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.
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.
The health secretary has told Sky News the government’s plans to tackle obesity by introducing a health food standard for supermarkets are a “world-first approach” and not “nanny statism”.
As part of an initiative aimed at taking some pressure off the NHS, food retailers and manufacturers will “make the healthy choice the easy choice” for customers in the UK, which has the third-highest adult obesitylevels in Europe.
Supermarkets will be required to report sales data and those that fail to hit targets could face financial penalties, suggested Nesta, the innovation agency which initially developed the policy.
Speaking on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Wes Streeting said: “Instead of traditional nanny statism, where we regulate more heavily on price or marketing on what’s sold, we’re taking a world-first approach, which is working with supermarkets using data they already collect about the nutritional value of their shopping baskets and shopping trolleys, the average shop.
“We’re going to work with them to reduce the amount of unhealthy food in trolleys and baskets by setting targets on the healthy value of your shopping trolleys and baskets.”
He said if obese people cut their calorie intake “by about 216 calories a day – the equivalent of a bottle of fizzy coke, we’d halve obesity”.
“We’ve got one in five kids leaving primary school with obesity, it’s costing the NHS £11bn a year, and obesity has doubled since the 1990s,” he added.
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He also said: “If we reduce calorie intake in this country by just 50 calories a day, that would lift 340,000 children out of obesity.”
Mr Streeting said supermarkets will decide through the combination of where they put their products, how they do price promotions, and what products they choose to put on the shelves.
“They will work with us to make sure that we nudge people in the right direction, without any of us even noticing,” he added.
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UK may have reached ‘peak obesity’
Businesses will be free to choose how to implement the new healthy food standard, which aims to make their customers’ average shopping healthier.
Measures could include reformulating products and tweaking recipes, changing shop layouts, offering discounts on healthy foods, or changing loyalty schemes to promote healthier options.
Obesity is one of the root causes of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
The new scheme, announced on Sunday by the Department for Health and Social Care, is part of the forthcoming 10-Year Health Plan, through which the government is seeking to shift from sickness to prevention to alleviate the burden on the NHS.
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Weight loss drugs ‘changing way we see obesity’
An ‘important step’
Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “Businesses can play a major role in supporting people to make healthy choices, and this important step could help to reduce rising obesity rates.
“Being overweight or obese is the second biggest cause of cancer in the UK, and is linked with 13 different types of the disease.
“The UK government must introduce further bold preventative policies in both the upcoming 10-year Health Plan and National Cancer Plan, so that more lives can be saved from cancer.”
Image: Tesco is among the supermarkets which have welcomed the government’s announcement. Pic: iStock
Some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets appear to have reacted positively to plans for a new standard of healthy food, with Ken Murphy, Tesco Group CEO, saying: “All food businesses have a critical part to play in providing good quality, affordable and healthy food.
“At Tesco, we have measured and published our own healthier food sales for a number of years now – we believe it is key to more evidence-led policy and better-targeted health interventions.
“That’s why we have called for mandatory reporting for all supermarkets and major food businesses and why we welcome the government’s announcement on this.
“We look forward to working with them on the detail of the Healthy Food Standard and its implementation by all relevant food businesses.”
Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said: “We’re passionate about making good food joyful, accessible and affordable for everyone and have been championing the need for mandatory health reporting, across the food industry for many years.
“Today’s announcement from government is an important and positive step forward in helping the nation to eat well.
“We need a level playing field across the entirety of our food sector for these actions to have a real and lasting impact.”
A healthy food standard will be introduced for supermarkets and other retailers as part of government plans to tackle obesity levels in the UK.
As part of a government initiative aimed at taking some pressure off the NHS, food retailers and manufacturers will “make the healthy choice the easy choice” for customers in a country with the third highest adult obesitylevels in Europe.
Supermarkets will be required to report sales data and those that fail to hit targets could face financial penalties, Nesta, the innovation agency which initially developed the policy, suggested.
Businesses will be free to choose how to implement the new healthy food standard, which aims to make their customers’ average shopping healthier.
Measures could include reformulating products and tweaking recipes, changing shop layouts, offering discounts on healthy foods, or changing loyalty schemes to promote healthier options.
Obesity is one of the root causes of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
The new scheme, announced on Sunday by the Department for Health and Social Care, is part of the forthcoming 10 Year Health Plan, through which the government is seeking to shift from sickness to prevention to alleviate the burden on the NHS.
More on Health
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Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:40
UK may have reached ‘peak obesity’
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said:“Obesity has doubled since the 1990s and costs our NHS £11bn a year, triple the budget for ambulance services. Unless we curb the rising tide of cost and demand, the NHS risks becoming unsustainable.
“The good news is that it only takes a small change to make a big difference. If everyone who is overweight reduced their calorie intake by around 200 calories a day – the equivalent of a bottle of fizzy drink – obesity would be halved.
“This government’s ambition for kids today is for them to be part of the healthiest generation of children ever.
“That is within our grasp. With the smart steps we’re taking today, we can give every child a healthy start to life.”
Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: “It is vital for the nation that the food industry delivers healthy food, that is available, affordable and appealing.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:22
Weight loss drugs ‘changing way we see obesity’
An ‘important step’
Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “Businesses can play a major role in supporting people to make healthy choices, and this important step could help to reduce rising obesity rates.
“Being overweight or obese is the second biggest cause of cancer in the UK, and is linked with 13 different types of the disease.
“The UK government must introduce further bold preventative policies in both the upcoming 10-year health plan and National Cancer Plan, so that more lives can be saved from cancer.”
Image: Tesco is among the supermarkets which have welcomed the government’s announcement. Pic: iStock
Some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets appear to have reacted positively to plans for a new standard of healthy food, with Ken Murphy, Tesco Group CEO, saying: “All food businesses have a critical part to play in providing good quality, affordable and healthy food.
“At Tesco, we have measured and published our own healthier food sales for a number of years now – we believe it is key to more evidence-led policy and better-targeted health interventions.
“That’s why we have called for mandatory reporting for all supermarkets and major food businesses and why we welcome the government’s announcement on this.
“We look forward to working with them on the detail of the Healthy Food Standard and its implementation by all relevant food businesses.”
Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said: “We’re passionate about making good food joyful, accessible and affordable for everyone and have been championing the need for mandatory health reporting, across the food industry for many years.
“Today’s announcement from government is an important and positive step forward in helping the nation to eat well.
“We need a level playing field across the entirety of our food sector for these actions to have a real and lasting impact.”
Scottish Power, the Spanish-owned energy supplier, and larger rival Ovo Energy have begun holding exploratory talks about a merger that would create a company serving more than six million British households.
Sky News has learnt that executives from Iberdrola, which owns Scottish Power, and Ovo have been engaged in preliminary discussions in recent weeks about the possibility of a deal.
The talks are at an early stage and any formal transaction would be months away, if it materialised at all.
If the two companies do agree a merger of their residential gas and electricity operations, it would create the third-largest supplier behind Centrica-owned British Gas and Octopus Energy.
As the larger company, with 4 million customers, Ovo would probably be the acquiring entity, but with Iberdrola potentially contributing cash and remaining as a shareholder in the enlarged group, according to one banking source.
Scottish Power serves about 2.4 million households.
The discussions between the two companies are running in parallel to a separate process through which Ovo is exploring the potential to raise roughly £300m from the sale of new shares in the company, according to industry sources.
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In recent weeks, a number of financial investors have been contacted by Rothschild, the investment bank advising Ovo, about the opportunity.
Exactly a year ago, Sky News revealed that Ovo had hired Rothschild to explore options, including bringing in a new investor or a sale, 15 years after it launched in a bid to challenge the industry’s oligopoly.
Founded by Stephen Fitzpatrick, the entrepreneur who now owns London’s Kensington Roof Gardens, Ovo’s shareholders include the private equity firm Mayfair Equity Partners, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Mitsubishi Corporation, the Japanese conglomerate.
Under Mr Fitzpatrick, who launched Ovo in 2009, the company positioned itself as a challenger brand offering superior service to the industry’s established players.
Ovo’s transformational moment came in 2020, when it bought the retail supply arm of SSE, transforming it overnight into one of Britain’s leading energy companies.
Its growth has not been without difficulties, however, particularly in relation to its challenged relationship with Ofgem and a torrent of customer complaints about overcharging.
Justin King, the former J Sainsbury chief who now chairs Ovo, has made repairing its regulatory relationships a priority for the company.
He also oversaw the recruitment of David Buttress, who was briefly Boris Johnson’s cost-of-living tsar after leaving the top job at Just Eat, as its chief executive.
Key to Ovo’s longer-term valuation will be the performance of its technology platform, Kaluza, which was set up to license software to other energy suppliers and provides customers with smart electric vehicle charging and heat pumps.
Ovo announced last year that AGL Energy, one of Australia’s biggest energy suppliers, had bought a 20% stake in Kaluza at a $500m (£395m) valuation.
The British energy company has also entered the electric vehicle car charging sector under the brand Charge Anywhere, adding tens of thousands of public charging points across the UK.
Iberdrola bought Scottish Power in 2007 in a deal valuing the company at more than £11bn.
Next week, the UK’s energy price cap will fall by 7% to £1,720 a year, following an announcement by Ofgem, the industry regulator.