‘Quite often there is a stigma attached to going to work’: Inside Britain’s labour market crisis

Published

1 year ago

June 11, 2024

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Michael is fair haired and frail, with a face that tells a story. Until seven years ago his life was perhaps as he imagined it. He was married and working for a fancy food shop in his home town in north Yorkshire.

Then something happened. He is reluctant to share the full details but his marriage broke down, he lost the job, and was left with a choice: “It was to be homeless, or move to a bedsit in Middlesbrough,” he says.

Which is how we come to be speaking in the Employment Hub on Corporation Road, opposite Middlesbrough’s Jobcentre.

A council-backed centre, it offers help and guidance to anyone looking to get back into work.

Young adults making the leap from education to employment; older people who want or need to earn again; and clients like Michael, who fall somewhere in between, derailed by illness or personal circumstances.

‘I’ve lost my confidence’

He has not worked for six years and he’s here to try to change that. “With not being in work for a while I’ve lost my confidence,” he says.

“I got stuck in a routine and I’m not the best at helping myself out at times. You feel like you’re stuck. It would be nice to get back into a work routine. You feel better in yourself through having a job.”

Michael has an appointment with Doug Hewitson, once long-term unemployed himself. He points clients towards an array of services they might need to help them work, from compiling a CV and getting basic qualifications, to training and work experience opportunities.

“We primarily work with retirees, the short-term sick and people with young families, that tends to be with children younger than two,” Doug says. “Generally, they will be on a type of universal credit that doesn’t have the requirement to seek work attached to it. And we have a lot of them.”

The Employment Hub is trying to help fill a gap that exists across the country as the economy struggles with a labour market crisis that has nothing to do with the number of jobs.

Unlike the unemployment crisis of the 1980s, there are plenty of opportunities, close to a million vacancies at the most recent count. The problem is finding people to fill them.

Since the pandemic almost 800,000 people have fallen out of employment into “economic inactivity”, a catch-all definition that covers the nine million people of working age not currently able or looking to work.

That includes students, early retirees and stay-at-home parents and carers, but the largest and most pernicious reason is long-term sickness, which now accounts for more than 2.5 million people, an increase of more than 400,000 since COVID, driven largely by mental health conditions.

‘There is a stigma attached to going to work’

That has held back growth and pushed the welfare bill up, and the issue has gained political salience with Rishi Sunak characterising some mental health challenges as “the ups and downs of everyday life”.

Unemployment, inactivity and workless households are all above the national average in Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley but they are not unique.

“You can walk out on the High Street now and find several people who are economically inactive,” says Philip Bentham, who leads the employability team at housing association Thirteen in Stockton-on-Tees, which aims to help people into work.

“For some it’s health, mental health, low skills and qualifications, or generational unemployment. We’re working with families who are three and four generations unemployed within the household, mum and dad and grandparents that have never worked.

“Quite often there is a stigma attached to going to work. Their families are afraid of not having the safety net of the benefits system, and people sometimes sadly think work doesn’t pay. Our job is to convince them there is always something they can do.”

The state response to worklessness is Universal Credit, a single payment that covers benefits for housing, children and childcare, as well as unemployment benefit, administered by the Jobcentre Plus network.

At Middlesbrough’s Corporation Road branch a steady stream of claimants arrive for their strict 10-minute appointments, watched by up to four security guards.

A mix of carrot and stick

In principle it’s a deal between the state and the claimant, a mix of carrot and stick. Claimants who can work are required to attend weekly meetings with a work coach and take steps to find a job. Fail to do this and you can be “sanctioned”, often by reducing cash payments.

If you are too sick to work however the requirement to look for a job falls away leading to the suspicion, apparently shared by the prime minister, that some claimants are citing mental health conditions to get signed off.

I ask work coach Michaela Fulleylove if some people do play the system.

“I’m saying yes, definitely. But we have to treat every individual with trust, fairness and compassion.

“But we have to be able to ask questions, because not only is it our job to support the public, we’ve also got to protect the public purse.”

For all the challenges in Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley there are opportunities.

The demise of ICI and British Steel, huge paternal employers that offered their own safety net, left a gap that has never been adequately filled.

The latest attempt is levelling up, largely channelled through the Tees Valley mayoralty of Ben Houchen.

Europe’s largest brownfield development, the controversial Teesworks freeport, is taking shape and there are advanced manufacturing opportunities in the renewable energy industry serving a huge new offshore wind project at Dogger Bank.

Thousands of jobs are promised, an incentive for the workforce and a challenge for employers.

AV Dawson has operated the Port of Middlesbrough in the shadow of the town’s landmark Transporter Bridge for 80 years.

They employ around 200 staff and people and culture director Louise Croce tells me they have no problem filling roles or retaining staff.

‘We get people who want to be hairdressers applying to be forklift truck drivers’

She points out the perverse incentives of a benefits system that requires claimants to apply for jobs, irrespective of whether they can do them.

“We get people who want to be hairdressers applying to be forklift truck drivers. You do question whether some of it’s around their ability to claim benefits,” she says.

But those who do work for her receive a level of support, particularly around mental health, that would have been unimaginable in Middlesbrough’s macho industrial past.

“We provide a lot of support inside the company, we have health and well being ambassadors, because mental health is such an issue in the area. We try and look after people, help them with issues early, before they become a problem.”

On the edge of a city centre abandoned by big retailers is Teesside University, a cluster of new buildings that is evidence of badly needed investment.

The vast majority of the 20,000 students come from within a five mile radius, and deputy vice chancellor Professor Mark Simpson tells me they aim to prepare them for the promised jobs, from digital and AI, health and life sciences, public sector jobs and the net zero industries.

“We work with businesses and we work with industry to look at demands, look at what skill sets they need from our graduates,” he says. “But we don’t just respond, through those clusters of courses we help create the industries.”

“But when you see the levels of deprivation across the Tees Valley a big part of what we need to do is raise aspiration.”

Business

Lloyds closes in on £120m takeover of fintech Curve

Published

8 hours ago

September 7, 2025

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Lloyds closes in on £120m takeover of fintech Curve

Britain’s biggest high street lender is closing in on a deal to buy Curve, a provider of digital wallet technology that its new owner hopes will give it an edge in the race to build smarter online payments systems.

Sky News has learnt that Lloyds Banking Group could announce the acquisition of Curve for about £120m as soon as this week.

City sources said this weekend that the terms of a transaction had been agreed, although a formal announcement could yet slip to later in the month.

Lloyds has been in talks with Curve about a takeover for some time, with Sky News revealing that discussions were taking place in July.

The financial services giant, which owns the Halifax brand and operates the biggest bank branch network in the UK, believes Curve’s digital wallet platform will be a valuable asset amid growing regulatory pressure on Apple to open its payment services to rivals.

Curve was founded by Shachar Bialick, a former Israeli special forces soldier, in 2016, and was hailed as one of Britain’s most promising fintechs.

Three years later, Mr Bialick 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.”

The sale price may therefore be a disappointment to long-standing Curve shareholders, given that it raised £133m in its Series C funding round, which concluded in 2023.

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

Curve 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 is being advised by KBW, part of the investment bank Stifel, on the discussions with Lloyds.

The company is chaired by the City grandee Lord Fink, who is also a shareholder in the company.

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.

Lloyds is said to have identified Curve as a strategically attractive bid target as it pushes deeper into payments infrastructure under chief executive Charlie Nunn.

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 Thought Machine, but has set expanding its tech capabilities as a key strategic objective.

The group employs more than 70,000 people and operates more than 700 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.

Read more from Sky News:
Unions demand no retreat on workers’ rights
Tube strikes: Everything you need to know

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.

Lloyds declined to comment, while Curve has been contacted for comment.

Business

Unions demand no retreat on workers’ rights after Rayner quits

Published

14 hours ago

September 7, 2025

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Unions demand no retreat on workers' rights after Rayner quits

Union leaders are demanding no eleventh-hour retreat by the government on workers’ rights now their champion Angela Rayner is no longer in the cabinet.

As delegates gather in Brighton for the TUC’s annual conference, the movement’s leadership is claiming four million people – one in eight of the UK workforce – are in “pervasive” insecure work.

And union bosses are urging the government to stand firm and reject attempts by Tories and Liberal Democrats to weaken the former deputy prime minister’s Employment Rights Bill in its final stages in parliament.

The TUC’s general secretary, Paul Nowak, has claimed Ms Rayner, who resigned on Friday over unpaid stamp duty on a seaside flat, was a victim of misogyny and was being hounded out by right-wing politicians and right-wing media.

As well as Ms Rayner leaving the government, the other minister driving the bill through parliament, Jonathan Reynolds, was demoted in Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet reshuffle from the senior post of business secretary to chief whip.

Until last week, Ms Rayner had been expected to deliver the keynote Labour Party speech at the TUC on Tuesday, but it emerged midweek that the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, would be the speaker.

However, in Friday’s reshuffle she lost responsibility for adult skills – a key issue for the unions – to the new work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden, who will now head a new, beefed-up super-ministry promoting growth.

And ironically, the TUC conference in Brighton is taking place less than two miles from the luxury seaside flat in Hove, on which Ms Rayner’s avoidance of £40,000 in stamp duty led to her resignation as deputy PM, housing secretary and Labour deputy leader.

Just before parliament’s summer recess, the House of Lords backed by 304 votes to 160 a Tory-led amendment to Ms Rayner’s bill to reduce the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from two years to six months, rather than from day one, as proposed by Ms Rayner.

Third reading of the bill in the Lords was last Wednesday, the day of Ms Rayner’s Sky News confession, and the bill is now set for parliamentary ping-pong, assuming the government overturns the Lords’ amendments in the Commons.

But in a pre-conference interview with Sky News, TUC chief and Rayner supporter Mr Nowak demanded no diluting of her bill, which also includes banning zero hours contracts which exploit workers and fire and rehire.

“We are now at a crucial stage in the delivery of the Employment Rights Bill, just weeks away from Royal Assent,” said Mr Nowak. “And our clear message to the government will be to deliver the bill and deliver it in full.

“Ignore the amendments from the unelected peers, Tory and Lib Dem peers in the House of Lords, that are aimed at gutting the legislation, weakening workers’ rights.

“Stand with the British public, deliver decent employment rights. That’s important in workplaces up and down the country, but it’s important because these are proposals that are popular with the British public as well.”

The TUC says its analysis shows low-paid jobs in occupations such as the care, leisure and service sectors account for 77% of the increase in insecure jobs since 2011.

Black and ethnic minority ethnic workers account for 70% of the explosion in insecure work, according to the TUC, and southwest England and Yorkshire and Humber are insecure work hotspots.

Mr Nowak told Sky News: “We’ve got well over a million people now on zero-hours contracts. We’ve got millions of people who don’t have sick pay from day one and 70% of the kids who live in poverty have parents who go out to work.

“The government is absolutely right to be focused on making work pay. And the Employment Rights Bill is about putting more money in the pockets of working people, giving people more security at work.

“That’s good for workers, but it’s also good for good employers as well, so they’re not undercut by the cowboys.”

Speaking to Sky News last Wednesday, shortly after Ms Rayner’s tearful confession to Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby, Mr Nowak said: “There’s a real heavy dose of misogyny when it comes to Angela.

“Angela Rayner is playing a really important role in government and I wouldn’t want to see her hounded out of an important role by right-wing politicians and the right-wing media, who frankly can’t handle the fact that a working-class woman is our deputy prime minister.”

Business

Tube strikes: Full list of dates and lines affected in September walkout

Published

14 hours ago

September 7, 2025

admin

Tube strikes: Full list of dates and lines affected in September walkout

Londoners face almost a week of travel disruption when Underground workers go on strike next week.

There will be limited or no services for several days, and those services that are still running are expected to be busier than usual.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) voted overwhelmingly for strike action after nine months of negotiations failed to resolve a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.

Transport for London (TfL) has offered a 3.4% pay rise which it described as “fair” but said it cannot afford to meet the RMT’s demand for a cut in the 35-hour working week.

Further talks have also failed to end in an agreement, but Nick Dent, London Underground’s director of customer operations, said it was not too late to call off the strikes before causing chaos in the capital.

Here is all you need to know.

When are strikes planned?

Strikes are planned from midnight on Sunday 7 September to 11.59pm on Thursday 11 September.

There is separate planned industrial action on 5 and 6 September, but this is not expected to cause disruption on TfL services.

The other days, however, will see delays across every underground line and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).

What’s running – and what’s not?

Sunday 7 September:

• Disruption across the entire Tube network, with limited services running
• Those that are running will finish early, with TfL encouraging people to finish journeys by 6pm
• The DLR will be running a normal service

Monday 8 September:

Tube
• Little to no service running across the entire Tube network
• No service before 8am or after 6pm

DLR
• Full service, but stations shared with the Tube network may face disruption

Tuesday 9 September:

Tube
• Little to no service running across the entire Tube network
• No service before 8am or after 6pm

DLR
• No service on the entire network

Wednesday 9 September:

Tube
• Little to no service running across the entire Tube network
• No service before 8am or after 6pm

DLR
• Full service, but stations shared with the Tube network may face disruption

Thursday 11 September:

Tube
• Little to no service running across the entire Tube network
• No service before 8am or after 6pm

DLR
• No service on the entire network

Friday 12 September:

Tube
• No service before 8am
• Service will return to normal on all lines by late morning

DLR
• Normal service

What about the Elizabeth Line and Overground?

The Elizabeth Line, London Overground and trams will be running on strike days. London’s bus network is also expected to be running a full service.

However, TfL warns other services will be extremely busy and trains may be unable to stop at all stations or run to their normal destinations.

On Monday 8 and Wednesday 10 September, the Elizabeth line will not stop at the following stations before 7.30am and after 10.30pm:

• Liverpool Street
• Farringdon
• Tottenham Court Road

On Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 September, trains will not stop at the same stations before 8am.

How to get around during the Tube strike

As always during industrial action, TfL urges commuters to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journeys.

To do this, use TfL’s journey planner, or apps including City Mapper.

Cycling or walking is also recommended by TfL, with Santander, Lime and Forest bikes available to hire across the capital, as well as electric scooters in some London boroughs.

Have any events been cancelled?

As a result of the strike, Coldplay have rescheduled the final two dates of their 10-show run at Wembley Stadium.

The band posted a statement on social media to say their Music Of The Spheres shows on 7 and 8 September have been rescheduled to 6 and 12 September respectively.

“Without a Tube service, it’s impossible to get 82,000 people to the concert and home again safely, and therefore no event licence can be granted,” the band said.

US singer-songwriter Post Malone has also rescheduled his two shows at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 7th and 8th September due to the strikes.

Tickets for both shows will remain valid for the rescheduled dates on 20th and 21st September.

Events for the BBC Proms are expected to still run throughout the week at the Royal Albert Hall until the last night on 13 September.