How Taylor Swift fans broke economics
Plus, household energy bills heading up, Shein reveals child labour in supply chain, a love of rugby and growing one of the world's largest and most successful VC firms
(Image: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
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Business Agenda
A summary of the most important business news
1. Household energy bills will go up by 10 per cent in October after Ofgem, the energy regulator, announced the latest change to the price cap for suppliers. You can read the announcement from Ofgem here.
2. The Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein says it has found two cases of child labour in its supply chain. Shein has stepped up scrutiny of the suppliers that make its clothes ahead of a potential £50bn listing on the London Stock Exchange. You can read more here.
3. Speaking of the London Stock Exchange, a wide-ranging overhaul of the listing rules has made it more attractive to join the London stock market. That is according to a senior executive at the first company to take advantage of the reforms. Andy Hunter, deputy managing director of CK Infrastructure, which is based in Hong Kong and has a market capitalisation of almost £14bn, told The Times that the new rules were “very welcome” and had made it “more straightforward” for the company to have its shares traded in London. You can read more here.
4. Peloton Interactive has reported its first increase in sales in nine quarters, suggesting that turnaround efforts by the bike and treadmill maker are starting to work. Peloton’s share price rose more than 41 per cent following the results. You can read more here and hear our podcast interview with the company’s UK chief here.
5. Mark Schneider has stepped down as chief executive of Nestlé after eight years in charge. The Swiss food group had disappointed investors with its performance and its share price is down by almost a fifth over the last year. Laurent Freixe, who has been at the company for almost 40 years, will succeed Schneider. You can read more here.
Business Thinker
Deep dives on business and leadership
🎤 How Taylor Swift fans broke economics
Sports stars, actors, influencers and even Keir Starmer and the Royals flooded into stadiums throughout the country to see Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. But the stats coming out of the singer’s tour have been mindblowing.
It’s contributed over £1bn to the UK economy and it’s estimated throughout the entire UK leg of the Eras Tour, more than 1.2 million Swifties used more than 65 terabytes of data. This article from The Wall Street Journal highlights the pitfalls of the secondary ticket market.
🏉 Can Roelof Botha keep Sequoia Capital ahead in the AI future?
I don’t keep my love of rugby hidden very well. In fact, I’ve written a number of articles on the topic, including what leaders can learn from the 2023 Rugby World Cup champions and a book review of what leaders can learn from Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus.
Someone else who can’t hide his love for what I call the beautiful game is Roelof Botha – the head of Sequoia Capital, one of the oldest, largest, and most successful firms in venture capital. “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” he says. This Fortune article is a fascinating look into the firm that invested early in Google, Nvidia, and Apple.
🏖️ Make the most of your holiday when you can’t fully unplug
Although working during a holiday isn’t ideal, there may be times when projects, deadlines, or client obligations prevent you from being fully offline. While it’s not easy to balance these competing priorities, it is possible to get critical work done while enjoying some refreshing time off.
The key is to do a little pre-planning, making sure to avoid a few common mistakes people make when mixing business and personal travel. This piece presents five pitfalls to avoid on your working vacation — and what to do instead.
Business Question
According to a recent survey, what percentage of employees have considered leaving their jobs because of transformation fatigue? (This is the exhaustion and frustration felt after multiple unsuccessful transformations)
A. 41 per cent
B. 50 per cent
C. 59 per cent
D. 64 per cent
The answer can be found at the bottom of the page.
Business Quote
Inspiration from leaders
“Bees don’t waste their time explaining to flies that honey is better than sh*t.”
– Anonymous
Business Leader
The best of our content
Growth Stories: King of the big night out
Ajith Jayawickrema, the entrepreneurial force behind Las Iguanas and Turtle Bay, has a knack for creating thriving casual dining brands with vibrant atmospheres.
Arriving in the UK from Sri Lanka at 15, Jayawickrema’s journey from working at McDonald’s to building multi-million-pound restaurant chains showcases his relentless drive and innovative vision.
Now, as Turtle Bay’s non-executive deputy chair, he reflects on the pivotal stages of business growth and the challenges that come with scaling up.
Read the article here and the rest of our Growth Stories series here.
Other popular pieces
👀 McDonald’s, Nike and Starbucks show the perils of losing sight of the customer
✍️ The power of a story: Redefining success in a data-driven world
💸 How do you solve a problem like scale-up lending?
And finally…
It is not too late to join the competition that everyone wants to win – the Business Leader mini-league in Fantasy Premier League. If you want to enter your team, simply click the link here.
Congratulations to the leader after week one – Alex Brennan, whose superbly-named team Werder Brennan amassed 73 weeks. The chase is on to catch him…
The answer to today’s Business Question is B. 50 per cent.
