Metro Bank risks backlash over £60m bonus scheme for chief executive

Metro Bank is at risk of a shareholder backlash after two influential shareholder advisers warned about a complex bonus scheme that could hand the bank’s chief executive a £60m windfall.ISS and Glass Lewis, prominent proxy advisory services that suggest how shareholders should vote on company policies at annual meetings, are concerned that the new long-term bonus will be linked to the bank’s share price, which may climb regardless of how well bosses run it.The reports, published before Metro Bank’s annual shareholder meeting on 20 May, suggest it could lead to excessive, and potentially unwarranted, windfalls for bosses, including the chief executive, Daniel Frumkin.Under the new plan, a bonus would be paid out after five years depending on how high the share price climbs over the long term.Metro Bank’s share price currently sits at about 110p, and would have to climb above 120p in three years’ time for the bonus to kick in

‘No one’s buying anything now’: how tariffs are striking a blow to historic Chinatowns

On a balmy afternoon last month, Amy Tran unboxed a delivery at Yue Wa Market, a small grocery and herbal medicine shop in Los Angeles’s Chinatown that she opened 17 years ago.The package contained two dozen units of Shou Wu Chih, a Chinese herbal concoction known to rebuild kidney function and promote hair health. The shipment arrived two weeks after the US implemented new tariffs on Chinese imports, so her distributor charged her $115, a $35 markup from her previous order.Tran said she had no choice but to increase the retail price from $6 to $7. It’s a steep up-charge for her customers, who are primarily Chinese seniors living off food stamps, some barely able to afford to buy a piece of fresh fruit or vegetable

Japan-owned car battery maker secures £1bn to build second Sunderland gigafactory

The owner of the UK’s only operating gigafactory has secured £1bn in funding for a new electric car battery plant in Sunderland, in a government-backed deal that secures the future of a key project for the struggling British car industry.The funding will allow Japan’s AESC to install tooling and start production of batteries at the site, which is being built to serve Nissan’s car factory down the road. More than 1,000 people are expected to be employed there.The National Wealth Fund and UK Export Finance, both state bodies, will provide financial guarantees that unlock £680m in financing for the battery maker. A further £320m in debt funding will come from private financing as well as new equity from the business

Donald Trump suggests tariffs on China should be 80%, as investors hope for thaw in trade war – as it happened

Newsflash: Donald Trump has suggested that the US tariffs on Chinese goods should be 80%.Posting on his Truth Social site, the US president says:80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B.Scott B is presumably Treasury secretary Bessent, who is due to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Switzerland this weekend to discuss the trade war.An 80% tariff would be a notable reduction on the 145% which Trump imposed last month, but would still make it significantly more expensive for US companies to import goods from China than before the trade war began.Trump has also urged Beijing to open up its markets, posting:CHINA SHOULD OPEN UP ITS MARKET TO USA — WOULD BE SO GOOD FOR THEM!!! CLOSED MARKETS DON’T WORK ANYMORE!!!Reminder: trade data from China earlier today showed a drop in shipments to, and from, the US

Ten UK energy firms to pay £7m in compensation after overcharging error

Ten UK energy suppliers including EDF, E.ON and Octopus are to pay £7m in compensation and refunds after overcharging customers, after a review by the energy regulator for Great Britain.Ofgem said the suppliers had agreed to pay more than 34,000 customers compensation and refunds because of erroneously billing them more for standing charges than is allowed under the regulator’s price cap. Standing charges are daily fees added regardless of how much energy is used.The affected customers all had restricted meter infrastructure, meaning more than one electricity meter point recording usage at their property, and were erroneously overcharged between January 2019 and September 2024

US-UK trade deal has saved jobs at Jaguar Land Rover, says Mandelson

The UK’s limited trade deal with the US has immediately prevented job losses at Jaguar Land Rover’s plant in the West Midlands, Britain’s ambassador to the US has said.“This deal has saved those jobs,” Peter Mandelson said in an interview on CNN. “That’s a pretty big achievement, in my view, and I’m very pleased that the president has signed it.”Government sources said JLR had plans for imminent cuts among its 30,000 staff in the UK but had not informed unions in the hope that a deal with the US could be struck to eliminate the 25% tariffs on exports of cars to the US.Donald Trump’s import taxes had threatened to cripple British high-end carmakers before they were reduced from 27