Only one club have managed to win three Premier League titles back-to-back – Manchester United, twice – but Manchester City made the perfect start in their bid to be the second club to do so when Erling Haaland became the second City player after Sergio Aguero to score two goals on his league debut.

Haaland’s father, former City right-back Alfie, watched on as his son’s brace earned his side a 2-0 win over a sorry looking West Ham at the London Stadium yesterday.

After blasting a first-half penalty earned when replacement West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola brought the Norwegian down in the box, it was Haaland’s second goal that mimicked many of the 67 the 22-year-old scored at Borussia Dortmund.

The UK’s biggest electricity distributor has passed on hundreds of millions of pounds in higher prices to energy users to cover the cost of a wave of failed energy suppliers during the industry crisis.

UK Power Networks, which controlled by the Hong Kong billionaire Sir Li Ka-shing, revealed it had received claims totalling £280m amount from suppliers taking on customers.

This follows nearly 30 energy firms collapsing over the past year amid soaring gas prices, insufficient hedging and the constraints of the price cap.

Energy suppliers that ensure continued supply after a firm collapses can claim back costs from the distribution network operators (DNOs).

This includes UK Power Networks, which operate the power lines and cables that connect homes to electricity, which was given the greenlight by Ofgem to pass most of the £280m in claims onto customers through an increase in tariffs.

These came into effect in April.

This is part...

Hostilities between the US and China over Taiwan could choke off the global supply of electronics like mobile phones, the European chief of chipmaker Intel has warned.

Tensions between the two nations have been rising after a visit by the US house speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, sparking fears that Beijing could stop exports from the chipmaking powerhouse.

Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Intel’s European chief Frans Scheper said shutting off Taiwan’s exports would have a “huge impact” and could cause a “major crisis”.

“If you think about mobile phones, 80-90pc of chips are coming from Asia, from that specific area,” Scheper told the newspaper.

“For certain applications it would have a huge impact. Maybe for others a little bit less, but there are not always alternative sources available.”

Scheper said that the firm was now ramping up its investment in manufacturing facilities in a bid to stave off potential disruption.

“We...

US low-cost airline JetBlue is planning to further its expansion into the “old continent” as it expects to post a profit this quarter. 

The carrier made the headlines last week when it reported a loss of $188m in the second quarter of the year due to fuel costs going up by around 30 per cent.

However, JetBlue said it was forecasting to return to profit for this quarter – the first since the pandemic hit. 

Looking ahead, the airline said it will continue to expand both in the US, with the recent takeover of rival Spirit Airlines for $33.50 per share, but also in Europe. 

“We expect in 2023 to add a second European destination, [but we are] still deciding what that is,” chief executive Robin Hayes told City A.M. during an interview. 

“And the UK regional airports like Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow are very interesting to us as well.”

Hayes’ remarks come as the company is about to celebrate the first-year...

Industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) has given its backing Equinor’s plans to develop a major oil and gas field on the UK’s continental shelf.

The Norwegian energy giant has submitted its environmental statement for the Rosebank development to theauthorities.

This has eased fears Equinor was considering ditching the £4.5bn project, following the introduction of the Energy Profits Levy this year.

Rosebank contains up to 300m barrels of recoverable oil, according to industry estimates, and is one of the largest untapped discoveries in UK waters.

At its peak, the Rosebank field, which lies about 81 miles north-west of Shetland, is predicted to produce 69,000 barrels of oil per day.

This would be roughly equivalent to eight per cent of the UK’s entire output between 2026 and 2030.

It would also produce about 44m cubic feet of gas (1.2m cubic metres) per day in its first 10 years – enough to supply a city the size of...

Workers have given Amazon until Wednesday to present an improved pay offer after staff walked out last week over salaries, City A.M. understands.

Around 450 workers at the Tilbury warehouse went on strike on Wednesday night and Thursday after Amazon responded to demands for a pay increase with a 35p per hour raise. 

Members of the union GMB have lobbied for a £2 per hour increase as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite into workers’ pockets. 

“Amazon is one of the most profitable companies on the planet,” GMB’s regional organiser Steve Garelick said on Thursday. “With household costs spiralling, the least they can do is offer decent pay.”

The union leader called on the online retailer to “drastically improve pay and working conditions.”

The action at Tilbury was not the only one as the union confirmed there were also walkouts on Thursday at the depot in Rugeley, Staffordshire. 

While go-slows took place at...

The US jobs market is still steaming despite the world’s biggest economy wobbling under the weight of soaring inflation and higher interest rates, figures published last week showed.

America added 528,000 jobs in July, pushing the unemployment down to 3.5 per cent, below pre Covid-19 levels, according to data from the US Labor Department.

The print smashed Wall Street’s expectations by around 300,000 jobs.

The shock jobs gain indicates the US Federal Reserve has more wiggle room than thought to keep hiking interest rates steeply to tame the biggest inflation surge in a generation without dealing unnecessary damage to the economy.

Fed chair Jerome Powell and co have lifted borrowing costs 75 basis points two months in a row. 

Collectively since March, rates have jumped 225 basis points, one of the fastest tightening cycles since former Fed chief Paul Volcker led the charge against price rises in the 1980s.

US living costs...

The boss of the London Stock Exchange has called for better financial education in schools to prevent a generation of young investors being shut out of capital markets.

Julia Hoggett, who was appointed to head the exchange last year, said a lack of financial education at a young age was preventing people from investing and therefore hampering wealth creation.

“It’s fundamental that savers, retail investors, policyholders and pensioners can invest in their future. But we need to ensure everyone has the right tools,” she said, as reported in the Mail on Sunday.

“Providing more education on how economies and markets work, from school age onwards, is an important first step.”

Hoggett added that there was “no silver bullet” to solve the problem and it was instead about how people “talk about markets’ real world impact”, as well as “enhancing financial literacy.” 

Financial literacy rates in the UK have lagged those in other developed...

World’s richest man Elon Musk has been urged to construct a Tesla plant in North East England, after the electric vehicle giant revealed ambitions to build a dozen new factories worldwide.

Ben Houchen, the Conservative Mayor for Tees Valley, wrote to Mr Musk on Friday calling on the Tesla billionaire to build a plant in the region.

In a letter seen by The Telegraph, Houchen argued Teesside could offer Tesla “hundreds of acres of ideal developable land” while avoiding “the bureaucratic entanglements seen at other sites”.

He also suggested Teesside would be able to offer Tesla access to customs incentives via the Teesside Freeport, which opened in November 2021.

He said: “In the UK, where we have an £82bn automobile industry which leads the world in production of high end vehicles, it would surely make sense for Tesla to develop a serious presence, with Teesside being the best possible location to do this.”

Tesla has suffered...

As Francesco Bagnaia stormed into first place at the Silverstone MotoGP earlier this afternoon, organisers had been hoping for a big turnout after last month’s record-breaking crowds at the racetrack. 

In July the largest ever F1 British Grand Prix was held at the 5.89km track in Northamptonshire, bringing an estimated £100 million to the county. A staggering 401,000 visitors watched Lewis Hamilton and rivals over the race weekend, enjoying an atmosphere of liberation and “revenge travel”, after two long hard years of Covid restrictions. 

The UK is preparing to simulate a gas supply crisis, to test how resilient the energy system is in the case of emergency shortages this winter.

The National Grid is readying critical stress tests with a specific focus on potential shortages caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

City A.M. understands the tests will take place over two days next month, and over two further days in October.

It will be carried out by the Government, regulators and major energy companies

The “National Grid Exercise Degree” has taken place anually for the past 26 years.

This time, it will take into account historic volatility in the energy markets, with Kremlin-backed gas giant Gazprom cutting gas flows via the key Nord Stream pipeline to just 20 per cent last month.

With growing fears Russia will entirely halt gas supplies into Europe in retaliation to Western sanctions imposed on the country following its invasion of Ukraine, the prospect of...

Liz Truss has not ruled out giving Brits cash payments later this year to combat the cost of living crunch, Penny Mordaunt has said.

The senior Truss ally, and fallen leadership contender, today said that people had been “overinterpreting” comments made by the foreign secretary this weekend about her policy plans.

Truss told the Financial Times this weekend that she would ease cost of living pressures “in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts”.

It comes as the Bank of England now predicts inflation to hit 13 per cent this year and Ofgem’s energy price cap could exceed £4,000 by January.

Leadership rival Rishi Sunak said Truss was “simply wrong” to rule out direct payments to families, after he announced a package earlier this year that saw people receive up to £1,200 to help pay for their energy bills.

Mordaunt told the BBC: “There’ll be different things required for different people – there’s the...

London bus drivers have joined the UK’s “summer of discontent” and announced a strike for 19 and 20 August following a dispute over salaries.

The union Unite said more than 1,600 of its members working for bus operator London United will join the walkout after the company’s parent, RATP Dev Transit, offered a 7.8 pay increase over this year and next. 

The strike will affect seven bus depots, including Shepherd’s Bush and Hounslow. 

“This dispute is of the company’s own making, it can make a fair pay offer to its workers but has chosen not to, so it now faces the prospects of a highly disruptive strike action,” said Unite regional officer Michelle Braveboy. 

City A.M. has approached RATP Dev Transit for comment, while a spokesperson for Transport for London (TfL) called on both parties to reach an agreement.

The walkout is expected to create maximum disruption, as it will coincide with both the TfL and national railway...

Investors are grappling with a mix of challenges they have not faced in years.

Tighter monetary policy. Sky-high inflation. Strong geopolitical tensions.

These factors have driven volatile swings in asset prices.

Usually in times of uncertainty, investors pile into the US dollar and American assets. And that is exactly what they are doing now.

US government debt has been the hottest ticket in town due to the Federal Reserve’s rapid policy tightening.

Jerome Powell, the chief of the world’s most influential central banks, and co have lifted borrowing costs 225 basis points since March, one of the fastest rate hike cycles since the early 1980s when former chair Paul Volcker led the charge against another inflation surge.

Markets think US rates will peak around 3.5 per cent compared to three per cent in the UK. 

Inflation has put downward pressure on American bond prices due to investors pricing in the Fed being more...

The planned break-up of ‘Big Four’ firm EY has been pushed back to the end of the year as regional bosses mull the practicalities of proposals to carve up its consultancy and audit practices, according to reports.

Regional heads of the professional services giant are yet to formally approve the decision and a strategic review of the proposal has yet to conclude, according to sources cited by the Sunday Times.

The decision had reportedly initially been slated for last month but is now expected by the end of this month at the earliest. Any plans will also need the approval of the firm’s partners, which could extend the process until November or December.

The professional services giant is set to shake the industry as it becomes the first of the ‘Big Four’ to break off its consultancy and audit practices, after major criticism over conflicts of interest over a series of high profile audit failures.

EY’s rivals PwC, Deloitte and KPMG yet to...

The worst is over for German airline Lufthansa after staff shortages caused flight chaos over the summer, but levels of sick leave remain challenging, board member Christina Foerster told newspapers in the Funke Media group.

Airlines across Europe have struggled to cope with a strong rebound in holiday season demand after the COVID-19 pandemic stopped much travel, as reported by Reuters.

Many airports faced huge queues due to staff shortages, prompting last-minute cancellations.

“The low point has passed. Flight operations are largely stabilized,” Foerster was quoted as telling Funke in an interview published on Sunday.

“Nevertheless, this summer we are dealing with a level of sick leave that is not easy to offset,” said Foerster, adding the situation remained challenging.

Most flight cancellations are affecting domestic routes where there are alternatives, she said. She added, however, that the situation would only improve...

BP will pay a lower rate of taxes this year than prior to the pandemic, revealed the company’s chief financial officer Murray Auchinloss.

He told investors the energy giant’s tax rate had fallen courtesy of strong results from its refineries and traders.

The FTSE 100 company forecasts its global underlying effective tax rate this year to be around 35 per cent.

This compares favourably with tax rates of 36 per cent in 2019 and 38 per cent in 2017 and 2018. 

Auchniloss reported a 30 per cent tax rate “give or take” for the first six months of the year, and a higher 40 per cent rate for the second half of the year – resulting in a 35 per cent guidance.

He said: ” I suppose what we didn’t plan for at the beginning of the year was a much stronger refining market, nor did we plan for exceptional trading. So, if you take account of those things, that’s what that’s what drives the effective rate lower.”

More widespread hosepipe bans should be enforced by water firms across England as fears grow about a potential drought in southern England, according to the UK’s environment secretary.

George Eustice today said it was “right” that firms had already taken action and introduced water restrictions and called for further interventions.

July was the driest on record for the South East and East Anglia, with some areas experiencing just 10 per cent of their historical average rainfall throughout the month.

South East Water – which covers the counties of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire – will enforce a hosepipe ban on Friday.

People in these areas are being threatened with £1,000 fines for using hosepipes to water their gardens or wash their cars.

Eustice wrote in the Telegraph that he would support millions more Brits being put into similar restrictions in the coming weeks.

“I strongly urge other water companies to take...

The Government has launched an investigation into the overseas takeover of the UK’s main natural gas pipeline.

Ministers will review the sale of a 60 per cent stake in National Grid’s transmission business to a consortium spearheaded by Macquarie under new national security rules, according to The Telegraph.

Downing Street is scrambling to secure energy supplies ahead of winter, amid mounting fears of supply shortages during the coldest months of the year when demand is at its peak.

The £4.2bn deal is one of the biggest acquisitions to be investigated under the National Security and Investment Act (NSIA).

This follows the UK’s biggest microchip plant, Newport Wafer Fab to Nexperia and French billionaire Patrick Drahi’s stake-building in BT being called in over the act.

The act came into force at the start of the year, driven by fears of key British companies falling into the wrong hands.

Under the NSIA, the Government...

Vue International has cut its valuation to £650m following a £1bn restructuring deal announced last month. 

The UK-headquartered cinema chain said in July it was considering a £1bn takeover from lenders which would see its former majority shareholders ousted, the Sunday Times reported.

As part of the takeover, the cinema chain also negotiated its exit from a €129.5m legal claim made by Event Hospitality and Entertainment, owner of German cinemas CineStar. 

Vue had initially agreed to take over CineStar in 2018 but the deal was paused after competition concerns arose. 

The German company initiated legal proceedings but, following the restructuring, it is understood that Event will be considered as an unsecured creditor and its claims will be written off.

Vue International was bought by Canadian pension funds Alberta Investment Management and Omers in 2013 and in 2019 it was preparing for a £2bn sale when it was hit hard...

The government needs to set an emergency budget or millions of Brits will face “a winter of dire poverty”, according to Gordon Brown.

The former Prime Minister today said families are facing a “financial timebomb” in October as inflation continues to climb and Ofgem prepares to lift the energy price cap again.

There are fresh warnings today that the UK’s energy price cap will be increased to more than £4,000 by January, after it was £1,277 last October.

The Bank of England also warned on Thursday that inflation will hit 13 per cent and that the country will likely fall into recession.

Rishi Sunak today said that he would give out further cash grants to people this autumn if he is made Prime Minister, while Liz Truss vowed to bring forward wide-ranging tax cuts months earlier than planned.

Truss has also said she would have her chancellor deliver an emergency budget next month if she wins the Tory leadership contest – something Brown...

Top of City traders’ minds this week will be whether fresh GDP figures reveal the UK is already in the early stages of the drawn out recession the Bank of England forecast last week.

Despite the economic doom, London’s FTSE 100 was broadly stable, edging 0.16 per cent lower to close the week at 7,439.74 points.

The domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, dropped 0.76 per cent to close at just above the 20,000 mark.

Investors are betting Friday’s new GDP print will show the economy shrank 0.1 per cent over the last quarter and 1.1 per cent in June.

If borne out, those figures would raise the risk of the UK falling into recession earlier than the Bank’s final quarter projection last week.

A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth, meaning Britain would steer into reverse if the economy also contracted in the third quarter.

“We expect second...

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have pledged billions of pounds worth of cost of living help as Britons face down further inflation increases.

Truss, the frontrunner to be the next Prime Minister, told The Telegraph she would rush through £30bn+ in tax cuts months earlier than planned to combat the expected increases in inflation in the second half of the year.

She also ruled out further cash grants to help people pay their energy bills, after the government gave payments worth up to £1,200 this year.

Sunak said Truss was “wrong” to rule out direct help for households later this year as the UK’s energy price cap could rise above £4,000 by January.

Ofgem set the cap at £1,277 last October.

Sunak told The Times that he would “go further” on the cash payments he announced earlier this year if made Conservative leader and Prime Minister.

“It’s simply wrong to rule out further direct support at this time as Liz Truss has done and what’s...

The UK economy will grow faster than official forecasters expect this year and the rate of expansion will be higher in the long term, according to a new report released today.

A Worcestershire hop grower has teamed up with a Derbyshire brewery and retailer Tesco on the first of a series of “all-British grown” IPA-style beers aimed at halting the charge of imported ingredients from America.

Newland-based hop factor and merchant Charles Faram has been on a 10-year mission to modernise the flavour of British hops through natural cross-breeding programmes, making some varieties “fruitier” to compete with US-grown competitors used in East and West Coast IPAs.

Traditional hop-growing areas including Kent, Herefordshire and Worcestershire have faced increasing competition in recent years from New World hops brought in from the US, Australia and New Zealand, as younger drinkers demanded bolder new tastes.