15/03/2018 BBC Business Live

This is Business Live from BBC News

with Rachel Horne and David Eades.

Leaving London - consumer

goods giant Unilever

says it's moving to a single

headquarters in the Netherlands.

Live from London, that's our top

story on Thursday, 15th March.

Love it or hate it, the maker

of Marmite and Dove Soap says

the decision wasn't made

because of Brexit but out of a need

to simplify the business.

Also in the programme...

Counting on Kudlow.

US President Donald Trump

brings in a TV commentator

as a top economics advisor.

On the markets, Europe is open and

rising, as expected, albeit

cautiously.

And the Oscar goes to...

The man who'll be giving us

the Inside Track on special effects.

BladeRunner 2049 won

the Academy Award so we'll

speak to the company

behind the silver screen magic.

Also the question for you, we want

to know, does it bother you there

are plastic particles in your

bottles of water? Let us know.

Just use #BBCBizLive.

Would you buy that water?

Hello and welcome to Business Live.

Unilever, which is one

of the world's biggest consumer

goods manufacturers,

says it's abandoning its

London headquarters.

It means the company will only

have one head office,

in the Dutch city of Rotterdam.

It says the move is not

connected to Brexit.

The company, which makes

products including Marmite,

Dove Soap and Ben and Jerry's ice

cream says it's moving to

a simpler, more agile structure.

Unilever employs 7,300 people

in the UK and whilst no jobs

are being affected, this will be

regarded by many as a blow to

the country in the run-up to Brexit.

The company has its roots in both

the UK and the Netherlands where it

already employs 3,100 people.

Thank you.

Our business correspondent

is Theo Leggett.

In practical, real terms, what does

it mean?

It does not mean anything

in terms of jobs. Unilever will

continue to employ 7300 people in

the UK and 3100 in the Netherlands.

The corporate structure of the

business will be simplified. It is

quite unwieldy at the moment, it was

created from a merger in the late

1920s between British and Dutch

company. The board currently sits on

two locations, that will go down to

one. In practical terms, one of the

attractions for the Netherlands is

that it has stricter takeover laws

than the UK which means a company

can do more to obstruct a potential

hostile takeover. Think back to last

year, Unilever was on the receiving

end of a hostile takeover bid from

Kraft and it said in the wake of the

deal it would simplify structures to

make itself into a leaner company

and that is what it is doing.

What

about the issue of whether company

will be listed? Will it retain its

first -- its FTSE 100 listing?

That

would be quite difficult but it is

currently in negotiations with the

authorities to try to reclaim that

listing. It matters because it will

still be selling shares in London

whatever happens, it says it wants

to retain access to UK funding,

investors. The question about

whether it is in the FTSE 100 is

important because if it is in the

index, certain large funds are under

an obligation to buy and hold its

shares.

Thank you very much. The

British Government very quick to say

it has nothing to do with the

British departure from the EU.

Let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news.

The toystore giant US Toys R Us says

it will close all 735

of its US stores as it winds down

the company after failing to secure

a buyer or a rescue deal.

It comes after it decided to do

the same with its stores

in other parts of the world.

It had hoped to sell

the international business

to keep the American

branch going after racking

up $5 billion of debts

and seeking bankruptcy protection

in the US last year.

Amazon Japan said it has been raided

by the country's fair trade

regulator on suspicion

of a possible anti-trust violation.

An Amazon Japan spokesperson said

it was fully cooperating

with authorities but gave no details

about the alleged violations.

Japanese media say the firm is

suspected of asking suppliers to

shoulder costs incurred are selling

their products at a discount.

The US Senate has passed a bill

to roll back banking

regulations put in place in the wake

of the 2008 financial crisis.

The bill exempts banks with less

than $250 billion in assets

from stricter oversight.

The draft legislation must now

go through the House

of Representatives.

The United States has strongly

backed Britain's decision to expel

23 Russian diplomats in response

to the nerve agent

attack in Salisbury.

Moscow denies involvement.

The Foreign Ministry has described

the British response as insane.

But it remains to be seen

whether that backing will amount

to more international sanctions.

And the power and importance

of Russia's energy industry means

further economic sanctions

could be limited.

Russia is the world's

biggest oil producer.

Last year that amounted to almost

11 million barrels per day -

that's more than 10%

of the global total.

It's also the biggest exporter

of natural gas to the EU -

supplying almost 40% of imports.

And some individual European

companies are heavily

dependent on Russia too.

Almost a quarter of BP's profits

in 2015 came from its stake

in Russian oil giant Rosneft.

Evghenia Sleptsova is senior

economist for Central

and Eastern Europe at

the consultants Oxford Economics.

Thank you for joining us. What

economic impact could these

sanctions have or is it purely

political?

The expulsion of

diplomats will not have an economic

impact and more importantly it could

have a limited political impact as

well because this is the bare

minimum you would expect in the

circumstances. The question really

is whether the UK will do what has

been prompted to do for so long,

going after the Russian shady money

flowing into the UK.

We have focused

on oil and gas because it is such a

massive part of Russia's economic

lifeblood, they will not do anything

on their own, Britain, but what

chance of getting any EU coalescence

around a move at all?

There are

already sanctions on the Russian oil

and gas sector, more by the US than

by Europe, so in addition to that, I

do not think they will be going

after that because the Russian oil

sector is already partially

suffering from limited access to

finance. And also, in terms of

limiting oil or gas supply, this

will not happen because it is of

mutual interest to both sides, the

EU and Russia. Russia would also not

unilaterally try to punish Europe by

less supplies of energy.

What sort

of response do you think we could

see from Russia on this?

In terms of

economic sanctions, I think Russia's

responds in kind has been limited,

the only tit-for-tat sanction they

had was imposing a ban on exports of

food from Europe or imports of food

into Russia, and I think Russia

tends to respond more in terms of

its ultimate goals and its ultimate

goals are undermining European

national security and that would be

the response and I think it is

ultimately about the power balance,

the less you respond, the more you

are likely to seek further

encouraging into European national

security -- further incursions.

Thank you very much.

US president Donald Trump has

another country in his sights

when it comes to trade.

After action against China,

as well as tariffs on steel

and aluminium imports,

this time Indian exporters

are being targeted.

our correspondent Suranjana

Tewari is in Mumbai.

All eyes on this one.

Absolutely.

The US has gone to the World Trade

Organisation in order with this

challenge saying that Indian

government exemptions for duties,

taxes and some fees for Indian

companies exporting to the US is

unfair, it says Indian companies are

benefiting by about $7 billion every

year because of these. The companies

that will be affected are producing

steel, textiles, IT

steel,

, pharmaceuticals, a really wide

range. The US says it creates an

uneven playing field than it is

unfair to American companies and

workers because it allows Indian

companies to sell goods more

cheaply. The WTO allows for

developing countries to have these

kinds of programmes, until they

reach a certain economic benchmark.

The US says that India crossed that

benchmark in 2015. This is the

latest protectionist move we have

seen from the US. The Indian

government has not responded yet but

we are expecting a strong one.

Thank

you for that. Let us look at how the

markets have been getting on.

Asian markets started the session

with losses but have

staged a come back.

The Dow is also down. Traders

concerned about trade war issues.

Europe has opened up, as expected.

We will keep an eye on the numbers

through the day. President Trump has

picked his new top economic advisor.

More details. In his trademark blue

pinstriped shirts and cuff links,

Kudlow has been a fixture on US

financial television for more than a

decade and a reliable cheerleader

for American business, a consistent

proponent of lower taxes and free

markets, he made his name as an

investment banker at the inflated

Bear Stearns before working in the

Ronald Reagan administration. At one

point he strongly denounced Donald

Trump's behaviour and has repeatedly

criticised the White House for its

attacks on open markets including

the recently announced steel and

aluminium tariffs. However sitting

in his usual perch on cable

television on Wednesday, he appeared

to row back on his previous position

and stressed he was broadly in

agreement with his old friend Donald

Trump's economic agenda. It was a

performance that no doubt pleased

the presidents who once worked as a

Wall Street pundit alongside Mr

Kudlow and was reportedly won over

by his TV skills.

Jane Foley is senior currency

strategist at Rabobank.

People know what he is about, his

track record, his background,

Kudlow. A bit of an Asian

uncertainty about his China

approach.

Do they know his

background? He used a walk on Wall

Street and in the Reagan

administration, has he has

experience working in government

which is perhaps reassuring. Looking

at the Reagan administration, a

president that did use some

terrorists even though he was

supposed to be about free trade. The

markets, we can have perhaps some

relief on the trade side because

Kudlow is someone who has associated

himself with free trade, perhaps we

have a moderating force.

What sort

of influence will he have? An

adviser, no technical power, how

much do you think President Trump

will listen to him on the trade

issues, especially because we are

led to believe that is why the

previous adviser left?

The

impression we are getting more

recently is that Trump, apart from

perhaps this appointment, he has

been getting rid of people who

disagree with him. Rex Tillerson,

another example. Perhaps the inner

circle is just people who agree with

him. It will be interesting to see

whether Kudlow is successful in

moderate rating the protectionism --

moderating.

Mike Pompeo, the removal

of Rex Tillerson, now this

appointment, that in itself creates

all sorts of uncertainties about

what the pattern looks like and

whether anything else will come with

musical chairs.

The White House has

a revolving door right now. For the

markets, it is not something that

promote stability, quite the

opposite, and that is disgruntled

link for investors.

Thank you very

much.

Still to come...

We talk to the Oscar winning

special effects firm behind

blockbusters like Harry Potter,

Gravity and Bladerunner.

The founder and CEO

of Britain's Framestore tells us

about the global revolution

in visual effects.

You're with Business

Live from BBC News.

The world's second biggest

cinema chain Cineworld has

seen its sales grow 11.6% last year.

Joining us now is Michael Hewson.

A fairly good set of numbers.

Revenues came in higher at 890

million. Profits were up as well. A

good 22%. But I think you need to

put these numbers in the context of

the recent acquisition of Regal

Entertainment, $3.6 billion

acquisition of one of the biggest

cinema firms in the US. Looking at

the numbers, they are good.

Unfortunately, the share prices down

25% on the past 12 months. The share

price should be an awful lot higher

and there are concerns that

Cineworld maybe has bitten off more

than they can chew with respect to

the acquisition and that is why

there is a subdued reaction on the

London market.

What would investors

have preferred, just focus on what

they are doing already?

Focus on

what they are doing already, and a

large part in the growth of revenues

last year was as a result of three

films, beauty and the beast,

Dunkirk, Star Wars. An awful lot of

competition at the moment with

respect to streaming, Amazon Prime,

Netflix, Apple, Google, what cinemas

need to do to retain futsal is

improve the cinema experience, make

it more immersive. They have rolled

out 11 four D experiences, they need

to do more and quicker. They have

only upgraded around 11, 12. If they

want to retain footfall and rely

less on big blockbusters to get

people through the door, they need

to focus on that.

Chief market

analyst, thank you for your time.

One story on the website, Airbus,

challenging that Melrose is a bit

short term list for their liking.

They won't be able to put to work

the way of GKN. A potentially

significant development for GKN.

The Anglo Dutch consumer goods giant

Unilever says it has chosen

Rotterdam in the Netherlands over

London for its main headquarters,

saying it's an effort to simplify

the business rather than a response

to Brexit.

the business rather than a response

to Brexit. Looking at the markets

this morning, across Europe, they

are all up just a little bit after

rather flat trading across Asia on

the basis of the Dow having fallen,

jittery over Donald Trump's recent

changes.

There are few fields where your work

is considered better,

the less visible it is.

But that's certainly

true if you make special

effects for big movies.

Seamlessly blending the effects

with the live action is key.

London-based Framestore won a BAFTA

and an Oscar this year

for its special effects work

on Blade Runner 2049.

It also worked on the Harry Potter

series, Walking with Dinosaurs

and the Paddington films -

its annual revenues now

exceed $180 million.

Today Framestore employs 2,500 staff

and has seen its annual revenues

grow by 12-15% every year

since it was founded in 1986.

Sir William Sergent, chief executive

of Framestore, is here.

Thank you for coming in. Pretty

impressive growth and many

congratulations, great results for

you. And you are moving from where

you started 30 years ago but staying

very much at home in London.

Indeed,

we have been in Soho for 30 years,

over five buildings, and now we are

bringing them together under one

roof in Holborn, which is becoming

the centre of the UK creative

industry.

You hazard Halpern is the

centre of the centre. You're talking

about a very small defined patch in

London. -- you have said Holborn is

the centre.

Where do you take

architecture, design, film and

music? We are very much where it is

in the world. Its spread all over

London now.

One of the headlines

this morning has been about Unilever

moving their headquarters out of

London and at the same time you are

moving your headquarters and

choosing to stay in London. Is

Brexiter concern for you?

It's a

concern because we hire the best of

the best from Europe. But London is

an ecosystem, and ecosystems are

very important and the creative

industries are very powerful and

work of each other in London.

With

Brexit, you are used to hiring

people from across the EU and to

some extent you might be hamstrung.

I hope David Davis will give me some

clarity because at the moment we

hire people from UK universities and

European universities. That's very

important for us, the flow of

graduates is important and I hope it

will not be disrupted.

A clarion

call for clarity, we have heard that

a few times. Your focus is on the US

and Asia. You would see that is

partly the way that you avoid the

issue.

In the UK, in Europe and

America, there are less than 1

billion consumers for what we

collectively do as a living, in

terms of digital storytelling.

Between Mumbai and Beijing, 4

billion people consume what we do

for a living. That tells you where

you need to be as a community.

Don't

give everybody the impression we are

going across European. We are

watching footage from Blade Runner

2049. This is what you won the Oscar

for, Best visual effects. As

technology has advanced over the

years you have worked in the

industry, has it made your job

easier or more challenging?

We tell

stories using computer-generated

imagery and it allows more ambitious

storytelling, particularly visually.

The game goes up every year, and

what was outstanding Asti is

ordinarily this year.

In your hub,

you have a big R.N. Taddy

department. You always have to do

recognise that although Gravity

might be a great success, that's

gone. -- a great R&D department.

Oscars

what piece of special effects have

you were, at your most proud of?

It's generally the one I can't tell

you about yet because it is yet to

come out. People would expect me to

say something like Gravity or

Paddington. But for me, Notting Hill

was a benchmark in terms of

storytelling because nobody has any

idea that the seasonal walk down

Portobello Road is a triumph of

visual effects. If you look at it,

we go through the four seasons, and

the lady walking alongside Hugh

Grant becomes ever more pregnant. By

the end of the war she has a baby in

her arms.

Done seamlessly. Before we

close, what is the next big thing?

Film, like everything, goes in

quantum leaps forward. What is the

next big thing?

Your story about

cinema is interesting. Cinema is

only part of the platform of telling

a story. As people we want to

consume a story everyday, just like

BBC News, we get it on all sorts of

platforms, and for me that is the

future. For me in the future you

might be using your phone or a AR

headset. You will consume the story

in many manifestations digitally,

somebody has to tell the story in

that manner. They haven't done it

yet, but they are already directing

and I hope we can help them achieve

that.

Where do you keep the Oscar?

They are kept in someone's home,

normally as a doorstop.

Just behind

the Bafta! Priorities. Thank you for

joining us.

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 the

business news that it happens on the

BBC business live page. Insight and

analysis from a team of editors

around the globe. And we want to

hear from you. Get involved on the

business live web page.

Find us on Twitter and Facebook as

well.

What you need to know, when you need

to know. We will have a look at some

of the other media stories and the

story we have been asking you about,

this revelation that there are

plastic particles in our bottles of

water. Your response as to whether

you want to drink that. Jason says,

this possibly means it's also in all

bottled drinks, anything containing

water, lemonade, coal and orange

squash? John says it's in tap water

as well, but we should stop buying

bottled water to cut down on plastic

production and environmental

littering. A few people picking up

on the idea that if it is in water,

it will be in anything. James Comey

you had an interesting point about

not buying bottled water but looking

for...

Because of the stories of the

oceans over the last few months, you

can buy cart and water, which we

can't get here very easily. I was in

the supermarket last night looking

for cart and water and it's not easy

to buy. Hopefully change very soon.

-- looking for cartoned water.

It

will also have an impact on peoples

views of any container, aluminium

you send reusable. Let's get back to

a bit of glass maybe.

If we hear

stories it's also in tap water, that

is also setting.

A story in the

Guardian, Donald Trump admits making

up facts in a trade meeting with

Canadian leader Justin Trudeau.

It's

quite amazing. On one level I would

be surprised he carried on with his

argument not knowing the facts,

perhaps I'm not so surprised about

that. Talking about which way round

the trade surpluses were. Donald

Trump would not believe Trudeau

until he sent out his advisers to

look it up. The headline trade

balance, Canada has a deficit with

the US, once you throw in energy,

Canada is the biggest exporter of

energy to the US, and also timber.

There is a lot of dispute, and has

been for a number of years with the

US.

He got away with it there.

Others are saying it's not news at

all because the last line in the

Guardian said, Trump made 2140 false

or misleading claims in his first

year as president according to a

Washington Post story. Thank you, J.

That's it from business Live today.

More news on the web page and on

world business report. We will see

you again soon.