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Manchester United Football Club is to cut the funding it provides to its charitable arm as part of a purge of costs being overseen by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, its newest billionaire shareholder.

Sky News has learnt that the Premier League club plans to inform the Manchester United Foundation that it intends to curb the benefits it provides – which totalled close to £1m last year – from 2025 onwards.

Sources close to the situation said a substantial element of the support given to the Foundation by the club would be axed, although Old Trafford insiders insisted on Sunday that it would still provide “significant” support to the charitable wing.

A decision is said to have been made by the club’s leadership to proceed with the cuts, with the Foundation expected to be informed about the scale of the reductions in the coming weeks.

In 2023, the club paid the MU Foundation nearly £175,000 for charity services, which include managing the distribution of signed merchandise to individuals raising funds for charitable causes.

Manchester United also provided gifts in kind amounting to £665,000 last year, which were understood to include use of the Old Trafford pitch and other facilities, alongside free club merchandise and the use of back-office services such as the club’s IT capabilities.

The MU Foundation works in local communities around Manchester and Salford to engage with underprivileged and marginalised people.

Its projects include Street Reds, which is targeted at 8- to 18-year-olds, and Primary Reds, which works in school classrooms with 5- to 11-year-olds.

It also organises hospital visits to support children with life-threatening illnesses.

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The disclosure about the latest target of cost-cutting by Sir Jim’s Ineos Sports group, which now owns close to a 29% stake of Manchester United, comes just a day after The Sun revealed that an association set up to facilitate relations between former players, would see its club funding axed.

A similar move has been made in relation to funding for the club’s disabled fans’ group, while hundreds of full-time staff have been made redundant in recent months and costs have been slashed across most areas of its operations.

People close to the club anticipate further cost-cutting measures being introduced as soon as next month.

One club source said it remained “proud of the work carried out by the Manchester United Foundation to increase opportunities for vulnerable young people across Greater Manchester”.

“All areas of club expenditure are being reviewed due to ongoing losses.

“However, significant support for the Foundation will continue.”

Sir Jim has injected $300m of his multibillion pound fortune into Manchester United, although it will need to raise substantially more than that to fund redevelopments to Old Trafford or a new stadium.

Last year, the club, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, lost more than £110m, with sizeable interest payments totalling tens of millions of pounds annually required to service its debt burden.

The men’s first team has seen an alarming run of results under Ruben Amorim, who was appointed to succeed Erik Ten Hag in the autumn.

United have lost three of their last four matches – the exception being a derby win away at Manchester City – and lie 14th in the Premier League table.

Mr Amorim has acknowledged that he could face the same fate as Mr Ten Hag unless results improve.

Dan Ashworth, who was brought in from Newcastle United FC as sporting director in the summer, left after just five months.

Responding to news of the plans, a spokesman for the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) said: “The prospect of cuts to the charitable Foundation are another depressing example of the wrong priorities at United, cutting back on support to the community it purports to serve.

“Financial sustainability is important but instead of further investment to show ambition and go for growth, the Club is counter-productively trying to cut its way out of its problems.

“It’s hard not to conclude that the negative atmosphere they’re breeding is feeding its way through to the equally depressing performances on the field.”

Manchester United declined to comment formally on the proposed cuts to the funding of its charitable arm.

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Rachel Reeves threatens to sue Roman Abramovich over Chelsea FC sale proceeds

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Rachel Reeves threatens to sue Roman Abramovich over Chelsea FC sale proceeds

The chancellor and foreign secretary are threatening to take Roman Abramovich to court to seize the proceeds of his Chelsea FC sale.

The Russian oligarch, who is sanctioned by the UK government over his alleged links to Vladimir Putin, sold Chelsea for £2.5bn to an American consortium in 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Those funds remain in a frozen UK bank account but are meant to be used for humanitarian causes linked to the Ukraine war.

Roman Abramovich was seen by Ukraine as a potential go-between with Vladimir Putin
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Abramovich has denied close ties to Vladimir Putin. File pic: Reuters

Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Foreign Secretary David Lammy have now said they are “deeply frustrated” an agreement cannot be reached with the oligarch and will take him to court if it cannot be dealt with soon.

In a joint statement, they said: “The government is determined to see the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club reach humanitarian causes in Ukraine, following Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion.

“We are deeply frustrated that it has not been possible to reach agreement on this with Mr Abramovich so far.

“While the door for negotiations will remain open, we are fully prepared to pursue this through the courts if required, to ensure people suffering in Ukraine can benefit from these proceeds as soon as possible.”

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"We can all see over the last months how much the world is changing, but the British government isn't just going to stand by and watch that change.
"We ought to shape it in our national interest.
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Rachel Reeves said she was ‘deeply frustrated’ an agreement had not been reached by Roman Abramovich

Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea – which he bought for a reported £140m – after 19 years of ownership, after being sanctioned by the government over his alleged close ties to the Russian president – something he denies.

The sale was made under the supervision of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, under the proviso the proceeds go to humanitarian aid in Ukraine.

They cannot be moved or used without a licence from the office.

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Ukraine targets Russian military aircraft

In March, the Foreign Office said officials were in talks with Abramovich’s representatives, but multiple sources told the BBC there had been no meetings between any Labour ministers and members of the foundation set up to oversee the funds since last July’s general election.

They said there was a deadlock and a political decision by a minister is needed to negotiate and sign off an agreement.

It is not known if there have been meetings in the three months since then.

The £2.5bn – and interest accrued – would make up for some of the reduction in the aid budget, announced in February.

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Water industry: Commission finds five areas where ‘fundamental change’ is needed

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Water industry: Commission finds five areas where 'fundamental change' is needed

“Interlocking failures” in the water sector across England and Wales can be fixed through fundamental reform in five key areas, according to a major interim report.

The Independent Water Commission, established last year and led by a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, was scathing of government and regulatory oversight of the industry – long blighted by criticism over performance, particularly over sewage spills, shareholder payouts and bonuses for bosses.

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Sir Jon Cunliffe said: “There is no simple, single change, no matter how radical, that will deliver the fundamental reset that is needed for the water sector.

“We have heard of deep-rooted, systemic and interlocking failures over the years – failure in government’s strategy and planning for the future, failure in regulation to protect both the billpayer and the environment and failure by some water companies and their owners to act in the public, as well as their private, interest.

“My view is that all of these issues need to be tackled to rebuild public trust and make the system fit for the future. We anticipate that this will require new legislation.”

The commission, which is due to make its final recommendations later in the summer, failed to rule out the creation of a super regulator to bring oversight into alignment.

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Currently, regulation is muddied by a multi-body approach that includes Ofwat and the Environment Agency.

The five areas under scrutiny:
• Long term direction from government, including through the planning process.
• The creation of a simplified legislative framework, which could include new objectives around public health.
• Regulation but “a fundamental strengthening and rebalancing of Ofwat’s regulation is needed”, it is argued.
• Transparency and accountability within private water firms.
• The management of water industry assets, including pipework.

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Sir Jon added: “I have heard a strong and powerful consensus that the current system is not working for anyone, and that change is needed. I believe that ambitious reforms across these complex and connected set of issues are sorely needed.

“I have been encouraged to see, on all sides of the debate, that people have been prepared to engage constructively with our work; I look forward to that continuing as we enter the final stages.”

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Ex-BT chief Patterson sounded out about £300m Waves Audio float

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Ex-BT chief Patterson sounded out about £300m Waves Audio float

A former BT Group chief is being lined up to steer an audio technology business used by many of the world’s leading musicians through a £300m London flotation.

Sky News has learnt that Gavin Patterson, who now sits on various boards including Ocado Group, is in talks to chair Waves Audio ahead of a listing which could come as soon as next month.

City sources said an agreement between the company and Mr Patterson had yet to be finalised.

Sky News revealed several weeks ago that Waves Audio, which is headquartered in Israel, had hired bankers from Panmure Liberum to oversee an initial public offering (IPO).

The company, which is majority-owned by founders Meir Sha’ashua and Gilad Keren, is expected to raise millions of pounds from the sale of new shares, although the details have yet to be finalised.

Waves Audio makes professional digital audio signal processing technology and audio effects used in recordings, mixing, mastering, post-production, broadcasting and live sound.

It employs more than 200 people, and has a major international presence, including in Europe and the US.

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A successful float on London’s main market would be a relative rarity given the depressed level of IPO activity in the last couple of years.

Data compiled by EY, the professional services firm, showed that there were just five new listings on the London market in the first quarter of the year.

Pessimism about the outlook for flotations has been compounded by a steady trickle of companies cancelling their London listings or shifting them overseas – with drugmaker Indivior the latest to abandon the City on Monday.

The UK market’s biggest hope – that Shein, the Chinese-founded online fashion retailer, would defy the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and list in London – appears to have been dashed, with reports last week suggesting that it would float in Hong Kong instead.

A spokesman for Waves Audio declined to comment.

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