this is business live from bbc news with susannah streeter and sally bundock. feast or famine? it's budget day in the uk with the chancellor poised to deliver an "upbeat" speech, but how much money has he got to hand out and who will get it? live from london, that's our top story on wednesday, 8th march. as the uk prepares to leave the european union, will the treasury provide a budget boost to cushion the blow? we'll speak to an expert for her predictions. also in the programme, crossing borders and crossing lines! chinese telecom giant zte has been handed a fine for violating sanctions in north korea. we'll be live in asia for the latest. this is the situation on the

financial markets as they open in europe. investors look ahead to the uk budget. what's the secret behind the world's most successful brands? is it simply a case of advertising spend or is there more to the story? we'll speak to one of the industry's leading experts later in the programme. it's international women's day so let us know who's your most inspirational woman in business? perhaps it's the head of the world's most powerful central bank? or maybe it's mary barra, the boss of general motors? just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. welcome to the programme. in a few hours time, the uk's finance minister or chancellor as we call him here, phillip hammond, will deliver the country's final budget before the government triggers article 50,

and britain begins its negotiations to leave the european union. despite the ongoing uncertainty over brexit, philip hammond received an eve of budget boost from the organisation for economic co—operation and development. it now expects growth in the uk of 1.6% this year, up from its previous estimate of i.2%. in theory this means more tax revenue for the treasury and more money flowing in to the government's coffers. despite this, economists are not expecting a spending spree when mr hammond announces the uk's fiscal plans for the coming year. instead, he's expected to put the additional funds to one side in a brexit war chest as britain prepares for its divorce settlement with brussels. nevertheless, one area which may receive some more attention are the so—called business rates paid on commercial property. despite the government's reassurances that britain remains open for business, some companies will see more than a 40% rise in their property rates. to help cushion the blow,

the treasury has already announced a $4.4 billion transitional relief fund. also there may be some extra money found for social care in england. hetal mehta, senior european economist, legal and general investment management is with me. good morning. so, as ever, we're all trying to figure out what's in the budget as it were hours before he delivers his speech to parliament. what are your thoughts? so i think one of the key things is that the economy has performed much better since, notjust economy has performed much better since, not just the economy has performed much better since, notjust the referendum, but even since the autumn statement we had last november. so the chancellor has a lot more wriggle room. the tax reve nu es has a lot more wriggle room. the tax revenues have been higher so he could use that, but i think he has been quite clear that he is unlikely to go ona been quite clear that he is unlikely to go on a spending spree. he will keep that money in reserve. brexit still hasn't happened yet so if and

when the economy does deteriorate then at least the government has got something up its sleeve at that point in time. is he wise to do that at this point, do you think?” point in time. is he wise to do that at this point, do you think? i think so. at this point, do you think? i think so. i think, at this point, do you think? i think so. ithink, you might as at this point, do you think? i think so. i think, you might as well, given that the economy is better, keep the money in reserve. we noted backin keep the money in reserve. we noted back in november that there is a little bit of a discrepancy in terms of the projections further out so the economy was expected to continue doing very well whilst the deficit was going to narrow significantly. whereas actually this extra money could go to help smoothing that profile out and make the numbers more credible. so he is bound to talk a lot about the state of the economy being better than we all thought it would be, but the uncertainty ahead because of brexit. how uncertain is it in your view? are we any clearer at this point than we were say late summer of last year or are we still as much in the dark? we have had a lot, there is a

range of outcomes being narrowed. after the referendum people were questioning who will the prime minister be? will it be boris johnson? could it be someone else? will this trigger another election? a lot of those outcomes have been narrowed, so a lot of those outcomes have been narrowed , so some a lot of those outcomes have been narrowed, so some uncertainty has been taken away, but we have very little clarity on what negotiating sta nce little clarity on what negotiating stance of the eu will be going into the brexit discussions. so in terms of news about spending and which departments will get money, this time, it is likely to be fairly small and token and many are actually say he's storing up all the cash for a big splurge before the next election which is kind of after the brexit negotiations as well? the timing is actually quite interesting. as you say, 2019, it's when the uk is due to leave the eu and that would be the time that typically governments do go on a spending spree one year ahead of an election and particularly given the prime minister has talked a lot about helping people who are just about helping people who are just about managing. people who are being hit by the inflation squeeze, we may

see a few small measures there just to alleviate that stress, but i think a big give away is further down the line. all right, thank you very much indeed for sharing your thoughts. and needless to say, we're going to be all over this today on the bbc! whether you like it or not! if you tune in to us, this is what you will be getting online, on radio and on television. there is a lot of reporting going on about the changes to business rates. that's caused a backlash among many small businesses. they're going to see their rates go up, but they have been promised some kind of transitional relief. keep it with us if you want to be across the uk budget. in other news: china posted its first monthly trade deficit in three years in february as imports surged at their fastest pace since early 2012, driven by its strong demand for commodities from iron ore to crude oil and coal. china's february exports unexpectedly fell 1.3% from a year earlier, but imports expanded 38.1 percent,

well above economists‘ forecasts. chinese telecom giant zte has been fined $1.1 billion and will plead guilty to charges that it violated us rules by shipping us—made equipment to iran and north korea. maura fogarty is in singapore. it is as a result of negotiations between the telecoms giant and us officials. it is the largest fine imposed by a us government in relation to breaking us sanctions. let me break down the numbers, £900 z let me break down the numbers, £900 z that's how much zte have to pay right now. another 300 million has been suspended for seven years depending on how the company complies with the plea deal. zte is accused of buying us components and putting them into zte equipment and shipping them off to iran and north korea, it included routers, microprocessors and servers. zte is accused to have bought the parts in the us, these are restricted for export because of their potential for military use. the chinese company also sent about 283 of these

shipments to north korea. 0n company also sent about 283 of these shipments to north korea. on top of that, they lied to us officials while the officials were investigating the company. zte does say it acknowledges it made some m ista kes say it acknowledges it made some mistakes and it is working prards z towards improving its procedures. back to you in london now. thank you. insurers rose after congress introduced the bill intended to replace the affordable care act. let's look at europe. the main stock markets fell on opening. investors are waiting, of course the uk budget. some more positive production data from germany did provide some reassurance after some poor factory numbers came out

yesterday causing concern about perhaps brakes being put on europe's largest economy. samira hussain has the details about what's ahead on wall street today. coming up on wednesday we see just how robust hiring has been in the private sector in the us when the adp national employment report is released. this is the precursor to thejobs report released. this is the precursor to the jobs report issued released. this is the precursor to thejobs report issued by released. this is the precursor to the jobs report issued by the commerce department and it often gives us sort of an idea of what we will see on friday when that latest jobs report is out. now economists believe the private employers will have added about 190,000 jobs in the month of february after adding 246,000 jobs in january. the month of february after adding 246,000 jobs injanuary. the annual shareholders meeting for the walt disney company takes place in denver. in february, the chief executive said he is open to extending his term as the head of the company. offering investors a sign of potential stability at the

media company as it reported a dip in quarterly advertising revenue at espn. now, remember espn is the big money makerfor walt espn. now, remember espn is the big money maker for walt disney. joining us is richard hunter, head of research, wilson king investment management. richard let me welcome you as the first male on business live. that's not by design. that's how it is on this programme on a daily basis. richard, talking markets, of course, it is budget day in the uk. are you going to be hanging on hammond's every word or is it not that big a deal today? i think generally speaking what happens with the budget, it has implication for specific sectors usually for example, alcohol companies, tobacco companies, house builders. the usual reaction? usual reaction. in terms of the macrostuff, the wider picture, it tends to be more of a

currency story than moving equity markets apart from those specific sectors. i think it will be one that is going to be closely followed because at the moment the market is scrambling for any clues as to what brexit might actually mean. the pound being at seven week lows. what kind of currency movements might you expect? currency market apart from being the biggest in the world is something of a zero sum game. as the dollar strengthens something else has got to weaken and sterling is tending to be in the firing line because of this uncertainty around the referendum. also, the fact that markets are in a wait and see mode a nyway markets are in a wait and see mode anyway because of next week, the us federal reserve meeting. most believe rates will go up next week. i feel there is a believe rates will go up next week. ifeel there is a bit believe rates will go up next week. i feel there is a bit of fear in markets. the fact that this global rally that we have seen from november last year when donald trump won the us election is perhaps

ending and therefore, what's going to happen next? is it going to be a small correction? a big crash? people are worried. the problem we've got is the us markets, which, of course, have an impact on global sentiment have been hitting record highs and a lot of that is basically trying to anticipate the boost to the us economy, depending on what trump comes out. that's very well, but we have yet to have any real detail in terms of tax cuts, infrastructure spending and so on. so, what increasingly we are afinding, of course, we're kind of balanced on a knife edge because there is a lot that needs to be delivered now to catch up with the expectations that the markets have already priced in. richard will be back. he'll name his most inspirational female leader in business. do tell us yours. we will hearfrom richard. we will hearfrom you hopefully. still to come, what's the secret behind the world's most successful brands? is it simply a case of advertising spend or is there more to the story? we'll speak to one of

the industry's leading experts later in the programme. you're with business live from bbc news. controversial security firm g4s has published their first set of full year results since the riot in their birmingham prison in 2016. revenues have risen 6.6% and profits are up 9.4%. theo leggett is in our business newsroom. you have been cumplging the numbers. theo, what else do they show? well, these numbers, if you take away all these numbers, if you take away all the reputational issues facing g4s they are looking good. this was the first increase in revenues for four yea rs first increase in revenues for four years for the company. pretty healthy figures. only increased by 1.596 healthy figures. only increased by 1.5% in the uk. that's one of its wea ker 1.5% in the uk. that's one of its weaker regions. remember, this is a colossal company. where it is doing best is the united states where reve nu es we re

best is the united states where revenues were up more than best is the united states where revenues were up more than 12%. and pre—tax profits up around 13%. so good there. the company says the improvement is largely down to a restructuring effort which it launched three years ago which included selling off non performing businesses, trying to win new contracts well, while at the same time retaining existing contracts and that does seem to have reaped rewards. but it is g4s, it is a controversial company and what there doesn't seem to be any sign of in the results is any mention of the birmingham prison riot last december. you might remember the justice secretary liz truss said that 645 justice secretary liz truss said that g4s would have to pay for the cost of introducing special crack squads of officers who are brought in to quell the riot. there has been controversy in to quell the riot. there has been co ntrove rsy over in to quell the riot. there has been controversy over its handling of children's services, some of its detention centres. g4s in the process of goating rid of that business. these results, theyjust show the financial figures which look robust. the reputational problems still exist. as ever, we give you no warning

about this next question! so we're asking today is stands out in business in terms of women leaders? who is that for you? mary barra. there are women standing around, generally to make the cars look good. but she has succeeded in a man's world. good for you, thanks for sharing. we have asked for your inspirational women in business, send them on twitter, a lot of stories on the website and stories other than the budget, this is about record sales for nintendo witch. read all about it. you're watching business live. our top story: in a few hours' time, the uk's finance minister — or chancellor, as we call him here — phillip hammond, will deliver the country's final budget, before the government triggers article 50. and britain begins its negotiations to leave the european union. despite the ongoing uncertainty over brexit, philip hammond received

an eve—of—budget boost from the organisation for economic co—operation and development. it now expects growth in the uk of 1.6% this year, up from its previous estimate of 1.2%. philip hammond is due to address parliament in a few hours' time. we'll have more coverage of the uk budget both on—air and online. now, if you're old enough to cast your mind back at least 40 years, you might be able to recall a time when the concept of "branding" didn't really exist. oh, how things have changed! yes, branding is more thanjust a name, it's now a whole industry, covering everything from corporate strategy and design to the value of the name or symbol itself. and it is, of course, everywhere — from the tv or smartphone you might be watching this programme on, even to the name bbc itself. and our next guest knows a thing or two about the concept. in 1974, john murphy founded what was then the world's first name creation company, called novabrand.

five years later, it became interbrand, as it moved beyond coming up with names to create a whole brand image for its clients, a story told in his new book. john murphyjoins us now. that is certainly a brand name you have, with! how did it begin? you started this name creation organisation and when was it that you realised you could put a value on the brand itself? i was working for dunlop and i was desperate to get out and is to start my own business. this was in the mid—19 70s. business. this was in the mid—19 705. i business. this was in the mid—19 70s. i had a problem at the dunlop finding an international name for a new product, new tyres. i thought if i had that problem and nobody could help, the advertising agencies, nobody, so i started this naming the

business. we saw top names. we did the trademark law and we added graphic design. and i started to realise we were doing more than just being, what we might call wordsmiths. we were creating things called brands. and the word brand was little used. they were product managers in business, but not brand managers. and i realised we were creating personality of the product. and people like the advertising agencies, they were given this and they had thejob agencies, they were given this and they had the job of communicating. we were at the start of the process, we we re we were at the start of the process, we were brand creators. so at the time, even with the first to do this. this is back in the 1970s, no internet, no social media, no means of communication from that point of view. how did you get it out to companies like mars who became your clients at that time? it was mainly, we spent hours with trade lists and

we spent hours with trade lists and we typed up lists and we photocopied them and we sent mailshots out. and we did a lot of pr. we were very nicely treated by the financial and the business press, but they all thought we were a bit loopy. we were the funny slot. but there was always somebody who had a serious problem, they had just launched a new product. and the day they were launched, they got a writ from somebody saying, the name you are using is ours, and they came to us to solve their problem. did you predict it could become as big and important and industry as it is now? idid not important and industry as it is now? i did not have the slightest idea, i just wanted to make a living and to survive at first. increasingly, and you that what we were doing was important and increasingly, this sounds big headed, what the advertising industry was doing was trivial. we were the ones at the

start of the process, we were creating the brand, theirjob was simply to think up some adverts. and at the time, the city did not factor in the value of the brand in their valuation of companies and their assets. no, the brands were simply regarded as goodwill, there was this catchall phrase, goodwill. and we came up and said, no, goodwill in the case of many companies is mainly brand names, it is the brands, and we can value those and put a monetary value on them. your company started in the uk and expanded globally and it went from several numbers of people working for you in many cities around the world and you sold that business at the age of 50 and you have bought brands and you own a beer company. i bought one brand, which would plymouth gin, with two friends and we sold it. and about the same time, i started a brewery which i still own, saint

peter's brewery. is the theme here alcoholic beverages?” peter's brewery. is the theme here alcoholic beverages? i did have a certain interest in the subject! my latest is male grooming. the beauty business. yes, andy chain of barbershops, which is going gangbusters and i have bigger brand owners. real fun! so gangbusters and i have bigger brand owners. realfun! so you gangbusters and i have bigger brand owners. real fun! so you sound like a serial entrepreneur. thank you for coming. we appreciate your time, really interesting. thank you. carlos ghosn, one of the most influential leaders in the global auto industry, made headlines a few weeks back, announcing he'd give up his role as chief rxecutive of nissan. he remains chairman of the japanese car maker, but the reshuffle is to allow him to focus on nissan's alliances with mitsubishi and france's renault. we caught up with mr ghosn at the geneva motor show and asked about his new roles and responsibilities. i have multiplejobs, you know?

i'm... and so many! yes! i'm chairman and ceo of renault. on the 1st of april, i will be chairman of nissan. and i'm chairman of mitsubishi. so i have different roles. so when you say ‘in your new role', i'm going to obviously be much more involved into the business in renault, while in nissan and mitsubishi, i'm going to be more supporting the management team and guiding them for the growth of the company. but i feel good about what's going on at the level of the industry. i think we're going to have an environment — yes, competitive, yes, difficult — but it's a good environment because we're seeing growth and a lot of opportunities. what other business stories has the media been taking an interest in? joining us again is richard hunter, head of research, at wilson king investment management. hello, richard. we have been asking all morning, who is your most influential women in business, who you think is a shining light, what have you come up with?” you think is a shining light, what have you come up with? i think you would be hard—pressed to better

janet yellen in the united states, and in terms of europe, somebody like christine the guard, head of the imf. and in the uk, if you want rape from loving success arctic. . lloyd's of london was up. wall street journal looks wall streetjournal looks at wall street journal looks at the expense of problem of but a look at

themarch following donald trump's election as us president. today, they are supposed to take a day without women's only have a sense of the cost of not having women in the economy. a lot of women cannot take off. the goal is to show the world what life would be like without them. the problem is, as the article says, the kind of executives, not difficult for them to go missing 24 hours, but at the other end of the food chain, as a's had they cannot afford to do. a nice idea, but might have limited success on that basis. todayis have limited success on that basis. today is the day night he says it will shrink a high—performance huge up will shrink a high—performance huge upfor will shrink a high—performance huge up for muslim athletes, for women who face barriers in sport, why has

it taken until now to launch this?” totally agree. it is one of the more obvious things, you would have thought. and in terms of the design, they are making it super stretchy so it can be personalised. and with the middle eastern climate, it is one of them all breathable technologies, given the inevitable higher temperatures. but the question has to be, why so long? you have two daughters? what are they up to, their aspirations? one is travelling their aspirations? one is travelling the world and she is in new zealand. the other is at home developing applications to become a programmer, running internet companies with her other half. so maybe next year, i can mention her as well. many thanks. that's it from business live today. we'll see you again tomorrow. it was a very mild start across

southern parts of the country this morning, but rather cloudy, damp, outbreak of light rain. through the day, a 3—way split, southern areas cloudy and damp, brightness three central uk and is tightly packed ice bars across northern scotland and severe gales and frequent showers, some with hail and thunder. dump across the south, we hold the exceptionally mild air. to the north,. temperatures rising and just about making double figures in central and southern scotland where we see the best of the sunshine. showers are heavy and frequent in the knob thunder. improvement for northern ireland, you will see sunshine through the afternoon and sunshine through the afternoon and sunshine across northern england. brightness getting into north wales and midlands. south of here, it stays dull and cloudy. writers spells mixed but done with rain and mild temperatures of all, 14

degrees. mild and stamp in the south overnight, central areas, clear sky'. and with showers and larger spells of rain and cool spots here, but the emphasis is on mild weather and southern parts. thursday, we still have cloud and rain across the south and south—west. showers to begin the morning across scotland, becoming more isolated during the afternoon. looking glorious on thursday afternoon with a lot of sunshine, light winds and it will feel exceptionally mild and we could make 15 degrees in locations across the south and east. high pressure brings the fine weather on thursday and towards friday, weatherfronts attack from the west and we see strengthening winds in the west, outbreaks of rain from the south. with it, very mild air across southern and western areas. one or two places across north—eastern scotla nd

two places across north—eastern scotland starting chilly on friday with a little bit of melting snow as rain pushes across scotland. mild air reaches all areas by the end of the day, very mild elsewhere with the day, very mild elsewhere with the best sunshine in southern and eastern areas closed ) on the continent that your 14 degrees. at the weekend as rain at at times, and sunshine and rain. hello. it's wednesday, it's 9am, i'm victoria derbyshire, welcome to the programme. our top story today — is the budget — and importantly — how what the government announce in a couple of hours time will affect you. who better to tell you that this morning then our very own norman smith? stand by for no big spending spree asa stand by for no big spending spree as a careful, cautious philip hammond keeps back the cash for difficult days ahead over brexit, and the deficit. also on the programme — spies inside your tvs. yes, claims that the cia had the technology to hack into smart tvs and record conversations. it seems to be an incredibly

dabbling leak in terms of the procedures, tactics and tools that we re procedures, tactics and tools that were used by the central intelligence to conduct legitimate foreign intelligence. in other words