AstraZeneca says it takes China investigation ‘very seriously’

AstraZeneca’s chief executive has said it is taking investigations by Chinese authorities into its business in the country “very seriously” and insisted it is committed to China in the long run.Authorities are thought to be investigating the importation of two cancer treatments manufactured by Britain’s biggest pharmaceutical company into China.Pascal Soriot, the AstraZeneca chief executive, said: “We take the matters in China very seriously. If requested, we will fully cooperate with the authorities.”Soriot, Britain’s best-paid boss of a FTSE 100 company, who is in line for an £18

UK jobs market cools as businesses warn over budget hit to hiring and prices

The UK’s jobs market has shown further signs of cooling after a rise in unemployment in September while pay growth slowed, as business leaders said the budget could hit hiring demand and lead to higher prices.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the rate of unemployment rose to 4.3% in the three months to September, up from 4% the previous quarter, amid broader signs of a slowdown in the jobs market.While the ONS said its jobs market figures should be treated with caution amid data collection issues, separate figures showed the number of employees on company payrolls fell by 9,000 over the quarter and vacancies fell for a 28th consecutive month to the lowest level since May 2021.The government has come under pressure from businesses after outlining tax increases in the budget, including a rise in the national minimum wage and employer national insurance contributions (NICs) that bosses have said could lead to job cuts

‘We need to show what we’re trying to do is worth it’: voice of the UK energy industry steps down

After five years making Energy UK ‘noisier’ on green issues, Emma Pinchbeck has been picked to lead the UK’s fight against global heating‘I was a risk when they hired me,” smiles Emma Pinchbeck. The chief executive of Energy UK, the voice of the industry, is hours away from a black-tie awards event that will serve as her unofficial leaving do. After almost five years in the role, she will join the government’s climate watchdog, the Climate Change Committee, in a matter of days.“It’s pretty funny to remind people of this now, but I was an untested risk. I don’t think back in 2019 if you’d said to the energy industry, ‘who would you want as a spokesperson for the sector in a time of crisis?’ that they’d necessarily have chosen someone like me

Shoppers bemoan UK taramasalata shortage as strike leads to dip in supply

When some UK supermarkets removed the lids from tubs of hummus, there were complaints from shoppers. But for many, the latest dip problem is arguably worse – a nationwide shortage of taramasalata.Industrial action at Bakkavor, a large supplier of the fish roe dip, has caused a “short disruption” to the supply and availability of taramasalata at supermarkets across the country.Employees at Bakkavor’s Spalding site in the Midlands launched strike action about six weeks ago over pay.Tubs of own-brand taramasalata were out of stock online at Waitrose, Sainbury’s and Tesco, the UK’s largest grocer

Metro Bank fined nearly £17m for failure to monitor potential money laundering

Metro Bank has been fined nearly £17m by the UK’s financial watchdog for failings in its money-laundering controls over four years, in a fresh blow to the lender a year on from its near-collapse.In a surprise announcement that also triggered the early release of Metro’s third-quarter results on Tuesday morning, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it had found shortfalls in the bank’s financial crime checks between 2016 and 2020.The FCA said that while Metro started automating the monitoring of customer transactions for potential financial crime in 2016, the system did not work as intended. It found that any transactions which took place on the day a new account was opened, or until the account record was updated, were able to pass through the system unchecked.Junior staff raised the alarm in 2017 and 2018, but Metro failed to identify and fix the problem until July 2019

Signs of cooling UK jobs market could be a headache for Reeves

For the past few years only cursory attention has been paid to the UK unemployment figures because the jobless rate has been low and there have been plenty of unfilled vacancies for those seeking work. But, thanks to a slowing economy and decisions made by Rachel Reeves in last month’s budget, that could be about to change.For the next few months, every release on the state of the labour market will be scrutinised to see what impact two announcements made by Reeves last month are having on jobs.Inevitably, the chancellor’s decision to increase the national minimum wage by 6.7% and increase employer national insurance contributions will have some effect but it will take months to assess how big those effects will be