader “should be per cent of its income from increase staff numbers in the next Gandhi said businesses seeking to focused on other television rights into three months, City A.M. can reveal, take on more staff was “positive news grassroots football rising six per cent from last quarter. for the private sector”. Jeremy Corbyn and the banning According to Studio Graphene’s (left) and Mike of zero-hour staff Tech Tracker index, around 66 per £ CONTINUES ON P3 Ashley (right) contracts. FTSE 100 ▲ 7,155.38 +77.74 FTSE 250 ▲ 19,480.37 +132.21 DOW ▲ 26,573.72 +372.68 NASDAQ ▲ 7,982.47 +110.21 £/$ 1.233 unc. £/€ ▼ 1.123 -0.002 €/$ ▲ 1.099 +0.002 Let’s make packaging for a sustainable world. Join us to create Better Planet Packaging. Visit smurfitkappa.com PAPER | PACKAGING | SOLUTIONS LSE:SKG 02 NEWS MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019 CITYAM.COM MASK MAYHEM Hong Kong demonstrations end in violence as police and protesters come to blows A CONTROVERSIAL colonial-era ban on wearing masks at rallies sparked fresh civil unrest in Hong THE CITY VIEW Kong over the weekend. Activists took to the streets to riot against the government measures. Clashes with the police intensified yesterday, with a number of people being injured and arrested. The Bank can’t avoid a storm blowing its way HEN Dame Helena Morrissey revealed she was standing down from Legal & General last week, the City rumour Wmill was sent into overdrive. The Square Mile veteran and champion of boardroom equality said only that she had “a lot of ideas and other things to achieve”. This rather enigmatic sign-off will do little to quell speculation that her candidacy is attracting support at the highest levels. The race for the Threadneedle Street top job will always spark excitement, but the Bank must now make one of the most significant appointments in its 325-year history. Current governor Mark Carney has already had his tenure extended twice and is now set to stand down at the end of January. But with a further extension to the Brexit deadline and a potential General Election looking increasingly likely, many City watchers believe Carney could be asked to stay in place even longer. He’s let it be known that he would consider any request to do so. The shortlist of potential candidates is drawn up by civil servants but the chancellor, Sajid Javid, is not bound by it. Perhaps that explains why new names keep cropping up. With City grandee Sir John Kingman said to be out of the race, Morrissey has now moved squarely into the HSBC to slash limelight alongside FCA chief executive Andrew Bailey. Gerard Lyons, former economic adviser to Boris Johnson, is said to PM says EU must be still in the frame, while Santander UK chair Baroness Shriti costs with up to Vadera and London School of Economics boss Minouche Shafik are also said to be among the favourites. But with Brexit on the 10,000 job cuts horizon, the choice of governor will resonate far beyond the compromise to Square Mile. The role has fallen victim to a wider trend of central SEBASTIAN MCCARTHY bank politicisation that has given rise to President Trump’s @SebMcCarthy sustained criticism of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions HSBC is reportedly set to swing the and Labour’s radical plans to shake up the Bank’s official remit. If avoid a no-deal axe on as many as 10,000 jobs as it a Brexiter like Morrissey is selected, it will be seen by some as an becomes the latest banking giant to outrageous attempt by ministers to steer the political direction of launch a radical cost-cutting STEFAN BOSCIA despite the so-called Benn Act which overhaul this year. the Bank, and if a bureaucrat like Bailey lands the job then others @Stefan_Boscia mandates the government to ask for The lender will see “a substantial will no doubt brand it an establishment stitch-up. Contrary to a Brexit extension if no deal is reduction” in its headcount as a what his critics maintain, Carney has kept out of the political PRIME Minister Boris Johnson has reached by 19 October. result of new plans from interim fray. Brexit has ensured that his moves are viewed through a spent the weekend reaching out to According to the Telegraph, Johnson boss Noel Quinn, the Financial European leaders in a bid to push is willing to go to the Supreme Court Times reported late last night. political lens, but it’s inaccurate to paint him as a combatant. One through his revised Brexit deal. to ensure Brexit happens this month. Any cuts would come on top of of the consequences of our ongoing Brexit debate is that whoever Johnson spoke to French President The renewed offer involves keeping the 4,700 redundancies it has takes command of the tiller at Threadneedle Street, a political Emmanuel Macron and Portuguese Northern Ireland in the Single Market already announced, the report Prime Minister Antonia Costa to for goods only and implementing non- added. The move would mark the reaction is inevitable. The next governor is going to have to learn drum up support for the deal and border customs checks. EU officials first major action from Quinn, who how to handle that. reiterate his “do or die” Brexit and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar have recently replaced John Flint as boss. commitment. signalled the deal is unacceptable. A number of banks have sought The PM told Macron yesterday he “The surrender act and its authors to slash costs and trim jobs this believes a deal can be agreed but the are undermining negotiations, but if year amid growing political European Union must make compro- EU leaders are betting that it will uncertainty and low interest rates. mises in the coming weeks. prevent no deal, that would be a In August German lender He also made it clear that the UK historic misunderstanding,” a senior Deutsche Bank revealed plans to Follow us on Twitter @cityam would leave the EU on 31 October, Number 10 said. cut 18,000 jobs across its offices. FINANCIAL TIMES THE TIMES THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THE WALL STREET JOURNAL WOODFORD FUND’S VALUE WHAT THE US AUTHORITIES TOLD TO INHERITANCE TAX UNFAIR, VAPING BLACK MARKET FALLEN BY FIFTH SINCE MAY OTHER RETURN DIPLOMAT’S WIFE SAYS CABINET MINISTER CAUSES COMPLICATIONS Neil Woodford’s stricken Equity Income A row has broken out between the US Inheritance tax is “unfair” because it US health officials are confronting a fund has shrunk 20 per cent in four PAPERS SAY and the UK over a diplomat’s wife who means people are taxed twice, a cabinet sprawling black market for vaping months as more than a dozen holdings fled Britain under suspicion of minister said amid growing speculation products as they seek to combat two have tumbled in value, inflicting further THIS involvement in a car crash that left a that the government is preparing to health crises, a mysterious lung illness harm on the hundreds of thousands of teenage motorcyclist dead.