13/02/2018 BBC Business Live

This is Business Live

from BBC News with Samantha

Simmonds and Ben Thompson.

A milestone for tourism to Tunisia.

The travel operator Thomas Cook

resumes holidays to the country

for the first time since the terror

attacks 3 years ago.

Live from London,

that's our top story

on Tuesday 13th February.

Can Tunisia bounce

back following those

devastating attacks?

We'll take a look at what's

changed since 2015.

Also in the programme...

The US President unveils his 1.5

trillion dollar infrastructure plan,

but is it what the market is looking

for following the recent

ups and downs?

And you can see the markets, the

FTSE opening up just a fraction.

And a hairbrained idea?

We'll meet the man dismissed

from Tv's Dragon's Den,

but went on to launch

a multi-million dollar business

selling hairbrushes.

He is here and he will explain how.

And as a new report says more

than a quarter of young people

want to run their own firm -

we want to know, if you could quit

work and start your own firm,

what would it be?

Let us know, use the

hashtag BBCBizLive.

Hello and welcome to Business Live.

It's been nearly three years

since attacks by so-called

Islamic State in Sousse and Tunis

killed 60 people in Tunisia.

The majority of the victims

were European tourists.

At the time tour operator

Thomas Cook stopped

operating in the country -

but now it's announced it will start

selling trips there again today.

Tunisia has been making

a slow recovery since

the terror attacks.

In 2017 the National Office

of Tunisian Tourism say that

6.7 million tourists

visited the country,

a rise of 23 percent

compared with the previous year.

Egypt has also suffered

from recent terror attacks.

This includes the 2015 bombing

of a Russian airliner

which killed 224 people.

But earlier this month, the Kremlin

resumed flights to the country

after a 26 month suspension.

Thank you.

With me is Sarah Grady,

Travel and Tourism analyst,

Global Data.

Good morning and welcome. I wonder

if we could start with how

significant this move is, Thomas

Cook saying it will begin selling

holidays are gay, bell-macro selling

holidays again.

Does it mean?

In terms of the impact

it can have on Tunisian tourism and

the economy as a whole, it is huge.

How badly affect it was said? This

awful terror attacks, what does it

do to a tourist economy like

Tunisia?

The Tunisian economy is so

dependent on tourism, it had a

devastating effect, UK arrivals fell

by an think 90% from 2014 until now,

a huge impact. Going forward it

bodes well to have different

carriers going out there and

allowing people to go on holiday to

Tunisia again.

You think Thomas Cook

saying it is OK will give people

confidence too big?

Absolutely. I

think with some that is renowned for

its speech and sunshine holidays, if

you want a beach holiday you don't

want to think about whether it is

safe, your insurance being

invalidated, the package providers

going out there provides confidence.

So where have people been going

since these package holidays were

polled, it was very popular?

We have

seen people go to similar

destinations, Greece, Cyprus, even

more recently Egypt and Turkey have

been improving, it can bounce back.

The infrastructure and what we know

about what has happened to those

hotels in three years, have they

been lying dormant, the

infrastructure may not be update, it

will take a little bit of time to

get back up and running.

Of course.

I think this is a test season, we

need to see how these trips go and I

expect going forward we will see

other carriers opening rates and

it's a case of time. There will have

been a lot of improvements in

security, both border control and

actually on the ground, I think it

bodes well. Interesting milestone as

you say.

Absolutely. Sarah, thank

you. Let's look at some of the other

stories making the news.

Starting today, Japanese

cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck

will allow customers to withdraw

money from its portal.

Just over two weeks ago,

the exchange abruptly announced

the suspension of a number

of services after hackers stole

$530 million worth of digital money.

A BBC study has found that a quarter

of property in England and Wales

owned by overseas firms is held

by entities registered

in the British Virgin Islands.

23,000 properties are owned

by nearly 12,000 firms registered

in the overseas territory -

that's more than any other country.

India's Tata Steel says it

will invest over $100 million

to repair a blast furnace

at Britain's largest steelworks

in Port Talbot, in South Wales.

The move would extend its life

by seven years and ease concerns

about Tata's commitment to making

steel in Europe.

It comes after the firm

signed a preliminary deal

to merge its European steel

assets with ThyssenKrupp.

Let's stay with manufacturing, this

time in Asia.

General Motors is to shut

one of its four plants

in South Korea as it tries

to make its Asian Business

more profitable.

The plant - which was only

running at 20% capacity -

will close in May.

Monica Miller is in Singapore

to explain why the firm

is taking this step...

Welcome, I guess it makes financial

sense. The company has been in the

process of downsizing globally, the

automotive maker sending this

message to South Korean workers, the

world focusing on the Pyeongchang

all in games, this is no

coincidence, General Motors has had

several rocky battles with the

unions that represent over 16,000

Korean factory workers and this is

about to cut costs to stem losses.

The announcement was made by General

Motors career saying it plans to

close one other four plans in an

effort to cut costs and downsize

overseas operations. They agreed in

this to pay a charge of $850 million

for the closure impacting more than

2000 employees on a coastal city,

the close-down expected in the month

of May. The plans and South Korea

make cars exported to dozens of

different countries including Buick

SUBs. This is not just the impact

and South Korea, units in India,

Russia, western Europe and Southeast

Asia have been downsized are closed

and the company has been putting

more resources into China, it sells

for more cars, SUBs and trucks than

any other country in the nation.

Monica, thank you.

Let's take a look at the markets.

Asian

stocks pulled further away

from two-month lows on Tuesday,

lifted by Wall Street's extended

rebound from last week's steep fall,

but investors remained

cautious ahead of U.S.

inflation data later in the week.

The Hang Seng is up, as was Dow

Jones. The FTSE down a fraction.

And Joe Miller has the details

about what's ahead

on Wall Street Today.

On Tuesday it's all food and drink.

We'll hear from Coca-Cola rival,

PepsiCo, which is reporting

fourth-quarter earnings.

And the company has recently

launched Bubbly, it's a sparkling

water brand aggressively marketed

to millennials, complete

with an expensive ad

campaign to coincide

with the Oscars coverage.

But revenues at the firm

have been flat recently,

in part because America is slowly

falling out of love with the sugary

drinks it helped popularise.

And we'll see whether any company

can survive when the behemoth

which is Amazon enters their market

when Blue Apron reports.

It's a food brand also aimed

at busy, young people,

which specialises in home delivered

meal kits complete with all

the necessary fresh ingredients.

Its shares have lost almost three

quarters of their value

since the company floated to great

fanfare last summer.

Joining us is Jeremy Cook,

Chief Economist at World First.

Hello.

Good morning. Inflation back

in the spotlight again. Intertwined

with interest rates. We get the

latest reading in the UK, investors

will look at that very closely.

Yes,

UK numbers at 9:30am, US numbers

tomorrow, it all comes back to huge

volatility we had last week, the

Friday before, taking you back 10-11

days, big wage numbers from the

United States, people saying are we

getting to the point in the US for

we talk about high-level soccer

inflation, is a very high, the

global financial crisis or inflation

rate is quite low, but are above

where it central banks and investors

have what used to over the course of

the last ten years. If that glacial

numbers from the US tomorrow is

high, showing with the stimulus

coming through from the Trump tax

plan, we are at towards the end of

the cycle of growth in the US

economy, are we looking at a Federal

Reserve may have to hike interest

rates faster than it is at the

moment?

We've been keeping a close

eye on South Africa, we are

expecting an announcement in the

next hour soak about the future of

Jacob Zuma, the uncertainty and

instability on the economy is a

knock-on effect, Cyril Ramaphosa

will have a lot to do when

eventually he comes in.

When he

eventually comes in, Jacob Zuma is

half President have limpid, the ANC

have said we have not we have

replaced you, the meeting, we expect

an announcement as you said in the

next hour, if he does not leave as a

result of bad it will go to

Parliament, it happened in the early

2000, as soon as Cyril Ramaphosa is

in, we expect things to start

picking up. The infrastructure needs

it.

We will find out in the next

hour. Interesting times. You will be

back with the paper stories but for

now, thank you and nice to see you.

Still to come...

We'll detangle the trials

and tribulations of launching

a multi-million dollar hair product.

We'll meet to the inventor

of the "tangle teezer".

You're with Business

Live from BBC News.

It's a big day for the UK economy

with inflation and house

price figures due from the Office

for National Statistics.

Inflation reached

a near six year high

towards the end of last year,

but has it peaked?

Andrew Walker is here

to tell us more.

We were talking about what markets

are looking for as far as inflation

is concerned that this has an effect

on the money in our pocket.

Absolutely, what most people are

expecting is another small decline

in the headline rate of inflation,

consumer price inflation, the most

recent figure was 3%, the peak,

probably the peak was 3.1% a couple

of months earlier, the figure we are

expecting for January is to put

nine. The question is have we seen

the end of the spike in inflation,

following from the decline in the

value of sterling which makes

imported goods more expensive. It

may be that we are now passed that

peak although a small word of

warning from the Bank of England.

They have suggested that the recent

rise we have seen in the price of

crude oil although it was partly

reversed in the financial markets,

there has been a boost to the price

of crude oil, that might feed

through and put English and back up

a little bit, again, but the chances

are in terms of the effect of the

decline of sterling, we are probably

through the worst of it.

What impact

could this have in terms of any

impact from the Bank of England?

Key

thing is whether this decline from

the peak continues. We are expecting

the Bank of England to start raising

interest rates fairly soon. If this

decline continues at the kind afraid

we have been seeing the applications

for the Bank of England will be that

they will move slowly and in very

small steps. The big question I

suppose is if there is a decisive

upturn again then they might start

thinking about the need to move more

quickly but it's not what we are

expecting.

Andrew, thank you. Full

coverage of that in the BBC Business

live page and the story catching our

ride, don't use showgirls to sell

roof tiles as the headline, a lot of

controversy late about red girls and

promotional girls, this story on the

BBC Business live page. Not the most

obvious connection. A new industry

regulator will issue a code of

conduct.

You are watching business life.

You're watching Business Live.

Our top story - the travel operator

Thomas Cook has resumed

holidays to Tunisia.

It's the first time

the company has operated

in the country since the deadly

terror attacks which killed 60

people, 3 years ago.

We have been discussing how the

country is getting itself back on

track.

A quick look at how

markets are faring....

Can you imagine being

told your business idea

was destined to fail?

Not only that, but being told that

on national television.

Well that's what happened

to our next guest when he appeared

on the reality TV show Dragon's Den

when pitching an idea

for a new type of hairbrush -

that detangles knotted hair.

He came up with the idea

for the product in 2004.

After three years of research

he launched it and took

it onto Dragon's Den -

looking for an investment of $110,00

in return for a share

of 15% of the company.

What he got instead,

was flat out rejection.

But he was not to be put off -

and despite the mauling

he got from the lions -

Tangle Teezer has expanded to more

than 70 countries...

And and is now a business worth

an estimated $270 million.

Astonished by those numbers.

Shaun Pulfrey, founder and inventor

of Tangle Teezer joins us now.

Welcome.

It is so nice to be back on

the BBC.

And we cannot say that your

business is going to be a failure.

We don't have any money to give you.

LAUGHTER

You proved them wrong. And it's

this, this is one of them, well, one

of the new ones.

The original Tangle

Teezer, that is what I presented to

the Dragons. But this has now been

launched into the pet market.

They

look similar and they work in the

same way?

The principle, yes, why

change something which is successful

already. We had a lot of feedback

from our consumers. Somebody said

that they used it on their pet. I

would have been more concerned in

the early days about that. But I've

been working with dog rumours,

looking at... Working with Battersea

dogs home. Although they look

similar, that's the winning formula,

but the technology is different.

It's dealing with shedding and

detangling. We like to think we

innovate different products that do

the job.

Let's get back all of those

years when you invented it. I have a

daughter with really curly hair, I

have two of these. I have been asked

to model this. I shall do it. A

first for me.

It will work.

I know

that they work, I use them at home.

I never use my hairbrush on my

daughter because she would just

scream in pain. What is so special

about it? What makes it work?

It was

based on an idea right had when I

used to do it in the salon. We had

to engage with the hair. But the

instant you start combing you will

get tangles. Two years of backwards

and forwards try to create it. We

came up with the way the Tees

interact and react with hair. In the

past it had to be active, but this

is passive. -- on the way the teeth

into Iraq. The attitude to women was

that a hairbrush was an all-round

thing. That cannot be used with blow

drying. That's why we had brushes

with a handle for that.

You are now

a huge success. What goes through

your mind... People of that business

acumen, they know their stuff and

they say it is destined to fail.

That must take resilience on your

part.

I agree totally. It possibly

wasn't the best pitch. I didn't

convey that I had done a lot of

research and that there was demand.

But I had been working in the

industry since I was 16. I put that

paces in the salon. Even though it

was a private venture. But I put it

through its paces. The feedback I

got was that it would be a success.

When you came out of the failed

pitch, what went through your mind?

Well you determined to make a

success of yourself?

My

determination was already there.

They didn't destroy it. -- were you

determined. I was always prepared

for rejection. But you cannot reject

what you don't get.

LAUGHTER

Didn't your website crash after you

had been on TV because 70 people

wanted it?

Good point. I thought, if

the dragons don't get it, there must

be thousands of people at home that

want it. -- because so many people

wanted it.

You have had phenomenal

worldwide success.

I have won

awards, everything.

You have made a

decision to go into the pet market.

Are you not scared about devaluing

the brand? Why have you made the

decision?

More because the brand is

established. We now have a blow

styling finishing tool. In the

industry we have a selection of

tools. The pet one is just on the

detangling one. Time to move on. We

see lots of similar items in the pet

world. They were using a similar

product. We felt confident to go

into the market, particularly in the

UK in the domestic market because it

was so well-established as a brand.

We were asking people this morning.

A quarter of all university students

want to set their own firm. They

don't want to work for anybody else.

If are watching, what are your tips

for them?

It sounds good. -- if any

of them are watching. You've got to

have a passion. The friends you

collaborate with at first will soon

be your rivals. It isn't that easy

at first. But I wouldn't change it.

It is also manufactured in Britain,

which I am very proud of.

You should

be. Thanks.

We've had lots of messages. Alistair

says a record 4.8 million people are

self employed today, do it but with

your eyes open. The median wage was

self-employed is below the average.

Not everybody like Sean is a

millionaire.

Brian says I've just started my own

business in accounting, not the

easiest but it is fantastic that I

can work for myself. Keep your

messages coming.

In a moment we'll take a look

through the Business Pages but first

here's a quick reminder of how

to get in touch with us.

Stay up-to-date with all of the

day's business news as it happens on

the business live page. There is

inside analysis from our team of

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we want to hear from you. Get

involved on the BBC's business life

web page... -- business live web

page.

And you can find us on Facebook...

Business live, on TV and online,

what you need to know. Quarter of

all university students leaving one

to start up their own business. As

we heard from our previous guest it

is easier said than done.

It is. But

there is a lot more support for

young entrepreneurs looking to set

up. If that's an accountancy

service, but also if they are

selling online, selling through

eBay, Amazon... They might be

importing goods from China. Selling

them here, or selling them abroad.

With the Internet you can buy

anything from one place and sell it

in another place.

Ship it off

somewhere else.

There are not

barriers for importing.

You don't

have to have a premises, warehouse,

things like that, because they're

all of these big websites that will

be able to warehouse everything for

you. Everybody has a side hustle

these days.

Side hustle!

CHUCKLES

Let's talk about Apple Music and

spot if -- and Spotify. Apple was

originally the catch-up service, but

they might be taking over.

Yes, this

is a -- this is another story of you

Google, are you Apple?

And you

cannot have a bit from here added it

from there.

I recently bought a

Google phone. It is in sync with

everything in the house. I didn't

realise it but everything is Google

in my house, apart from the iPad

which doesn't work any more, so I

need to get rid of it. If you have

an iPad, if you have the new Apple

home speaker service, their version

of Alexa, then the music you are

going to have to listen to is Apple

music. Facebook tied in with

Instagram and it basically killed

SnapChat.

It is about the reliance

on the dominance. You cannot be

bothered to get something else to

talk with the other device.

Google

has the information side of thing.

Apple is the entertainment side of

things. Amazon is just buying

everything. It is putting pressure

on companies like Blue Apron. It'll

be interesting to see if people are

cross-border within this market and

saying everything I use for

entertainment is Apple, everything I

work is Google, and everything I

shop is Amazon.

The battery is

taking the bite out of the power

market. Batteries being charged by

renewable energy.

When the football

is over and everybody puts the

kettle on. There is a huge surge in

the demand for electricity. There

are certain power stations which

apparently run into action to make

sure the grid doesn't crash. These

new giant batteries are set up

alongside the power grid to make

sure that these are smoothed out.

It's interesting to see we are

becoming more electronic.

Battery

technology is so important.

We see

it in the car industry, so why not

our homes, as well? Exactly.

Thanks

very much.

That's it from Business Live today.

There will be more business news

throughout the day on the BBC Live

webpage and on World Business

Report.

We'll see you again tomorrow.