Category: Financial

BACX, the performance energy drink startup, has announced a £1.2m seed funding round, led by four-time F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel, who retired from F1 last year, exclusively used BACX in fitness training and in the car during the 2022 season, when racing for Aston Martin. Following his experience of using the products, and an alignment over sustainability undertakings and vision of the brand, he also joins BACX as its global brand advocate.

BACX was founded by Jason Baits-Tomlin in 2020 to create a higher performing and healthier energy and rehydration alternative, for athletes and sports enthusiasts.

BACX’s first product is Performance Fuel, available in two flavours, and certified by Informed Sport. Mixed with water, the all-plant concentrate gives complete nutrition to keep endurance sports athletes and enthusiasts energised and hydrated throughout their activities. The vegan-friendly product is made entirely from plant-based ingredients which contains no artificial preservatives, colours … Read more

More than a third of Brits surveyed say the budget last week made them more concerned about the state of the UK’s economy.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled his spring statement in the House of Commons last week in light of rosier economic projections and within the government’s self-imposed fiscal rules.

He focused on childcare reforms, pensions and business investment but the OBR warned the nation’s tax burden will peak at a post-war high of 37.7 per cent of GDP in 2027-28.

People are also more concerned than reassured about their finances, Ipsos polling found.

Gideon Skinner, from Ipsos, said Brits realised “external factors are also to blame” but added that many still blame the Conservatives “for at least some of Britain’s economic difficulties”.

Meanwhile a separate poll for Opinium finds more than twice as many voters would prefer a Labour government led by Keir Starmer to be running public services … Read more

More than 1,000 Passport Office workers will go on strike for five weeks over a dispute about jobs, pay and conditions, unions say.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union working across England, Scotland and Wales will take part in the action from 3 April to 5 May.

The union warned of delays to applications and the delivery of passports in the run-up to summer.

Those working in Belfast are being balloted and could join the strike.

BBC News has contacted the Home Office for a response.

More than 4,000 people are employed by the Passport Office across the UK, meaning that according to the union figures around one in four workers will be walking out.

The offices affected in England, Scotland and Wales will include Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newport, Peterborough and Southport.

At peak times – including the month of April when the strike will take place … Read more

The UK is still on course to be the only big wealthy economy to register negative growth this year, despite an upturn in growth prospects, according to new international forecasts.

Projections from the Organisation for Economic Coordination and Development (OECD) show that the UK economy will be an outlier among wealthier countries with an annual contraction in growth this year of 0.2 per cent.

That is 0.2 percentage points better than the OECD’s last forecast in November but remains the worst performance among the richest countries.

The OECD’s forecast matches updated projections from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which said this week that the economy would narrowly avoid a technical recession this year, defined as two quarters of negative growth. The improved outlook is the result of lower energy prices and resilient consumer and business sentiment recorded this year. The economy will experience a “mild” recovery of 0.9 per … Read more

Virgin Orbit has paused its operations and furloughed its workforce as it hunts for a funding lifeline.

The satellite launch company, based in California, will put all work on hold for at least a week with just a skeleton team remaining at work.

Bosses told employees at an all-staff meeting on Wednesday that the remainder of the workforce will be put on unpaid furlough, although employees can cash in annual leave.

The decision comes after Virgin Orbit’s attempt to make the first satellite launch from UK soil in January failed.

The company’s chief executive, Dan Hart, told staff that putting them on furlough would buy time to finalise a new investment plan, Reuters reported. Staff are expected to be updated next week.

The pause spooked investors, and sent shares down 18.8% to 82 cents. The stock, listed on the US Nasdaq exchange, is down 44% this year.

The company said: … Read more