BUSINESS EXTRA

Good for you

DIAGEO has invested £21 million (€24.6 million) in an extension to its St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin to meet a surge in demand for alcoholfree Guinness. The addition will house equipment capable of producing 500,000 ­ hectolitres of the non­alcoholic Guinness, equivalent to approximately 90 million pints.

Making plans

THE Circulo de Empresarios business association called on whichever government is elected on July 23 to set the voluntary retirement age at 68 or even 72. This would help people to decide when to retire and what income deferral they wanted, enabling them to plan for the future, the Circulo said.

Two stories

PRIVATE bank Coutts reportedly closed Nigel Farage’s account with them after he fell below the elite lender’s wealth requirements. This questions the former Ukip and Brexit party leader’s assertions that Coutts had targeted him owing to his political views and his status as a “politically exposed person.”

Naturgy CEO

IGNACIO GUTIERREZ­ORRAN­

TIA will be the new chief executive of Naturgy, formerly Gas Natural Fenosa, with the approval of the chairman, Francisco Reynes. According to media reports, shareholders are in agreement and the board of directors will approve the appointment at Naturgy’s next ordinary meeting.

Cost-cutting

MORRISONS is closing a fruitpacking plant in Bradford, putting 450 jobs at risk. The cash­strapped supermarket chain, taken over in October 2021 by US private equity group Clayton Dubilier & Rice, will be moving operations to Thrapston (Northamptonshire) and Wakefield (Yorkshire) in the second half of this year.

Linda Hall IN just over a fortnight, the UK’s Alcohol Duty system will become much simpler.

On August 1, alcoholic drinks will be taxed according to their alcohol by volume (ABV), the government announced as it introduces the widest­ranging duty changes in 140 years.

This replaces the current system’s four separate taxes covering beer, cider, spirits, wine and made­wine.

“It makes the system fairer and more responsive to new products entering the market as consumer tastes evolve,” Gareth Davies, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said.

“Because we left the EU, we can now make sure our

STAT OF WEEK 1.88 billion

turnover for Samsung Iberia in 2022, an 11 per cent increase on the previous year, with a net profit that increased by 7 per cent to €36.8 million.