More than 210,000 workers in Britain are to receive a pay rise after the charity behind the living wage increased the national minimum hourly rate by 30p to £9.30. The Living Wage Foundation, which sets the voluntary measure, said London workers’ basic hourly rate will also rise, by 20p to £10.75, compared with the government’s “national living wage” of £8.21 for workers aged 25 years or older. The charity said the difference between its own living wage and the government minimum will be more than £2,000 a year nationally and almost £5,000 a year in London.
Betting firms are recruiting specialist staff to lure high-spending “VIP” customers who lose significant sums of money, prompting concerns about the industry’s commitment to promote safer gambling, say experts. VIP schemes have been cited in a succession of cases in which addicts were showered with free gifts as they racked up thousands of pounds of losses. But midway through the industry’s Responsible Gambling week a Guardian analysis of jobs websites suggests gambling firms have no plans to rein in the loyalty schemes. One advert for a “VIP executive” to work at Gala Bingo’s online business, part of the GVC Holdings (GVC)-owned Ladbrokes Coral group, states that candidates will be working to increase “overall player lifetime value and the revenue contribution for the VIP player base”.
Bidding for shares in the world’s most profitable company will start in a week’s time, it has been announced, as Saudi Aramco fleshed out its plans for a much-delayed float expected to be the largest in history. The oil company, which is owned by the autocratic Gulf state, said it would take bids for its shares from 17 November and planed to provide further details on the final offer price and the amount of stock for sale on 5 December. Its prospectus, which was released at the weekend, showed profits of $68.2bn (£53.3bn) for the first six months of this financial year. The 658-page document gave no indication of the price range that the Saudi government hoped to achieve but City analysts have valued Saudi Aramco, which accounts for more than 10% of the world’s oil production, between $1.1tn and $2.5tn. Bloomberg reported that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, would be satisfied with a valuation of $1.6tn to $1.8tn. At the upper end of that range, the sale of just 2% of the company would result in a record $36bn float, dwarfing the $25bn raised by the Chinese tech firm Alibaba in 2015.
British Airways has pledged to review its practice of making aircraft carry tonnes of excess fuel to avoid filling up at destination airports, which saves money but drives up CO2 emissions. Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA’s parent company International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG), admitted that using the method – called “fuel tankering” within the industry – was “maybe the wrong thing to do” despite the financial incentive behind the practice, because of its environmental impact. Critics said the widespread use of fuel tankering called into question airlines’ commitment to reducing their impact on the environment. The information of excess fuel carriage came from a BA insider during a BBC Panorama investigation. IAG recently tried to burnish its environmental credentials with a commitment to become the first airline group worldwide to commit to net zero emissions by 2050.
BT Sport’s stranglehold on Champions League football is set to be challenged as Sky prepares to enter the battle for the £1bn-plus TV rights when bids are submitted on Monday. BT Group (BT.A), which has aired Champions League football since 2015 after beating joint holders Sky and ITV with a blockbuster bid, had not been expected to face a serious challenge to secure the next round of UK TV rights for the three years from 2021-22. Following the dip in the value of the last Premier League rights auction – considered a sign that the recent inflationary rise in prime sports rights was at an end – BT was potentially hoping to make an investor-pleasing saving on its current £1.2bn Champions League deal. Industry observers speculated that it might save £50m to £100m a season. In last year’s Premier League auction, Sky shaved £200m a year off its previous deal, or 16% a game. Sky, which sources say is preparing a “financially disciplined” bid for the Champions League rights, had not been expected to enter the auction, which would significantly add to its £3.5bn annual sports rights bill.
