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A striking Royal Mail worker has voiced fears up to 25,000 staff could be sacked and new working conditions imposed on those left after the core Christmas season has finished.

The man, who usually delivers letters and parcels in the London area and is being identified as ‘Derek’ because he wished to remain anonymous, was speaking on the eve of the latest strike which began on Friday.

He said the 115,000 frontline workers were fighting for the very future of the business.

Their union, the CWU, has claimed the programme of modernisation the company is seeking, including voluntary Sunday working, in return for a larger pay rise would turn Royal Mail into a “gig economy-style parcel courier, reliant on casual labour”.

Royal Mail has argued it is crucial to help it better compete as it places a greater focus on the lucrative parcel delivery sphere at a time when the company is losing £1m a day.

Derek, who is a union member but not a rep, explained that while part of the fight was for better pay, he and his colleagues were walking out to protect the company’s values from a future that would mean a worse deal for the public and staff alike.

He said Royal Mail was attempting to weaken its commitments to letter delivery and make its contracted workers go further, through increased flexibility, to line the pockets of shareholders.

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Communication Workers Union (CWU) general secretary Dave Ward speaks to the media on the picket line at the Camden Town Delivery Office in north west London
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The company has accused CWU leader Dave Ward of spreading unfounded claims about Royal Mail’s modernisation plans

The main gripes, Derek said, covered Sunday working and later start times for deliveries.

“The pay deal is something we wanted but 2% (with more in return for accepting new working practices) was a joke,” he said.

“The vision is to start deliveries later and finish later but if you don’t complete by your time allocated, we don’t know where we stand as the goal posts keep changing. It becomes a conduct issue.

“They’ve got us by the b****.

“We are cutting off (finishing rounds before completion) on a regular basis because we’re not getting paid any extra to clear backlogs.”

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‘We don’t want businesses to suffer’

Derek blamed staff shortages, saying agency workers had been brought in to help.

“We’re on £12 an hour. Agency are getting £15-20,” he said.

“Freelance drivers are being used to cover vacancies. They (Royal Mail) don’t want to recruit.

“The night shifts for Christmas are another issue. The backlog is phenomenal. Packages are being prioritised when the company insists that is not the case.

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Royal Mail boss: Union leaders are ‘trying to destroy Xmas’

“It’s the terms and conditions that are the paramount issue in this dispute. They’re trying to fix something that doesn’t need it.

“Once Christmas is over, they’ll do whatever they want and impose these changes.

“Compulsory working Sundays – I didn’t sign up for that. They say it’s voluntary but I’m having to do that now.

“Sickness is going through the roof.”

He added that Royal Mail was deducting wages by £117 per day for strike days.

“I only earn £75 per day but they’ve taken off allowances including for the loss of leaflet drops,” he claimed.

Read more:
Strikes every day before Christmas – which sectors are affected and why

Military could be deployed to help limit Christmas strike disruption

Royal Mail reacted to the growing cost of the strikes in October by launching a consultation on job cuts that could see around 10,000 roles cut by the end of August 2023. It later revealed half-year financial losses of £219m.

The company made, what it called, a “best and final” offer to end the dispute in late November.

However, its “extensive improvements” were rejected by the CWU and further walkouts are scheduled for 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24 December.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said of Derek’s comments: “Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, has made several false statements about job losses designed to mislead and create fear and uncertainty amongst our employees.

“As recently 28 November, we wrote Mr Ward to correct his false allegations that Royal Mail is planning to ‘sack’ thousands of workers and wants to become ‘another courier company’.

“This is simply not true. We have already announced that reductions in 10,000 full time equivalent roles – which have become necessary as a result of industrial action, the need for better productivity and lower parcel volumes following the pandemic – will be achieved through natural attrition, reducing temporary workers and a generous voluntary redundancy scheme which has been oversubscribed.

“We would be happy to look into any concerns the individual has about his pay.”

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Lloyds Banking Group in talks to buy digital wallet provider Curve

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Lloyds Banking Group in talks to buy digital wallet provider Curve

Britain’s biggest high street bank is in talks to buy Curve, the digital wallet provider, amid growing regulatory pressure on Apple to open its payment services to rivals.

Sky News has learnt that Lloyds Banking Group is in advanced discussions to acquire Curve for a price believed to be up to £120m.

City sources said this weekend that if the negotiations were successfully concluded, a deal could be announced by the end of September.

Curve was founded by Shachar Bialick, a former Israeli special forces soldier, in 2016.

Three years later, he told an interviewer: “In 10 years time we are going to be IPOed [listed on the public equity markets]… and hopefully worth around $50bn to $60bn.”

One insider said this weekend that Curve was being advised by KBW, part of the investment bank Stifel, on the discussions with Lloyds.

If a mooted price range of £100m-£120m turns out to be accurate, that would represent a lower valuation than the £133m Curve raised in its Series C funding round, which concluded in 2023.

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That round included backing from Britannia, IDC Ventures, Cercano Management – the venture arm of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s estate – and Outward VC.

It was also reported to have raised more than £40m last year, while reducing employee numbers and suspending its US expansion.

In total, the company has raised more than £200m in equity since it was founded.

Curve has been positioned as a rival to Apple Pay in recent years, having initially launched as an app enabling consumers to combine their debit and credit cards in a single wallet.

One source close to the prospective deal said that Lloyds had identified Curve as a strategically attractive bid target as it pushes deeper into payments infrastructure under chief executive Charlie Nunn.

Lloyds is also said to believe that Curve would be a financially rational asset to own because of the fees Apple charges consumers to use its Apple Pay service.

In March, the Financial Conduct Authority and Payment Systems Regulator began working with the Competition and Markets Authority to examine the implications of the growth of digital wallets owned by Apple and Google.

Lloyds owns stakes in a number of fintechs, including the banking-as-a-service platform ThoughtMachine, but has set expanding its tech capabilities as a key strategic objective.

The group employs more than 70,000 people and operates more than 750 branches across Britain.

Curve is chaired by Lord Fink, the former Man Group chief executive who has become a prolific investor in British technology start-ups.

When he was appointed to the role in January, he said: “Working alongside Curve as an investor, I have had a ringside seat to the company’s unassailable and well-earned rise.

“Beginning as a card which combines all your cards into one, to the all-encompassing digital wallet it has evolved into, Curve offers a transformative financial management experience to its users.

“I am proud to have been part of the journey so far, and welcome the chance to support the company through its next, very significant period of growth.”

IDC Ventures, one of the investors in Curve’s Series C funding round, said at the time of its last major fundraising: “Thanks to their unique technology…they have the capability to intercept the transaction and supercharge the customer experience, with its Double Dip Rewards, [and] eliminating nasty hidden fees.

“And they do it seamlessly, without any need for the customer to change the cards they pay with.”

News of the talks between Lloyds and Curve comes days before Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is expected to outline plans to bolster Britain’s fintech sector by endorsing a concierge service to match start-ups with investors.

Lord Fink declined to comment when contacted by Sky News on Saturday morning, while Curve did not respond to an enquiry sent by email.

Lloyds also declined to comment, while Stifel KBW could not be reached for comment.

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UK economy figures not as bad as they look despite GDP fall, analysts say

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UK economy figures not as bad as they look despite GDP fall, analysts say

The UK economy unexpectedly shrank in May, even after the worst of Donald Trump’s tariffs were paused, official figures showed.

A standard measure of economic growth, gross domestic product (GDP), contracted 0.1% in May, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Rather than a fall being anticipated, growth of 0.1% was forecast by economists polled by Reuters as big falls in production and construction were seen.

It followed a 0.3% contraction in April, when Mr Trump announced his country-specific tariffs and sparked a global trade war.

A 90-day pause on these import taxes, which has been extended, allowed more normality to resume.

This was borne out by other figures released by the ONS on Friday.

Exports to the United States rose £300m but “remained relatively low” following a “substantial decrease” in April, the data said.

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Overall, there was a “large rise in goods imports and a fall in goods exports”.

A ‘disappointing’ but mixed picture

It’s “disappointing” news, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said. She and the government as a whole have repeatedly said growing the economy was their number one priority.

“I am determined to kickstart economic growth and deliver on that promise”, she added.

But the picture was not all bad.

Growth recorded in March was revised upwards, further indicating that companies invested to prepare for tariffs. Rather than GDP of 0.2%, the ONS said on Friday the figure was actually 0.4%.

It showed businesses moved forward activity to be ready for the extra taxes. Businesses were hit with higher employer national insurance contributions in April.

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The expansion in March means the economy still grew when the three months are looked at together.

While an interest rate cut in August had already been expected, investors upped their bets of a 0.25 percentage point fall in the Bank of England’s base interest rate.

Such a cut would bring down the rate to 4% and make borrowing cheaper.

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Is Britain going bankrupt?

Analysts from economic research firm Pantheon Macro said the data was not as bad as it looked.

“The size of the manufacturing drop looks erratic to us and should partly unwind… There are signs that GDP growth can rebound in June”, said Pantheon’s chief UK economist, Rob Wood.

Why did the economy shrink?

The drops in manufacturing came mostly due to slowed car-making, less oil and gas extraction and the pharmaceutical industry.

The fall was not larger because the services industry – the largest part of the economy – expanded, with law firms and computer programmers having a good month.

It made up for a “very weak” month for retailers, the ONS said.

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UK economy remains fragile – and there are risks and traps lurking around the corner

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UK economy remains fragile - and there are risks and traps lurking around the corner

Monthly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures are volatile and, on their own, don’t tell us much.

However, the picture emerging a year since the election of the Labour government is not hugely comforting.

This is a government that promised to turbocharge economic growth, the key to improving livelihoods and the public finances. Instead, the economy is mainly flatlining.

Output shrank in May by 0.1%. That followed a 0.3% drop in April.

Ministers were celebrating a few months ago as data showed the economy grew by 0.7% in the first quarter.

Hangover from artificial growth

However, the subsequent data has shown us that much of that growth was artificial, with businesses racing to get orders out of the door to beat the possible introduction of tariffs. Property transactions were also brought forward to beat stamp duty changes.

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Trump to hit Canada with 35% tariff
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In April, we experienced the hangover as orders and industrial output dropped. Services also struggled as demand for legal and conveyancing services dropped after the stamp duty changes.

Many of those distortions have now been smoothed out, but the manufacturing sector still struggled in May.

Signs of recovery

Manufacturing output fell by 1% in May, but more up-to-date data suggests the sector is recovering.

“We expect both cars and pharma output to improve as the UK-US trade deal comes into force and the volatility unwinds,” economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics said.

Meanwhile, the services sector eked out growth of 0.1%.

A 2.7% month-to-month fall in retail sales suppressed growth in the sector, but that should improve with hot weather likely to boost demand at restaurants and pubs.

Struggles ahead

It is unlikely, however, to massively shift the dial for the economy, the kind of shift the Labour government has promised and needs in order to give it some breathing room against its fiscal rules.

The economy remains fragile, and there are risks and traps lurking around the corner.

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Is Britain going bankrupt?

Concerns that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is considering tax hikes could weigh on consumer confidence, at a time when businesses are already scaling back hiring because of national insurance tax hikes.

Inflation is also expected to climb in the second half of the year, further weighing on consumers and businesses.

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