Senior executives in the UK’s top 100 companies took just 33 hours to be paid more than the typical worker’s annual salary, according to data that unions say should be a “source of national shame”. Figures released by the High Pay Centre thinktank showed that the typical FTSE 100 chief executive is paid 117 times more than the median worker, at £901.30 an hour or £3.46m a year. It means that by 5pm on 6 January 2020, the chief executives of Britain’s largest listed businesses will have pocketed more than the £29,559 annual salary earned by the median full-time employee, who is taking home about £14.37 an hour. Tim Roache, general secretary of the GMB union, said: “It should be a source of national shame that in just a handful of days, company fat cats will have made more money than the typical UK full-time worker will earn in the entire year. “These empires are built on the back of hardworking staff, many of whom will be struggling to make ends meet.”
Oil prices were expected to jump this week after the threat of retaliation for the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani spooked international commodity markets, sending prices up 3.6%. The price of a barrel of Brent crude leapt to $68.60, up from $66.25 on Friday when the US launched its rocket attack against Suleimani and his convoy near Baghdad international airport. Analysts warned any retaliation could affect supplies of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz, which is the world’s busiest passageway for tankers carrying oil and natural gas.
Next (NXT) has emerged as a winner from a tough Christmas trading period for Britain’s retailers after a cold November stoked demand for winter coats and knitwear. The high street company reported full-price sales growth of 5.2% for the last two months of 2019, which was well ahead of its forecasts. The better than expected outcome meant Next nudged up its profit guidance for the year by £2m to £727m. Under its longstanding chief executive, Simon Wolfson, Next has been one of the industry’s most resilient retailers. The strength of its home shopping arm, which sells other fashion brands as well as its own, helped offset falling sales in its high street chain. The same was true this Christmas, with in-store sales falling 3.9%, while online sales jumped 15.3%.
