Dr Martens promises not to raise prices this year despite US tariffs

Dr Martens has vowed not to increase prices this year and will continue sourcing from Vietnam and Laos, despite the threat of cripplingly high tariffs on the south-east Asian countries, where the bulk of its shoes are made.The British footwear brand, best known for its boots with distinctive yellow stitching, said most of its autumn and winter stock would be either in the market or in transit by the start of July, around the time the 90-day pause on an array of tariffs imposed by the US is due to come to an end.Almost two-thirds (62%) of Dr Martens footwear is made in Vietnam, and a further 31% is produced in neighbouring Laos. Both countries were previously hit with some of the highest US tariffs, after China – 46% for Vietnam and 48% for Laos – before Donald Trump’s temporary pause reduced them to 10%.Despite this, Dr Martens said it was not considering moving any of its manufacturing to other locations

Stock exchange dealt another blow as £12bn fintech ditches main London listing

The online payments company Wise has said it will move its main share listing to the US, in the latest blow to London’s beleaguered stock market.Wise, which is one of the biggest financial technology businesses in the country and has been listed in London since 2021, said on Thursday that it now intends to dual list its shares in the US and the UK in an attempt to attract more investors and boost its value.The company’s chief executive, Kristo Käärmann, said moving its main listing would help “drive greater awareness of Wise in the US, the biggest market opportunity in the world for our products today, and enabling better access to the world’s deepest and most liquid capital market.“A dual listing would also enable us to continue serving our UK-based owners effectively, as part of our ongoing commitment to the UK. The UK is home to some of the best talent in the world in financial services and technology, and we will continue to invest in our presence here to fuel our UK and global growth

US-Boeing deal over 737 Max crashes ‘morally repugnant’, says lawyer for victims’ families

Boeing has agreed to pay $1.1bn (£812m) to avoid prosecution over two plane crashes that killed 346 people, in a deal that a lawyer for 16 families of the victims has described as “morally repugnant”.The plane manufacturer has secured a deal – agreed in principle last month – with the US Department of Justice (DoJ), which includes paying $444.5m to the families of those who died in the crashes of 737 Max jetliners in 2018 and 2019.The company has also agreed to invest $445m towards improving its compliance, safety and quality programmes, according to an agreement signed by the DoJ and Boeing last week, detailed in a US court filing

Shein accused of ‘shaming’ customers into buying more than they can afford

Consumer watchdogs from 21 countries have filed a formal complaint to EU authorities about alleged “dark” practices by the Chinese fast fashion firm Shein including the “shaming” of customers into buying more than they can afford.The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) has submitted a 29-page dossier to the European Commission citing multiple examples of “dark patterns”, or deceptive techniques designed to encourage purchases.They include alleged fake countdown timers, low-stock messages, nagging practices, creating a fear of missing out, or forced registration on the site or app.BEUC says Shein also deploys what is known as “confirm shaming”, which makes the consumer feel bad if they miss out on buying a product.Shein hit back at BEUC, claiming the consumer watchdog group was unwilling to meet the company to discuss the issues

A woman’s work is never done in a nice, quiet home office | Letters

Re Emma Beddington’s article (Working from home? It’s so much nicer if you’re a man, 1 June), from day one of the Covid lockdown, my husband got the spare bedroom with the spare desk and two huge computer screens, whether he was doing technical work, meetings or just email. He would make a huge scene if he had to work on his laptop for just one hour. Meanwhile, I was stuck at the kitchen table with my mini laptop, including on days that I had to do technical work, big presentations or long meetings.Now he is retired and I work mostly at the office. On the rare days I work from home, I still work at the kitchen table, but he may let me work in his office for a couple of hours if I have to do some focused work

The good news? Household living standards are on the rise. The bad news? Just about everything else | Greg Jericho

There were early signs that the March GDP figures were not going to be good.To start with, the Bureau of Statistics’ new measure of household spending that covers about two-thirds of all household spending had already revealed that spending for the quarter was flat compared with a 1.6% jump in December quarter last year. So household spending was worse.Then last week the private capital expenditure figures revealed a 0