Business Roundup for Spain and the UK

Family business JUANA ROIG, 32-year-old daughter of Mercadona’s owner Juan Roig, also heads the supermarket chain’s online presence.

During a recent podcast when asked if she ruled rule out taking over from her father, Roig immediately answered no, before saying that she hoped that particular moment would not arrive for a long time.

She then explained that it made  sense for an executive to be a family member, but added,“Shares are inherited, not the post.”

Juan Roig also dismissed the possibility of floating Mercadona on the stock exchange or selling the chain.

“Right now, it wouldn’t be sold for anything in the world, it’s like my father’s fifth daughter,” she declared.

She said that being her father’s daughter had it good side and bad side but admitted that she knew she owed her online role at Mercadona to her surname.

Glass ceiling THE Women Matter España survey by McKinsey & Company, found that women occupied few senior executive posts in Spain.

After studying more than 45 companies with approximately 300,000 employees between them, the international management consultants found that the glass ceiling remained relatively intact.

Only 6 per cent of director general positions were filled by women in 2022, compared with the European Union’s 8 per cent.

On the other hand, Spanish companies had more female board members, with an average of 33 per cent against 31 per cent in the EU.

Russian exit BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO (BAT), which formerly dominated 25 per cent of the Russian market, intends to leave this year.

Following the Ukraine invasion BAT, which makes Rothmans and Lucky Strike, announced that it intended to leave Russia and would sell its operation there to a local partner. It is also making plans to transfer its unit in Belarus this year.

The group reported an adjusted profit of £12.4 billion (€13.9 billion) in 2022, and 11 per cent increase on 2021 thanks to demand for its e-cigarettes and oral nicotine products.

Plenty of space MARK BOGGETT, Seraphim Space’s CEO, described last January’s failed Virgin Orbit satellite launch from Cornwall as “a slight setback.”

The UK, whose space industry currently supports nearly 50,000 jobs, remained a global leader, and was currently attracting more investment in space projects than any other country apart from China and the US, Boggett insisted.

Despite the Virgin Orbit setback, Boggett believed there was still “significant dry powder” by way of cash reserves that corporations and private equity funds were prepared to deploy for attractive investment opportunities in Britain’s

Nice little earner THE UK’s 4,185 speed cameras cost almost £29 million (€32.7) in maintenance over the last five years.

They also brought in £391 million (€441.7 million) in fines, according to research by the new and used-car comparison site  Carwow..

Councils spent £3.2 million (€3.6 million) between 2018 to 2022, police forces paid £4.6 million (€5.2 million), and transport authorities, including Transport for London, spent a hefty £20.9 million.

Many authorities willingly shared their costs for running their speed cameras with Carwow but others declined, claiming that this could affect maintenance negotiation in future.

Some police forces also preferred not to divulge speed camera numbers, citing crime prevention.

No postal strike POSTAL workers in the UK called off their one-day strike planned for this month.

Following a legal challenge from Royal Mail, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) confirmed that the 115,000 workers would not walk out from 12.30pm on February 16 until 12.30 the following day.

They called the strike in their continuing dispute regarding pay and conditions, but union leaders said they would not fight the legal challenge to the action.

“We welcome the fact that the strike action was called off,” Royal Mail said. “It will be a relief to our customers and we intend to use this time and space to try to agree a deal.”

A union statement said it would re-enter negotiations with Royal Mail, which had lost millions owing to strikes at the end of 2022. Nevertheless, the union’s “whole focus” would remain on winning the upcoming ballot to give it a fresh mandate.

If talks failed, it would “significantly step up its strike action programme,” the CWU warned.

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