1 High street banks shut more than 140,000 accounts held by small businesses last year, fuelling concerns about debanking. Eight banks disclosed account closure data to the Commons Treasury committee after requests for information from MPs, who are scrutinising the financing for small and medium-sized enterprises.
2 Jeremy Hunt has held talks with Shein in an attempt to persuade the Chinese-founded fast fashion giant to commit to what could be one of London’s biggest corporate stock market flotations.
3 The buy now, pay later group Klarna is using an AI-powered chatbot to handle two thirds of its customer service inquiries, doing the work of 700 full-time agents. The Swedish fintech collaborated with OpenAI to build the AI assistant for customer service chats.
4 Currys has rejected an improved £757 million bid from Elliott Advisors, the US investor. China-based JD.com, the online group, is also considering an offer for Currys, but it has yet to provide details. Currys said Elliott’s second approach was at 67p a share, compared to its initial 62p bid, but that was not enough.
5 Homebase fell into the red last year, according to overdue accounts. The DIY and garden chain, which is being touted for sale, posted a loss of £84.2 million in the year to January 1, 2023, compared with a profit of £30 million the year before.
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6 Abrdn’s chief executive has put at 50/50 the chances of the group this year ending the customer outflows that have plagued it for years and sent its share price tumbling. “We’ve got an evens chance of getting to net positive inflows this year,” Stephen Bird said.
7 Britain’s biggest student landlord, following a record profit in 2023, is to put up its rents again this year. Unite Group, which lets out rooms to 70,000 students across the UK, increased its rents by 7 per cent last year and thanks to demand expects growth of “at least” 6 per cent.
8 Tata, the Indian conglomerate which owns Jaguar Land Rover, has confirmed it is to site its £4 billion gigafactory in Somerset, bringing about 4,000 jobs to the region. Tata’s battery business Agratas has bought land off the M5 outside Bridgwater after securing £500 million in UK government subsidies.
9 Britain is approaching an energy security “crunch point” in 2028 as a consequence of delays building new power plants running up against growing demand, research for Drax Group has found.
10 The revival of Smith & Nephew is beginning to take hold, the medical equipment maker’s chief executive has said after posting better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Underlying revenue rose 6.4 per cent to $1.46 billion in the final three months.