Marks & Spencer profits more than halve after cyber-attack

Profits at Marks & Spencer have more than halved after a damaging cyber-attack that is still affecting its struggling clothing and homeware business.The retailer said underlying profits fell to £184.1m in the six months to 27 September, from £413.1m a year before, after it had to halt online orders of clothing and homewares for more than six weeks.Clothing and homeware sales were down 16

Fixing Britain’s worklessness crisis will cost employers £6bn a year, report says

Employers have been told in a landmark government review that fixing Britain’s health-related worklessness crisis will require them to spend £6bn a year on support for their staff.In a major report before this month’s budget, Charlie Mayfield warned that businesses needed to play a more central role in tackling a rising tide of ill-health that is pushing millions of people out of work.The former chair of John Lewis, who was appointed by ministers to lead the government’s Keep Britain Working review last year, said that a drastic expansion in occupational health was needed to help prevent hundreds of thousands of people from falling out of the workforce each year.“We need to fix this,” Mayfield told the Guardian. “What we are proposing is a fundamental reset in terms of how health is handled in the workplace

Telecoms companies to improve security to stop UK phone number ‘spoofing’

Six of the biggest phone companies have said they will work together and upgrade their systems to stop fraudsters being able to “spoof” UK phone numbers and commit fraud.New technology is expected to be rolled out over the next year that will stop criminals impersonating legitimate bodies and subsequently duping people into believing they are talking to real companies, banks and government departments.Under the new plans, which aim to tackle number spoofing by foreign call centres, it will become clear when calls are coming from abroad.The agreement – called the second telecommunications fraud charter – is expected to be signed on Wednesday by representatives of BT/EE, Virgin Media O2, VodafoneThree, Tesco Mobile, Talk Talk and Sky as well as Comms Council UK (CCUK), an industry body, and the government.In January, the telecoms regulator Ofcom said phone providers must block all calls from abroad that falsely displayed a UK landline number

Ashford’s ghost terminal could be brought back to life by Richard Branson | Letters

The decision to end Eurostar’s monopoly on cross-Channel rail shows that Britain is serious about growth (Virgin Trains on track to challenge Eurostar cross-Channel monopoly with access to key depot, 30 October).Far from just being an inter‑city triumph, allowing Virgin Trains to run rival international rail services brings with it the possibility of reopening the abandoned Ashford International terminal. Opened with £80m of investment, it has been a ghost terminal since Eurostar stopped trains there in 2020.Gathering dust, it has been a symbol of a country that had turned inwards, leaving businesses, tourism and people on the south coast poorer. Research from the Good Growth Foundation shows reopening it would boost our local economy by up to £2

China accuses Dutch of prolonging chip war that threatens to halt car factories

China has told the Netherlands to “stop interfering” in the seized chipmaker Nexperia, accusing it of prolonging a dispute that has disrupted the global car industry.The Dutch government took control of the semiconductor-maker at the end of September amid US security concerns about the company’s Chinese parent, Wingtech Technology.In response, China halted exports of Nexperia products, restricting access to the vital components used in everything from airbags to central locking, and prompting carmakers in the EU, the UK and Japan to issue warnings that supply shortages could lead to stoppages.The EU is in the middle of urgent talks with Beijing to lift export controls on the chips and also on crucial rare earth minerals, after a summit with officials from both sides in Brussels on Friday.On Tuesday, however, China signalled its decisions were still being coloured by the Nexperia dispute, accusing the Dutch of failing to cooperate on export exemptions and urging them to work in a “constructive manner” to ease supply chain issues

Pound hits lowest since April as investors anticipate budget tax rises; markets hit by AI valuation jitters – as it happened

The pound has now dropped to $1.3064, a new six-month low, as City traders anticipate tax rises in this month’s budget.Sterling has lost more than 0.5% today, or around three-quarters of a cent, with analysts pointing to Rachel Reeves’s promise of an “iron clad” commitment to her fiscal rules, and her failure to rule out tax rises.Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, says:In a rare pre-budget speech, Reeves reiterated her commitment to budget goals and what many are considering as weaves, paving the way for more tax hikes and tough decisions in the Budget that would come close to breaking the party’s manifesto pledges