06/12/2017 BBC Business Live

This is Business Live from

BBC News with Sally Bundock

and Ben Thompson.

Can Luxury firms control who sells

their goods online?

That's the question that

could get an answer today

in a case that could change how

we all shop in the future.

Live from London, that's our top

story on Wednesday, 6th December.

The luxury of buying high end

goods on Amazon and Ebay

could be about to end.

We have the latest on what could be

a landmark ruling in the European

courts.

Also in the programme,

The price of entering

the chinese tech market,

we have a special report

on the lengths silicon

valley is going to, to get

behind the great firewall.

For financial markets. It is a sea

of red. We'll explain why.

And if you can't leave

home due to illness,

how about sending a robot to school

or work instead?

We'll get the inside track

from a Norwegian start-up that's

using robots to help children take

part in school lessons,

even if they can't leave the house.

And one in five Brits have

admitted they never work

to the best of their ability.

Are you one of them or do you see

those people in the office

and it drives you mad?

Let us know.

Just use the hashtag BBCBizLive.

Let's name and shame the lazy ones

in the workplace.

Hello and welcome to Business Live.

Should luxury brands be

able to stop retailers

from selling their products

on online marketplaces

such as Amazon and Ebay?

That's the question at the heart

of a decision being made

by Europe's top court today.

It's a battle that's been ongoing

for a decade and could have wide

ranging consequences

for internet shopping.

So the test case was initially

bought in Germany by Coty,

the multi-billion dollar US beauty

company whose luxury brands

include Marc Jacobs,

Calvin Klein, Rimmel and Chloe.

Coty argues it should

have the right to choose

who sells its products and how.

That would allow the firm

to protect its image and exclusivity

as part of the global personal

luxury goods market

that is worth some $295 billion.

However a German retailer called

Parfumerie Akzente argues it has

the right to sell Coty's goods

on sites including Amazon and Ebay

and the restrictions violate

EU competition rules.

62% of German retailers use

online marketplaces -

more than any other EU country

and many argue that offers consumers

more choice and lower prices.

Alan Davis the head of Competition,

EU & Trade at Pinsent Masons.

Alan nice to see you. Welcome to

Business Live. Sally has run through

the details there. It strikes me

this is something that all retailers

do. They take brands and they sell

them on. Why is this so significant?

This is significant because luxury

brand owners have made huge

investments in developing the brand

image, the prestige of their luxury

products and they want to be able to

protect that. They are concerned

about retailers being able to free

ride on that investment by selling

goods in an environment or on a site

that does not portray the same sort

of prestige and brand image.

But

that must open up a wider market for

them to more can yous ustomers who

are able to access it. They are able

to sell to more customers, are they

not?

Well, that is that argument and

if you look at the statistics for

online selling on platforms in

Germany, but by and large, the

prestige of the product is so

important to them that they want to

be able to protect that.

Is this

also about the cost that they have

put into marketing that brand? They

have made it unique. They have made

it niche. They have made it

exclusive. So is it about that they

want a return on the money they have

spent?

Exact lip. Ly. It enables

them to ensure the price level for

the products is maintained in the

market. Online selling generally

results in lower prices for

consumers because there is a

downward spiral if products are

being sold and there is competition

at that level of the market, but by

able to restrict how the products

are sold enables them to control the

price at which the products are sold

in the market.

You might say a cynic

would suggest controlling the price

means they can keep the price

higher. You might get it cheaper on

eBay or Amazon, but they say we want

to keep the price high?

Correct. If

the prices are not sufficient, kept

sufficiently high, they won't be

able to justify making the

investments and consumers will not

benefit from the range and quality

of those prestige products in the

market.

A brief word on what we

expect today. Which way are you

expecting it to fall?

The opinion

came out in July which favoured the

luxury brand owners and the court

will normally follow the opinion of

the advocate general, but we really

don't know.

Normally. We will wait

and see. Alan, thank you for

explaining that.

Let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news.

The United States has

imposed a range of tariffs

on some steel products that

are imported from Vietnam.

The Commerce Department says

many of them originate in China

and are trying to circumvent

existing duties tackling dumping

and state subsidies.

The new tariffs range

from 39% to 265%.

Australia's economy grew

by 0.6% in the three months

from June to September -

that's an annualised rate of 2.8%.

It was driven by higher business

investment and government spending

on infrastructure projects.

The world's 12th largest economy

is trying to diversify away

The world's 12th largest economy

is trying to diversify away

from its dependence on mining and -

like many countries - faces

the problem of weak wage growth.

German firms will reconsider

their trade links to the UK

if there is no clarity on a Brexit

deal by March, the country's

business lobby has warned.

The head of the powerful BDI group,

told the BBC there was "a certain

urgency" for companies that do

business in Britain and recently

asked its members to prepare

for a "very hard Brexit".

One of China's most prominent

businessmen has told the BBC that

foreign firms must play

by the country's controversial rules

and regulations on the internet

if they want to compete

in the world's biggest market place.

Jack Ma - the head of the online

retail giant Alibaba -

and he was speaking

at an annual gathering

of government and corporate

leaders which is often over

shadowed by the country's

tough censorship laws.

From the conference

in Woo-jen our correspondent

Robin Brant sent this report.

Robin Brant sent this report.

Every year China invites the world

to this serene water town

to talk about the internet.

Its vision of the internet and that

includes openness this year.

China is staying open to face...

But there is less talk about China's

widespread censorship online.

The strict controls on access,

the great firewall that this man

is partly responsible for

that keeps Twitter,

Google and others out.

It's no big secret. There wasn't

much openness though from one

of the ministers in charge

of the internet.

These are names familiar to many

online here in China

and they're coming to a mobile

or a tablet near you.

But China doesn't just to sell

you stuff, it's ramping up it's

investment in how the web works.

Artificial intelligence,

big data, cloud computing.

The big idea at this

conference is openness.

China open to the world,

apparently, and in return,

the world, of course, open to China.

But there is a very sinister

side to China online.

China's internet controllers went

into overdrive this year to help

this man, the president, Apple

agreed to remove dozens of apps that

allow free access to the web.

Whatsapp was blocked. Pictures of

were not allowed. None of that

deterred big names from coming to

the conference. Facebook is banned

from China. When is Facebook coming

to China legally?

No comment.

When

will you be coming to China legally?

Will you be sensoring your comment

in China?

No comment.

There wasn't

much openness from their man.

Excuse

me.

This man is a star in China. He

made billions. He is the best known

businessman.

He has a very direct message for the

foreign firms who want in.

China's president promised this

conference he will open the doors

wider and wider. He knows some

foreign firms don't like his vision

of the internet, but they will

accept it and join in.

Let's look at markets in Asia today.

Now, don't be fooled by the big

numbers in red over there because

the Nikkei closed down 1.97% lower.

It was their biggest percentage fall

since March for the Nikkei. The

closing number is correct. We have

got a funny quirk with the

percentage numbers there, but you

can see across-the-board in Asia,

Hong Kong lower. Australia, South

Korea, they were having a torrid

session following on from a bad

night the night before on Wall

Street. If we look at Europe, it is

a similar story. Let's look at

Europe right now. So we can get a

sense of how we are doing in London,

Paris and Germany. We are seeing

declines across-the-board. A lot is

to do with people locking in profits

right now as we come towards the end

of the year with many issues going

on in the world of geopolitics which

are causing nervousness. North

Korea, the US President and what he

might say today about Jerusalem and

Israel. We have got Brexit and the

stalemate, the lack of breakthrough,

all on the minds of investors. Let's

look ahead to what's happening on

Wall Street later.

Samira Hussain has the details about

what's ahead on Wall Street Today.

The employment report is coming out

later.

Compared with a gain of 235,000 jobs

in the previous month. The report

could give us clues on what we can

expect on Friday when the Labour

department releases the latest jobs

report. Broadcom will be reporting

later this week. Finally, also

reporting is discount store

Dollarama, they are likely to have

boosted prophets. Investors will be

eager to hear about forecasts for

the rest of the year and how the

company will drive sales to counter

competition from online sales.

Joining us is Jane Sydenham,

Investment Director

at Rathbones Investment Management.

What are you watching this week?

Well, we are looking ahead to see

what is going to happen next year.

As you just said, you know, it's

very much a case of investors

looking forward. It has been a good

year overall and I think to some

extent the retreat in Asia is that

worry about is China's growth going

to continue at a reasonable rate,

high levels of debt, are they going

to have to re-position and slow

down. As you rightly say, we are

worried about politics. But it's

also, you know, rising rates in the

US as well. I think there is a lot

of strategy talk going on. We are

starting to talk to all of the

businesses that we deal with and

they are all beginning to think

ahead. So, I think there is a lot of

profit taking and re-positioning.

All the markets are coming from a

very high level as well. 1.97% fall

for the Nikkei today is not much

compared to its rise in the last

sort of year. Could there be some

things triggering another flurry of

buying like US tax reform being

actually nailed down that kind of

thing?

I think that's right. That's

been anticipated, but there is quite

a lot of doubt because you know,

Donald Trump has sort of got there

and then had to pull back and

re-think. So there is no certainty

until it actually happens. If it

does pass, yes, markets will be

happy. But there has been a lot of

good news. So and some stocks are

really over rated. They are really

too highly priced. The gap between

the most expensive and the cheapest

is the widest it has been for 35

years. That's a spectrum. So there

is a lot of re-positioning going on.

All right. Jane, thank you very much

indeed.

Jane is not one of the lazy

workers...

Why are you looking at

me?

I'm saying Jane is not one of

those because she has to do some

more work for us later.

We are asking if people you work

with don't work to the best of their

ability.

Still to come, we hear

about the robots allowing children

to feel part of the classroom

experience when they are too

ill to go to school.

You're with Business

Live from BBC News.

If you are ever faced

with a decision

of whether you should take a job

at Google, consider yourself one

of the privileged few.

The tech giant has been named

the best company to work

for across Europe and North America.

Joining us now is Mark Di-Toro.

He's with Glassdoor, the job site

which conducted the survey.

Nice to see you Mark. I am not

surprised to hear what you found

out.

Yes, first and fore most we are

here to help everyone find a company

in a company that they love. That's

why we do the awards. Google for the

first time after two years of

Expedia being number one, Google

have usurped them and taken the top

spot, but followed by Anglian Water

and Bromford a social housing

company in Wolverhampton.

Google, followed by Anglian Water,

what were you asking?

To be on these

awards, Best places to work, there

is no panel, people do not pay, this

is purely given by reviews and

ratings given voluntarily by

employees over the last 12 months,

on Glass Door, companies do not have

much of a weight of in this.

What

makes Google the best place to work

at, or Anglian Water a close second?

Google has a culture of great career

development, strong senior leaders,

great pay, great perks, what we

found with Anglian Water, they

interviewed their CEO, and we

realise that all of their senior

leaders, all their top directors,

have been through the company for

many years. Their employees trust

them, they know what they are about,

and I think that makes a big

difference.

Full details of all the other

stories that we are following,

including news that Sakho profits

have taken a hit after the collapse

of Monarch Airlines. It says profits

will fall by 5% over the next year.

That is because it has seen a

downturn in travel business as a

result...

One of the big losers on

the FTSE 100, saga shares are down a

lot. -- Saga.

You're watching Business Live,

our top story Luxury goods firms get

set for a landmark European ruling

on whether they can control

how their goods are sold online.

A quick look at how

markets are faring.

We can see the market is taking a

turn for the worse.

A lot going on as the week

progresses, on Friday, end of the

week, something that is quite

significant, we have a US jobs

report coming out, on Friday, and

also, as well, just to bear in mind,

talking about geopolitics earlier, a

lot of concern about how Brexit

negotiations are going this week.

The UK is seen to be in a position

of weakness right now, depending

upon which angle you are looking at

it from, a lot of discussions about

internal politicking going on within

Theresa May's cabinet, that is

weighing on the pound sterling.

Breaking news on the top story we

were telling you about, news we were

expecting from the European Union

about whether the grand firms can

ban other retailers selling some of

their goods. Within the last few

minutes, US cosmetics

company Coty can indeed block. Many

of these retailers want to protect

profit margins but certainly their

brand. We are hearing that the

European Court of Justice has said

US cosmetics company Coty can blog

retailers from selling their

products online.

Now, in an increasingly digital

world, problems of isolation and

solitude can feel amplified by the

constant presence of social media.

But technology can - of course - be

part of the solution. A Norwegian

startup called 'No Isolation' is

using robots to help children who

can't go to school because of

long-term illness to continue to

feel part of the action. The small

machines act as a proxy for the

child and allows him/her to feel

part of the classroom experience,

albeit remotely. And that can help

them to feel less lonely. The

company estimates that in the UK in

October of this year, 70,000

children spend great parts of the

school year at home sick or in the

hospital.

Joining us, Karen Dolva, is

co-founder & CEO of No Isolation.

And in the studio, we have one of

the robots which could be in a

classroom representing a child that

cannot be there. Lovely to meet you.

Tell us about this little fellow. I

am falling in love with it!

Explained how it will work.

It is a

total presence robot, if you are

really ill and must stay at home for

months or years, this represents you

in the class, you have a tablet, a

phone at home, you control

movements, you can see and talk to

everyone, friends can pick you up

and put you out to break.

We are

keeping cameras on him, or her...

What is really important, the child

at home, the user, can change how

this robot looks. Light up the head

with different lights, if they are

not feeling well enough to be

involved, if they want to alert the

teacher, then there is different

ways of communicating.

One of the

first things we saw, we have been

testing this with real kids for

quite a long time, one of the things

that is difficult for them is saying

out loud, I am not feeling well.

They have a setting where they can

turn the head blue, indicating, I am

watching you, but do not ask me hard

questions, don't bring me out for

the break.

That is how children

interact, what about students in the

classroom... What research have you

got about how they interact?

We have

been observing them, it takes other

kids two minutes to get the concept,

they are used to having avatars

representing them. The teachers take

a couple of hours, they need more

information when it comes to privacy

and it is only the child on the

other end that is supposed to see

it.

I have three children in state

school education, you think about

the money, money is tight,

everything we want to do, expand,

invest in, it is not there, and

parent groups are busy having

fundraisers to make it possible.

Luckily, it is very few kids we are

talking about, so it is not

something everyone should have.

Who

pays for it?

Mostly the schools. At

least in the Nordic, so far, 300

units out there, but we have five or

six customers here in the UK, they

have done it on their own. The

parents have rented it.

How does

this work as a business for you, you

sell these things, is there an

ongoing revenue stream that you can

license these further afield?

I

think we will continue doing what we

are doing, maybe selling it to

schools and renting to parents. More

revenue heavy than a telepresence

robot for kids, if we rent it to

seniors.

Tomorrow, if we are not

here, apps I can stay at home... We

are not saying anyone is lazy...

Thank you very much for coming in.

Really nice to see it.

In a moment, we will look through

the business newspapers, if I am

still here, but here a quick

reminder of to get in touch:

stay

up-to-date with the business news as

it happens on the BBC's business

life page. Insight and analysis from

the team of editors write around the

globe. We want to hear from you,

too, get involved on the web page.

We want to remind you of the lead

story today, the European Court of

Justice with regards to its decision

on this case between the US

cosmetics company, Coty, that is the

ruling from the top court last few

minutes, that it can block its

products being sold on Amazon, for

instance. They want to protect

branding full. Back with us to talk

us through some of the stories,

let's talk about Twitter, lazy

people in the workplace, we all have

got them, somebody who is not quite

pulling their weight.

I'm afraid we

have a few like that in our office.

We want you to name and shame...

LAUGHTER

Really interesting thing, this

survey, talks about Brits, may not

be British workers, talking about

how we are more inclined to be a

little bit on the lazy site unless

we are massively motivated.

A lot of

it is about communication, employees

are not clear about what their job

is and the job description and what

is expected, sometimes they drift

because they are not clear.

There

might be an issue with weak wage

growth as well, they tweeted here

says, I work to the best of what my

salary justifies(!) people feel that

they have not had a pay increase for

a long time, they will not go the

extra mile because employers are not

valuing them.

Motivation is always

an issue, if you feel you are not

rewarded for the if effort that you

make.

Christopher says, some jobs

don't allow people to work to their

potential, managers must accept they

are part of the problem. Rudolph

says, perhaps they are working at

the level that reflects their pay,

the point you are making.

Working to

the best of your ability often has

little or no impact on status of

prospects, though management pretend

it does.

People learned that it is

not a meritocracy. Time is against

us, I'm afraid, really good to see

you.

Business live pages updating all the

time, with all the latest news. We

will see you soon.