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An inquiry has found no evidence of “corruption or illegality” at the Teesworks site in the North East of England – but has raised concerns over “transparency and oversight.

The development of the former Redcar Steelworks began in 2015 and has seen the area transformed into a large industrial site, with plans to turn it into a freeport to create a tax-free zone for shipping.

Tees Valley Conservative mayor Lord Ben Houchen claimed it had raised £2bn of private sector investment and created almost 3,000 jobs.

But the government ordered an independent inquiry into the site after claims private companies – which now own the 90% of the project – had profited to the detriment of the taxpayer.

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Releasing its report on Monday, the inquiry said it had found “no evidence to support allegations of corruption or illegality”.

However, its report added: “There are issues of governance and transparency that need to be addressed and a number of decisions taken by the bodies involved do not meet the standards expected when managing public funds.”

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The site has been pointed to as a “levelling up” success for the government, and made Lord Houchen a well-known figure within the Tories.

But a report by the Financial Times claimed Teesworks Ltd – a company set up by the South Tees Development Corporation, which is chaired by the mayor, to run the project – had handed over 90% of its shares to local business people for free and without a tender process, despite hundreds of millions of taxpayer cash being pumped into the project.

Rishi Sunak (centre) with Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen and supporters during a visit to Teesside Freeport, Teesworks, in Redcar, Teeside, as he outlines his vision for the future of Britain, as part of his campaign to become the next leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party and Prime Minister
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Rishi Sunak with Tees Valley mayor Lord Ben Houchen and supporters during a visit to Teesworks. Pic: PA.

Labour claimed there has been “a worrying lack of effective safeguards to ensure value for money for taxpayers” throughout the project, and attacked Lord Houchen for the part he had played.

And Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald made allegations in the Commons of “truly shocking, industrial-scale corruption”.

But the Tory mayor accused the party of “smearing [an] incredible project” that has been “delivered by the Conservative Party in a traditional Labour heartland”.

While the inquiry rejected Mr McDonald’s allegations, they did conclude “the systems of governance and finance in place within TVCA [the Tees Valley Combined Authority] and STDC [the South Tees Development Corporation] at present do not include the expected sufficiency of transparency and oversight across the system to evidence value for money”.

Responding to the report, Lord Houchen said it “sets out in black and white that there is no corruption or illegality at Teesworks”.

He added: “Without this partnership, the former steelworks would still be sat idle, costing the taxpayer £20m a year to stand still, with no investment and not a single job in sight.”

The mayor also said he would “review the recommendations to improve our processes and procedures in line with the report’s findings”.

But Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said the report gave “a scathing assessment of Conservative mayor Ben Houchen’s mismanagement and bad governance at Teesworks”, and “many questions remain”.

She called on the government to refer the project to the National Audit Office (NAO).

A spokesperson for the NAO said: “We will examine the detail of the government’s review to understand whether there are implications for central government and therefore the NAO’s future work programme.”

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Struggling Aston Martin steers into fresh pay controversy

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Struggling Aston Martin steers into fresh pay controversy

Aston Martin is steering a path towards a twin-pronged pay row with shareholders as it grapples with the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on car manufacturers.

Sky News can reveal that the influential proxy voting adviser ISS is urging investors to vote against both of Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings’ remuneration votes at next week’s annual general meeting.

The pay policy vote, which is binding on the company, has attracted opposition from ISS because it proposes significant increases to potential bonus awards to Adrian Hallmark, the company’s new chief executive.

“Concerns are raised regarding the increased bonus maximums, which are built upon competitively[1]positioned salary levels and do not appear appropriate given the company’s recent performance,” ISS said in a report to clients.

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Aston Martin is also facing a meaningful vote against its pay report for last year – which is on an advisory basis only – because of the salaries awarded to Mr Hallmark and other executive directors.

The company’s shares have nearly halved in the last year, and it now has a market value of little more than £660m.

Despite the ISS recommendation, Aston Martin will win the vote by virtue of chairman Lawrence Stroll’s 33% shareholding.

The luxury car manufacturer has had a torrid time as a public company and now faces the headwinds of President Trump’s tariffs blitz.

This week it said it would limit exports to the US to offset the impact of the policy.

Aston Martin did not respond to a request for comment ahead of next Wednesday’s AGM.

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Financial wellbeing platform Mintago lands £6m funding boost

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Financial wellbeing platform Mintago lands £6m funding boost

A financial wellbeing platform which counts the alcohol-free beer producer Lucky Saint among its clients has landed a £6m funding injection from a syndicate of well-known investors.

Sky News understands that Mintago, which was founded in 2019, will announce in the coming days that Guinness Ventures has jointly led the Series A round alongside Seed X Liechtenstein and Social Impact Enterprises.

Mintago, which also counts car rental firm Avis and Northumbrian Police among its customers, aims to help employees save and manage their money more effectively.

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A number of the start-up’s current investors, Love Ventures and Truesight Ventures, are also understood to have reinvested as part of the fundraising.

MINTAGO
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The company, which counts Lucky Saint and Avis among its users, has finalised a Series A funding round

The company was set up by Chieu Cao and Daniel Conti, and claims to offer more salary sacrifice schemes than any other UK provider.

It also provides independent financial advice, a service for finding lost pension pots, retail discounts and GP services.

“We realised that organisations are crying out for the same help we provide their staff,” Mr Conti said.

“The benefits of providing that support impact everyone.

“When a company improves their salary sacrifice benefits engagement, they can save thousands in National Insurance Contributions, but their employees save too, easing the strain on their finances.”

The new capital will be used to develop additional products using artificial intelligence, according to the company.

“Mintago is enabling its customers to become truly people-centric organisations by giving them the tools to support their employees’ financial wellbeing,” Mathias Jaeggi, a partner at Seed X Liechtenstein, said.

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iPhones sold in US will no longer come from China – as Apple reveals impact of Trump’s tariffs

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iPhones sold in US will no longer come from China - as Apple reveals impact of Trump's tariffs

Apple says devices sold in the US will no longer come from China, as the tech giant tries to mitigate the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Most iPhones will be sourced from India instead, with iPads coming from Vietnam, to prevent dramatic price rises for American consumers.

Unveiling financial results from January to March, the company said the US president’s escalating trade war has had a limited impact on its performance so far.

However, Apple CEO Tim Cook believes the tariffs will add £677m in costs during the current quarter – assuming Trump’s policies don’t change.

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Revenue for the first three months of the year stood at £71.8bn, with earnings of £18.6bn also beating analyst expectations.

High demand for iPhones during this period may have been driven by US shoppers rushing to make purchases before the new tariffs came into force.

But the full impact of any panic buying will only emerge when Apple reports its results from April to June later in the year.

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Apple’s reliance on Chinese factories to manufacture its iPhones meant the company was far more exposed to the impact of Trump’s trade war than others.

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After the president unveiled plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries – now largely paused for 90 days – Apple’s stock plunged by 23%, wiping out £582bn of value.

While its share price has recovered slightly, it remains 5% lower than before “Liberation Day”.

Growing tensions between Washington and Beijing are also having an impact on Apple’s sales in China, which fell 2.3% between January and March.

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Addressing the planned changes to manufacturing, Mr Cook added: “We have a complex supply chain. There’s always risk in the supply chain. What we learned some time ago was that having everything in one location had too much risk with it.”

Devices sold outside of the US will continue to be made in China.

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