:00:00. > :00:00.This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Thompson
:00:07. > :00:10.It's less than 24 hours until the UK votes
:00:11. > :00:18.We'll assess the last minute campaigning and what markets make
:00:19. > :00:21.Live from London, that's our top story
:00:22. > :00:42.By this time tomorrow the first votes will have been cast
:00:43. > :00:46.Both sides have been using the last day of campaigning
:00:47. > :00:58.Pollution from millions of diesel cars increases when air temperatures
:00:59. > :01:03.fall too low. In this is how markets look across
:01:04. > :01:12.Europe ahead of the crucial vote on the UK's membership of the EU.
:01:13. > :01:14.And is poor eyesight an economic problem?
:01:15. > :01:17.We'll meet the man who says millions of people still lack access to basic
:01:18. > :01:20.care to cure poor vision and it's costing the world
:01:21. > :01:27.And - I quit - new figures show staff turnover
:01:28. > :01:32.mean more of us are prepared to ditch our job on the spot
:01:33. > :01:36.So we want to know, is a job for life a thing of the past?
:01:37. > :01:39.Let us know, use the hashtag BBC Biz Live.
:01:40. > :01:54.The UK's big vote on its future in Europe begins in less than 24 hours.
:01:55. > :01:56.So that means less than 24 hours of last minute
:01:57. > :02:08.Today, more than 1,000 business leaders have written to the UK's
:02:09. > :02:10.Times newspaper to warn that leaving the EU would harm
:02:11. > :02:14.Those who've signed include bosses of 51 FTSE 100 companies
:02:15. > :02:21.and hundreds of smaller businesses which between them, employ
:02:22. > :02:25.On the other side of the debate, the billionaire entrepreneur
:02:26. > :02:28.and inventor Sir James Dyson has written a piece describing a Remain
:02:29. > :02:30.victory as "an act of national self-harm."
:02:31. > :02:32.He says the vote offers "the last opportunity to regain
:02:33. > :02:39.Well, letters from bosses to their employees have also
:02:40. > :02:44.The latest, a senior vice President at Tate and Lyle Sugar,
:02:45. > :02:47.explaining to staff that, in his view, the EU has pushed
:02:48. > :02:54.Gerald Mason has not advised the 800 staff how to vote, but did say jobs
:02:55. > :03:01.And German newspaper Handelsblatt has published an interview
:03:02. > :03:06.with the EU's Financial Services commissioner who says that Banks
:03:07. > :03:09.could be forced to relocate jobs from London to Frankfurt or Paris
:03:10. > :03:12.It's worth pointing out though that the commissioner -
:03:13. > :03:16.Jonathan Hill - is a Brit and he was appointed
:03:17. > :03:18.to the European Commission by Prime Minister David Cameron,
:03:19. > :03:21.who wants the UK to remain in the EU.
:03:22. > :03:26.With me now is our business editor Simon Jack.
:03:27. > :03:31.Simon as we get closer to decision day, you really get a sense that
:03:32. > :03:33.business leaders are feeling they need to do all they can to influence
:03:34. > :03:38.those who work for them? Yes, this those who work for them? Yes, this
:03:39. > :03:42.is the biggest display of force yet by the Remain business camp. It is a
:03:43. > :03:45.better of 51 of the top FTSE 100 companies. There is hundreds of
:03:46. > :03:50.smaller companies. I think that, you know, in the headlines as well, we
:03:51. > :03:53.have got James Dyson and Tate Lyle, but it is wrong to suggest on
:03:54. > :04:01.the one hand that we have got this and on the other hand we've got
:04:02. > :04:08.that. I mean for every Dyson, we have people from Astra accident Ca-a
:04:09. > :04:12.Yo! Sushi. Among larger employers they are overwhelmingly in favour of
:04:13. > :04:16.remain. You could ask how effective they are as cheer lead tors get the
:04:17. > :04:21.vote out? Businesses can't vote. They don't have a voice. In the
:04:22. > :04:25.Scottish referendum big business came late to that party and come
:04:26. > :04:30.people credited them with turning that vote around. Big business is
:04:31. > :04:34.overwhelmingly in. Remain's lead is narrower. That could be to do with
:04:35. > :04:38.the greater importance that big business place on the single market
:04:39. > :04:43.which even Vote Leave admit we would have to leave. Has the voice of the
:04:44. > :04:47.smaller businessman, woman, entrepreneur, sole trader been
:04:48. > :04:50.drowned out by the big business leaders? It is an important point
:04:51. > :04:54.because small businesses employ more people. 50% of the entire UK
:04:55. > :04:56.workforce is employed by smaller businesses. There is an
:04:57. > :05:05.inevitability, there are household names on this, you know, your
:05:06. > :05:10.Vodafones, your Whitbreads and AstraZeneca and those are big names,
:05:11. > :05:13.you won't have the same appeal if you're running a plumbing business,
:05:14. > :05:19.there is a danger of that, I suppose. And like I say, the
:05:20. > :05:26.Remain's lead amongst smaller business is much more evenly split.
:05:27. > :05:32.But within the big business community definitely the bias is on
:05:33. > :05:36.Remain. Have there been any surprises. Even will vote on their
:05:37. > :05:40.personal circumstances. If you have trade with Europe, if you rely on t
:05:41. > :05:44.you probably want to stay in. If you're not fussed, you probably want
:05:45. > :05:47.to state out and that's the debate? There are a couple of people who
:05:48. > :05:51.signed the letter. There was an earlier letter in February at the
:05:52. > :05:55.beginning of the campaign, then they had 36 FTSE 100 bosses and 200
:05:56. > :05:59.smaller businesses. This is lots more people have joined. For
:06:00. > :06:03.example, the boss of, the Chairman of Barclay's didn't sign the last
:06:04. > :06:07.letter, he signed this letter. As to your other point in the headlines
:06:08. > :06:11.there, there is fear amongst the banks that at the moment if you are
:06:12. > :06:15.in the EU and you are a bank, you can sell financial services anywhere
:06:16. > :06:20.in world. Switzerland have got to put lots of people inside the EU and
:06:21. > :06:26.that's why you see big groups of employees from places like UBS and
:06:27. > :06:31.credit Suisse in London, people fear they might lose that. The FTSE 100
:06:32. > :06:35.is not a British index, it is extremely international. Therefore,
:06:36. > :06:40.half the views on there represent many, many countries? Only 51 signed
:06:41. > :06:43.it. It is difficult to get Chief Executives or chairmen to sign it.
:06:44. > :06:49.They have got to clear it with their board. The FTSE 100 is stuffed full
:06:50. > :06:53.of mining companies who wouldn't feel appropriate to get involved in
:06:54. > :06:57.this. It is not a UK Plc index, but they employ a lot of people here in
:06:58. > :07:02.the UK. Simon, thank you. We will let gu. A busy day ahead for Simon
:07:03. > :07:03.and for the rest of us for that matter.
:07:04. > :07:07.New research seen by the BBC suggests pollution from many popular
:07:08. > :07:10.diesel cars is much worse when air temperatures drop below 18 Celsius.
:07:11. > :07:14.It's thought pollution control software, fitted
:07:15. > :07:17.in millions of vehicles, is turned off for most
:07:18. > :07:21.of the year in the UK, because of the cool weather here.
:07:22. > :07:23.The UK's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says no
:07:24. > :07:34.The US electric car-maker, Tesla, has made an offer to buy solar
:07:35. > :07:37.The deal is thought to be worth $2.8 billion.
:07:38. > :07:43.Tesla boss Elon Musk, is already the chairman
:07:44. > :07:46.of Solar City and the largest shareholder in both companies.
:07:47. > :07:48.He's described the deal as a "no brainer", creating a company that
:07:49. > :07:51.would sell customers an electric car, a home battery and a solar
:07:52. > :07:56.US plane-maker, Boeing, has reached a deal to sell
:07:57. > :08:01.At list price, that's to say, without any discounts,
:08:02. > :08:09.The agreement marks an important step in economic relations
:08:10. > :08:11.between US and Iran after economic sanctions
:08:12. > :08:14.If the deal is approved, it will be the largest business
:08:15. > :08:27.transaction between a US firm and Iran since the 1979 revolution.
:08:28. > :08:33.There is more on the Business Live page. It is dominated by the UK
:08:34. > :08:37.referendum today. For good reason and many, many bosses have been
:08:38. > :08:41.talking to the BBC including the Prime Minister, David Cameron, and
:08:42. > :08:44.also, of course, Boris Johnson, who is leading the Leave campaign. So
:08:45. > :08:52.you can get all their views and what they have been saying today on the
:08:53. > :08:54.Business Live page. This is Tim Martin the Chairman of
:08:55. > :08:58.Wetherspoon's. We spoke to him yesterday. He has been talking to
:08:59. > :09:02.Fif Live and sterling is keeping hold of those gains it made earlier
:09:03. > :09:07.this week. At the end of last week we saw falls. Down 2%. But then on
:09:08. > :09:12.Monday, managing to win back some of those falls and ending up 1.5%. All
:09:13. > :09:16.of that, could have, related to some uncertainty ahead of the EU
:09:17. > :09:22.referendum, but lots concerns about a slowdown in China. Can I mention
:09:23. > :09:24.Hornby? It is having a tough time. Difficult disappointing, extremely
:09:25. > :09:29.challenging here for the model rail company. It has come out with its
:09:30. > :09:33.latest numbers. So now you know! Business Live, it is all there.
:09:34. > :09:41.Everything you need! A rare break from the referendum!
:09:42. > :09:45.Let's talk about expensive city. There is a new poll.
:09:46. > :09:47.Well, believe it or not, it used to be Luanda,
:09:48. > :09:50.But, in the latest global survey, another city has emerged
:09:51. > :09:58.Mariko Oi has the details for us, she's in Singapore.
:09:59. > :10:07.Tell us more about the annual survey? Indeed, Sally. It wasn't
:10:08. > :10:11.London. It wasn't New York. It was actually Hong Kong which was ranked
:10:12. > :10:18.as the most expensive city for ex-pats. You can spend $8, $8 US
:10:19. > :10:23.dollars for a cup of coffee, but living here in Singapore that
:10:24. > :10:28.doesn't sound too outrageous, Singapore is expensive as well.
:10:29. > :10:33.Coming in fourth and also Tokyo and Beijing, both ranked in the top ten
:10:34. > :10:40.as well. London, in fact, has dropped to 17th. This is all
:10:41. > :10:44.according to the survey done by Human Resources consultancy company,
:10:45. > :10:49.Mercer, but there is another survey that comes out and that's done by
:10:50. > :10:54.the Economist Intelligence Unit and that ranks the most expensive city
:10:55. > :10:59.in general, not just for ex-pats, for that ranking Singapore comes at
:11:00. > :11:04.the top ahead of London, or New York as an ex-pat living in Singapore, I
:11:05. > :11:08.find the rankings rather depressing every time they come out. Good
:11:09. > :11:12.stuff. Rather expensive place to live, but a nice place to live, I
:11:13. > :11:18.think, it is fair to say. So paying the price there.
:11:19. > :11:21.A look at the numbers for you. That's what happened in Asia. I want
:11:22. > :11:25.to pick up on what happened in the US because yesterday more news from
:11:26. > :11:28.Janet Yellen the chair of the US Federal Reserve talking about
:11:29. > :11:32.considerable uncertainty in the economy. There is a surprise! She
:11:33. > :11:36.pinned that clearly on the UK referendum, but warning that the
:11:37. > :11:40.Senate Committee that interest interests in the world's largest
:11:41. > :11:45.economy are in no rush to rise. I'm not sure if I can show you the board
:11:46. > :11:48.for Europe. But it is an important day ahead of the EU referendum that
:11:49. > :11:51.gets under way tomorrow. We will look at the numbers in a moment. But
:11:52. > :11:57.that's the state of play overnight in Asia and we will have a look at
:11:58. > :12:05.European numbers with Sally. Thank you, Ben. The FTSE 100 up
:12:06. > :12:09.slightly. I've got Brenda Kelly with me.
:12:10. > :12:16.It is interesting to see how Europe held on to the gains since the start
:12:17. > :12:21.of this trading week when we saw great volatility last week? It is
:12:22. > :12:26.certainly is. It does come to pass that a lot of polls have been very
:12:27. > :12:29.close, but confusing as well. Why are the markets assuming they will
:12:30. > :12:33.get the result that will be the result that they feel is the right
:12:34. > :12:37.one ie, remain? Why are they begt on that? Why is the pound going up?
:12:38. > :12:42.Markets exude a certain amount of hope and that's an element of it,
:12:43. > :12:46.but I think an element of with the tail wagging the dog at the moment,
:12:47. > :12:49.the markets are looking at what the betting markets and the betting
:12:50. > :12:52.markets are looking at what the financial markets are doing and they
:12:53. > :12:56.are in a vicious circle and there is no real clarity as to how the result
:12:57. > :13:01.could go and we could see some up side and down side volatility.
:13:02. > :13:04.Quickly, it is very, there is hardly any liquidity there at the moment
:13:05. > :13:08.which makes everything more exaggerated? Exactly. When you get
:13:09. > :13:12.low volume in terms of the trade, it will exaggerate the move BT the up
:13:13. > :13:15.side and the down side. The pound is elevated against the US dollar and
:13:16. > :13:19.against the euro, but there is still a certain amount of down side risk
:13:20. > :13:25.there. Brenda, briefly, we were discussing this, I was down outside
:13:26. > :13:28.the Bank of England on Monday talking about what the investors and
:13:29. > :13:33.the City was thinking and one of my guests made the point, this is
:13:34. > :13:41.computers doing the trading, it is not people, it is not real emotion?
:13:42. > :13:47.A certain aspect is algor rism. There will be still people watching
:13:48. > :13:49.it and putting those trades on and taking care of their risks. Still
:13:50. > :13:52.real people involved, good to know! Still to come, we meet the man
:13:53. > :13:55.trying to help the world to see. Poor eyesight is a hidden disability
:13:56. > :13:58.and one that costs the world James Chen's foundation
:13:59. > :14:01.is looking for the answer. You're with Business
:14:02. > :14:17.Live from BBC News. Let's talk some more about the rise
:14:18. > :14:20.and fall of sterling. Currency markets changing their mind with
:14:21. > :14:27.every small shift in the EU referendum polls. Andrew Walker is
:14:28. > :14:34.in our business unit. He has the figures to hand. How is it going?
:14:35. > :14:40.Here we have sterling against the dollar over the last three days. A
:14:41. > :14:44.cumulative rise of 2.3%. We have seen currency traders taking the
:14:45. > :14:50.view that the probability of a remain vote increase with where we
:14:51. > :14:56.were a week or so ago. There has been an element of what is called a
:14:57. > :15:01.short-covering rally, that is to say, traders who have sold sterling
:15:02. > :15:05.in the market which they borrowed in anticipation of a possible fall,
:15:06. > :15:11.have been looking at this rise and thinking, Nabi we need to buy the
:15:12. > :15:16.sterling back -- maybe we need to buy the sterling back. That process
:15:17. > :15:23.has kind of run out of steam. This is yesterday. That process probably
:15:24. > :15:27.came more or less to an end. We have also seen investors take the view
:15:28. > :15:31.that although they do think a Remain vote is the most likely outcome,
:15:32. > :15:35.which they see as essentially positive for the value of the
:15:36. > :15:40.currency, it is still pretty much neck and neck. The short answer is
:15:41. > :15:44.they do not know the answer of what the result will be any more than we
:15:45. > :15:48.do. There is money to be made everywhere. It is being made by
:15:49. > :15:53.those people providing currency transactions. It is a good time to
:15:54. > :15:59.be one of them? Indeed. It seems a lot of tourists are becoming
:16:00. > :16:03.currency speculators in a small way. The tourist office said yesterday it
:16:04. > :16:09.had an enormous number of enquiries from people in the last couple of
:16:10. > :16:12.days because they want to ensure they do not get caught out if we get
:16:13. > :16:20.a Leave vote and sterling falls sharply. Thank you very much, Andrew
:16:21. > :16:27.Walker, one of economic correspondence. It will be a busy
:16:28. > :16:30.few days. As we try to digests what it means for business. Here is
:16:31. > :16:37.another person who has been adding his voice to the campaign. It is
:16:38. > :16:41.Michael O'Leary. He is in favour of remaining. The single market brings
:16:42. > :16:45.enormous benefits, he says. Read more on the business life page.
:16:46. > :17:03.-- Business Live. This morning more than 1200 bosses,
:17:04. > :17:06.including directors from what than 50 FTSE companies, have signed the
:17:07. > :17:09.letter backing the UK membership of the European Union.
:17:10. > :17:12.Meanwhile, Tate Lyle Sugars, one of the UK's oldest firms,
:17:13. > :17:15.has written a pro-Brexit letter to staff saying that leaving the EU
:17:16. > :17:23.Also James Dyson adding his voice to the Leave campaign.
:17:24. > :17:25.Let's get the inside track now on a Hong Kong philanthropist
:17:26. > :17:28.and entrepreneur who believes he has a clear vision for the future -
:17:29. > :17:34.James Chen, is chair of a third generation family run
:17:35. > :17:38.Chinese manufacturing company the Wahum Group.
:17:39. > :17:40.Not satisfied with just running a big company,
:17:41. > :17:43.he has now set his sights on the problem of low
:17:44. > :17:49.It aims to get the 2.65 billion people in the world who have poor
:17:50. > :17:52.vision, seeing clearly within the next 30 years.
:17:53. > :17:57.As well as the significant personal cost associated with bad eyesight,
:17:58. > :18:01.it's estimated that it costs the global economy somewhere
:18:02. > :18:05.in the region of $3 trillion each year in lost productivity.
:18:06. > :18:07.Part of James Chen's solution is the Clearly Vision Prize,
:18:08. > :18:12.which will award $250,000 in prize money to the best innovations
:18:13. > :18:29.I can just about read that autocue. I am struggling a bit! Maybe you can
:18:30. > :18:36.help me, James! Tell us more about this idea that you have had? It is a
:18:37. > :18:40.huge problem and yet you have kind of grabbed it with both hands, you
:18:41. > :18:47.are tackling it, and you are hoping you can solve it within 30 years?
:18:48. > :18:52.Yes. We have had glasses for the last 700 years and yet today there
:18:53. > :19:00.are still 2.5 billion people in the world with poor vision and no access
:19:01. > :19:04.to vision correction. In Rwanda am I have helped to develop a programme
:19:05. > :19:09.where we were able to provide citizens with vision correction when
:19:10. > :19:19.they have a problem. About 80% of the 2.5, 2.65 billion, it is just
:19:20. > :19:23.about glasses and screening. So now today, with technology like
:19:24. > :19:30.smartphones, with drones, you can see how this could disrupt, why
:19:31. > :19:37.people thought you could not solve this problem. We think we can do
:19:38. > :19:41.that today. $3 trillion is the cost to the economy every year. Give us
:19:42. > :19:45.some examples of how poor eyesight is holding people back. It sounds
:19:46. > :19:57.obvious but there are very practical day-to-day things people cannot do?
:19:58. > :20:00.Yes, we did a pilot in Ghana, people in an adult literacy programme. They
:20:01. > :20:07.were rice farmers. They collected the rise, they beaded to get the
:20:08. > :20:12.rice grains off. When they sweep it up, they get the gravel. The rice
:20:13. > :20:16.they could sell was at a low price. But when they could see Clearly,
:20:17. > :20:22.they could pick up the gravel and be able to sell the rice for a higher
:20:23. > :20:28.price. That is a really good example of how, with vision, you can really
:20:29. > :20:32.improve the economic benefit. To you it is a no-brainer. To us it is a
:20:33. > :20:36.no-brainer. I would imagine for many viewers it is as well. But first
:20:37. > :20:40.some communities who have never really had the money, the funding or
:20:41. > :20:45.the access to services, it is something they live without. It is
:20:46. > :20:54.not just about getting the money there, it is about cultural change,
:20:55. > :21:00.getting government on board? Yes. With the Clearly campaign, what we
:21:01. > :21:04.are trying to do, we have one very simple question. How can the whole
:21:05. > :21:08.world see? With the campaign, what we are trying to do is uncover
:21:09. > :21:17.answers to this question. We want to bring in people from the eye
:21:18. > :21:20.community... There are lots of brilliant minds, people with great
:21:21. > :21:25.ideas. They are not particularly applying it to the issue of vision,
:21:26. > :21:33.but they can. Jeromes would be a good example. -- drones. You can
:21:34. > :21:37.drop glasses. Right now, getting distribution into villages in the
:21:38. > :21:41.developing world is a problem. Dare I say it is not an exciting problem
:21:42. > :21:45.and when it comes to charitable cases, you want to pull on the
:21:46. > :21:48.heartstrings, you want to get people involved. I would imagine among that
:21:49. > :21:54.list of worthy causes and things that are competing for money, there
:21:55. > :21:59.does not seem to be an end point. You cannot solve bad eyesight. It is
:22:00. > :22:03.about helping people to see better. You cannot permanently make it
:22:04. > :22:07.better. You cannot make the poor eyesight go away. How do you win
:22:08. > :22:12.that support and that funding when it is an ongoing battle? I think
:22:13. > :22:17.this is the first time in history, because of technology like
:22:18. > :22:23.smartphones or drones, there are no apps you can use that can do
:22:24. > :22:32.screening and diagnosis. That to me is a really exciting development.
:22:33. > :22:35.For example, you have seen Elon mass who has the ambition to send people
:22:36. > :22:42.to Mars within the next 20 years. What we want to do is to be able,
:22:43. > :22:48.for when he does that, that people on earth, everyone unearthed can see
:22:49. > :22:54.that. I think the technology exists today. We need people to be aware of
:22:55. > :23:01.the issue and to be able to address it. James Chen, we see where you are
:23:02. > :23:07.going! Thank you for coming in. Keep in touch with us and how it is
:23:08. > :23:09.going. In a moment, the business pages.
:23:10. > :23:13.But first, here's a quick reminder of how to get in touch with us.
:23:14. > :23:18.The Business Live page is where you can stay ahead of the breaking
:23:19. > :23:23.business news. We will keep you up-to-date with the latest details,
:23:24. > :23:28.with insight and analysis from the team of editors around the world. We
:23:29. > :23:38.want to hear from you. Get involved on the BBC Business Live web page.
:23:39. > :23:40.We are on Twitter and Facebook. Business Live on TV and online.
:23:41. > :23:51.Whenever you need to know. Brenda is back with us. This story
:23:52. > :23:56.caught might eye this morning. Luxury hotels in Paris, and the
:23:57. > :24:01.bosses they have got rid of because they cannot afford to pay them. What
:24:02. > :24:06.is going on? This is certainly one of the offshoots of what has been
:24:07. > :24:10.happening in Paris in recent months, and the terrorism attacks. It has
:24:11. > :24:16.impacted tourism. We have seen a registered drop of 13.7% in visitors
:24:17. > :24:20.this year compared to last year, and the effect is that business --
:24:21. > :24:26.hotels are losing revenue, the top or tiles are losing customers. They
:24:27. > :24:33.are the high end customers? Precisely. -- the top hotels. It
:24:34. > :24:37.shows you the impact of terrorism on the tourism industry, particularly
:24:38. > :24:43.in the luxury sector. You might say, that is the luxury sector. But there
:24:44. > :24:48.are a lot of jobs to be dealed -- cleaned out of that sector. I felt a
:24:49. > :24:52.bit sorry for these bosses. I thought, unprecedented times. When
:24:53. > :24:57.you go to hotel management school, I doubt this is an issue they looked
:24:58. > :25:02.at. Is it ever OK just to quit on the spot and leave a job? This is in
:25:03. > :25:06.the Wall Street Journal. Apparently more of us are doing that today than
:25:07. > :25:13.ever before in recent times. What is your take on this? It implies a
:25:14. > :25:17.confidence in the economy and labour market if someone quits. Look at the
:25:18. > :25:21.quit rate in economics. We assess that all the time. This piece is
:25:22. > :25:27.quite interesting because it has seen a big rise in that. I would say
:25:28. > :25:32.it is not necessarily a good idea to quit on the spot. I would say, sleep
:25:33. > :25:40.on it, regional contract beforehand. Stuart Campbell said, no. And Pamela
:25:41. > :25:44.Donaldson says, I did it on one occasion 12 years ago. It was the
:25:45. > :25:49.most wonderful feeling. Well done, Pamela. Thank you, Brenda. We are
:25:50. > :25:56.not quitting. We are here tomorrow. By bye-bye. -- bye-bye.