Home fit for a tech hero

BRITAIn’S ambition to be the ‘go-to’ place for tech and fintech listings was underlined in two Government reports last year. Softbank’s reported plans for an initial public offering for Cambridge-based Arm Holdings provide a golden opportunity for the UK to establish its reputation for large-scale floats.

Under normal circumstances the first port of call for tech listings would be new York. The current sharp correction on nasdaq, where tech shares have taken an 11pc beating this year, shows that heading to Wall Street should not be the only option.

Softbank chief executive Masayoshi Son was greeted as a conquering hero when he swooped on smart-chip creator Arm in 2016. In the post-Brexit confusion, Downing Street saw the deal as proof that Britain was still open for business.

It has turned out to be a betrayal. Softbank ownership was diluted when a stake was spun off to the Saudi-Arabian backed Vision Fund. Majority control of Arm’s Chinese operation was spun off to a local firm and became a battleground as Beijingbacked directors have sought control.

Most spectacularly, Softbank had been counting on selling the company to rival nvidia for £30bn. Bloomberg reports that deal is now is likely to be cancelled as a result of anti-trust scrutiny in the US, Britain and other markets. It hasn’t been helped by a drop in nvidia shares this year.

At stake is the threat that under nvidia stewardship the open access model for Arm chip design and licences would be endangered, reducing competition for smartchips amid huge demand from the gaming industry and others.

The possibility of a London float is tremendous opportunity for Downing Street to bring Arm back to Britain and the London Stock Exchange.

Softbank naturally wants the best price but in the same way that the red carpet was laid out for Masayoshi Son by the previous Tory administration, it would be a terrific chance for Boris Johnson to offer a reception which the country could buy into.

David Schwimmer, the former Goldman Sachs banker who heads the London Stock Exchange, needs to be involved. Arm is a prize catch for the City that shouldn’t be allowed to swim away.

Lost cause

MIDDLE management used to be a safe space for colleagues uninterested in reaching the dizzy heights of the corporate world. Covid is changing all of that.

The forced digital transformation has demonstrated that a treacle layer of bureaucrats isn’t necessary.

Last week, no-frills fashion retailer Primark decided to axe 400 store supervisors. Investment in smarter tills, IT which can keep much closer track of stock, sizes, reordering requirements and so on made the savings possible.

Unilever’s decision to dispense with 1,500 management posts is certain to be seen in the context of the failed Glaxosmithkline consumer healthcare approach and the arrival of activist nelson Peltz.

This reorganisation has been on the cards for some time. The investment in online working across the company has made it far easier to slim down layers of management.

Much the same opportunity was seized at Marks and Spencer in the pandemic.

Predictably, the Unite union is screaming merry hell about the proposed loss of 700 managerial jobs at Royal Mail, claiming that colleagues working from home have ‘been plotting to remove those who turn up’ during the pandemic.

There is no escaping the fact that the Royal Mail operates in a highly competitive marketplace and needed to lift its game in Covid by employing newer tracking technology. That’s what Amazon, consumers and other key clients demand.

Continental drift

THERE could be no greater threat to the global economy than cutting Russian gas, which supplies a third of EU requirements.

As tensions reach boiling point over Ukraine, the US is engaged in urgent talks with Middle East potentates and big oil about lifting output and diverting supplies of liquid natural gas to Europe.

That looks sensible. But it underlines the folly of relying so heavily on Russian imports and would doubtless cause another huge spike in natural gas prices.

This, at a moment when potential rich fields in the north Sea and deposits off Shetland are being held to ransom by climate change activists.