Thyssenkrupp CEO gets new 5-year contract
Thyssenkrupp did not say whether the vote on the contract extension until May 31, 2031, had required the casting vote of Supervisory Board Chairman Siegfried Russwurm, after his deputy earlier this year announced opposition to the plan.
"The group is undergoing a challenging and urgently needed transformation process, in which reliability, leadership and clear priorities are of the essence," Russwurm said.
"The extension of Miguel Lopez's contract is an expression of our confidence in his leadership and our conviction that clear orientation and continuity along the chosen path are crucial to the further progress and future of Thyssenkrupp."
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
A UK headline wealth tax? It may be simpler to put up existing taxes
Pressure to go further on wealth taxes – by creating new modes of clawing at hoards of hard-to-reach cash – is mounting. For starters, the fiscal picture is looking fairly bleak, with economists estimating that Rachel Reeves must raise £20bn – or even as much as £50bn – to meet her goal of balancing day-to-day spending against the revenue raised from taxation. On the government backbenches, meanwhile, MPs want the chancellor to squeeze the richest in society harder. They even put forward an early day motion last month calling for a 2% annual tax on individual assets over £10m. Yet introducing these kinds of taxes is often not straightforward, with the behaviour of the wealthy being hard to monitor and harder still to predict. The first significant problem is working out where the assets are and who holds them. That has always been difficult and has become even more challenging after one of the most important economic surveys, the household wealth data series, was suspended by the Office for National Statistics because of its low quality. The upshot is that HMRC simply does not know how many millionaires or billionaires there are in the UK. Without reliable figures, it is extremely hard to write policies, cost them and administer them. There is also a battle to be had with an 'old guard with set views' in Whitehall. Whitehall sources paint a picture of a Treasury led by figures influenced by economists whose thinking was prominent at Oxford University in the 1980s and 90s – such as James Mirrlees, Christophe Chamley and Tony Atkinson – leading to something of an orthodox view. In a nutshell, that position is that if you tax capital too much, it will stop investment and hamper growth. Or, in Chamley's words: 'Tax rate on capital income tends to zero in the long run.'. Since this era, the debate within economics has become more nuanced. A growing body of research suggests that some taxation on capital, even at relatively high rates, could lead to greater investment. As it becomes less attractive to hoard wealth because of taxation, risk appetites would then increase in pursuit of higher returns. You might be less tempted to keep your money in a vanilla savings account that can be taxed hard and easily if you can get a much better rate of return – even with a bit more risk – elsewhere. Treasury insiders argue that Reeves has followed the more modern logic, having already taken steps to widen the scope of inheritance and capital gains tax (IHT and CGT). They posit that her reluctance to pursue a headline wealth tax does not mean she has pulled her punches when it comes to taxing wealth. Hostile backbenchers, on the other hand, suggest she follows the old orthodoxy too closely. They often cite her decision to go for relatively small changes in the amounts of tax paid via CGT, rather than bring it more closely in line with income tax at the last budget, which also upset more senior political colleagues. What the debate about how to handle changes to IHT (which have been fiercely opposed by farmers) or CGT illustrates is that if the government really wants to tax wealth more effectively then it has all kinds of ways to do so before opting for a politically – and potentially economically – sensitive route with a headline wealth tax. Yet even changing existing mechanisms might not be easy, when the UK already has one of the highest rates of tax on property and wealth among developed economies, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Political pressure may make it harder to maintain a more gradualist approach, however. Figures on the left of the Labour parliamentary party are attracted to totemic wealth taxes of the kind introduced in Spain – its so-called solidarity tax – and Switzerland. They see it as part of showing a commitment to rebalancing the economy. Reeves is critical of international examples, saying that Switzerland does not have IHT, and that Spain's wealth tax is so riddled with exemptions that it raises too little money. Some developed economies that had comparable wealth taxes have dropped them, too. 'We have inheritance tax. We have capital gains. We've just got rid of the non-dom tax status that doesn't exist anymore in our tax system. So we do have taxes that tax the wealthy,' Reeves said in a recent interview with LBC. Other measures that go further are not yet proven to work, she claims, saying that those who 'come up with simple solutions' must do more to 'explain exactly how it would work, whether it's an ongoing tax, what it would do to tax avoidance, what it would do about people moving or changing the way that their wealth is stored'. Economists argue that the government should focus its energies on raising existing taxes, such as equalising CGT with income tax, for example, or changing gifting rules around IHT first, rather than introduce a novel wealth tax. The Treasury is already examining gifting rules among other possible IHT changes. Yet while Reeves might agree with some of these arguments, it's less clear whether her cabinet colleagues will tolerate a slow and steady approach, particularly if the fiscal picture sours.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
11 steps to be £1,000s better off even if you're on a low income – including the 50/30/20 rule
STARTING out on the journey to improve your finances can feel daunting - it's hard to know where to start. But small steps can have a huge impact, we spoke to top finance experts to pull together an 11 step guide to being financially better off within six months - and you could save THOUSANDS of pounds. 1 Here's how to get started: Set a budget To be better off, you need to live within your means. Understand your income and outgoings, and then create rules for how to spend your money. Graham Wells, from Gro Wiser financial coaching, says: 'Trying to fix multiple aspects of your finances in one go is unlikely to work, so you need to prioritise. "Be realistic and focus on small steps that will compound over time.' The 50/30/20 rule is one way to divide up your spending, where 50% of your money goes on essentials like the rent or mortgage and food shop each month, 30% on nice-to-haves like meals out and new clothes, and 20% into savings. You may need to tweak the percentages depending on your income and outgoings, or if you want to save more. Six month savvy: Someone earning £1,500 a month after tax could save £1,800 in six months by following this rule and putting 20% into savings monthly. Automate it Set up direct debits so that your money is automatically funnelled to where it needs to be. For example, you might set up one to pay off credit card debt and another to transfer cash into a savings account. Automating the process means you don't need to remember to do it manually and removes the temptation to spend on other things instead. "Set up the direct debits for payday - if you wait until the end of the month to see what's left, you can be almost certain there will be nothing," says Sarah Coles from the wealth manager Hargreaves Lansdown. Six month savvy: Use the round-ups tool on your banking app. This rounds your spending to the nearest pound and puts the difference into savings. For example, if you spent £1.87, it would be rounded to £2, with 13p going into savings. These small amounts really add up over time. Check your bank statement It's easy to lose track, so check for any subscriptions, membership or services that you might have forgotten about and no longer need. Do you use all of those TV streaming services? When was the last time you went to the gym? Check you are getting the best deal on bills like your mobile phone, broadband and car insurance. If you are out of the initial deal period, you are probably overpaying. Six month savvy: Research by Citizen's Advice found that a quarter of UK adults have accidentally taken out a subscription, often because they didn't realise a trial period had ended or that the deal had automatically renewed. According to Money Wellness, we each waste about £170 a year on unused subscriptions. Get free money Use cashback websites to earn money on those essentials that you do need to buy. Sites like QuidCo and Topcashback offer money back on purchases such as insurance, holidays and clothing: just set up an account, click through to the retailer from the cashback website, and then buy as usual. Cashback is never guaranteed so only use this for things you need to purchase anyway. Switching bank accounts is another way to bag free cash; banks often pay bonuses to new customers. Be sure to check the requirements to make sure you qualify. Six month savvy: Currently on QuidCo you could get 7.5% cashback at Expedia, while at Topcashback you could get 15% cashback at Currys. Topcashback says its users earn on average £345 a year. Banks including Santander, First Direct and Lloyds are currently offering switching bonuses of up to £180. Pay down debt Focus on clearing expensive debt before you worry about savings. The interest rates on credit cards and loans are higher than you can earn on savings, so will undo your efforts. Check if you are eligible for a 0% credit card, where you can clear your debt without racking up extra interest charges. Ideally you should have a direct debit to clear your credit card in full each month, but if you can't afford this try to pay off more than the minimum amount. Six month savvy: If you had £1,000 on a credit card charging 24% and paid £50 a month, it would take two years and two months to clear and you'd pay £252 in interest. If you paid £200 a month, you would clear it in six months and pay £58 in interest. 'My Lifetime Isa has changed my finances - I could get £15k free cash' When Antony Jones first heard about the Lifetime Isa, he thought it sounded too good to be true. But since opening an account, he has pocketed £4,000 in free cash. Lifetime Isas can be opened by those aged 18-40, and you can save up to £4,000 a year in them until you are 50, which you can put into cash or invest. The best thing is that you get a 25% bonus from the government - so if you save £4,000 in a year, you get £1,000 on top. If you saved the maximum every year from age 18 to 50, you'd get £32,000 free cash in total. And because the bonus gets paid a month after you put money into the account, you can start to feel better off very quickly. 'I only regret missing out on those years when I could have been saving into a Lifetime Isa but didn't know about them,' says Antony, 39, who lives in Cardiff and opened his account in 2021. He could get £15,000 in total from the bonus if he keeps saving until he is 50. The one catch is that the money can only be used either to buy your first home or after age 60. Antony, who works as a software developer, already has a mortgage so wants the money to boost his retirement savings. He has set up a direct debit to invest £330 a month through the investment platform AJ Bell, and splits the money between two funds: Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity and Vanguard Global All Cap Index. 'I opened a Lifetime Isa because I wanted the bonus, but it's completely changed my finances. It has helped me learn about investing and do more of it,' says Antony. Set up a savings account Experts recommend having three to six months' of outgoings in an easy-access savings account in case of an emergency. Make sure you are getting a good rate - money in your current account won't earn interest. Top easy-access accounts are currently from Chase Bank and Trading 212, paying almost 5%. You can then put some money in a fixed savings account, where you may get a higher rate but can't access the money for a set period. Alice Haine, from the investment firm Bestinvest, says: "A small amount set aside each month will kickstart your journey towards financial security, with each top-up helping to ease the stress when a sudden cost lands in your lap." Six month savvy: For those just starting a regular saver account can be a good option - these pay a higher rate but limit how much you can save. For example, you can save up to £300 a month with First Direct and earn 7%. If you maxed out the account, after a year you would have saved £3,600 and earned £135 in interest. Pay into a pension Retirement might be decades away, but it's still important to save for. If you are 22 or over and earning at least £10,000, you should be automatically put into your company pension scheme. Usually you contribute 5% of your salary into a pension and your company pays in 3%. Ask if your employer will pay in more if you increase your contribution too. Six month savvy: Pensions are for the long-term so you won't see results in six months, but if you contribute £50 a month from age 22 and your company £30 a month, and it grew at 5% a year, you would have more than £108,000 by age 60. Start investing Investing is the best way to grow your money over the long-term, but it comes with risks because the stock market can go down as well as up. You should only invest money that you are able to tie up for a minimum of three years. The simplest way to start is with a robo-investing app, where you answer some questions about your finances and how much risk you want to take, and are then guided to a ready-made investment fund. You can often start with as little as £1. Six month savvy: If you invested £25 a month into a fund that grew at 6% a year, after a year you would have £309, and after 10 years you would have £4,096. If you were able to save £50 a month, you'd have £617 after one year and £8,194 after ten years. Set some boundaries Identify your money weaknesses and set some rules to help you tackle them. If you are an impulse buyer, for example, delete shopping apps from your phone. Consider the 24-hour rule, where you leave an item in your basket for a day to give you time to think about whether you really want it. Six month savvy: Use a spreadsheet or budgeting app to record your spending and break it into categories, says Wells: 'This can be transformational. "It helps people understand more about their spending behaviours and what changes they would like to introduce.' Be kind to yourself There is often a feeling of guilt associated with money and a sense that we should know more, says Wells, but it's not something many people are taught. No one is perfect and there will be months that you get off track. Coles adds: 'Don't lose sleep about the imperfections in your finances. Focus on what you have achieved, rather than what is left to do.' Six month savvy: Write a list of the things that are worrying you, says Haine: 'Sometimes the things causing the most anxiety can be easy to fix. "Doing everything at once will feel overwhelming, so focus on each money woe one at a time.' Get help Improving your finances can be overwhelming, but there is support available if you need it. Charities like Citizens Advice and Step Change are an important resource if you are struggling with debt. The Money Helper website offers guidance on everyday money as well as savings and pensions. For investing help, be sure to use regulated websites for tips such as Hargreaves Lansdown and AJ Bell. I'm a psychologist - here are three tips to change your money mindset Simonne Gnessen, founder of Wise Money Financial Coaching: Reframe it What messages do you tell yourself about money? Saying 'I'm bad with money' or 'I always overspend' can unconsciously encourage you to behave in that way. Try to notice how you think and feel about money, and reframe it. Say 'I'm making progress' and 'I am trying' instead, and focus on the wins. Be curious Don't judge yourself if you get off track or overspend. Instead try to explore what caused you to do that and consider what you could have done differently. Coming from a place of curiosity rather than judgment means you will be more open to change. Journaling can help you explore your feelings and spot behaviour patterns. Set a money date Make it something you enjoy rather than a chore. Schedule regular time for money matters, whether it is five minutes to top-up your savings or an hour to comb your bank statement - this stops tasks building up and becoming overwhelming. Set a time to check-in with your partner; do it over coffee and cake rather than at home surrounded by paperwork, to make it feel like a treat. Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Britain's chemical sector at ‘very high risk', claims credit insurer
Britain's entire chemical sector has been branded 'very high risk' by a leading credit insurer after soaring energy costs triggered a wave of collapses. Coface, a leading global credit insurer, said high energy costs were hammering companies' profit margins and leaving them struggling to pay bills and repair vital equipment. Jonathan Steenberg, Coface's UK economist, said: 'We're seeing slow payments in certain sectors and insolvencies are about 60pc higher than they were before the pandemic. 'To a large degree, energy costs have been the root of this quicker deterioration. It has both first and second order effect, obviously starting with the increase in energy prices, which is also pushing up labour and other costs. It means we have taken the decision to move the chemicals sector up to a very high risk.' Coface specialises in insuring companies against non-payment when selling goods, especially across borders, and in commercial debt collection. The need to assess risk means it also analyses the potential for payment defaults across various industries. Mr Steenberg said it was still offering credit insurance to chemical companies. Britain's chemicals sector employs around 138,000 people directly across 5,000 companies, and supports another 360,000 indirect jobs with exports totalling £61bn. It is also a crucial supplier to other industries, providing the raw materials from which many final products are created. Last week the industry was dealt another major blow after the UK's largest bioethanol plant said it would close following Sir Keir Starmer's trade deal with the Donald Trump. Vivergo Fuels, near Hull, warned that the deal, which meant a 19pc tariff on bioethanol imports from the US to the UK was removed, would make its factory uneconomic because it faced much higher energy costs than US competitors. On Friday the Government said it had 'taken the difficult decision not to offer direct funding as it would not provide value for the taxpayer'. Other plants could follow – all linked to energy bills that now typically comprise more than 50pc of their total costs. Bosses at Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos petrochemicals plant in Grangemouth, Falkirk, said last week it had not made a profit for five years because of the taxes and levies imposed on the gas it consumes both for energy and as a feedstock for making plastics. CF Industries has also ceased ammonia and fertiliser production at its plant in Ince, Cheshire, in 2021 and then at its plant in Billingham, Teesside, in 2023. Steve Elliott, the chief executive of the Chemical Industries Association, said the high cost of industrial energy was because of government policy rather than global markets. He said: 'The Government has put multiple levies on power and gas prices while also rejecting supplies from the North Sea and from fracking. It means energy has become a huge proportion of overall costs and makes it difficult to remain competitive.' Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, said: 'The UK chemicals sector is foundational to much other manufacturing but is being crippled by high energy costs and penal carbon taxes. It's bonkers policy as when British firms die, the same chemicals are simply imported from overseas.' In June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a report on the impacts of high energy prices, describing how, between 2021 and 2024, industrial electricity costs rose 75 pc and gas prices by 108pc. 'Collectively, the volume of output in [heavy] industries has fallen by one third since the start of 2021, and is now at its lowest level since the start of the available time series in 1990,' the ONS said. Mr Steenberg said: 'When it comes to chemicals the main inputs are energy, specifically gas. If you're not competitive in that, there's no reason to have an industry.' A Government spokesman said: 'We inherited a difficult economic situation, with businesses facing some of the highest industrial energy prices in Europe. That's why we have announced measures to support sectors across the UK as part of our Plan for Change, ensuring that decarbonisation doesn't mean deindustrialisation.'
