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HSBC will next month unveil a new name for the technology-focused bank it rescued earlier this year after its US parent collapsed.

Sky News has learned that Europe’s biggest lender intends to rebrand Silicon Valley Bank UK (SVBUK) under the name HSBC Innovation Banking.

The new identity is expected to be announced to coincide with London Tech Week, which kicks off on 12 June.

One tech veteran said it may stoke concerns among entrepreneurs that by bringing SVBUK under the HSBC brand, the new subsidiary was at risk of surrendering the operational independence that had made it a distinctive presence in the SME banking market.

Noel Quinn, HSBC’s chief executive, has talked about the need to preserve the culture of a business it stepped in to rescue for £1 as it teetered on the brink of insolvency.

The Bank of England orchestrated the deal, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also becoming personally involved.

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SVBUK has thousands of clients, many of whom had joined forces to warn the government that its demise would imperil Britain’s start-up economy.

They warned of “an existential threat to the UK tech sector”, adding: “The Bank of England’s assessment that SVB going into administration would have limited impact on the UK economy displays a dangerous lack of understanding of the sector and the role it plays in the wider economy, both today and in the future.”

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Bank of England governor gives evidence over the collapse and rescue of SVBUK

Senior leadership to remain the same

Sky News recently revealed that HSBC was appointing a trio of senior figures as directors, two months after acquiring the US-owned lender.

No imminent changes to SVBUK’s executive leadership are planned, with Erin Platts remaining as chief executive.

SVBUK’s independent chairman Darren Pope is also expected to remain in place, at least for the time being.

In the US, SVB was taken into temporary public ownership after a run on the bank triggered by a crisis of confidence among depositors.

It was subsequently sold to First Citizens Bancshares, a regional US lender.

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Sky News revealed in March that HSBC had signed off on the payment of just under £20m in bonuses to SVBUK staff.

One insider said at the time that the bonus payments were a signal of HSBC’s confidence in the talent base at its new subsidiary and that it had been keen to honour previously agreed payments in order to help retain key staff.

Employing about 700 people in Britain, SVBUK is a profitable business but was brought to the brink of collapse by the travails of its American parent company.

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Marmite maker Unilever to cut 7,500 jobs

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Marmite maker Unilever to cut 7,500 jobs

Unilever, the consumer goods firm behind brands including Marmite and Domestos, has revealed plans to cut 7,500 jobs across its global operations.

The UK-based firm, which employs around 128,000 staff, said the proposed losses would come mainly from office roles as technology advanced.

It admitted that the UK, where it has 6,000 workers, would be included in the three-year productivity drive.

Unilever said it would begin consultations with those affected once the roles had been fully identified.

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The company separately announced that it planned to spin off its ice cream business, which includes the Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum and Cornetto brands, by next year.

Other options, it added, would be considered to “maximise returns for shareholders”.

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It told investors Unilever was targeting mid-single digit underlying sales growth and modest margin improvement after the proposed demerger which, it said, would create a “simpler and more focused company”.

Unilever said its productivity programme was expected to deliver total cost savings of around €800m (£984m) over the next three years, with total restructuring costs anticipated to be around 1.2% of its turnover during the period.

Hein Schumacher, the company’s chief executive, said: “Under the Growth Action Plan we have committed to do fewer things, better, and with greater impact.

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Hein Schumacher succeeded Alan Jope as CEO in July last year

“The changes we are announcing today will help us accelerate that plan, focusing our business and our resources on global or scalable brands where we can apply our leading innovation, technology and go-to-market capabilities across complementary operating models.

“Simplifying our portfolio and driving greater productivity will allow us to further unlock the potential of this business, supporting our ambition to position Unilever as a world-leading consumer goods company delivering strong, sustainable growth and enhanced profitability.

“We are committed to carrying out our productivity programme in consultation with employee representatives, and with respect and care for those of our people who are impacted.”

It was the first major shift under his tenure since succeeding Alan Jope who retired last summer amid some unease over investor returns.

Shares rose by almost 5% at the market open.

Matt Britzman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said of the update: “Action is what shareholders wanted to see from the new team at the top, and that’s what’s been delivered today.

“Ice Cream always looked like the odd one out when you compare it to other product lines, and performance has struggled of late.

“It’s not a huge shock to see this move, but it’s something prior management wasn’t able to deliver.

“Unilever’s not an overly expensive name at the minute so expect markets to react positively to the news, perhaps more due to the decisive action than anything else.”

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National Grid: Nearly £60bn energy grid upgrade needed to hit green target

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National Grid: Nearly £60bn energy grid upgrade needed to hit green target

Nearly £60bn is needed to build the British energy grid of the future in order to meet climate change mitigation milestones in just over 10 years, according to the National Grid.

The British electricity network needs £58bn in investment to meet 2035 decarbonising targets, National Grid said.

New cables need to be built to bring electricity from renewable generating sources, such as offshore wind farms, to the places where that electricity is needed, such as cities.

Funds are required to allow new sources of power, such as solar farms, to be connected to the grid and transported across the country, the electricity systems operator (ESO) said.

The system had been designed around the old sources of electricity, such as coal fields.

Under the proposed green energy plan, far more offshore wind power would be pumped into the energy mix that powers homes and businesses.

Roughly five times more electricity will come from Scottish offshore by 2035 than will be used in Scotland during peak times, the Beyond 2030 report from the ESO said.

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Renewing the UK’s energy grid

In the process of expanding grid capacity, 20,000 jobs could be created and 90% of them would be outside London and the southeast, the report added.

The plans, however, are said to be in the early stages – with planning permission yet to be sought and community consultation yet to take place.

National Grid is the London Stock Exchange-listed company that owns and runs the electricity network. The company also owns and operates infrastructure in the United States.

However, the government will take the electricity systems operator portion into state ownership later this year.

As well as changing types and locations of electricity generation, a beefed-up grid is needed to deal with more power use.

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UK’s electricity grid problem

As economies decarbonise more systems that run on electricity, such as transport and heating, a bigger electricity network is required to ramp up supply.

British electricity demand is expected to rise 64% by 2035 and could double by 2050, according to the report.

To meet the 2035 deadline to decarbonise the power system, action must be “swift and coordinated”, it added.

Grid upgrades are funded by the government, energy project developers and bill payers.

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Car industry insists 2,000% increase in sales to Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Russia

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Car industry insists 2,000% increase in sales to Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Russia

Britain’s car industry has insisted that an unprecedented 2,000% increase in vehicle exports to Azerbaijan has nothing to with Russia and is explained by the fact that the former Soviet state is a “flourishing market in its own right”.

Sky analysis has found that the British car sector sent another £40m worth of cars to Azerbaijan in the first month of this year, raising fresh questions about whether those cars were being sent there to circumvent sanctions on Russia.

New data from HM Revenue & Customs shows that while direct car exports to Russia remain at zero, where they have been since the imposition of sanctions in 2022, in January £43m worth of cars were sent to Azerbaijan, the former Soviet state neighbouring Russia.

new, edited UK monthly car export

That meant Azerbaijan, which hitherto had rarely made the top 75 export destinations for British cars, is now the 12th biggest foreign market, by value, for British-made cars: above Switzerland, Canada and Spain.

final edited UK car exports to Azerbaijan

UK carmakers have pledged not to send cars to Russia, with sanctions formally banning the export of “dual use” items which could be repurposed as weapons in the Ukraine war. There are separate sanctions specifically banning the trade of cars worth over £42,000.

However, Sky News analysis found last week that over precisely the same period as British car exports to Azerbaijan rose sharply, there was a near-simultaneous rise in car exports from Azerbaijan to Russia.

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British-made luxury cars still being bought by rich Russians

The average value of cars sent from the UK to Azerbaijan in January was just over £115,000.

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Trade data shows that similar increases in British exports have been seen in other former Soviet Russian neighbours, including Kazakhstan, Armenia and Georgia.

final edited Change un UK car exports since 2018/19

A spokesman from Britain’s motoring lobby group, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), said it had detected no evidence the vehicles being sent to Azerbaijan were destined for Russia – and that they were evidence that it was a “flourishing market in its own right”.

“UK vehicle exports to Azerbaijan – as to many countries globally – have increased due to a number of factors, not least a flourishing economy, new model launches and pent-up demand,” it said.

Azerbaijan’s flatlining economy

However, the notion that the exports were evidence of a flourishing economy stands in stark contrast to the economic data, which show that Azerbaijan’s GDP per capita has been flat for a decade and a half at around $15,000 in purchasing power parity terms.

Since two years preceding the pandemic, the value of car exports to Azerbaijan has risen by more than 2,000%. No other sizeable car market in the world has come close, save for Kazakhstan, the other Russian neighbour, whose imports of British-made cars are up 800%.

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Carmakers told to act after Sky report

The SMMT said: “Wherever the UK automotive industry exports, it is committed to compliance with all trade and economic sanctions, and continues to work closely with government and the new Office For Sanctions to ensure the effective implementation of the regulations.

“There is no evidence available of that commitment being compromised, and it is right to monitor for any potential vulnerabilities in a fast-moving and evolving environment.

“The automotive industry remains in dialogue with government and other international partners enforcing co-ordinated trade restrictions, to ensure adherence to both the letter and the spirit of the sanctions, across all vulnerable sectors.”

While the sheer number of cars going to Azerbaijan is small, the value of those cars is consistently high, averaging well over £100,000 and suggesting they are mostly luxury cars.

There have been similar flows detected from other European nations, including Germany and Poland, to other former Soviet states neighbouring Russia.

Following the original Sky News story last week, Foreign Office Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said car companies should examine their orders to ensure they are complying with sanctions rules.

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