More than 1,000 Bank of England employees spent a combined 12,889 days working outside the UK under the central bank’s working from abroad policy, according to freedom of information data first reported by The Telegraph.

Some 6,000 staff are eligible to work overseas for up to 40 days a year, on top of an entitlement to work from home for three days a week, the Bank’s official guidance states.

The Bank said on Tuesday: “The Bank’s working-from-abroad policy is in place for staff who temporarily work outside the UK. As an organisation with a significant international make-up, we recognise that colleagues may at times need to spend short periods overseas.

“Due to continued investment in modern technology and secure systems, staff are able to carry out their roles effectively while working remotely.

“The policy is subject to time limits and other conditions, including security-related restrictions, and staff are required to fulfil their usual duties and responsibilities professionally and effectively.”

The latest publicly available staff handbook, which sets out the terms alongside the Bank’s other staff codes and policies, states: “The Bank is committed to supporting colleagues working flexibly and allows colleagues to work from abroad for a maximum of 40 working days a year.”

Disclosure lands during rate debate

The figures were released a week after the Bank’s monetary policy committee, which sets Bank Rate, held the cost of borrowing for a fifth time this year.

The nine-strong committee voted by six to three on 29 July to maintain Bank Rate at 3.75 per cent, according to the published minutes. Megan Greene, Catherine L Mann and Huw Pill voted for a rise of 0.25 percentage points, to 4 per cent.

The minutes state that consumer price inflation “has fallen to 2.6 per cent since the previous meeting, although it is expected to rise later this year as the effects of higher energy prices continue to pass through”. The Bank’s target is 2 per cent.

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics in July showed inflation of 2.6 per cent in June, down from 2.8 per cent in May. Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the ONS, said: “A fall in motor fuel prices, particularly diesel, helped ease inflation in June.”

Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, said at the time of the decision that the path for rates depended on whether the war between America and Iran continued.

“So it depends on how the events in the Middle East, frankly, unfold. And sadly, we all know this is highly unpredictable. What goes on in the Gulf is not, I’m afraid, under our control,” he said.

Bailey had already indicated that cuts were off the table ahead of the July meeting.

Employers diverge on remote rules

Other large UK employers have tightened office attendance requirements over the same period. Santander instructed its UK office-based staff to work the equivalent of 12 days a month at its sites, replacing a two-day-a-week requirement, in an update sent to 10,000 employees. The bank said in-office presence was important for supporting and developing employees, particularly those early in their careers.

PwC told its 26,000 UK employees they must spend at least three days a week in the office or at client sites, up from two to three days previously.

The Bank’s next Bank Rate decision is due on 17 September, according to its published schedule.

Jamie Young

Jamie Young is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, covering SME finance, employment law and Westminster policy since 2016. He has reported on every Budget and Autumn Statement since 2018, helped make sense of the ‘covid era’ and the bounce-back loan scheme from launch through the fraud investigations, and broke the magazine’s coverage of the 2024 late-payment reforms. He joined Business Matters straight from completing his BA in Administration from Exeter University and is NCTJ-qualified. Reach him at jyoung@cbmeg.co.uk

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The business is now looking to expand into the fast-growing padel market

A Bristol company that has developed a rankings, ratings and community platform designed to modernise how racket sports are played and organised has secured a £500,000 investment.

Levels Technologies – originally launched as SquashLevels – uses data-led insights to provide more accurate player ratings, helping to match players of similar ability and improve participation and engagement.

The business, which also has an office in London, will use the funding to further develop its platform, including launching new sports verticals and investing in commercial and data teams to accelerate user growth and partnerships, it said.

The round was led by The FSE Group, which invested £250,000 through the British Business Bank’s South West Investment Fund. It also included participation from Akira Financial, the Professional Squash Association (PSA), and the Haley Family Office.

Levels Technologies’ platform is available across web and mobile, and combines player performance data, dynamic rankings and social features, giving users a way to track progress, compete and connect.

Having already built a strong user base in squash, the business is now expanding into other fast-growing racket sports markets, starting with padel.

Co-chief executive Jethro Binns, a former professional squash player, said: “We built Levels to bring a more accurate and engaging way for people to play racket sports, starting with squash and now expanding into much larger global markets. This investment allows us to accelerate that vision, develop the platform further and grow our partnerships internationally.

“The support from FSE and our co-investors brings valuable experience as well as capital, and we’re looking forward to working closely together as we scale.”

Matt Browning, investment manager at FSE, added: “Levels has developed a differentiated platform that is already demonstrating strong engagement from its user base.

“The team has built a product that solves a clear problem in how players are ranked and matched, and there is a significant opportunity to apply this across a range of growing racket sports. With proven traction and clear expansion plans, we believe the business is well positioned for further growth.”

McDonald’s sales growth came in slower than expected when the company released its second quarter earnings on Tuesday, with leaders pointing to execution lapses they say hampered its push to promote value deals aimed at lower-income consumers.

CEO Chris Kempczinski said that weak promotion of value deals and a pullback in the use of digital deals, such as its buy-one-add-one promos, led to a drop in visits from loyal customers – noting that accounted for about two-thirds of the shortfall in customer traffic for the quarter.

Comparable sales for McDonald’s largest market grew 0.8%, below analysts’ estimates of a 1.06% increase, according to data compiled by LSEG. The pace of the fast-food giant’s U.S. growth was 2.5% last year.

“We don’t have a strategy problem. We simply didn’t execute at the level we needed to in the second quarter,” Kempczinski said.

MCDONALD’S BRINGING BACK FRIED APPLE PIE TO CELEBRATE AMERICA’S 250TH BIRTHDAY

McDonald’s sales came in lower than expected, with executives noting that some franchisees struggled to implement its low-price menu offerings effectively. (Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket)

The CEO said that while McDonald’s has “restored our overall value and affordability leadership, our restaurant level results show that execution was inconsistent across the system,” noting that the best performing restaurants executed the affordable price menu plan and saying they “need the same level of execution in all our restaurants.”

He went on to say that about one-thirds of the McDonald’s system’s restaurants didn’t execute against the guidance for the every day affordable price menu, adding that the company will educate franchisees about the importance of complying with that pricing scheme which will factor into business reviews.

MCDONALD’S TESTING AI DRIVE-THRU ORDER-TAKING SYSTEM CALLED ARCHIQ AT FIVE LOCATIONS ACROSS COUNTRY

McDonald’s is simplifying some operations that hampered efficiency and led to slower customer service times. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Kempczinski also said that restaurant teams were overwhelmed by the number of deployments McDonald’s put forward in the quarter, which impacted efficiency and worsened customer service times, while marketing programs didn’t deliver against expectations.

McDonald’s CFO Ian Borden said that in the near term, the company is launching more national digital flash offers starting next week to “reenergize our high-frequency customers,” while also targeting the chain’s most loyal customers with more personalized digital offerings.

MCDONALD’S UNVEILS NEW GROWTH STRATEGY TO WIN BACK CUSTOMERS

Borden added that the company is already taking steps to simplify restaurant operations by eliminating several non-customer-facing activities over the remainder of the year.

As part of the company’s push to reinvigorate its growth, McDonald’s named Skye Anderson to lead its U.S. business, betting on an executive with extensive experience across operations and international markets.

Anderson has worked for the company for 26 years, which includes time as the U.S. chief operating officer. In her new role she will oversee about 14,000 restaurants in the U.S. and guide McDonald’s new turnaround strategy.

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Reuters contributed to this report.

Buc-ee’s has sued a small mini-mart in Ohio, alleging its cartoon beaver logo is too similar to the popular Texas-based chain’s iconic logo, adding to the various lawsuits the company has filed against small stores with cartoon animal branding despite an HBO show daring it to challenge someone its own size.

Beaver’s Mini Mart in Beavercreek, Ohio, was sued by Buc-ee’s late last month over alleged trademark infringement, according to WLWT. Buc-ee’s claims the store used a smiling cartoon beaver logo and red coloring that closely mimics its famous branding.

Buc-ee’s said it has been using the cartoon beaver logo for more than four decades and has several federal trademark registrations, according to the outlet. The chain also argues that Beaver’s Mini Mart started using the logo after Buc-ee’s had established trademark rights.

The logo could create “confusion among consumers” about whether the store is associated with Buc-ee’s, the company argued in the complaint.

BUC’EE’S SUES SMALLER GAS STATION CHAIN FOR COPYRIGHT, ARGUING CARTOON DOG IS TOO SIMILAR TO ITS BEAVER

Buc-ee’s has sued a small mini mart in Ohio, alleging its cartoon beaver logo is too similar to the popular Texas-based chain’s iconic logo. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Buc-ee’s opened its first location in Ohio earlier this year, but Beaver Mini Mart has no gas pumps, is miles from the nearest interstate and was operated before Buc-ee’s expanded into the state.

The mini-mart has been owned by Vik Boparai for more than a decade, years before Buc-ee’s first expanded out of Texas in 2018 and long before it opened its first Ohio store near Dayton in April. Beavers are also popular characters across Beavercreek, as numerous businesses and the local high school feature the rodent as their mascots, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.

“I don’t know why they would sue a small business like mine,” Boparai told the outlet. “I have two kids and this store is how I feed them.”

Beavercreek Councilman Zach Upton also told the outlet that the lawsuit appears to be overreach and customers are unlikely to confuse the two logos.

“Common sense is not prevailing,” Upton said. “I can’t imagine anyone would be confused by the mini mart and Buc-ee’s. It’s not even in the same ballpark.”

The lawsuit comes after comedian John Oliver noted how Buc-ee’s has sued several small stores with cartoon logos, even when they bear very little or no resemblance to Buc-ee’s grinning beaver logo, and dared the chain to take on someone its own size.

Beaver’s Mini Mart in Beavercreek, Ohio, was sued by Buc-ee’s late last month over alleged trademark infringement. (Getty Images / Getty Images)

On the July 26 episode of “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver urged Buc-ee’s to sue his show rather than small local stores with fewer resources to defend themselves.

“Buc-ee’s loves to sue other companies, particularly those with animal mascots,” Oliver said, pointing out that the chain has filed more than a dozen lawsuits and threatened more.

Oliver said Buc-ee’s has won nearly all the cases because the other companies typically settle and redesign their logos or because “most just don’t have the resources to fight a company this big.”

The comedian cites a legal expert who said Buc-ee’s should be careful with its decision to file so many lawsuits because it may eventually run into one with the resources to fight back.

“And that is where we come in,” Oliver said. “Because, it turns out, we very much have the will to get into a fight with Buc-ee’s.”

BUC-EE’S EXPANDS NATIONAL FOOTPRINT WITH 15 MORE LOCATIONS IN THE PIPELINE

 Buc-ee’s claimed the logo could create “confusion among consumers.” (Getty Images / Getty Images)

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Oliver then reintroduced Mr. Nutterbutter, a 7-foot-tall squirrel mascot originally created for a 2017 segment targeting former coal executive Bob Murray, which sparked an unsuccessful defamation lawsuit against the show and HBO.

The show created a cartoon logo of Mr. Nutterbutter and put the logo on various products, including tumblers, hats, shirts, onesies, mugs and pajamas that are available for purchase for a limited time at Buc-Off.com.

“So, if any prominent gas station chain out there has an issue with our new logo and products and wants to get lawyers involved, then you know what? Bring it the f— on. Although remember, in doing so, you’d be directly taking food out of hungry people’s mouths,” Oliver said, noting that all profits would go to Hunger Free America, a nonprofit group working to end domestic hunger.

Fox Business has reached out to Buc-ee’s for comment.