:00:00. > :00:07.This is Business Live from BBC News with Susannah
:00:08. > :00:12.A new report warns against the dangers of "no deal".
:00:13. > :00:34.Live from London, that's our top story on Thursday 20th July.
:00:35. > :00:37.The UK and the EU's top Brexit negotiators are due to reveal
:00:38. > :00:40.the latest developments in the Brexit talks, we'll be live
:00:41. > :00:45.Also in the programme, turbulent times ahead for easyJet -
:00:46. > :00:47.the budget airline forecasts a lift in profits, but is it
:00:48. > :00:49.prepared for the departure of its influential CEO Carolyn
:00:50. > :01:02.The markets continue that global swing upwards.
:01:03. > :01:04.And with the long summer break just around the corner,
:01:05. > :01:06.we'll be looking at holiday camps with a difference -
:01:07. > :01:09.we'll speak to a woman who's replacing football and baking
:01:10. > :01:14.All throughout the day we're looking at the issue
:01:15. > :01:16.of childcare costs - we'd love to hear from
:01:17. > :01:18.you about your family's plans for the summer.
:01:19. > :01:26.Are you taking time off or are you reliant on childcare?
:01:27. > :01:36.Or do you give them a smart tablet and lope for the best like Susanna!
:01:37. > :01:52.We start in Brussels - where the UK's Brexit Secretary -
:01:53. > :01:55.David Davis - and the EU's chief negotiator - Michel Barnier -
:01:56. > :01:57.will wrap up their second round of talks on Britain's
:01:58. > :02:03.They are expected to give a progress report at a press conference later.
:02:04. > :02:09.They've been focusing on three areas - citizen's rights on both sides,
:02:10. > :02:12.the so-called 'divorce' bill Britain will have to pay, and the border
:02:13. > :02:14.between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
:02:15. > :02:16.The EU says negotiations on the future trading relationship
:02:17. > :02:23.There's huge pressure to reach an agreement.
:02:24. > :02:25.According to an independent report released this morning -
:02:26. > :02:28.the impact on the UK of no deal would be 'widespread,
:02:29. > :02:31.It warns of potential chaos over customs checks,
:02:32. > :02:33.British airlines being unable to fly, and UK nuclear
:02:34. > :02:35.power plants - which are regulated by Euratom -
:02:36. > :02:43.It also warns there would be a further fall
:02:44. > :02:46.in the value of sterling - pushing up inflation - and hitting
:02:47. > :02:49.But is UK business prepared for that scenario?
:02:50. > :02:53.Britain's corporate lobby group - the Institute of Directors -
:02:54. > :02:56.says while many firms in the UK are looking at contingency plans -
:02:57. > :02:58.very few - only 11% - have started to put those
:02:59. > :03:07.Bruegel is an economic think tank which works closely
:03:08. > :03:15.We're joined by its deputy director- Maria Demertzis.
:03:16. > :03:22.Maria, good to see you, welcome to Business Live we get the progress
:03:23. > :03:28.update today, where do you think we will see the most success, having
:03:29. > :03:33.been achieved? I think we will expect to hear something on
:03:34. > :03:35.citizens' rights and possibly on Northern Ireland, but I think we
:03:36. > :03:44.will see the least progress on the divorce bill. And it seems that the
:03:45. > :03:48.key to this, is compromise, on both sides, because it's mutually
:03:49. > :03:52.important that deals are done, looking at the characters involved,
:03:53. > :03:56.how likely do you think that is? It would have to be right. At some
:03:57. > :04:01.point a deal would have to be made so we can move on to the next part
:04:02. > :04:04.of the negotiation, so some xro Mize needs to be made by October in my
:04:05. > :04:10.view. And on this issue of citizens'
:04:11. > :04:15.rights, one of the big stumbling blocks seems the role the European
:04:16. > :04:19.Court of Justice has over settling questions over that. That seems to
:04:20. > :04:25.be potentially one of the hurdles that will be trickiest to overcome
:04:26. > :04:28.Indeed. It has been one of the red line of the UK position. Other parts
:04:29. > :04:33.have been red lined but I think that is an important one for the UK, and
:04:34. > :04:38.it defend on them how much they are prepared to actually let this go. Is
:04:39. > :04:41.there a feeling there is a lack of direction from the UK Government at
:04:42. > :04:46.this stage? We are split, we are hearing within the Cabinet, as to
:04:47. > :04:52.the direction of policy regarding Brexit. That is the impression that
:04:53. > :04:56.we get, they get here, the UK hasn't been revealing in terms of what it
:04:57. > :04:59.wants to aKiev and how quickly I would agree a bit more forth coming
:05:00. > :05:05.from the British position would be very welcome here. When you say more
:05:06. > :05:10.forthcoming, what do you think those negotiators want to see, do they
:05:11. > :05:15.want a concrete road map going forward? Well, if you ask me what I
:05:16. > :05:19.would like to see, I would like to see the divorce bill being settled
:05:20. > :05:23.as quickly as possible. This is not the most important part of the
:05:24. > :05:26.Brexit negotiations therefore we should not be spending time or
:05:27. > :05:30.capital on it. We need to move as quickly as possible in ensuring the
:05:31. > :05:34.future relationship is a good one, for both parts of the negotiation
:05:35. > :05:40.and we need to negotiate a good trade deal for the future. The
:05:41. > :05:44.divorce bill is neither a big issue, nor is it economically significant.
:05:45. > :05:47.Maria, if you were in the room there, advising both sides on the
:05:48. > :05:52.best way to reach agreement, what would you be saying to them? Find
:05:53. > :05:56.something sensible to settle the bill, and that is an important one,
:05:57. > :06:02.the gap that the UK is going to leave by not paying into the budget,
:06:03. > :06:05.this framework we have, will need to be covered by other countries, they
:06:06. > :06:09.are not waiting to fill the bill. The EU is is not trying to be
:06:10. > :06:12.difficult, it is trying to cover a bill and pay commitments it has
:06:13. > :06:17.made. So it is important that we find a good position from the UK on
:06:18. > :06:19.this part, but we have to do it quickly and move on, this isn't
:06:20. > :06:23.something we should be spending lots of time on. Thank you Maria.
:06:24. > :06:27.Let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news.
:06:28. > :06:29.Low-cost airline EasyJet has reported that its third-quarter
:06:30. > :06:31.total revenue increased by 16% to around $1.8 billion.
:06:32. > :06:34.Passenger numbers rose 10.8% to 22.3 million over the period.
:06:35. > :06:36.Looking ahead, the airline now expects profit in the range
:06:37. > :06:39.of of $495 million to $547 million for the current financial year.
:06:40. > :06:41.Easyjet is set to replace its chief executive Carolyn McCall,
:06:42. > :06:56.who is leaving next year to join broadcaster ITV.
:06:57. > :07:00.Volvo Cars has seen a 21% rise in operating profit to $820 million
:07:01. > :07:02.in the first half of the year, thanks to rising sales
:07:03. > :07:06.The Swedish firm is heading for its fourth year of record sales.
:07:07. > :07:08.It sold over 277,000 cars in the first half,
:07:09. > :07:25.More than a third of all card payments in the UK
:07:26. > :07:28.are now contactless, according to new figures.
:07:29. > :07:31.The trade association, UK Finance, said 33% of all spending on plastic
:07:32. > :07:33.was settled with a tap instead of a swipe in May.
:07:34. > :07:45.This is a rise from just 18% in the same month last year.
:07:46. > :07:51.It doesn't feel like you are spending money when you tap.
:07:52. > :07:54.In the last few hours China has said it has made "significant progress"
:07:55. > :07:57.on a 100-day action plan for trade with the US -
:07:58. > :07:59.and discussed a one-year plan on economic cooperation.
:08:00. > :08:06.How well did these talks go, given the fact that a number of news
:08:07. > :08:13.conferences were actually cancelled yesterday? Well, I feel that
:08:14. > :08:18.analysts have a different sentiment to what China put out, because as
:08:19. > :08:24.you mentioned we didn't any joint statement or news announcements, or
:08:25. > :08:27.a press conference from this annual meeting in Washington DC, leading
:08:28. > :08:33.some to speculate something broke down at these talks, and that we can
:08:34. > :08:37.expect strained ties between the US and China in the coming days or
:08:38. > :08:42.Mondays, as we have been reporting, the US wants to reduce its trade
:08:43. > :08:49.deficit with China, it stands at more than $300 billion each year at
:08:50. > :08:53.moment, and so when US President Trump met with his counterpart Xi
:08:54. > :08:59.Jinping in Florida, they agreed to this 100 day economic plan. That led
:09:00. > :09:02.to a couple of deals with US beef, natural gas sales and some financial
:09:03. > :09:08.service, so this economic dialogue in Washington, is seen as the follow
:09:09. > :09:12.up to that 100 days deal, but as we have been reporting, nothing has
:09:13. > :09:16.come out of them, nothing specific and no new initiatives and so we
:09:17. > :09:21.still have many issues between the US and China that needs to be
:09:22. > :09:27.resolved, including the issue of excess Chinese capacity and taxes on
:09:28. > :09:31.cars being imported into China, and so, trade tensions are expected to
:09:32. > :09:38.follow in the coming months according to analysts. Thank you.
:09:39. > :09:41.Asian shares are at near-decade highs, boosted by a rise in indices
:09:42. > :09:44.around the world particularly off the back of some strong
:09:45. > :09:47.The yen eased slightly after the Bank of Japan reinforced
:09:48. > :09:50.expectations it will lag other central banks in reducing the
:09:51. > :10:02.In Europe stocks opened slightly higher - Dax in frankfurt
:10:03. > :10:05.In Europe stocks opened slightly higher - Dax in Frankfurt
:10:06. > :10:09.Investors looking to take direction from the outcome
:10:10. > :10:12.of a European Central Bank meeting which could indicate whether the ECB
:10:13. > :10:14.will start tapering its own stimulus programme sooner rather than later.
:10:15. > :10:16.After another soaring close on Wall Street yesterday -
:10:17. > :10:26.Investors' focus on earnings is set to continue this Thursday
:10:27. > :10:29.with attention turning to one of the biggest names in technology.
:10:30. > :10:33.Microsoft reports its fourth-quarter results after the US market close,
:10:34. > :10:37.and its cloud business is expected to remain a key driver of growth.
:10:38. > :10:39.Wall Street will also hear more about the reorganisation
:10:40. > :10:42.The tech giant confirmed earlier this month there would be
:10:43. > :10:44.lay-offs, but it didn't disclose an exact number.
:10:45. > :10:46.There are also plenty more firms reporting earnings
:10:47. > :10:48.and among them is Visa, which reports third-quarter profits.
:10:49. > :10:50.The company makes money by facilitating credit
:10:51. > :10:53.India's efforts to go cashless should provide
:10:54. > :10:57.And with more coal being transported around the country, the largest US
:10:58. > :10:59.railroad Union Pacific is expected to report a rise in
:11:00. > :11:22.Sue Noffke, UK Equities Fund Manager at Schroders joins us in the studio.
:11:23. > :11:32.Good to see you. So, easyJet, God results? Good results after what was
:11:33. > :11:38.a difficult year last year, with Air Traffic Control strikes, there is
:11:39. > :11:43.fears over Brexit, this year you have had Easter move into the third
:11:44. > :11:46.quarter period. Better punctuality, and a few other things coming to
:11:47. > :11:50.fruition, so people are still wanting to spend on holidays and
:11:51. > :11:55.travel and prioritising that, and you have seen despite capacity being
:11:56. > :11:59.added across the industry, easyJet has been able to sell more seats to
:12:00. > :12:03.more people. Do you think easyJet will be able to swerve any
:12:04. > :12:07.turbulence, given its chief executive is leaving for ITV? Its
:12:08. > :12:14.share price has dipped slight loin that news? It has been strong so far
:12:15. > :12:18.in 2017, the shares have been one of the best performers in the FTSE 100.
:12:19. > :12:24.It faces a number of head winds, so whether that is the appetite for
:12:25. > :12:28.consumers to still take holiday, access to European market,
:12:29. > :12:32.post-Brexit, controlling costs, you know, making sure that you are
:12:33. > :12:36.getting enough revenues to cover your non-fuel costs. All eyes later
:12:37. > :12:44.will be on the European Central Bank. We don't expect dramatic moves
:12:45. > :12:49.from them. It is all in what Mario Draghi wants to try to communicate.
:12:50. > :12:54.No-one expects interest rates to move but the European economic data
:12:55. > :12:57.has been firmer, in recent months and so that raises questions about
:12:58. > :13:03.the tapering of quantitative easing that was put in place when economics
:13:04. > :13:08.were really softer, so it is a question of when, and how much that
:13:09. > :13:18.tapering is going to involve. I will watch. Will he put a drag on it?
:13:19. > :13:25.Still to come. We will be looking at holiday camps with a difference, we
:13:26. > :13:28.will speak to a woman who is replaces football and baking with
:13:29. > :13:34.coding and robotics. You are with Business Live from the BBCful
:13:35. > :13:38.Underlying profits at Sports Direct fell nearly 60% this
:13:39. > :13:40.year as the firm publish full year results.
:13:41. > :13:42.Boss Mike Ashley says he wants to turn the firm
:13:43. > :13:45.into the Selfridges of Sports - but how good a shape
:13:46. > :13:50.Theo Leggett has been looking through the figures for us.
:13:51. > :14:00.Theo is in the business news room. Why is sports direct struggling
:14:01. > :14:08.Because of the falling pound, that is the key reason, Sports Direct
:14:09. > :14:13.gets a lot of stock from Asia. The pound has fallen and has cost them
:14:14. > :14:18.money. Sports Direct tried to mitigate that by taking out currency
:14:19. > :14:23.hedges, but that went wrong when a fall triggered off a payment under
:14:24. > :14:28.one of its contract which cost it 15 million. Revenues have been pretty
:14:29. > :14:31.strong, and that might help to explain why its share price is up
:14:32. > :14:36.sharply this morning, that is down to changes that have been announced
:14:37. > :14:39.at board level, including the replacement, the belated replacement
:14:40. > :14:43.of the finance director who resigned in the wake of that currency problem
:14:44. > :14:47.last year. But, context is everything, isn't it. So if I step
:14:48. > :14:53.over here and change the view you are looking at for a moment. You can
:14:54. > :14:57.see that even with that spike today, Sports Direct share prize is less
:14:58. > :15:05.than half the level it was about 18 months to two years ago.
:15:06. > :15:15.The past 18 months have been pretty extraordinary for sports direct
:15:16. > :15:22.haven't they? Yes, it has had a terrible PR record, problems at its
:15:23. > :15:27.warehouse in Shire Brooke, employees allegedly frightened to take breaks
:15:28. > :15:32.because of possibly getting penalties. And Mike Ashley's
:15:33. > :15:35.management style has come under scrutiny. There has been a court
:15:36. > :15:41.case in London where there were accounts of important meetings being
:15:42. > :15:46.held in pubs and amending with drinking competitions. So investors
:15:47. > :15:51.are keeping an eye on this company and in particular, its corporate
:15:52. > :15:56.governance. Just before you go, how do you cope with childcare in the
:15:57. > :16:00.holidays? My other half is long-suffering and she takes care of
:16:01. > :16:03.most of that but I do do childcare a couple of days a week. It is a real
:16:04. > :16:18.struggle for everybody. Now let's get the Inside Track
:16:19. > :16:23.on a summer camp with a difference: Fire Tech Camp has replaced
:16:24. > :16:25.traditional summer camp activities The camps were launched in 2013
:16:26. > :16:29.and offer classes and activities More than 100 instructors have
:16:30. > :16:33.been hired this summer and they will offer courses
:16:34. > :16:35.in coding, app design, robotics, digital music production
:16:36. > :16:42.and much, much more. Jill Hodges, founder
:16:43. > :16:55.and CEO of FireTech Camp. Thanks for coming in. I am sure it
:16:56. > :17:01.is getting busy as you approach the summer? It is very busy. Summer
:17:02. > :17:06.camps have existed, where did you get the idea of doing something
:17:07. > :17:11.around robotics and tech. I am American and this has been around in
:17:12. > :17:14.The States for 20 years. So tech camps and summer camps where you go
:17:15. > :17:17.and learn something, get those skills that have enrichment value
:17:18. > :17:23.have been around for a long time. When I was looking for camps for my
:17:24. > :17:28.own kids here, I couldn't find any so I started it myself. Lotsa people
:17:29. > :17:34.find it a struggle to drag a ten-year-old from a digital device.
:17:35. > :17:39.It is a hard sell them to put them into a week-long camp where they are
:17:40. > :17:43.looking at it all week long? We are harnessing the excitement and
:17:44. > :17:47.interest they have on technology and turning it into creative. They are
:17:48. > :17:52.creating their own games. There are some parents who haven't sorted
:17:53. > :17:57.childcare out yet, quite like the sound of this, how much does it
:17:58. > :18:08.cost? We have causes that run for a full week, 9am to 5pm and they start
:18:09. > :18:19.between 200 and ?500. There is a high cost of childcare, so it is a
:18:20. > :18:24.big uplift? It is not just childcare and baby-sitting, we cover more in a
:18:25. > :18:30.week than they would get a year in school. We accept childcare vouchers
:18:31. > :18:36.and we have a scholarship programme. So you do provide some sort of
:18:37. > :18:40.access to low-income families? Absolutely, we have sponsorship from
:18:41. > :18:43.corporate and we sell fund a lot of scholarships. What gave you that
:18:44. > :18:50.start, you felt there was a niche in the market, but why did you think, I
:18:51. > :18:55.can do this? I love technology, my sister has a Ph.D. In computer
:18:56. > :19:00.science and my dad is an engineer. I was always comfortable around
:19:01. > :19:03.technology. As technology is more consumer friendly, people understand
:19:04. > :19:09.less about what is going on inside and the kids will need that skill.
:19:10. > :19:16.What sort of things do they do and the camps? This week we have a camp
:19:17. > :19:22.that is for prototyping where kids are making their own fidgets
:19:23. > :19:26.spinners. We have video game design, robotics where they are programming
:19:27. > :19:31.robots so it is the beginnings of artificial intelligence they are
:19:32. > :19:35.learning about. We have programming camps, 20 different causes. It is
:19:36. > :19:40.difficult for low income families to access such skills, tell me more
:19:41. > :19:44.about the scholarship programme? We have an application on our website
:19:45. > :19:48.and there is a scholarship area, complete video that tells us why you
:19:49. > :19:55.want to do it and what you think you can do with the skills you are going
:19:56. > :19:59.to get. How important is it you feel these skills are harnessed for
:20:00. > :20:06.future generations. You are aiming this at children so you hope they
:20:07. > :20:13.will become the next coders and Robotics builders of the future? The
:20:14. > :20:18.skills around it is critical. It is all about product design as well and
:20:19. > :20:22.getting them to be creative. You said earlier, a lovely example with
:20:23. > :20:26.one kid came on the camp with her own idea? One girl had an interest
:20:27. > :20:30.in geology and she had a fossil she had found at the beach and she was
:20:31. > :20:37.able to recreate the whole fossil and 3-D print it. So that was really
:20:38. > :20:40.cool. Thank you very much for coming in.
:20:41. > :20:42.Let's stick with the theme of childcare, a new report has found
:20:43. > :20:45.that it now costs UK families an average of ?125 or $163
:20:46. > :20:49.per week to look after their kids during the summer.
:20:50. > :20:53.This means the cost of holiday childcare has
:20:54. > :20:56.increased 4% since 2016 - and with rising inflation eating
:20:57. > :20:59.into living standards, we've been asking parents how
:21:00. > :21:02.they plan to manage over the summer break -
:21:03. > :21:17.I can't work because I can't afford childcare costs for three children.
:21:18. > :21:20.One of my children has got special needs so I need someone who is able
:21:21. > :21:27.This is my salary so I have to give all my salary to the club.
:21:28. > :21:30.There is no point to work then, if I can look after her
:21:31. > :21:34.It would be good to keep the child centres open,
:21:35. > :21:36.children's centres open for them to provide things and maybe
:21:37. > :21:39.have the youth club running through the summer which has already
:21:40. > :21:47.We had the last one last week, but it would be good to be
:21:48. > :21:51.I think it would be good to have more provision at school,
:21:52. > :21:53.after-school clubs and certainly school holiday ones as well.
:21:54. > :21:58.I know when our child starts school there won't be that much clubs
:21:59. > :22:01.I know when our child starts school there won't be that many clubs
:22:02. > :22:03.running after-school, I don't think, so that
:22:04. > :22:06.And also subsidise things I think also.
:22:07. > :22:10.You know, they want us to work, but don't really give us the help
:22:11. > :22:16.Sue Noffke, UK Equities Fund Manager at Schroders is joining
:22:17. > :22:29.It is piecing it together, clubs and have some time off and I am
:22:30. > :22:34.fortunate to have a nanny. Heather has treated to say she was fortunate
:22:35. > :22:41.to be able to afford her full-time nanny but offered to help a friend
:22:42. > :22:45.by taking her child part so those nanny shares are popular.
:22:46. > :22:50.Someone else has said, when you are both self-employed, if we don't
:22:51. > :22:53.work, we don't earn any money. Liz has said help from family and
:22:54. > :22:57.friends. Sophia says with great difficulty.
:22:58. > :23:03.She said having a child with special needs makes it more difficult.
:23:04. > :23:06.They start at ten and end at three p:m., many clubs have shortened
:23:07. > :23:11.hours. Richard says, do something radical,
:23:12. > :23:12.if you have decided to bring up kids, stay at home and bring them
:23:13. > :23:20.up. I couldn't have done this job!
:23:21. > :23:24.They could have sat quietly in the corner. Thanks for all the business
:23:25. > :23:32.stories that I've hit the papers today. And Facebook, it is trying to
:23:33. > :23:37.think of a plan to redirect traffic through two new sites, because there
:23:38. > :23:42.is this concerned that many news sites, many publications are losing
:23:43. > :23:46.out because people don't pay for their content? Especially the young.
:23:47. > :23:55.Older people still read newspapers, whether it is digitally or in paper
:23:56. > :24:01.form. Facebook has been suffering from criticism that much of its news
:24:02. > :24:06.is fake news and this is providing content from the publishers through
:24:07. > :24:11.to users through the Facebook portal. Publishers are quite
:24:12. > :24:17.interested because this is a way they could get subscription revenues
:24:18. > :24:22.from people reading their content. One of the other big stories that is
:24:23. > :24:26.being covered in the papers is the revelations about pay levels for the
:24:27. > :24:31.BBC's top TV and radio stars. It throws up a lot of issues that could
:24:32. > :24:36.apply to any business, the gender gap in pay and you know, quite
:24:37. > :24:43.pronounced when you have people doing the same job, side-by-side,
:24:44. > :24:47.paid very different amounts? There will be individual circumstances
:24:48. > :24:52.where people do extra activities for the corporation, so it might not be
:24:53. > :24:55.entirely like-for-like, but this level of transparency does come to
:24:56. > :25:03.bear and asks a lot of questions. Not just the pay gap, but gender
:25:04. > :25:08.diversity in total, where are the people who show that diversity.
:25:09. > :25:12.There will be career breaks, women bring up children but they are doing
:25:13. > :25:18.the same job, exactly the same on-screen time and it would seem
:25:19. > :25:25.very unfair? That's right. Your company looks at differences in pay?
:25:26. > :25:33.Yes, we look at people doing the same sort of jobs and the pay gap is
:25:34. > :25:38.much lower, but we have some people who work part-time and some roles
:25:39. > :25:48.are eligible for benefits and some are not, so there are differences.
:25:49. > :25:50.You will be pleased to know that we're not on the higher rate of pay!
:25:51. > :25:52.No awkwardness here. There will be more business news
:25:53. > :25:58.throughout the day on the BBC Live web page and on World Business
:25:59. > :26:00.Report.