Business news live: Workers to save more into pensions and FTSE 100 to open near record levels

Fintech firm Revolut are building their new headquarters in Paris and say they’ll be opening up 400 jobs, spread across France, Spain, Ireland, Germany and Portugal.

At least half will be based out of the HQ, as the banking company looks to establish itself for a French licence.

Revolut was founded in London but has expanded globally. No confirmation is in place where the company might IPO in future though it is thought to prefer a Nasdaq listing rather than in the UK.

There is still no clear-cut deal between the US and the EU for a trade deal, with a 30 per cent blanket rate set to be applied next month on exports to the States from the bloc.

Howard Lutnick says it’s a hard deadline and the commerce secretary added he was confident a deal would be done beforehand – but the EU are readying a response all the same.

Last week they said a 30 per cent tariff would effectively wipe out all trade between the two.

The EU wants a similar deal to the UK starting at 10 per cent, with some exemptions.

The FTSE 100 opened higher but has given up some of those earlier gains, now sitting on a 0.05 per cent rise in mid-morning.

It’s a similar story on the continent, with the German DAX opening up but now flat for the day and France’s CAC 40 dropping 0.2 per cent.

Overnight, Japan’s stock market took a hit with a drop of 0.21 per cent but there were rises for the Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite, both around 0.7 per cent.

Executives around the globe are pushing workers to use AI more and more frequently, one report says, with some bosses saying it is not a voluntary option.

Plenty of businesses – Microsoft, BT, Amazon and others – have said AI usage will increase and replace some job roles, while others have been forthright in telling staff they must use it as part of their day to day routines.

IEA data shows AI uptake is at a much faster rate than the internet or personal computers were when they first got released.

Opening up the London stock markets for 24-hour trading is one of the measures being considered by owner group LSEG to revive the City’s fortunes, reports the FT.

Currently, the London stock exchange allows shares to be traded 8am to 4.30pm, but platforms like Robinhood – and the cryto world in general – have round the clock trading.

The move is in part thought to be appealing to retail traders who may be working during those regulation trading hours.

LSEG didn’t comment on the reported plan.

Today’s workers are at a greater risk of poverty in old age than their parents, experts warned, as the UK looks to revive a government body to tackle the crisis.

People looking to retire in 2050 are on course to receive £800 per year less than current pensioners, according to Age UK.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will resurrect the Pensions Commission, which last met in 2006, to “tackle the barriers that stop too many from saving in the first place”.

Heres the full report of the pension commission plan:

Big week coming up in the domestic markets, with several FTSE 100 names set to report.

The banks will as usual be an indicator of how the country is faring overall.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor, explained what to look out for: “The UK is braced for an escalation of corporate updates this week, including half-year numbers from the more domestically focused Lloyds Banking and NatWest.

“For each, shareholder returns will be a key focus, along with any bad debt allowances and mortgage growth figures.

“Lloyds may provide an update on impairments especially relating to motor finance commission arrangements, for which it has already set aside some £1.2 billion, while NatWest may give some indication on its acquisition policy following the removal of the government stake and its purchases of the Metro mortgage book and Sainsbury’s Bank, as well as an apparently rebuffed approach for the UK arm of Santander.”

Analysis by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows that three million self-employed people are saving absolutely nothing at all towards retirement, while 15m working people are undersaving for it.

In particular, lower-paid people and some ethnic minorities are at risk of being affected in outsized fashion.

The commission will be engaged in creating a report for 2027, speaking with businesses and unions, to create a plan for the long term.

Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, is to reopen the Pensions Commission as Labour seek to ensure future pensioners to do not face the gap in retirement savings they are currently set to do so.

Estimates suggest those retiring in 2050 will be almost £1,000 a year worse off than those retiring today, with not enough being saved for the future.

We’ll bring more details across the morning – but a notable change is that the automatic pensions enrolment situation for peoples’ workplace pension looks likely to change, with an outline in place to increase total contributions from 8 per cent to 12 per cent, including employer contribution.

Data has shown that business owners believe the high street in the UK is destined to become obsolete and more than a third (37 per cent) are planning to close their doors or sell up in 2025.

Simply Business’s SME report surveyed more than 2,000 business owners and a shocking 63 per cent, almost two in every three, say they believe the high street will be gone in a decade.

More to follow on this story.