Labour is delivering for defence in Scotland through Clyde 2070, says Inverclyde MP
The House of Commons rises for summer recess next week, and I'm looking forward to a summer of getting out and about meeting as many people, groups, and businesses as possible.
Yesterday, I held street surgeries in Braeside and it was great to speak to people on their doorsteps and see what I can do to support them, and over the weekend I'll be out in Port Glasgow.
We've got street and high street business surgeries planned in addition to my regular coffee mornings and advice surgeries over the summer so please do get in touch with my office if you'd like to know when we're next in your area!
We're delivering for defence in Scotland
The UK Government's announcement of a £250 million investment at HM Naval Base Clyde is welcome news and, on Wednesday, I joined colleagues at the base to discuss how this funding can benefit communities across the west coast.
More than 6,000 people work at HM Naval Base Clyde. (Image: Newsquest)HMNB Clyde is already one of the largest single employment sites in the west of Scotland with more than 6,000 people employed there, many from our area.
The Clyde 2070 programme will modernise the base to support the next generation of submarines, and this defence dividend can be maximised by local communities for years to come. It will open up skilled roles in the defence sector – an area where Inverclyde has real potential to lead.
I'll be working to ensure that local people benefit from this investment. Through this, we can foster skills and deliver for the next generation of workers in our area.
I'll keep fighting for Ferguson Marine
This week, the chief executive of Ferguson Marine, Graeme Thomson, appeared before the Scottish Affairs Committee in the House of Commons and, once again, said that the yard will struggle if they are overlooked for the replacement contract for the MV Lord of the Isles ferry.
We can't have a situation again where work for Scottish boats is sent overseas.
Graeme Thomson appeared before MPs at Westminster this week. (Image: Ferguson Marine) I was proud to see the UK Government delivering for Fergusons as they signed a contract with BAE Systems to build structural components for one of the Royal Navy's new state-of-the-art warships. Now, we need the Scottish Government to step up and step in to ensure the yard's place on the Clyde for the next generation.
Over the coming months, I'll continue to push CMAL and the Scottish Government to do right by the yard.
Our UK Labour Government is empowering young people
One of the most exciting parts of my job is meeting young people across [[Inverclyde]] and Renfrewshire West and visiting our local schools.
Over the past few months, I've visited several schools to talk about politics, democracy, and the issues that matter to them and welcomed schools to Parliament to do the same. I'm always struck by how well informed our young people are about politics and how engaged they are in making a change in their community.
That's why I welcome the UK Government's announcement that it plans to lower the voting age to 16 before the next general election.
Young people aged 16 and 17 will soon be able to vote in UK elections. (Image: PA) Young people are already able to vote in Scottish council elections and Scottish Parliament elections. It's right that it should be the same for UK elections.
Young people are already shaping our communities, and they deserve a say in the decisions that affect their future.
Bank cards will be now also accepted as voter ID at polling stations, stripping away the red tape for voters to make your lives easier.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NewPrinces' move for Carrefour's Italy stores stuns sector
The origins of Italy's NewPrinces date back little more than 20 years but, in its two decades of existence, the food and drinks group has grown mainly through M&A and its deal-making has often attracted attention. The company's moves for, say, UK food manufacturer Symington's in 2021, and the larger acquisition of Princes last year caught the eye while the business' recent decision to buy a clutch of brands in Italy from Kraft Heinz underlined its ambitions. But all of those transactions have been somewhat overshadowed by NewPrinces' surprising move to snap up Carrefour's operations in Italy. The deal, expected to close by the end of this quarter, will give NewPrinces – one of Italy's largest food manufacturers – ownership of more than 1,000 retail stores in the country. 'We are taking a decisive step towards vertical integration between production and distribution, strengthening our ability to create value along the entire supply chain,' NewPrinces chairman – and majority shareholder – Angelo Mastrolia said last Thursday when the deal was announced. 'Our ambition is clear: to build a sustainable, solid and long-term model that can offer concrete benefits to customers, employees, suppliers and shareholders.' It's uncommon for a food manufacturer to buy a retailer and the move has startled industry watchers. 'NewPrinces seems to operate from a different textbook on how to do business,' one experienced market watcher told Just Drinks. While NewPrinces' move is unusual, it's not entirely unheard of. Speaking to Il Sole 24 Ore, Mastrolia looked over the border to Switzerland where Migros and Coop 'already control the entire process from production to distribution'. As GlobalData retail analyst Neil Saunders pointed out, UK grocer Morrisons also has some vertical integration in its supply chain with manufacturing facilities. 'It is quite unusual for a food manufacturer to buy a supermarket, although it makes sense on some levels,' Saunders says. 'There are certainly some opportunities for close cooperation, especially in areas like private label and distribution. However, most supermarkets have to stock a wide variety of products, so the scope for total integration is limited. 'My sense is that NewPrinces will operate the supermarket operation fairly separately from its core business, at least in financial terms. Even so, this boosts the value of the group and gives it more muscle in the food space. There is clearly an ambition here to be a bigger player in the food ecosystem.' Carrefour's struggles in Italy NewPrinces set out a list of reasons for why it swooped for Carrefour's Italian business. They included: to 'gain direct access' to the end consumer; to 'optimise synergies' between production and distribution; and to develop 'new omnichannel platforms' to sell and deliver products. It is also planning to relaunch the GS retail banner. In its statement, the company said the deal is based on an enterprise value of €1bn ($1.18bn). As part of the transaction, Carrefour will reinvest €237.5m as a one-off contribution to the Italian unit changing hands 'to support its industrial relaunch and operational continuity', NewPrinces said. The food-and-drinks manufacturer said it is committed to investing €200m 'in development initiatives, logistics innovation and brand renewal'. Carrefour's business in Italy, centred on the north of the country. NewPrinces will take on an estate of supermarkets, convenience stores and cash-and-carry outlets and the fact both parties have set out plans to invest in Carrefour's Italian operations underlines how the business has found the going challenging in recent quarters. Carrefour's sales in Italy declined in 2024 and the business generated with a recurring operating loss of €67m and a negative 'net free cash flow of €180m'. The French retail giant said it had been doing business 'in a particularly challenging economic and competitive environment' in Italy. News of the deal came alongside the publication of Carrefour's second-quarter sales, which included a 1.6% increase in Italy on a like-for-like basis. The retailer said it 'stabilised its market share in volume' in Italy during the quarter. Nonetheless, Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard said the deal to sell the assets to NewPrinces 'illustrates our ability to refocus the group on its most contributive activities'. Much like another transaction NewPrinces announced this year – the acquisition of a drinks plant in Italy that Diageo had earmarked for closure – there is the feeling among some in the sector that the move for Carrefour's stores appears to be a grab for scale for its own sake. Publicly listed NewPrinces saw its share price slide in the wake of the news (the shares have since more than regained the lost ground). In an interview with Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore published on Saturday, Mastrolia sounded unworried. 'The market does not always understand operations immediately,' he was quoted as saying. 'It has happened to me in the past, when faced with other acquisitions made by the group and, in the end, the market had to agree with us.' It's a deal that's got the market talking. 'Because the Princes part of the business is making generic products like canned tomatoes and tuna, the bet is the distribution gained in these contracts is going to be significant. Add to that what is likely some pretty aggressive deal-making and the strategic rationale becomes clearer,' Robert Lawson of European consultancy Food Strategy Associates, says. 'But they will need to learn retailing pretty quickly.' Lawson believes there are possible benefits for NewPrinces to try to capture, although he has a note of caution. 'The clear synergy opportunity for a manufacturer buying a retailer is to capture extra listings and promote their own products at the expense of rivals' products. The clear risk is that other retailers de-list your products because you are now a competitor,' he says. 'The centre of gravity for NewPrinces has substantially moved away from Italy with the acquisition of Princes. Furthermore, Carrefour in Italy is really a north Italian brand and much of the retail world in Italy is regional, so the bet for NewPrinces is that they can win contracts and not lose too many.' Food manufacturers supplying Carrefour's stores in Italy will also be watching closely. 'We will guarantee our customers the same treatment and offer our products at the same prices as we offer them in other large-scale retail chains,' Mastrolia told Il Sole 24 Ore. The potential for private label NewPrinces may be home to brands including Princes tuna, Napolina tinned tomatoes and Delverde pasta but the company sees opportunities in private label from the Carrefour deal, Il Sole 24 Ore said. Stefano Di Napoli, the founder and CEO at UK-based CPGS Consulting, believes private label is central to the rationale for the deal and has a warning for brands. 'This is a food manufacturer buying a grocer. That's highly unusual and a warning shot for CPG manufacturers,' Di Napoli says. 'Why? Because private label is no longer a side game. It's becoming the dominant strategy in CPG retail.' For Di Napoli, private label is 'the most existential threat CPG brands are facing'. He adds: 'What used to be your distribution partner is now your direct competitor – one with more shopper insight, faster feedback loops, and growing consumer trust. The categories NewPrinces plays in – canned foods, ambient meals, dairy, pasta – are precisely those where brands are weakest and private label is strongest. The portfolio logic here is hard to ignore.' Once the deal is finalised, NewPrinces expects its pro-forma annual revenue to be around €6.9bn (which would also include a contribution from the Kraft Heinz assets the company is the process of buying). In 2024, the company's revenue – if the then Newlat and Princes were joined for the whole – would have been €2.8bn. It's certainly been a period of rapid expansion. NewPrinces says it will become 'among the leading players in the integrated food and retail sector in Europe'. On LinkedIn, Giuseppe Mastrolia, Angelo's son and the company's chief commercial officer, said the move for Carrefour's Italian business was 'not just an acquisition. It is a step towards a different idea of business'. "NewPrinces' move for Carrefour's Italy stores stuns sector" was originally created and published by Just Drinks, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Washington Post
37 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Willis Towers Watson: Q2 Earnings Snapshot
LONDON — LONDON — Willis Towers Watson PLC (WTW) on Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $331 million. The London-based company said it had profit of $3.32 per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $2.86 per share. The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.65 per share.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Aston Martin warns on profit as US tariffs, stagnant Chinese demand bite
By Shashwat Awasthi (Reuters) -British luxury carmaker Aston Martin issued a profit warning on Wednesday citing a hit from U.S. import tariffs and prolonged suppressed Asian demand linked to China's economic slowdown, sending the company's shares down as much as 7%. It forecast adjusted operating profit to roughly break even this year, compared with its earlier expectation of positive earnings, as it also expects a hit from a stronger pound and investments in software. U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs had been "extremely disruptive" in the second quarter, Aston Martin executives said during a call with journalists. A trade deal Britain agreed with Washington last month establishes a quota-based U.S. tariff system for imported British cars. The first-come-first-served system allows 25,000 UK-made cars per quarter to qualify for a 10% tariff with additional imports facing a 27.5% levy. The company said the quota mechanism had complicated financial planning for 2025 and possibly into 2026. "We continue to actively engage the UK government to urge them to improve the quota mechanism to ensure fair access for the whole UK car industry to the 10% rate on an ongoing basis," CEO Adrian Hallmark said. Aston Martin resumed auto shipments to the U.S. in June after earlier curbs aimed at clearing inventories and has incrementally raised prices in response to the tariffs, it said. U.S. tariffs have pummelled global automakers, forcing companies like GM, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz to book billions of dollars of losses, issue profit warnings, slash forecasts, and raise prices. Aston Martin also warned that demand in the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for more than a quarter of its revenue, would remain suppressed in the near term. Sales in a "very stagnant" Chinese market, where a slowing economy is leading consumers to tighten their belts, were broadly flat in the first half of the year. "The guidance reduction is understandable in the face of current FX headwinds, investments in business and lower volumes until Q4," Bernstein analysts said in a note. Shares of the brand, which is associated with fictional secret agent James Bond, pared some earlier losses to trade 3.6% lower at 75.9 pence by 0951 GMT. Sign in to access your portfolio
