Another rail strike is set to disrupt train journeys this weekend – with further industrial action planned in August.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) is taking strike action over pay, jobs, pensions and conditions, while the ASLEF union has announced overtime bans in a dispute over pay.
ASLEF represents drivers, whereas RMT represents members from lots of different sectors within the rail industry – including station staff and guards.
When ASLEF members go on strike, it usually means there are no drivers. When RMT members go on strike, there is widespread disruption to the network with lots of people in different roles going on strike.
Here is everything you need to know:
Rail strike dates
The RMT union has scheduled a further walkout on Saturday 29 July.
Many services will not run at all. Those that do are likely to be very busy, and the timetable will start later and finish earlier than on a non-strike day.
Meanwhile, ASLEF members at 16 rail operators will refuse to work overtime – an action short of a strike – on the following days:
Monday 31 July
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Tuesday 1 August
Wednesday 2 August
Thursday 3 August
Friday 4 August
Saturday 5 August
Monday 7 August
Tuesday 8 August
Wednesday 9 August
Thursday 10 August
Friday 11 August
Saturday 12 August
Which train lines are set to be affected?
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast recommend customers check their entire journey before travelling on the RMT strike day, especially the first and last trains.
Late services the night before and early services the next day will also be affected, it said.
It said it plans to run its normal timetable during the ASLEF action.
Customers who booked tickets to travel on strike days before the industrial action was announced can claim a full fee-free refund from their point of purchase.
C2C
On 29 July, all services will run to/from Fenchurch Street station and will not stop at Liverpool Street or Stratford.
It said services will not be affected by the ASLEF strike.
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways said during the ASLEF action, trains will be busier than usual, and there will be changes across the network’s timetable.
It has also advised customers to “check before you travel”.
A very limited service will be operating on 29 July, with one train an hour running to destinations from Marylebone station.
The journey planner is up to date with services for the strike day, it said.
CrossCountry
The train operating company has said during the ASLEF industrial action, “a small number of services may be subject to late-notice cancellation or amendment during this period”.
On 29 July it will be running a limited service.
East Midlands Railway
On 29 July EMR services will run between 7.30am and 6.30pm only.
Services will start later and finish earlier than usual with the last departures starting between 3pm and 4.30pm.
“Only travel by rail if absolutely necessary and if you do travel, expect severe disruption,” the company warned.
Image: RMT leader Mick Lynch (centre) joins members of his union on a picket line on 2 June
Greater Anglia
Services will start at 7am, with all last trains reaching their destination by 11pm.
Most routes will have a “normal or near normal service” during the hours that trains are running, Greater Anglia said.
However some routes will have a limited service and a small number may have no trains at all.
Short notice cancellations may also occur, the company said.
Greater Anglia has said services will start later the day after strikes as a “knock-on” from the walkouts.
Great Western Railway
GWR has said that during the RMT strike, there will be a reduced and revised timetable, and warned many parts of its network “will have no service at all”.
It also said during the ASLEF action “short of a strike and the days after [RMT] strikes, services could also be affected by a limited number of short-notice cancellations and alterations”.
Customers are advised to check before they travel.
If you purchase tickets for the strike days but do not end up travelling, you can claim a full refund or amend the ticket.
GTR
GTR, also known as Govia Thameslink Railway, is the UK’s biggest railway franchise and operates Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express.
It said an amended timetable with fewer services will run on 29 July and services will be busier than usual.
Great Northern and Thameslink routes north of London will start later and finish much earlier than normal.
GTR said the disruption from the strike will have a knock-on effect the next day, on 30 July, with some routes having no services before 7am.
LNER
London North Eastern Railway has said that it will be running trains on 29 July but “with a reduced timetable.”
“Our trains for all three [strike] days are back on sale, however, they are still subject to change until timetables are confirmed by Network Rail approximately one week before each strike day,” LNER said on its website.
During the ASLEF union’s industrial action, the network said it would run a normal timetable, but there may also be a possibility of “short-notice alterations and cancellations”.
Southeastern
The company has there will be a limited service running on RMT strike days. Some routes will be closed and there are no replacement buses.
With regards to the ASLEF overtime ban, Southeastern said it expects to run a full service during this time, but if the strike action does impact travel, then passengers can get a strike refund.
South Western Railway
Trains will only run between 7am and 7pm on RMT strike days with a “significantly reduced service”.
“Customers are advised to only travel if absolutely necessary,” the company said.
With regards to the ASLEF action, South Western Railway has released a full timetable of services running on those days.
It added: “Services will usually be reduced to hourly in off-peak periods with a small number of cancellations during the morning and evening peaks. Some first and last trains may also be cancelled.”
Transpennine Express
The company warned the RMT strike will cause “significant disruption”.
“Disruption is also likely on days following strike action and you are advised to plan carefully for any rail journeys as services will start later and finish earlier than usual.”
It has said the planned ASLEF action will have some of its services “start later and finish earlier than usual, and some journeys may be altered late or on the day of travel.”
West Midlands Railway
West Midlands Railway said during the RMT strike, it will be running a reduced timetable on these dates and some routes will not be served.
On ASLEF action days, services will be subject to on-the-day changes.
The owners of Hovis and Kingsmill are closing in on a definitive agreement to merge two of Britain’s most famous grocery brands following months of talks.
Sky News has learnt Associated British Foods (ABF), the London-listed company which owns Kingsmill’s immediate parent, Allied Bakeries, has proposed paying roughly £75m to acquire Hovis from its long-term private equity backers.
Banking sources said a deal could be formally agreed to combine the businesses as early as the end of next week, although they cautioned the complexity of the transaction meant the timing could yet slip.
Confirmation of a tie-up would come nearly three months after Sky News revealed ABF and Endless – Hovis’s owner since 2020 – were in discussions.
Industry sources have estimated that a combined group could benefit from up to £50m of annual cost savings from a merger.
ABF has also been exploring options for the future of Allied Bakeries separate from its talks with Hovis in the event a deal could not be agreed or is prevented from completing by competition regulators.
If it does go ahead, the merger will unite two historic bread producers under common ownership, with Allied Bakeries having been founded in 1935 by Willard Garfield Weston, part of the family which continues to control ABF.
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Hovis traces its history back even further, having been created in 1890 when Herbert Grime scooped a £25 prize for coming up with the name Hovis, which was derived from the Latin ‘Hominis Vis’ – meaning “strength of man”.
Persistent inflation, competition from speciality bread producers and shifting consumer habits towards lower-carb diets have combined to impair breadmakers’ financial health in recent decades, however.
In accounts filed at Companies House earlier this month, Hovis said it had “achieved positive financial progress despite continued tough trading conditions”.
The company reported sales of £439.6m in the 52 weeks to 28 September last year, down from £477.6m in the 53 weeks to 30 September 2023.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell from £20.9m to £18.7m, which Hovis said was the result of the revenue decline and higher distribution costs.
“Overall bread share remained stable, despite significant price inflation and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, demonstrating the resilience of the Hovis brand and its iconic status as one of Britain’s most loved food brands,” the accounts said.
This week, the trade publication The Grocer reported that Britain’s big four supermarkets, including Asda and Sainsbury’s, had delisted a number of Hovis-branded products.
The publication quoted a Hovis spokeswoman as saying the company was “aware of some adjustments to Hovis product lines in certain stores”.
“We remain fully committed to working collaboratively with our retail partners to grow our mutual businesses.”
The overall UK bakery market is estimated to be worth about £5bn in annual sales, with the equivalent of 11m loaves being sold each day.
Critical to the prospects of a merger of Allied Bakeries, which also owns the Sunblest and Allinson’s bread brands, and Hovis taking place will be the view of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) at a time when economic regulators are under intense pressure from the government to support growth.
Warburtons, the family-owned business which is the largest bakery group in Britain, is estimated to have a 34% share of the branded wrapped sliced bread sector, with Hovis on 24% and Allied on 17%, according to industry insiders.
A merger of Hovis and Kingsmill would give the combined group the largest share of that segment of the market, although one source said Warburtons’ overall turnover would remain higher because of the breadth of its product range.
Responding to Sky News’ report in May of the talks, ABF said: “Allied Bakeries continues to face a very challenging market.
“We are evaluating strategic options for Allied Bakeries against this backdrop and we remain committed to increasing long-term shareholder value.”
In a separate presentation to analysts, ABF – which is also in the process of closing its Vivergo bioethanol plant in Hull after pleading for government support – described the losses at Allied, which also owns own-label bread manufacturer Speedibake, as unsustainable.
The company does not disclose details of Allied Bakeries’ financial performance.
Prior to its ownership by Endless, Hovis was owned by Mr Kipling-maker Premier Foods and the Gores family.
At the time of the most recent takeover, High Wycombe-based Hovis employed about 2,700 people and operated eight bakery sites, as well as its own flour mill.
Hovis’s current chief executive, Jon Jenkins, is a former boss of Allied Milling and Baking.
This weekend, ABF declined to comment, while Endless could not be reached for comment.
Retail sales grew in June as warm weather boosted spending and day trips, official figures show.
Spending on goods such as food, clothes and household items rose 0.9%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
It’s a bounce back from the 2.8% dip in May, but last month’s figure was below economists’ forecast 1.2% uplift as consumers dealt with higher prices from increased inflation.
Also weighing on spending was reduced consumer confidence amid talk of higher taxes, according to a closely watched indicator from market research firm GfK.
Retail sales figures are significant as they measure household consumption, the largest expenditure in the UK economy.
Growing retail sales can mean economic growth, which the government has repeatedly said is its top priority.
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What does ‘inflation is rising’ mean?
Where have people been shopping?
June’s retail sales rise came as people bought more in supermarkets, and retailers said drinks sales were up.
While hot and sunny weather boosted some brick-and-mortar shops, the heat led some to head online.
Non-store retailers, which include mainly online shops, but also market stalls, had sold the most in more than three years.
Not since February 2022 had sales been so high as the Met Office said England had its warmest ever June, and the second warmest for the UK as a whole.
The June increases suggest that the May drop was a bump in the road. When looked at as a whole, the first six months of the year saw retail sales up 1.7%.
Filling up the car for day trips to take advantage of the sun played an important role in the retail sales growth.
When fuel is excluded, the rise was smaller, just 0.6%.
Welcome news
Despite lower consumer sentiment and more expensive goods, consumers are benefitting from rising wages and are cutting back on savings.
The ONS lifestyle survey – backed up by hard data like the Bank of England’s money and credit figures – shows that households have rebuilt their rainy day savings and are cutting back on the amount of money they squirrel away each month.
The former owner of Poundland is lining up advisers to supervise its transition to new shareholders through a court-sanctioned process that will involve store closures and job cuts at the discount retailer.
Sky News has learnt that Pepco Group, which is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, is drafting in FRP Advisory weeks after it struck a deal to sell Poundland to Gordon Brothers.
Industry sources said FRP had been asked by Pepco to act as an observer, with the High Court scheduled to sanction a restructuring plan in the last week of August.
Under the proposed deal, 68 Poundland shops would close in the short term, along with two distribution centres.
More shops are expected to be shut under Gordon Brothers over time, resulting in hundreds of job losses.
Pepco is said to be particularly focused on IT systems which Poundland uses in common with Pepco’s operations in Poland.
Barry Williams, managing director of Poundland, said at the time of the deal’s announcement: “It’s no secret that we have much work to do to get Poundland back on track.
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“While Poundland remains a strong brand, serving 20 million-plus shoppers each year, our performance for a significant period has fallen short of our high standards and action is needed to enable the business to return to growth.
“It’s sincerely regrettable that this plan includes the closure of stores and distribution centres, but it’s necessary if we’re to achieve our goal of securing the future of thousands of jobs and hundreds of stores.
Prior to the deal’s announcement, Poundland employed roughly 16,000 people across an estate of over 800 shops in the UK and Ireland.
Tax hikes announced by Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, in last autumn’s Budget have increased the financial pressure on high street retailers.
In recent months, chains including WH Smith, Lakeland and The Original Factory Shop have changed hands amid challenging circumstances.
In June, Sky News revealed that River Island, the family-owned clothing retailer, was also working with advisers on a rescue plan aimed at averting its collapse.