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- 📈 £1.25bn Steel Shuffle: Cash In, Jobs Out?
📈 £1.25bn Steel Shuffle: Cash In, Jobs Out?
Revolut Powers Up: No ‘Good Reason’ Needed!
This is Cliff Equity, the UK’s business newsletter that keeps you informed on what’s important in tech, business and finance in less than 5 minutes
In today’s stories:
£1.25bn Steel Shuffle: Cash In, Jobs Out?
Revolut Powers Up: No ‘Good Reason’ Needed!
Europe’s Battery Hopes Get a Wake-Up Call!
The summary: Britain's steel industry is at a crossroads, with government deals aiming to balance green ambitions, job cuts, and investment, while hoping to keep the country's industrial future shining bright.
The details:
Ministers are scrambling to finalise a £1.25bn deal with Tata Steel, just in time for a parliamentary statement, while hopes for a similar deal with British Steel are vanishing faster than a summer holiday in Blackpool.
Labour's business secretary Jonathan Reynolds promises a "better deal" than the previous one, with £500m to help Tata Steel shift to greener technology, though it comes with the bitter pill of nearly 3,000 job cuts.
Redundancy terms and retraining programmes for workers are still in the works, and the government’s £500m offer remains largely unchanged, despite a murky outlook on job guarantees from Tata.
Meanwhile, British Steel's talks with the government are stuck in limbo, with the spectre of blast furnace closures looming and thousands of jobs hanging in the balance—cue the dramatic piano music.
Why it matters: The steel industry is teetering on the edge, and how these deals play out will decide whether Britain’s industrial backbone thrives or crumbles into rust. Job cuts are looming, so unless you're retraining to be a yoga instructor, there's cause for concern. With British Steel talks fizzling and green steel promises flying about, the future of UK manufacturing could end up as polished as a set of stainless spoons—or just a bit more molten chaos.
The summary: Revolut, fresh from securing its banking licence, is tightening its account closure policies, embracing new regulations, and thriving with record profits, all while solidifying its place as Britain’s fintech crown jewel.
The details:
Revolut, now armed with a shiny new banking licence, no longer requires a “good reason” to close customer accounts – just a reason will suffice, thank you very much.
The fintech’s policy update comes as it aligns with industry norms and weathers the regulatory storm brought on by the Farage debanking debacle and the Financial Conduct Authority's scrutiny.
Having finally secured its UK banking licence after a nail-biting three-year wait, Revolut is now tiptoeing through its ‘mobilisation’ phase before fully joining the banking elite.
With profits of £344m and a lofty $45bn valuation, Revolut isn’t just counting coins – it’s taking the fintech throne while prepping for a grand move into Canary Wharf.
Why it matters: Revolut's newfound power to shut accounts with less fuss marks a significant shift in how fintechs operate under tighter regulations, while still riding high on their massive valuations. As the Nigel Farage debanking saga proved, the public’s trust in banks and their political neutrality is on thin ice, and Revolut's moves will be closely watched. With its shiny new banking licence in hand and profits soaring, Revolut is setting the stage to become a major player, all while dancing through the regulatory minefield with a stiff upper lip.
The summary: Northvolt’s scaling back and job cuts might just be their way of giving Europe’s battery ambitions a much-needed reality check while they navigate the electric vehicle rollercoaster with a cheeky grin.
The details:
Northvolt, the Swedish electric car battery maker, is trimming its workforce and pausing its cathode material plant, all while hoping to stay afloat amid the dwindling European electric vehicle sales.
With a hefty dose of financial turbulence, Northvolt's CEO Peter Carlsson announced the company will focus solely on its core gigafactory in Sweden, waving goodbye to plans for a new battery materials facility in Borlange.
Despite the gloomy outlook and job cuts, Carlsson reassures that the electric vehicle transition is still on track, though Northvolt's timeline for its projects may be a bit wonky.
Europe's bid to catch up with China in battery production remains a work in progress, with Northvolt being a key player despite recent delays and scrutiny over safety issues at its Swedish plants.
Why it matters: Northvolt’s belt-tightening is a classic case of trying to stay afloat in choppy waters while Europe scrambles to catch up with China in the battery race. With electric vehicle sales nosediving and production delays galore, the company's trim-down is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Meanwhile, Europe’s grand plans for a greener future are now looking like a slow-motion car crash with a ticking deadline.
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