this is business live from bbc news with rachel home and david eades. leaving london — consumer goods giant unilever says it's moving to a single headquarters in the netherlands. live from london, that's our top story on thursday, 15th march. love it or hate it, the maker of marmite and dove soap says the decision wasn't made because of brexit but out of a need to simplify the business. also in the programme... counting on kudlow. us president donald trump brings in a tv commentator as a top economics advisor. on the markets, europe is open and rising, as expected, albeit cautiously. and the oscar goes to... the man who'll be giving us the inside track on special effects. bladerunner 2049 won the academy award so we'll speak to the company behind the silver screen magic.

also the question for you, we want to know, does it bother you there are plastic particles in your bottles of water? let us know. just use #bbcbizlive. would you buy that water? hello and welcome to business live. unilever, which is one of the world's biggest consumer goods manufacturers, says it's abandoning its london headquarters. it means the company will only have one head office, in the dutch city of rotterdam. it says the move is not connected to brexit. the company, which makes products including marmite, dove soap and ben and jerry's ice cream says it's moving to a simpler, more agile structure. unilever employs 7,300 people in the uk and whilst no jobs are being affected, this will be regarded by many as a blow to the country in the run—up to brexit. the company has its roots in both the uk and the netherlands where it already employs 3,100 people.

thank you. our business correspondent is theo leggett. in practical, real terms, what does it mean? it does not mean anything in terms ofjobs. unilever will continue to employ 7300 people in the uk and 3100 in the netherlands. the corporate structure of the business will be simplified. it is quite unwieldy at the moment, it was created from a merger in the late 19205 created from a merger in the late 1920s between british and dutch company. the board currently sits on two locations, that will go down to one. in practical terms, two locations, that will go down to one. in practicalterms, one two locations, that will go down to one. in practical terms, one of the attractions for the netherlands is that it has stricter takeover laws than the uk which means a company can do more to obstruct a potential hostile takeover. think back to last year, unilever was on the receiving end of a hostile takeover bid from

kraft and it said in the wake of the deal it would simplify structures to make itself into a leaner company and that is what it is doing. what about the issue of whether company will be listed 7 will be listed? will it retain its first —— its ftse will be listed? will it retain its first -- its ftse 100 will be listed? will it retain its first —— its ftse100 listing? will be listed? will it retain its first -- its ftse100 listing? that would be quite difficult but it is currently in negotiations with the authorities to try to reclaim that listing. it matters because it will still be selling shares in london whatever happens, it says it wants to retain access to uk funding, investors. the question about whether it is in the ftse100 is important because if it is in the index, certain large funds are under an obligation to buy and hold its shares. thank you very much. the british government very quick to say it has nothing to do with the british departure from the eu. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the toystore giant us toys r us says

it will close all 735 of its us stores as it winds down the company after failing to secure a buyer or a rescue deal. it comes after it decided to do the same with its stores in other parts of the world. it had hoped to sell the international business to keep the american branch going after racking up $5 billion of debts and seeking bankruptcy protection in the us last year. amazonjapan said it has been raided by the country's fair trade regulator on suspicion of a possible anti—trust violation. an amazonjapan spokesperson said it was fully cooperating with authorities but gave no details about the alleged violations. japanese media say the firm is suspected of asking suppliers to shoulder costs incurred are selling their products at a discount. the us senate has passed a bill to roll back banking regulations put in place in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. the bill exempts banks with less than $250 billion in assets from stricter oversight.

the draft legislation must now go through the house of representatives. the united states has strongly backed britain's decision to expel 23 russian diplomats in response to the nerve agent attack in salisbury. moscow denies involvement. the foreign ministry has described the british response as insane. but it remains to be seen whether that backing will amount to more international sanctions. and the power and importance of russia's energy industry means further economic sanctions could be limited. russia is the world's biggest oil producer. last year that amounted to almost 11 million barrels per day — that's more than 10% of the global total. it's also the biggest exporter of natural gas to the eu — supplying almost 40% of imports. and some individual european companies are heavily dependent on russia too. almost a quarter of bp's profits in 2015 came from its stake in russian oil giant rosneft.

evghenia sleptsova is senior economist for central and eastern europe at the consultants oxford economics. thank you forjoining us. what economic impact could these sanctions have or is it purely political? the expulsion of diplomats will not have an economic impactand diplomats will not have an economic impact and more importantly it could have a limited political impact as well because this is the bare minimum you would expect in the circumstances. the question really is whether the uk will do what has been prompted to do for so long, going after the russian shady money flowing into the uk. we have focused on oil and gas because it is such a massive part of russia's economic lifeblood, they will not do anything on their own, britain, but what chance of getting any eu coalescence around a move at all? there are

already sanctions on the russian oil and gas sector, more by the us than by europe, so in addition to that, i do not think they will be going after that because the russian oil sector is already partially suffering from limited access to finance. and also, in terms of limiting oil or gas supply, this will not happen because it is of mutual interest to both sides, the eu and russia. russia would also not unilaterally try to punish europe by less supplies of energy. what sort of response do you think we could see from russia on this? in terms of economic sanctions, i think russia's responds in kind has been limited, the only tit—for—tat sanction they had was imposing a ban on exports of food from europe or imports of food

into russia, and i think russia tends to respond more in terms of its ultimate goals and its ultimate goals are undermining european national security and that would be the response and i think it is ultimately about the power balance, the less you respond, the more you are likely to seek further encouraging into european national security —— further incursions. thank you very much. us president donald trump has another country in his sights when it comes to trade. after action against china, as well as tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, this time indian exporters are being targeted. our correspondent sura njana tewari is in mumbai. all eyes on this one. absolutely. the us has gone to the world trade organisation in order with this challenge saying that indian government exemptions for duties,

taxes and some fees for indian companies exporting to the us is unfair, it says indian companies are benefiting by about $7 billion every year because of these. the companies that will be affected are producing steel, textiles, it steel, i , pharmaceuticals, a really wide range. the us says it creates an uneven playing field than it is unfairto uneven playing field than it is unfair to american companies and workers because it allows indian companies to sell goods more cheaply. the wto allows for developing countries to have these kinds of programmes, until they reach a certain economic benchmark. the us says that india crossed that benchmark in 2015. this is the latest protectionist move we have seen from the us. the indian government has not responded yet but we are expecting a strong one. thank

you for that. let us look at how the markets have been getting on. asian markets started the session with losses but have staged a come back. the dow is also down. traders concerned about trade war issues. europe has opened up, as expected. we will keep an eye on the numbers through the day. president trump has picked his new top economic advisor. more details. in his trademark blue pinstriped shirts and cuff links, kudlow has been a fixture on us financial television for more than a decade and a reliable cheerleader for american business, a consistent proponent of lower taxes and free markets, he made his name as an investment banker at the inflated

bear stearns before working in the ronald reagan administration. at one point he strongly denounced donald trump's behaviour and has repeatedly criticised the white house for its attacks on open markets including the recently announced steel and aluminium tariffs. however sitting in his usual perch on cable television on wednesday, he appeared to row back on his previous position and stressed he was broadly in agreement with his old friend donald trump's economic agenda. it was a performance that no doubt pleased the presidents who once worked as a wall street pundit alongside mr kudlow and was reportedly won over by his tv skills. jane foley is senior currency strategist at rabobank. people know what he is about, his track record, his background, kudlow. a bit of an asian uncertainty about his china approach. do they know his

background? he used a walk on wall street and in the reagan administration, has he has experience working in government which is perhaps reassuring. looking at the reagan administration, a president that did use some terrorists even though he was supposed to be about free trade. the markets, we can have perhaps some relief on the trade side because kudlow is someone who has associated himself with free trade, perhaps we have a moderating force. what sort of influence will he have? an adviser, no technical power, how much do you think president trump will listen to him on the trade issues, especially because we are led to believe that is why the previous adviser left? the impression we are getting more recently is that trump, apart from perhaps this appointment, he has been getting rid of people who disagree with him. rex tillerson, another example. perhaps the inner circle is just people who agree with

him. it will be interesting to see whether kudlow is successful in moderate rating the protectionism —— moderating. mike pompeo, the removal of rex tillerson, now this appointment, that in itself creates all sorts of uncertainties about what the pattern looks like and whether anything else will come with musical chairs. the white house has a revolving door right now. for the markets, it is not something that promote stability, quite the opposite, and that is disgruntled link for investors. thank you very much. still to come... we talk to the oscar winning special effects firm behind blockbusters like harry potter, gravity and bladerunner. the founder and ceo of britain's framestore tells us about the global revolution in visual effects. you're with business live from bbc news. the world's second biggest cinema chain cineworld has

seen its sales grow 11.6% last year. joining us now is michael hewson. a fairly good set of numbers. revenues came in higher at 890 million. profits were up as well. a good 22%. but i think you need to put these numbers in the context of the recent acquisition of regal entertainment, $3.6 billion acquisition of one of the biggest cinema firms in the us. looking at the numbers, they are good. u nfortu nately, the numbers, they are good. unfortunately, the share prices down 2596 unfortunately, the share prices down 25% on the past 12 months. the share price should be an awful lot higher and there are concerns that cineworld maybe has bitten off more

than they can chew with respect to the acquisition and that is why there is a subdued reaction on the london market. what would investors have preferred, just focus on what they are doing already? focus on what they are doing already, and a large part in the growth of revenues last year was as a result of three films, beauty and the beast, dunkirk, star wars. an awful lot of competition at the moment with respect to streaming, amazon prime, netflix, apple, google, what cinemas need to do to retain futsal is improve the cinema experience, make it more immersive. they have rolled out 11 four d experiences, they need to do more and quicker. they have only upgraded around 11, 12. if they wa nt to only upgraded around 11, 12. if they want to retain footfall and rely less on big blockbusters to get

people through the door, they need to focus on that. chief market a nalyst, to focus on that. chief market analyst, thank you for your time. one story on the website, airbus, challenging that melrose is a bit short term list for their liking. they won't be able to put to work the way of gkn. a potentially significant development for gkn. the anglo dutch consumer goods giant unilever says it has chosen rotterdam in the netherlands over london for its main headquarters, saying it's an effort to simplify the business rather than a response to brexit. looking at the markets

this morning, across europe, they are allup this morning, across europe, they are all upjust this morning, across europe, they are allupjusta this morning, across europe, they are all up just a little bit after rather flat trading across asia on the basis of the dow having fallen, jittery over donald trump's recent changes. there are few fields where your work is considered better, the less visible it is. but that's certainly true if you make special effects for big movies. seamlessly blending the effects with the live action is key. london—based framestore won a bafta and an oscar this year for its special effects work on blade runner 20119. it also worked on the harry potter series, walking with dinosaurs and the paddington films — its annual revenues now exceed $180 million. today framestore employs 2,500 staff and has seen its annual revenues grow by 12—15% every year since it was founded in 1986. sir william sergent, chief executive of framestore, is here. thank you for coming in. pretty

impressive growth and many congratulations, great results for you. and you are moving from where you. and you are moving from where you started 30 years ago but staying very much at home in london. indeed, we have been in soho for 30 years, over five buildings, and we have been in soho for 30 years, overfive buildings, and now we are bringing them together under one roof in holborn, which is becoming the centre of the uk creative industry. you hazard halpern is the centre of the centre. you're talking about a very small defined patch in london. —— you have said holborn is the centre. where do you take architecture, design, film and music? we are very much where it is in the world. its spread all over london now. one of the headlines this morning has been about unilever moving their headquarters out of london and at the same time you are moving your headquarters and choosing to stay in london. is brexiter concern for you? it's a

concern because we hire the best of the best from europe. but london is an ecosystem, and ecosystems are very important and the creative industries are very powerful and work of each other in london. with brexit, you are used to hiring people from across the eu and to some extent you might be hamstrung. i hope david davis will give me some clarity because at the moment we hire people from uk universities and european universities. that's very important for us, the flow of graduates is important and i hope it will not be disrupted. a clarion call for clarity, we have heard that a few times. your focus is on the us and asia. you would see that is partly the way that you avoid the issue. in the uk, in europe and america, there are less than 1 billion consumers for what we collectively do as a living, in terms of digital storytelling. between mumbai and beijing, 4 billion people consume what we do

for a living. that tells you where you need to be as a community. don't give everybody the impression we are going across european. we are watching footage from blade runner 2049. this is what you won the oscar for, best visual effects. as technology has advanced over the yea rs technology has advanced over the years you technology has advanced over the yea rs you have technology has advanced over the years you have worked in the industry, has it made yourjob easier or more challenging? we tell stories using computer—generated imagery and it allows more ambitious storytelling, particularly visually. the game goes up every year, and what was outstanding asti is ordinarily this year. in your hub, you have a big r.n. taddy department. you always have to do recognise that although gravity might bea recognise that although gravity might be a great success, that's gone. —— a great r&d department. oscars what piece of special effects have

you were, at your most proud of? it's generally the one i can't tell you about yet because it is yet to come out. people would expect me to say something like gravity or paddington. but for me, notting hill was a benchmark in terms of storytelling because nobody has any idea that the seasonal walk down portobello road is a triumph of visual effects. if you look at it, we go through the four seasons, and the lady walking alongside hugh grant becomes ever more pregnant. by the end of the war she has a baby in her arms. done seamlessly. before we close, what is the next big thing? film, like everything, goes in quantum leaps forward. what is the next big thing? your story about cinema is interesting. cinema is only part of the platform of telling a story. as people we want to consume a story everyday, just like bbc news, we get it on all sorts of

platforms, and for me that is the future. for me in the future you might be using your phone or a ar headset. you will consume the story in many manifestations digitally, somebody has to tell the story in that manner. they haven't done it yet, but they are already directing and i hope we can help them achieve that. where do you keep the oscar? they are kept in someone's home, normally as a doorstop. just behind the bafta! priorities. thank you for joining us. in a moment we'll take a look through the business pages but first here's a quick reminder of how to get in touch with us. stay up—to—date with all the business news that it happens on the bbc business live page. insight and analysis from a team of editors around the globe. and we want to hear from you. around the globe. and we want to hearfrom you. get around the globe. and we want to hear from you. get involved on the business live web page. find us on twitter and facebook as

well. what you need to know, when you need to know. we will have a look at some of the other media stories and the story we have been asking you about, this revelation that there are plastic particles in our bottles of water. your response as to whether you want to drink that. jason says, this possibly means it's also in all bottled drinks, anything containing water, lemonade, coal and bottled drinks, anything containing water, lemonade, coaland orange squash? john says it's in tap water as well, but we should stop buying bottled water to cut down on plastic production and environmental littering. a few people picking up on the idea that if it is in water, it will be in anything. james comey you had an interesting point about not buying bottled water but looking for... because of the stories of the

oceans over the last few months, you can buy cart and water, which we can't get here very easily. i was in the supermarket last night looking for cart and water and it's not easy to buy. hopefully change very soon. —— looking for cartoned water.m will also have an impact on peoples views of any container, aluminium you send reusable. let's get back to a bit of glass maybe. if we hear stories it's also in tap water, that is also setting. a story in the guardian, donald trump admits making up guardian, donald trump admits making u p fa cts guardian, donald trump admits making upfacts in guardian, donald trump admits making up facts in a trade meeting with canadian leaderjustin trudeau. it's quite amazing. on one level i would be surprised he carried on with his argument not knowing the facts, perhaps i'm not so surprised about that. talking about which way round

the trade surpluses were. donald trump would not believe trudeau until he sent out his advisers to look it up. the headline trade balance, canada has a deficit with the us, once you throw in energy, canada is the biggest exporter of energy to the us, and also timber. there is a lot of dispute, and has been for a number of years with the us. he got away with it there. others are saying it's not news at all because the last line in the guardian said, trump made 2140 false 01’ guardian said, trump made 2140 false or misleading claims in his first year as president according to a washington post story. thank you, j. that's it from business live today. more news on the web page and on world business report. we will see you again soon. the weather is about to change. we

start with heavy rain and strong wind and slowly over the next 24—48 hours, things turn much colder. picking up an easterly wind that will push snow across through the weekend. but we have rain today, parts of northern ireland have already seen 50 millimetres in the last 24 hours and more to come this afternoon as it pushes its way north and east across northern england, south—west scotland, the far north—east of scotland possibly staying dry but very windy with strong wind extending down the east coast of england. sunny spells and showers behind that rain across england and wales, anyon to mild conditions, 11—13dc but colder in the north especially with the wind. further outbreaks of rain across northern england and outbreaks of snow across higher ground. showery rain pushing into england and wales with the lows of 3—7 overnight.

further rain pushing north and east through tomorrow with snow perhaps over higher ground of northern england and scotland, may be coming down to lower levels later in the day. behind all this again, sunny spells and a rumble of thunder in places and just about hanging onto my other conditions across central and southern parts of england and wales but bitterly cold further north especially when exposed to the wind. that theme will continue into the weekend. we see blue colours, the weekend. we see blue colours, the easterly wind pushing cold air across the country, likely to have some snow showers and a dipping temperatures, a bitterly cold field to saturday and a real shock to the system. there will be some snow showers around, feeding across on the north—east wind, eyes will be a problem through the morning with temperatures struggling to get above freezing in places and adding on the strength of the wind and it will feel bitterly cold. keep an eye on this feature affecting southern parts of england through sunday, the

potential that we could see some more significant snow pushing its way north. some uncertainty to the exact details, so stay on top of the forecast if you can. it will feel bitterly cold where you are exposed to the wind. temperatures struggling to the wind. temperatures struggling to get above freezing but feeling sub zero in the wind chill. hello, it's 9 o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire, welcome to the programme. our top story today... president trump comes out in support of the uk's decision to expel 23 russian diplomats from britain after the nerve agent attack in salisbury. the united states stands in absolute solidarity with great britain. the united states believes that russia is responsible for the attack on two people in the united kingdom, using a military grade nerve agent. we will get reaction. also coming up on the programme... sherry denness was 17

when she attempted to take her own life nine times in ten days at the end of last year before she got the help she needed. her dad's video seeking support for her went viral.