Connect with us

Published

on

The electricity, phone and broadband provider arm of Shell has been fined £1.4m by the communications regulator for breaking customer protection rules.

Shell Energy was hit with the fine for failing to flag contract ends and the best deals for phone and broadband customers, Ofcom said.

More than 70,000 such customers were not properly prompted to review their contracts or told they could save by moving to a new plan, the Ofcom decision said.

An investigation by the watchdog found “important consumer protection rules” were broken.

The investigation uncovered 72,837 customers who were affected by Shell Energy’s failures between March 2020 and June 2022.

Providers are required to proactively let customers know before their existing contracts are up and to provide information to help them shop around and take advantage of a better deal.

Read more business news:
Wowcher faces court threat over ‘misleading’ sales practices
Hunt to review payment rules in post-Brexit fraud push

More on Cost Of Living

Customers must also be told if they are already outside of their minimum contract period.

There’s a specific requirement for telecoms and pay-tv companies to issue an end-of-contract notification to customers by text, email or letter between 10 and 40 days before the minimum contract period comes to an end.

Annual notifications also have to be sent to customers already outside of the minimum contract period, reminding them they can leave or change deal.

Both notifications must include best tariff information to help customers understand the savings they can make on a new deal or by changing provider.

But in some instances Shell Energy failed to send out end-of-contract notifications and annual best tariff notifications at all.

In other cases, customers were notified but received inaccurate or incomplete information. This was caused by a combination of manual errors and systems and process failures at Shell Energy, Ofcom said.

A total of 7,750 customers received an end-of-contract notification that contained incorrect information about the price they would pay once their minimum term period came to an end.

The effect was 6,054 customers went on to pay higher charges than they were originally quoted, collectively amounting to £398,417.67 – an average of £65.81 each.

A Shell Energy Broadband spokesperson said: “Transparency and clarity for our customers is something we believe in strongly so we were extremely disappointed to have let some customers down in the past by not providing them with the notifications and accuracy we should have.

“As soon as we became aware of the errors we self-reported to Ofcom, rectified the issues, compensated customers and supported Ofcom in its investigation. We apologise to any customer who we let down.”

“Over the past 12 months we’ve made substantial improvements in our broadband customer service experience, dramatically reducing complaints and boasting one of the fastest call-answer times in the country.”

Continue Reading

Business

US trade deal ‘possible’ but not ‘certain’, says senior minister

Published

on

By

US trade deal 'possible' but not 'certain', says senior minister

A trade deal with the US is “possible” but not “certain”, a senior minister has said as he struck a cautious tone about negotiations with the White House.

Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips there was “a serious level of engagement going on at high levels” to secure a UK-US trade deal.

However, Mr McFadden, a key ally of Sir Keir Starmer, struck a more cautious tone than Chancellor Rachel Reeves on the prospect of a US trade deal, saying: “I think an agreement is possible – I don’t think it’s certain, and I don’t want to say it’s certain, but I think it’s possible.”

He went on to say the government wanted an “agreement in the UK’s interests” and not a “hasty deal”, amid fears from critics that Number 10 could acquiesce a deal that lowers food standards, for example, or changes certain taxes in a bid to persuade Donald Trump to lower some of the tariffs that have been placed on British goods.

Politics latest: UK has ‘recognised all along’ that Russia is aggressor – minister

And asked about the timing of the deal – following recent reports an agreement was imminent – Mr McFadden said: “We’ll keep working with the United States and keep trying to get to an agreement in the coming weeks.”

As well as talks with the US, the UK has also ramped up its efforts with the EU, with suggestions it could include a new EU youth mobility scheme that would allow under-30s from the bloc to live, work and study in the UK and vice versa.

Mr McFadden said he believed the government could “improve upon” the Brexit deal struck by Boris Johnson, saying it had caused “an awful lot of bureaucracy and costs here in the UK”.

He said “first and foremost” on the government’s agenda was securing a food and agriculture and a veterinary agreement, saying it was “such an important area for the UK and an area where we’ve had so much extra cost and bureaucracy because of Brexit”.

He added: “But again, as with the United States, there’s no point in calling the game before it’s done. We’ve still got work to do, and we’re doing that work with our partners in the EU.”

The Cabinet Office minister also rejected suggestions the UK would have to choose between pursuing a trade deal with the US and one with the EU – the latter of which has banned chlorinated chicken in its markets – as has the UK – but which the US has historically wanted.

Read more:
Chancellor Rachel Reeves outlines red lines for US trade deal
Green Party co-leader denies split over trans rights

On the issue of chlorinated chicken, Mr McFadden said the government had “made clear we will not water down animal welfare standards with either party”.

“But I don’t agree that it’s some fundamental choice beyond where we have to pick one trading partner rather than another. I think that’s to misunderstand the nature of the UK economy, and I don’t think would be in our interests to put all our eggs in one basket.”

Also speaking to Trevor Phillips was Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who said the government should be close to closing the deal with the US “because we got very close last time President Trump was in office”.

She also insisted food standards should not be watered down in order to get a deal, saying she did not reach an agreement with Canada when she was in government for that reason.

“What Labour needs to do now is show that they can get a deal that isn’t making concessions, so we can have what we had last month before the trade tariffs, and we need serious people doing this,” she said.

Continue Reading

Business

UK growth could be ‘postponed’ for two years, report warns

Published

on

By

UK growth could be 'postponed' for two years, report warns

UK economic growth could be “postponed” for two years amid a toxic cocktail of headwinds for confidence, according to a respected forecast which says further interest rate cuts may help lift the mood.

EY ITEM Club, which uses the Treasury’s economic modelling, downgraded expectations for output in both 2025 and 2026 in its latest report.

It warns of a direct hit from Donald Trump‘s trade war and from persistent high inflation in the UK economy.

But the forecast says the biggest impact would come from weaker sentiment among both households and businesses, given the surge in uncertainty and hits to global growth caused by the imposition of tariffs.

Money latest: Vet hits back at critics of prices

A “baseline” 10% tariff on imports from most countries around the world is in place while UK-produced steel, aluminium and cars are subject to duties of 25%.

Around 16% of all goods shipped abroad head for the United States typically but the study said that weaker demand for exports would likely hit that number.

More on Tariffs

It forecast UK growth of 0.8% this year – down from the 1% it expected three months ago – and a figure of 0.9% for 2026.

That last figure represented a downgrade of 0.6 percentage points.

These are not the numbers the Treasury will want to see, coming in even lower than the International Monetary Fund’s downgrades last week, as it leads work on the government’s stated priority of securing economic growth.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

What IMF said about the economy

It has been accused of an own goal through the chancellor’s tax increases on business, which came into effect at the beginning of this month.

At the same time, households are grappling a surge in bills, including those for energy, water and council tax, which are threatening to depress spending power further.

Data on Friday showed a renewed slump in consumer confidence and sharp increases in the number of firms in “critical” financial distress and going to the wall.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

US trade deal ‘possible, not certain’

EY said the weaker global economic backdrop and spiralling levels of uncertainty would weigh on both families and businesses.

It warned the consumer mood remained “cautious” amid the continuing pressures on household budgets, further limiting demand for major purchases.

Anna Anthony, regional managing partner for EY UK & Ireland, said: “There had been signs that the economy was exceeding expectations in the opening months of 2025, but a combination of global trade disruption, uncertainty, and persistent inflation look likely to postpone the UK’s return to more moderate levels of growth.

“Businesses thrive on certainty, so it’s unsurprising that an unpredictable global market is translating into lower levels of business investment over the short term.

“While conditions remain challenging, there are still some grounds for optimism.

“The services-led UK economy is projected to see continued growth this year and gradual interest rate cuts should slowly bolster business and household spending.

“Over time, the unpredictable global landscape may offer opportunities for the UK to position itself as a stable, attractive destination for investment.”

Continue Reading

Business

Chair candidates battle to check in at Premier Inn-owner Whitbread

Published

on

By

Chair candidates battle to check in at Premier Inn-owner Whitbread

Two chairs of FTSE-100 companies are vying to succeed Adam Crozier at the top of Whitbread, the London-listed group behind the Premier Inn hotel chain.

Sky News has learnt that Christine Hodgson, who chairs water company Severn Trent, and Andrew Martin, chair of the testing and inspection group Intertek, are the leading contenders for the Whitbread job.

Mr Crozier, who has chaired the leisure group since 2018, is expected to step down later this year.

The search, which has been taking place for several months, is expected to conclude in the coming weeks, according to one City source.

Ms Hodgson has some experience of the leisure industry, having served on the board of Ladbrokes Coral Group until 2017, while Mr Martin was a senior executive at the contract caterer Compass Group and finance chief at the travel agent First Choice Holidays.

Under Mr Crozier’s stewardship, Whitbread has been radically reshaped, selling its Costa Coffee subsidiary to The Coca-Cola Company in 2019 for nearly £4bn.

The company has also seen off an activist campaign spearheaded by Elliott Advisers, while Mr Crozier orchestrated the appointment of Dominic Paul, its chief executive, following Alison Brittain’s retirement.

More from Money

It said last year that it sees potential to grow the network from 86,000 UK bedrooms to 125,000 over the next decade or so.

Mr Crozier is one of Britain’s most seasoned boardroom figures, and now chairs BT Group and Kantar, the market research and data business backed by Bain Capital and WPP Group.

He previously ran the Football Association, ITV and – in between – Royal Mail Group.

On Friday, shares in Whitbread closed at £25.41, giving the company a market capitalisation of about £4.5bn.

Whitbread declined to comment this weekend.

Continue Reading

Trending