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00:00Hello, and welcome to the latest Business Bulletin on Tuesday the 25th of March.
00:05The government's been accused of an absence of humanity over planned national insurance
00:08increases for employers. Members of the House of Lords maintained their standoff over Rachel
00:13Reeves' plans, warning over the impact on hospices. They inflicted a string of fresh
00:17defeats on the Labour frontbench, demanding safeguards be introduced alongside the controversial
00:22tax rises. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has called for global economies to
00:27come together to help ease trade tensions. He was speaking at Leicester University on
00:32Monday amid the mounting tariff war caused by Donald Trump's policies in the US.
00:38Annual profits of B&Q owner Kingfisher have dropped by more than a third. The companies
00:43cautioned over rising costs following government budgets in the UK and France. Kingfisher generated
00:48pre-tax profits of £307 million for the year to the end of January, which is a 35% decline
00:55on last year. Oil giant Shell is ramping up cost-saving targets. It's vowed to deliver
01:01more value with less emissions, despite weakening its carbon reduction pledge last year. The
01:06oil giant told investors it would now look to strip out a cumulative £3.9 billion and
01:11£5.4 billion a year by the end of 2028.
01:16And an energy sector body is urging the government to consent to new projects in the North Sea.
01:21According to Offshore Energies UK, the North Sea could produce half of the oil and gas
01:25the UK needs over the next 25 years, but only if Labour allows companies to operate there.
01:31OEUK says it could be worth £150 billion to the UK economy.
01:36That's all for today. More tomorrow.