Rolls-Royce to invest £300m in expansion of Goodwood factory

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has said it will invest £300m in expanding its Goodwood factory in West Sussex to meet the growing demand for bespoke upgrades, after the luxury carmaker recorded its third-highest annual sales in 2024.The investment will extend the luxury carmaker’s manufacturing facility as it gradually moves away from V12 petrol engines to battery electric vehicles, as well as increasing its capacity to fulfil the whims of some of the world’s richest people.The company is enjoying a boom in demand for one-of-a-kind variations required by super-wealthy clients willing to spend more than £500,000 on average on a single car. Those embellishments range from solid gold bonnet sculptures or mother-of-pearl art works, to holographic paint finishes and LED lights in the ceiling that mimic the stars on a particular date: one client last year asked for their dog’s birthday.Rolls-Royce, owned by Germany’s BMW since 2003, said it sold 5,712 cars last year, although sales were down 5% compared with the 6,032 sold in 2023, its highest ever

Rise in UK borrowing costs could push Reeves to new public spending cuts

Rachel Reeves could be forced to make fresh cuts to public spending at her March “spring forecast” as a rise in government borrowing costs risks the chancellor breaking her own fiscal rules.With the government under pressure on the economy, City analysts warned that Britain’s long-term borrowing costs hitting the highest level since 1998 risked wiping out almost all of a £10bn buffer the chancellor had kept in reserve at the autumn budget.The yield – in effect the interest rate – on UK 30-year debt rose by 0.4 percentage points to 5.22%, above the peak reached after Liz Truss’s mini-budget in 2022 sparked turmoil in financial markets, to hit the highest level in 27 years

Shein lawyer accused of ‘wilful ignorance’ over cotton linked to forced Uyghur labour

The online fashion seller Shein has refused to reassure British MPs that its products do not include cotton produced in the Xinjiang region of China, which has been linked to forced Uyghur labour, prompting one MP to accuse its representative of “wilful ignorance”.In testy exchanges before MPs on the business and trade committee, Yinan Zhu, the general counsel for Shein’s European arm, repeatedly said she was not qualified to answer questions about the fast-fashion retailer’s supply chain amid concerns from campaigners over forced labour.Zhu said she could not answer questions about whether Shein’s manufacturers – none of which the company owns directly – used the controversial yarn or whether any of them were based in the Xinjiang region. She said the company may be able to provide a written answer in future.Zhu was sent a dossier outlining links between cotton production in the region and forced labour of the Muslim minority Uyghur people

McDonald’s sacked 29 people after sexual harassment allegations, MPs told

The chief executive of McDonald’s has said 29 people have been dismissed in the past year after allegations of sexual harassment.The UK boss of the fast-food chain, Alistair Macrow, told MPs on Tuesday that the company had been alerted to 75 allegations of sexual harassment over the last 12 months, 47 of which had been upheld with disciplinary action taken and 29 of which resulted in people being dismissed.Macrow’s appearance before MPs on the business and trade select committee came as more than 700 junior McDonald’s workers joined legal action against the chain after allegations of widespread discrimination, homophobia and sexual harassment at its UK restaurants.Hundreds of current and former crew members – some as young as 19 – have instructed the law firm Leigh Day to take action on their behalf, in a move that has implicated more than 450 of its UK outlets.Complainants have been coming forward after an investigation a year ago by the BBC, which on Tuesday claimed that workers at the chain were still facing sexual abuse and harassment despite a promise from McDonald’s to address the concerns after they were first raised

Consumers could face price rises of 20% in 2025, trade experts warn

The price of household staples including food and drink could climb by as much as 20% in 2025 if challenges with sourcing and transporting goods continue, an industry body has warned.The cost of electronics, machinery, chemicals and petroleum products could also rise, said the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), as a result of geopolitical instability, including tensions in the Middle East, supply chain disruption and cybersecurity issues.Buying and supplying items including food and drink could cost businesses as much as a fifth more this year, which they will pass on to consumers, according to the international trade association, which represents 64,000 member organisations in procurement and supply chains across 150 countries.The cost of everyday products could be pushed even higher if Donald Trump follows through on threats to apply tariffs to goods entering the US after his inauguration as president on 20 January.International shipping costs have been rising in recent months as global freight companies faced a string of challenges in moving goods around the world

UK long-term borrowing costs rise to highest since 1998 – as it happened

As reported earlier, the UK’s long-term borrowing costs have risen to the highest level since 1998, as the government gears up for a number of bond sales this year.The yield, or interest rate, on 30-year gilts, as UK government bonds are known, climbed by four basis points to 5.22% after a bond auction.The rise in borrowing costs is increasing pressure on the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to keep the market on side ahead of a raft of bond sales.The Labour government plans to sell £297bn of bonds this fiscal year — the second-highest on record, Bloomberg News reported