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  • 📈 Domna’s £70M Plan to Warm Britain Up

📈 Domna’s £70M Plan to Warm Britain Up

Sainsbury’s Slashes Jobs, Blames Tax Hikes

January 24, 2025

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:

  • Domna’s £70M Plan to Warm Britain Up

  • Sainsbury’s Slashes Jobs, Blames Tax Hikes

  • Reeves' Tax U-Turn: Millionaires’ Mixed Feelings!

The summary: Domna’s £70M boost is set to revolutionise UK home retrofitting, slashing emissions, tackling fuel poverty, and turning chilly, inefficient houses into warm, eco-friendly havens—all with a clever mix of tech, expertise, and ambition!

The details:

  • Domna bags £70M boost: UK retrofit trailblazer Domna, founded by an all-star female team, lands a whopping £70M from Leon Capital—one of Europe’s largest debut raises for women-led startups. The aim? To supercharge home energy efficiency and tackle the £500B UK retrofit market.

  • Tech meets tools: Combining cutting-edge software with hands-on services, Domna delivers up to 40% energy savings and 20% property value boosts. Landlords, tenants, and the planet are all reaping the rewards.

  • Acquisition spree: Domna has snapped up retrofit specialists The Warmfront Team and Osmosis ACD, bolstering its 65-strong expert squad to deliver 15,000 retrofits a year and slash over 20 kilotons of CO2.

  • Mission retrofit: With homes driving 26% of UK emissions and millions facing fuel poverty, Domna is leading the charge for a greener, warmer future—one retrofit at a time.

Why it matters: The UK’s leaky, draughty homes are bleeding money and carbon, so Domna’s mission is like patching up the nation’s worst-kept secret. With £70M in the bank and a tech-savvy plan, they’re turning cold, damp houses into cosy, eco-friendly havens, cutting bills and emissions in one go. It’s a win-win for landlords, tenants, and anyone who fancies breathing cleaner air while avoiding a winter shiver-fest.

The summary: Sainsbury’s is ditching cafés, slimming down counters, and bracing for soaring costs, all while juggling pay rises, union fury, and the government’s tax-tightening antics—talk about a trolley dash through tough times!

The details:

  • Cafés and Counters Culled: Sainsbury's is shutting down its 61 in-store cafés and hot food counters, claiming they’re as underused as a treadmill in February. It’s all part of trimming costs in today’s pricey climate.

  • Cost-Cutting Chaos: Facing a £140m annual bill from increased employer NI contributions and a "barrage of costs," Sainsbury’s says it can’t afford to absorb the hit, leaving job cuts and higher prices on the menu.

  • A Mixed Message: Despite slashing roles, the supermarket recently handed store workers inflation-busting pay rises and boasted of bumper Christmas sales—an odd juxtaposition to its financial woes.

  • Union Outrage: Unite slammed the changes as "corporate greed," vowing to fight for workers while accusing Sainsbury’s of balancing profits on employees’ backs. The government, meanwhile, blames budgetary "tough decisions."

Why it matters: Sainsbury’s shake-up is a stark reminder that even supermarket giants aren’t immune to rising costs, and when they tighten their belts, it’s often workers who feel the pinch. For customers, it could mean fewer in-store perks and higher prices, making the weekly shop a little less cheerful. Meanwhile, the government’s tax hikes are proving as popular as a soggy sandwich, leaving businesses and unions sparring over who’s really to blame.

The summary: In a bid to woo back the wealthy and top talent, Rachel Reeves is adjusting her non-dom tax plans, but with critics raising eyebrows and millionaires heading for the exit, it’s a case of hoping for the best while juggling the UK’s economic future.

The details:

  • A phased goodbye for non-doms: Chancellor Rachel Reeves is tweaking plans to scrap non-dom tax status, offering a more generous "Temporary Repatriation Facility" to entice the wealthy to bring their funds back to the UK at a discounted tax rate.

  • Critics aren't buying it: While the government claims the new system will still raise £33.8bn over five years, some argue it’s too vague to repair damage already done, with over 10,000 millionaires fleeing the UK in 2024.

  • Political sparring galore: Labour's approach has been branded as a "Davos deal for millionaires" by the SNP, while the Conservatives claim the policy flip-flop undermines confidence in the UK’s tax regime.

  • Big-picture PR push: Reeves also unveiled new visa schemes to woo top AI and medical researchers to the UK, hoping to bolster economic growth and pinch talent from the US and EU.

Why it matters: We’re talking about a tax regime that’s practically a VIP pass for the super-rich—so tweaking it to coax their money and talent back is a high-stakes game. With millionaires legging it and critics calling Labour out for mixed signals, the UK risks looking like it can’t decide whether to roll out the red carpet or pull it from under their feet. Meanwhile, Reeves’ Davos charm offensive hints at a bigger play: trying to keep Britain relevant in the global race for brains, bucks, and business.