No hiding place

Guernsey and Luxembourg.

ALCOHOLIC drinks brand Diageo exceeded first­half predictions as prices rose and people drank more spirits.

Organic net sales rose by 9.4 per cent instead of a predicted 7.9 per cent in the six months to December 31 for the Londonbased multinational which makes Tanqueray gin, Captain Morgan rum and Ketel One vodka. Net sales during the same period rose 18.4 per cent to £9.4 billion (€10.6 billion).

The group will return approximately £500 million (€563 million) to shareholders in addition to this financial year’s buyback commitment.

Athlete first

PABLO FERNANDEZ from Madrid entered the Guinness Book of Records as the fastest swimmer to cover five kilometres in the open sea with shackled feet.

indicates that 12,930 did not.

Roughly 75 per cent of those registering their ultimate owners are based in the British Virgin Islands, Jersey, the Isle of Man,

Callanan said that Companies House and the Insolvency Service would receive more investigatory powers, along with approximately £20 million (€23,632 million) to spend on dealing with money laundering via companies that own UK property. Callanan warned there was no hiding place for “criminals and corrupt elites” now that the January 31 deadline for registering had passed.

“We will be using all the tools at our disposal, including fines and restrictions, to

A family affair

BARCLAYS and Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) face questions about their links to Roman Abramovich. The Oligarch files, leaked documents seen by the Guardian newspaper, reveal that the banks held at least $940 million (€860.5 million) on Abramovich’s behalf before the Ukraine war.

Shortly before Moscow entered Ukraine, much of Abramovich’s vast assets had been transferred to his children.

The Guardian files suggest that in the last week of February 2022, once the reorganisation had been completed, Barclays and UBS were told that Abramovich’s children were now the ultimate beneficial owners.

Following the UK and EU’s sanctions, Barclays and UBS will almost certainly be asked to explain how they responded to the modifications and whether the children have benefited from assets that belonged to their father.

crack down on foreign companies who have not complied,” he said.

Unregistered overseas companies are now automatically rejected from registering ownership of new land by HM Land Registry, while UK buyers cannot transfer their title to the deed of any property acquired from non­compliant organisations.

“If you ignored warnings and failed to register before the deadline, you will face consequences,” Louise Smyth, CEO of Companies House, said.

Recycling plan

FASHION label Ralph Lauren is collaborating with a recycling programme for no longer wearable cashmere.

Consumers living in Britain, the European Union and the US can obtain a printable, postage­paid label from the Ralph Lauren website to send unwanted 100 per cent cashmere items from any brand for reprocessing.

The discarded woollies go to ReVerso in Tuscany (Italy) which recycles yarns and fabrics for fashion companies that include Stella McCartney.

Some fast­fashion companies offer textile recycling, although there is uncertainty regarding the clothes’ destination, and they increasingly use recycled materials but this is the first time that a designer label has embraced large­scale recycling efforts.

The 42­year­old is also a businessman who in 2016 founded online car sales company Clicars which he sold in 2022 for more than €100 million. Despite his entrepreneurial success, he recently told an El Pais interviewer that he views himself principally as an athlete.

“Businesses come and go but swimming is constant,” he said.

Fernandez also swims 15 kilometres in a counter ­ current swimming pool installed in the Clicar’s repair shop which he visits each day.

Streamlining

APPROXIMATELY half of the staff at a Hanley (Stoke­on­Trent) government call centre which closed in January are relocating or will be redeployed.

Shutting down 13 sites by June is expected to bring savings of between £80 and £90 million (€90,514 and €101,857 million) annually from 2028 onwards, government sources said.

Seventy­four Hanley employees agreed to the changes, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) confirmed, with others preferring to take voluntary redundancy.

The DWP said the closure, which formed part of wider plans to modernise and streamline its estate, involved only back office staff and would not impact public­facing roles.

Dow Jones