Key events
Campaigners call for end to ‘peak fare rip off’ on trains in England and Wales
Jess Clark
Campaigners are calling for an end to the “peak fare rip off”, where commuters in some parts of the country face far higher mark-ups to travel at busy times.
The call came after regulated rail fares in England and Wales jumped by 5.9% on Sunday – the biggest hike in a decade – adding hundreds of pounds to the cost of many annual season tickets despite record levels of poor service.
Consumer groups are now urging operators to make peak fares – which are not necessarily affected by the 5.9% rise – more equitable across the country and to reduce them on less popular days to combat overcrowding.
The news that London listed big data firm WANdisco is eyeing New York to create a dual listing (see 7.25am) is a reminder of the City’s struggles to attract tech companies.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor, says London is not facing a ‘mass exodus’, but points out that recent technology floats have struggled:
According to Sky News, it has hired bankers from Evercore Partners to help with the preparations. WANdisco’s chairman and CEO David Richards first discussed the possibility of a US listing in 2017.
The news comes after Arm Holdings abandoned London as a potential location for its IPO, FTSE 100 building business CRH also said it was planning to list in the US and Flutter was considering a secondary listing in New York. This has raised concerns about a potential flight of listed businesses away from the London Stock Exchange post Brexit to the United States. However we are far from seeing a mass exodus from the London market as of yet. The City has so far managed to preserve its position as Europe’s leading global financial hub.
One of the biggest challenges for the UK market has been its struggle to attract tech giants. New York continues to be the go-to destination for tech behemoths with the Nasdaq boasting giants like Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. While the FTSE 100 enjoyed relative resilience last year in part thanks to its shortage of tech stocks, this has long been a criticism and meant that the UK large-cap index missed out on the gains enjoyed stateside from the tech boom prior to 2022.
There have been some high-profile tech disasters in London including Deliveroo’s calamitous IPO and THG’s share price slide, adding to the sense of caution towards the UK among tech businesses deciding where to list.”
Big data company WANdisco eyes US stock market listing
WANdisco, a ‘big data’ business listed in London, has joined the growing ranks of companies considering a listing on the New York stock exchange.
WANdisco, which is headquartered in Sheffield, England and San Ramon, California, has told the City this morning that it is in the early stages of exploring a listing in the US, to run alongside its London listing.
Yesterday, Sky News reported that WANdisco was preparing to list its shares in the US “amid an intensifying debate about the waning attractiveness of the City to public companies”.
Last week, UK chip designer Arm chose to only list in the US, rebuffing London, and building materials giant CRH laid out plans to move its shares to the US.
WANdisco reminds shareholders that it has been considering a listing in New York for some time, and isn’t planning to quit London.
It says this morning that:
As a dual UK and US headquartered technology company, WANdisco has long-stated its intention to consider an additional listing of its ordinary shares in the United States. The company can confirm that it is in the early stages of proactively exploring this option.
The Company also confirms that it remains committed to London’s Alternative Investment Market (“AIM”) and to maintaining its current UK AIM listing.
Sky News has learnt that WANdisco, a ‘big data’ business, has hired bankers from Evercore Partners to prepare for a listing in New York https://t.co/LaNgQjDO9M
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 4, 2023
Introduction: UK car sales jumped 25% in February
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
UK car sales jumped by a quarter last month, while the cost of travelling by train across the country has risen again.
British new car registrations rose by a quarter in February, according to preliminary industry data released on Monday.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said the new car market grew by 25% last month in a year-on-year basis, despite the economic pressures from the cost of living crisis on households.
Plug-in electric vehicles made up about a quarter of the registrations, meaning that almost half a million plug-in cars are expected to join the road by the end of 2023.
The final data, from trade body SMMT, is due at 9am this morning.
Last weekend, train passengers were hit by the largest increase in fares for more than a decade on Sunday despite record levels of poor reliability.
Fares in England and Wales rose by up to 5.9% on average, adding hundreds of pounds to the cost of many annual season tickets.
It’s the largest increase in annual fares since a 6.1% hike across Britain in 2012, analysis shows. More here:
Also coming up today
Investors are digesting the news that China’s government has set a modest target for economic growth this year, as the annual session of its National People’s Congress (NPC) begins.
Beijing is aiming foreconomic growth this year of around 5% on Sunday, below last year’s goal of 5.5%, but above the 3% growth actually achieved.
The latest surveys of purchasing managers will show how construction firms in the UK, and across Europe, fared last month.
The agenda
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8.30am GMT: eurozone construction PMI report for February
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9am GMT: UK new car registrations for February
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9.30am GMT: UK construction PMI report for February
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10am GMT: Eurozone retail sales for January
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10am GMT: European Central Bank chief economist Philip Lane gives a lecture at Trinity College in Dublin
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3pm GMT: UK factory orders for January
