Business
Holland & Barrett and Centrica among firms fined for underpaying staff
A number of firms have been fined by the government for failing to pay some of their staff the minimum wage.
Centrica, which owns British Gas, Holland & Barrett and EG Group are among the 491 employers named by The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) for underpaying their workers over several years.
The companies will pay a fine amounting to a combined £10.2 million as a result of breaking the rules.
Pay for some staff fell short of the national minimum wage, or the national living wage, which is what the government calls the minimum wage for those aged over 21.
In total, around 42,000 people have been repaid by their employers after being left out of pocket, the DBT said.
EG Group short-changed its workers the most, according to the government’s latest investigation of pay between 2018 and 2023.
The company, which was co-founded by the billionaire Issa Brothers, but who have since stepped back from leading the firm, failed to pay £824,384 to 3,317 workers.
This meant individual employees were underpaid about £250 on average.
The company has significantly reduced the size of its UK operations over the past year, selling its UK petrol forecourts business and Cooplands bakeries. It still runs Starbucks franchise stores across the UK.
Another in the top 10 was Centrica, which owns British Gas, having failed to pay £167,815 to 356 workers – amounting to about £460 on average.
High street retailers Go Outdoors and Holland & Barrett were also identified by the DBT in its latest naming round.
Go Outdoors was number seven on the list, owing £240,106 to 2,058 workers.
Holland & Barrett was ninth, having failed to pay £153,079 to 2,551 employees.
The national living wage was £11.44 in the year to the end of March, and has risen to £12.21 since April.
The minimum wage for 18-20-year-olds rose to £10 this year, and for apprentices and those aged under 18 it rose to £7.55.
The DBT released a list of more than 500 employers in June that underpaid workers between 2015 and 2022, including Pizza Express, Lidl and British Airways.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle said: “Every worker deserves a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, and this government will not tolerate rogue employers who short-change their staff.
“I know that no employer wants to end up on one of these lists. But our Plan to Make Work Pay cracks down on those not playing by the rules.”
A spokeswoman for Holland & Barrett said: “Holland & Barrett has been named by the government under the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme, following a historic issue dating back to 2015–2021 which was fully resolved in 2022.
“This was not a case of deliberate underpayment. The issue stemmed from legacy practices such as requiring team members to wear specific shoes, unpaid training completed at home, and time spent preparing for shifts at our Burton distribution site.
“All arrears – totalling around £150,000 across the six-year period – were repaid in full once identified, and we acted swiftly to upgrade processes and systems.
“While we respect the transparency of the scheme, we are disappointed that naming has occurred over three years after the matter was settled.”
EG Group, Centrica and Go Outdoors have been contacted for comment.
New Delhi: The combined market valuation of three of India’s top companies surged by Rs 75,855.43 crore last week, even as the overall stock market showed a sluggish trend during the holiday-shortened week.
State Bank of India (SBI) and Infosys were the biggest gainers among the top firms. While the Sensex slipped 5.89 points, the Nifty inched up by 11.05 points over the week.
Commenting on Nifty technical outlook, an expert said that “immediate resistance is placed at 25,875, followed by 26,000 and 26,100 levels. On the downside, support is seen at 25,600 and 25,450.”
“A breakdown below 25,300 could intensify downside pressure and accelerate corrective moves. Given the prevailing volatility, a cautious approach with strict stop-loss discipline is advised,” an analyst stated.
Among the top companies, ICICI Bank, SBI, and Infosys recorded gains, while HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, and Larsen & Toubro faced a combined erosion of Rs 75,549.89 crore in their market value.
Interestingly, the total loss of these seven companies was still slightly less than the total m-cap addition of the three gainers.
SBI emerged as the biggest gainer, with its market valuation jumping by Rs 39,045.51 crore to reach Rs 9,62,107.27 crore.
Infosys also saw a strong increase, with its m-cap rising by Rs 31,014.59 crore to Rs 7,01,889.59 crore.
ICICI Bank added Rs 5,795.33 crore, taking its market value to Rs 10,09,470.28 crore.
On the other hand, Larsen & Toubro’s market valuation fell by Rs 23,501.8 crore to Rs 5,30,410.23 crore, while HDFC Bank’s valuation dropped by Rs 11,615.35 crore to Rs 14,32,534.91 crore.
Bharti Airtel’s m-cap declined by Rs 6,443.38 crore to Rs 11,49,544.43 crore, Bajaj Finance saw a dip of Rs 6,253.59 crore to Rs 5,91,447.16 crore, Hindustan Unilever lost Rs 3,312.93 crore to stand at Rs 5,54,421.30 crore, and TCS’s valuation slipped by Rs 470.36 crore to Rs 11,60,212.12 crore.
After these movements, HDFC Bank remained the second most valued domestic company, followed by TCS, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, SBI, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, and Larsen & Toubro.
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Gold and silver hit new records in 2025, with silver crossing 90 dollars per ounce. Experts highlight silver’s industrial demand and gold’s role as a hedge.
Gold and Silver outlook this week
Gold and Silver Prices Outlook: Gold and silver prices saw a marginal dip after a record-breaking rally. Continuing the upward momentum of 2025, gold and silver made new records with silver crossing $90 per ounce-mark for the first time in history. Meanwhile, gold hovered in the range of $4,596-$5,600 per ounce.
COMEX Silver has seen a relatively sharper correction to the $89–$90 region after peaking above $93.7, reflecting short-term profit-booking following an extended rally.
In India, gold futures with expiry on February 05, 2026, stood at Rs 1,42,474 per 10 grams as on January 16, 2026. Silver futures with expiry in March were at Rs 2,87,701 per kg.
The tussle between European Union and the United States of American will be watched closely across the world this week. Trump administration has put fresh tariffs on the European Union following his demand to acquire Greenland, an autonomous region under Denmark, prompting the EU to halt the trade deal with the US with immediate effect.
“The 0 per cent tariffs on US products must be put on hold,” Weber said in a post on X, citing concerns over Washington’s latest actions.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that the new tariffs risk damaging transatlantic ties.
“Tariffs undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral,” she said, stressing that Europe would uphold its sovereignty and remain united.
Gold, Silver Outlook
The long-term appeal of silver and gold will remain. Chronic supply shortages, especially in silver, sustained central bank gold purchases, accelerating demand from green energy, EVs, AI, and electronics, and ongoing macro and geopolitical uncertainties continue to support the long-term bullish narrative, said Ponmudi R, CEO – Enrich Money.
While near-term volatility may persist due to profit-taking, dollar movements, and key U.S. macro data, any corrective phases are expected to remain shallow and attract buying interest, added Ponmudi R.
“Silver continues to offer relative outperformance potential due to its higher industrial leverage, while gold remains a reliable hedge against macro and geo-political uncertainty,” he said.
Prasenjit Paul, Equity Research Analyst & Fund Manager at 129 Wealth Fund said one of the biggest mistakes investors can make is treating gold, silver, and debt as one broad “defensive” allocation.
“Doing so masks overlapping risks and can lead to a situation where supposedly safe assets decline at the same time as equities,” he said.
For gold he added that it should be viewed purely as catastrophe insurance—largely independent of the business cycle and the most reliable hedge against systemic stress.
Adding for silver, Paul said, Silver does not belong in the defensive category at all. Its demand is heavily linked to industrial activity, particularly in areas like solar energy and electric vehicles.
“As a result, silver behaves more like a cyclical asset and should be treated as a tactical satellite allocation,” Paul added.
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips by experts in this News18.com report are their own and not those of the website or its management. Users are advised to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
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January 18, 2026, 14:54 IST
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UK inflation could have ticked higher last month, as Christmas getaways helped fuel price rises at the end of the year, economists have said.
Some economists are expecting the rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation to have risen in December after falling sharply the previous month.
Rob Wood and Elliott Jordan-Doak, economists for Pantheon Macroeconomics, said they were forecasting CPI to rise to 3.3% in December, from 3.2% in November.
A hike to tobacco duties, which was announced at the autumn budget in November, is set to have pushed up overall inflation during the month.
The price of plane tickets and hotels are also expected to have soared amid stronger demand for Christmas travel.
Analysts forecast that airfares could have jumped by about 30% between November and December.
But economists stressed that the choice of date for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to collect the latest inflation data would be crucial, as prices would have differed throughout the month.
If it was collected later in the month, travel prices could have been much higher in line with the school holidays, pushing up the overall rate of inflation.
Andrew Goodwin, chief UK economist for Oxford Economics, said he thought the slowdown in the rising cost of living was “temporarily halted” in December.
He said: “Some of November’s downward pressure came from volatile categories, including clothing, airfares, and accommodation services, and this is likely to have unwound in December, although the choice of date for collecting the data will likely have a crucial bearing on the outturn for airfares.”
He is predicting a much sharper increase of CPI inflation to 3.6% in December.
On the other hand, analysts for Barclays said they thought inflation would remain unchanged at 3.2% in December.
They forecast energy price inflation to have slowed, while food and drink price rises to have steadied at the end of the year.
But experts said they thought inflation was still heading downwards this year.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment for Interactive Investor, said that “longer term, the trajectory for inflation is still on the downside, heading back towards the 2% target later this year”.
“November’s budget from the Chancellor was largely viewed as disinflationary owing to its contractionary fiscal measures, including tax increases and spending cuts,” she said.
“Plus, there are growing signs of slack in the labour market, also easing inflationary pressures in the UK economy.”
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