Russell Lynch
Evening Standard
United Kingdom
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Past articles by Russell:
Business interview: Ovo Chief Stephen Fitzpatrick in pole position for the renewable power revolution
Stephen Fitzpatrick once made a good living as a City trader before founding energy supplier Ovo, and you can see why. Sitting cross-legged on a sofa in his Notting Hill office, the 41-year-old Northern Irishman exudes focus. He’s controlled to the point of being cagey, speaks in a measured, low voice. If you walked past him in the street you’d barely give him a second look, still less think he… → Read More
US toy giant Hasbro swoops for Peppa Pig owner Entertainment One
Peppa Pig joined forces with the Power Rangers on Friday as US toy giant Hasbro made a $4 billion (£3.3 billion) swoop for Entertainment One. The deal for the London-listed production company — which owns the rights to the infants’ favourite — marks the second takeover of the week of a major UK firm after Hong Kong’s richest man Li Ka-shing unveiled a £2.7 billion acquisition → Read More
Rise in borrowing is latest blow for the Treasury’s coffers and Boris Johnson's spending ambitions
PUBLIC borrowing is now £6 billion ahead of last year, official figures revealed today, putting strain on the heavy spending pledges of new Prime Minister Boris Johnson, right. The UK’s deficit reached £16 billion in the four months of the financial year so far, against £10 billion 12 months ago. The latest blow for the Treasury’s coffers came in a much smaller £1.3 billion → Read More
Shoppers snap up cheaper food as caution mounts
Supermarket shoppers snapped up millions extra in cheaper own-label goods over the past month in a sign of increasing consumer caution over household budgets, industry figures showed on Tuesday. Research firm Nielsen’s latest data for the four weeks to August 10 found customers put an extra £85 million of own-label products in their shopping baskets compared to a year ago, → Read More
Worst slump for six years puts manufacturers in ‘chokehold’ as pound sinks to a fresh two-year low
The UK’s beleaguered manufacturers are “suffocating under the chokehold” of weak global growth and political uncertainty after output went into reverse for the third month in a row, experts warned today. → Read More
Gas glut triggers leak for Shell after profits fall to lowest since 2016
Royal Dutch Shell, the world’s biggest dividend payer, crashed to the bottom of the FTSE 100 on Thursday as a global gas glut and squeezed refining margins hammered profits. The blue-chip staple of millions of pension funds disappointed the City with a surprise 26% fall in second-quarter profits to $3.5 billion (£2.9 billion). That was the lowest result since the end of 2016 → Read More
Russell Lynch: UK housing needs political stability, not revolving doors
In business, continuity is seen as a good thing. So it is no wonder that housebuilders are getting irritated as they prepare to introduce themselves to the ninth housing minister since 2010. Taylor Wimpey boss Pete Redfern talks today about the need for “consistency”, while Peter Long of estate agent Countrywide wants somebody in place for a “decent amount of time”. They → Read More
Russell Lynch: Second cut was the deepest for Centrica boss Iain Conn
The rule of thumb in plcs is pretty simple. You can cut the dividend once. Cut it twice, and you’re a goner. Centrica’s Iain Conn found that out today when he “agreed with the board” he should step down next year. New chairman Charles Berry duly wielded the knife and, as a former Scottish Power boss, will already be leafing through his contacts book for a successor. Who would → Read More
Russell Lynch: Heathrow need fear no turbulence from Boris as PM
Heathrow Airport is bracing itself for industrial action this summer, but the threat of political turbulence, from the direction of Downing Street at least, looks slim. → Read More
Russell Lynch: Boris — and Javid — can give Tories a business reset
An ingenue observer of recent British politics will have struggled, to put it mildly, to identify the Conservatives as the natural home of business. Indeed, Theresa May’s early brand of Toryism went out of its way to pick a fight with wealth creators before paralysis struck in the dismal aftermath of the 2017 election. Now the Boris Johnson era is just days away and → Read More
No-deal Brexit fear for UK with inflation set to surge ‘above 4%’
Millions of UK households face a painful financial squeeze in a no-deal Brexit as inflation soars above 4%, a leading economic forecaster warned on Monday. The National Institute for Economic and Social Research’s latest forecasts said the collapse in the pound even in the event of an “orderly” no-deal exit from the EU “would considerably add to price pressures” as the cost of → Read More
Borrowing under Chancellor Philip Hammond surges as deficit doubles
CHANCELLOR Philip Hammond today oversaw a huge surge in borrowing days before his spell at 11 Downing Street comes to an end. The Office for National Statistics said the UK deficit more than doubled to £7.2 billion last month in the worst June for the public coffers for four years. → Read More
Office for Budget Responsibility takes aim at Chancellor Philip Hammond
The Office for Budget Responsibility, gave a damning verdict on the potential health of the nation’s coffers — as well as the recent spending spree by outgoing Chancellor Philip Hammond — in its latest fiscal risks report today. It stated: “Policy risks to the public finances in the medium term are significant and look greater than they were two years ago. In his recent → Read More
Pound to Dollar exchange rate: Sterling takes more pain as no-deal Brexit fears and election talk linger
The pound hit fresh two-year lows today as no-deal Brexit fears lingered and inflation figures gave the Bank of England breathing space to keep rates low. The Consumer Prices Index held steady at the Bank’s 2% target for the second month running, despite pay figures yesterday showing wage growth at an 11-year peak of 3.6%. Meanwhile input prices for manufacturers — which → Read More
UK economy fights to stay out of reverse as carmakers surge
The biggest jump in car production for over 20 years fuelled hopes on Wednesday that the UK economy could avoid crashing into reverse gear for the first time since 2012. Official figures showed GDP rising 0.3% in May — much stronger than forecasts of a rise of 0.1% — helped by a 24% surge in car-making, the largest leap since at least 1995. → Read More
Turkey’s £1.4 billion to prop up lira after President Erdogan’s shock decision to sack Governor
TURKEY’S central bank splashed £1.4 billion defending the ailing lira today in the wake of President Erdogan’s shock decision to sack its governor. The authoritarian’s move against Murat Cetinkaya — announced by presidential decree this weekend — sent shockwaves through the currency, which plunged as much as 3% in trading today. The central bank launched a 10 billion lira → Read More
Global stock markets bounce on hopes of trade truce
Global stock markets enjoyed a G20 bounce on Monday amid hopes of a truce in the trade war between the US and China. London’s FTSE 100 index and European markets followed Asia higher as US President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping agreed to restart talks on trade at the weekend summit in Osaka, Japan. The dispute between the world’s two biggest economies has led both to → Read More
Factories ‘gasping for breath’ as Brexit chaos deepens slump
UK manufacturers are “gasping for breath” after their worst month for more than six years in June, alarming new figures revealed today. The Chartered Institute for Procurement & Supply’s worrying new snapshot blamed a “triple whammy” of clients winding down after building up Brexit stockpiles ahead of the original March 29 deadline, weakening domestic markets, and sliding → Read More
Evening Standard Business Awards 2019: The best business leaders and most innovative companies honoured at our annual awards
Retailing veteran Kate Swann was today honoured as business leader of the year at the Evening Standard’s fourth annual business awards. The 54-year-old former chief executive of WH Smith and Upper Crust owner SSP said she was “really surprised but thrilled” to beat other leading executives to the accolade at the awards, sponsored by London City Airport. Around 200 guests → Read More
Labour MP Mary Creagh says Southern Water is a 'rotten' firm after its record fine
UTILITY Southern Water came under more flak after its record £126 million fine today as a leading Labour MP said there was “something rotten” there. Southern falsified records over a seven-year period to disguise pollution from its sewage plants in behaviour described as “shocking” by regulator Ofwat. Mary Creagh, chairman of the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee, → Read More