WH Smith tries to recover bonuses from ex-bosses as watchdog investigates accounting error

WH Smith will try to take back as much as £7m in bonuses from former executives after revealing the UK’s financial watchdog has launched a formal investigation into a devastating accounting error linked to its US business.Almost £600m was wiped off the books to paperclips retailer’s stock market value overnight in August after it identified errors with accounting for supplier income and provision for lost stock going back to 2023 in its North American arm.Last month its chief executive, Carl Cowling, stepped down in the wake of the scandal. The company is searching for a permanent replacement.On Friday the company said it would be “applying malus and clawback to recover overpaid bonuses” from Cowling, and its former finance director Robert Moorhead, after the restatement of profits in its 2023 and 2024 financial year

Rail accident investigators issue warning over sensors on landslide monitors

Accident investigators have issued an urgent safety warning that the railway’s landslide monitoring equipment may not work when the earth moves suddenly, after discovering sensors did not transmit when a landslip derailed an intercity train.The front wheels of an Avanti West Coast train from Glasgow to London came off the tracks on 3 November when it hit debris washed on to the track by heavy rain near Shap, Cumbria, while travelling at 83 mph. Fortunately, the train stayed upright and only four passengers were injured.Network Rail had installed remote earth monitoring equipment at the Shap site, a known risk area in times of high rainfall.Investigators have found that the sensors nearest the landslip picked up minor earth movements in the railway cutting, from four hours to two hours before the accident, below the level to trigger an alert

Retail sales unexpectedly fall in Great Britain in run-up to Christmas

Retail sales unexpectedly slumped in the crucial run-up to Christmas, as cash-strapped shoppers held back on Black Friday spending, and uncertainty before the budget dampened consumer confidence.Sales volumes in Great Britain fell 0.1% month on month in November, according to official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).Economists had been expecting sales growth of 0.4% compared with October, fuelled by the annual Black Friday sales bonanza

UK borrowed more than expected in November amid pre-budget pressure

The UK government borrowed more than expected in November, official figures show, amid pressure on the economy before Rachel Reeves announced her autumn budget.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed public sector net borrowing – the difference between spending and income – was £11.7bn last month, £1.9bn less than in the same month a year earlier.In the first snapshot since the chancellor’s tax and spending statement on 26 November, the reading was above City predictions of a £10bn deficit

MPs to question Vodafone on ‘unjust’ treatment of store franchise owners

Vodafone executives will next month meet MPs scrutinising the company’s treatment of scores of business owners running its stores.The move follows claims reported by the Guardian last week of suicide and attempted suicide by people who had agreed deals to run outlets for the £18bn telecoms company. The report led to suggestions that the government might consider new laws to correct the power imbalance in franchise agreements.A group of 62 former Vodafone franchisees brought a high court claim in 2024, alleging the company “unjustly enriched” itself in 2020 by slashing sales commissions.The court papers alleged that Vodafone acted in “bad faith” by unilaterally cutting fees to its franchisees; imposed fines of thousands of pounds for seemingly minor administrative errors; and then cajoled them into taking out loans and government grants to keep their businesses afloat

BP opts for culture shock with new CEO appointment, but the timing is odd

Here we go again. Just when you thought BP was trying to generate less drama, the new chair has decided a new chief executive is needed. Say goodbye to Murray Auchincloss, who junked the green-ish transition strategy of his predecessor as recently as February. Meg O’Neill, the American boss of the Australian group Woodside Energy, becomes BP’s first outside hire as chief executive.At face value, a new appointment should not be an outright surprise