Key events
Full story: BMW U-turns on plans to move electric Mini production from UK to China
Kalyeena Makortoff
BMW will unveil a significant investment in its electric Mini plant in Oxford today, a move that will secure 4,000 jobs and strengthen the UK’s electric vehicle supply chain.
The investment by the German carmaker is the result of “extensive” engagement with the UK government, according to the business and trade department, and marks a reversal of plans to move electric Mini production abroad to China.
The plans to move production overseas – revealed last year – were seen as a blow to the UK’s ambitions to become a leader in global electric car manufacturing, and followed Honda’s decision to quit the UK in 2019.
The U-turn was hailed by government ministers including the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, who said BMW’s investment was “a huge vote of confidence in this country as a global leader in electric vehicles”.
Hunt said:
“This industry is motoring, creating thousands of jobs and powering our green transition.”
The government said BMW’s move represented a “multimillion-pound investment” but did not disclose a figure.
The carmaker is expected to provide further details on the investment, including the total sum, later on Monday, with the taxpayer also providing government funding (previously reported at £75m).
More here:
Dame Sharon White calls for Royal Commission review into ailing high streets
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
The chair of the John Lewis Partnership is calling for the UK government to launch a new Royal Commission help rescue and restore Britain’s high streets.
Dame Sharon White warns that the UK high street is in poor health, and that planning, taxation, crime, environmental policy, housing and transport all need to be considered together to find solutions.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph today, she says:
Too many towns and cities are shells of their former selves. Boarded-up shops left vacant, dwindling numbers of banks and post offices. And in their place, seemingly endless rows of vaping and charity shops. For too many local residents, the heart has been ripped out of their community.
Britain has lost 6,000 shops in the past five years, according to the British Retail Consortium. There are John Lewis and Waitrose stores amongst these statistics, but the Partnership is still standing strong, with more than 360 physical shops nationwide.
The collapse of Wilko this summer, which has already cost over 1,000 jobs, has highlighted the problems in retail.
The sector has endured a tough 15 years. First the financial crisis triggered a recession, followed by a long programme of austerity that squeezed household incomes.
The move to internet shopping forced more retailers to the wall, as the slump in the pound after the Brexit vote drove up import costs.
Between 2013 and 2018, one in 12 shops closed. And that process continued as the Covid-19 pandemic led to months of lockdowns, driving consumers to web shopping instead.
Dame Sharon argues that a Royal Commission could consider the best mix of retail, hospitality, offices and housing needed locally, to return high strees to becoming more welcoming places where people want to live, work and spend time.
She points out that the last Royal Commission into the health of UK towns was 180 years ago, so it’s time to put high streets under the spotlight again.
Dame Sharon writes:
Is it too naive to believe that, with an election approaching, the political parties could join forces for the good of the country on an agenda that aligns so closely with the Government’s levelling-up ambitions and the Opposition’s industrial strategy? Only a Royal Commission can set out a fresh vision for a prosperous high street for decades to come.
Just as the 1848 Public Health Act offered the chance to make a real difference for citizens of Victorian Britain, our generation has the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy for our communities and high streets for decades to come. Britain’s high streets have hope, but they need help.
More here: Bad policy is murdering our high streets
Also coming up today
BMW are announcing plans to build its next-generation zero-emission battery electric Minis in Oxford today, after securing a funding package from the UK government.
The carmaker is making a multimillion pound investment in its electric Mini production, the business ministry has just revealed,
The investment should secure the long-term future of Mini production in Britain, and secure 4,000 jobs.
We’re expecting an announcement from the company this morning.
Rishi Sunak said the government was securing jobs and growing the economy “by backing our car manufacturing industry”, adding:
“BMW’s investment is another shining example of how the UK is the best place to build cars of the future.”
The agenda
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9am BST: Bank of England’s chief economist Huw Pill is a panellist at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce
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2pm BST: Russia’s balance of trade for July
