Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 11th April 2025 - video Dailymotion

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Phil and Dan discuss the hotel plans by a leading cosmetic brand, UK and global IPO listings in Q1 2025 and a new approach to ESG for UK businesses in this morning's Business Briefing.

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00:00Hotel plans by a leading cosmetic brand, IPO listings in quarter one 2025, and a new approach to ESG for UK businesses, all coming up in this morning's Business Briefing.

00:18Well, good morning and welcome to the Business Briefing. I'm here with Dan from our Digital News team.

00:26And I'm Phil Cunliffe from the editorial team at Insider. I'm one of the business editors.

00:33So I've got a story about IPOs, which is actually quite interesting this morning.

00:39We're reporting today on quarter one IPO listings in the UK.

00:45The UK IPO market continued to be affected by macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty coming out of the US.

00:54No surprise there.

00:57So lots of things going on in the world.

00:59And there were just five new listings on the London Stock Exchange in quarter one.

01:06The listings did raise 74.7 million in proceeds, but that is a 74% year-on-year fall in deal value from that raised in quarter one last year.

01:18So a significant downturn in IPOs this quarter.

01:24The announcement of US trade tariffs, of course, is expected to further subdue the UK listing market.

01:33And I'm not sure how much that is going to be affected later on in the year.

01:40We shall see.

01:42The global IPO market, however, saw total deal values increase by 20% year-on-year in quarter one,

01:50with 291 IPOs raised globally, which is significant, of course.

01:56The US experienced its third strongest quarter one performance on record,

02:03with 59 listings raising a significant amount of money.

02:09Also reported today on IPOs is the fact that globally AI adoption is transforming the IPO landscape

02:19and significantly influencing companies' growth trajectories.

02:24This has been particularly evident in the technology, financial and health and life sciences sectors in particular,

02:33with AI referenced by nearly half the companies surveyed,

02:39as businesses, I think, seek to leverage AI to streamline their operations

02:44and maximize their chances of successful IPO offerings.

02:49So a really significant thing for IPO and the rise of IPOs in AI

02:56is obviously triggering a lot of that activity.

03:00Interesting to see that the new listings have been impacted.

03:02But I've also noticed that in my patch in the southeast,

03:05a couple of companies have actually delisted over the last few weeks.

03:08I think we might well see some delistings throughout the year.

03:12So we'll definitely keep an eye on that.

03:15Yes, definitely.

03:15Dan, I think you've got a cosmetic brand that are looking to open a hotel.

03:21I am. So quite exciting plans.

03:22The cosmetic brand Lush has revealed plans to open a UK hotel

03:26in partnership with an unnamed British firm as of now.

03:30So Lush is known for its bath bombs, sour gels and body creams.

03:34Very nice smelling shop.

03:35But this will be the company's first ever hotel.

03:38So when I've been into Lush to buy presents,

03:41I've noticed that it's got excellent customer service.

03:43So I think that they're very well placed for a transition

03:46into something that's more hospitality-based.

03:49And it could prove hugely successful for them.

03:51Absolutely.

03:52And I certainly anticipate a very nice smelling reception area.

03:55Indeed.

03:56So that announcement comes as Lush actually reported

03:59widened pre-tax losses for the year ending 30th of June 2024,

04:03increasing from $28.1 million to $42.6 million,

04:07while turnover fell from $708 million to $674.5 million.

04:11The retailer also closed its Dusseldorf manufacturing site

04:14and consolidated North American production to its Toronto site,

04:18with Dusseldorf production moved to its UK factory and pool,

04:21where it also has its headquarters.

04:23So mixed results there, but definitely very exciting plans for the hotel.

04:27An interesting company moving their manufacturing site

04:32from one side of the country, of the world, to the other.

04:36Absolutely, yeah.

04:36Again, that might be something we pick up again

04:39as we move forward with President Trump's tariffs,

04:43of course, causing that kind of activity, I think.

04:46Yesterday, North West Business Insider editor Simon Keegan

04:51interviewed Jo Daly.

04:54Jo is the head of Impact at Clearwater.

04:57She was asked about ESG and how UK businesses

05:00should approach things in 2025,

05:03not least in light of President Trump's feelings about diversity

05:11and all those kinds of things that he's having sort of different views

05:16than the UK businesses have had of late.

05:19The interview is on the screen below.

05:25You can go and click into that and have a listen.

05:29It's well worth doing because she has some very, very interesting ideas

05:33about how UK businesses should be approaching ESG in 2025.

05:39Well, that's all we've got time for this morning.

05:41I hope you've enjoyed it.

05:43If you want to go to read any of our news stories,

05:46please go to insidermedia.com

05:48and click through to all the stories there.

05:51So that's it from us.

05:54Hope you have a good day.

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 11th April 2025

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