this is business live from bbc news with ben bland and sally bundock. eu leaders step up efforts to shield european businesses from the impact of us sanctions against iran. live from london, that's our top story on wednesday 16th of may. president trump's measures against tehran could hit european businesses trading with iran — almost $25 billion worth of trade could be at stake. also in the programme... japan's economy goes into reverse: we'll be live in tokyo for the latest. we will keep an eye on the markets, thatis we will keep an eye on the markets, that is how it looks at the moment, fairly flat. and we'll find out why robot mannequins could be about to revolutionise the fashion business. today we want to know...

is a lack of sleep effecting your work? according to a new report it can cause serious mood disorders. let us know. just use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. the european union and iran are stepping up efforts to protect their trade links. it follows last week's decision by the united states to pull out of the nuclear deal and reimpose economic sanctions on iran. european leaders are expected to discuss prosposals to protect their companies at an informal dinner in bulgaria later on wednesday. it follows eu discussions with iran's foreign minister, javad zarif, in brussels. they agreed to look for practical solutions to maintain a bilateral trade relationship which grew

to about $24.7 billion last year. importantly for iran that includes finding ways to continue allowing iran to earn foreign currency by sell its oil and gas. iran to earn foreign currency by selling its oil and gas. the imf expects those exports to be worth $63.7bn in the year to march 2018. about 40% goes to europe. finding a way to continue effective banking transactions for iran was also discussed. it's something that could be difficult given the international financial system's reliance on the us dollar. joining us now is allie renison head of europe and trade policy at the institute of directors. ben was talking to some of the issues. there is a lot at stake for both europe and iran? when you look at the kind of companies making investments in iran, these are big,

billion dollar investments, petrochemical extraction, engineering, hotels, aircraft getting sold, and a lot got kick—started after the iran deal was inked. a lot of questions facing them, are they going to have to choose between the us and iranian operation? let's talk about some of the practical difficulties, ben was mentioning that key figures were meeting yesterday in brussels, they are meeting again today, some of them, to discuss it further this evening. they want to try and get business as usual as much as possible, but we are far from it with us sanctions being imposed?” think the devil will be in the detail about what future sanctions are announced, how they are enforced. the big question for europe is that there are going to read primary sanctions that target the iranian revolutionary guards council, a big part of the iranians edmund. the big part is what happens to secondary sanctions. is this literary something big brother uk

banks, some of them which are very risk averse, they could make it more difficult for companies to finance any dealings in iran. those companies that were already in a run before the agreement, those that manage to find a way of trading with a run when sections were imposed? when you look at companies trading out of germany, you have incidence of smaller, regional, german banks that have no interaction with the us dollar whatsoever. they relied on those kind of financial institutions to try to make sure they are not in breach. people that were in compliance, but were not impacted by the sanctions, they will have a leg up the sanctions, they will have a leg up on those that entered into iran recently. we are talking about the countries try to do business in iran, but financial institutions in london would be a big loser? absolutely, interesting that not only the previous administration but

the uk government under david cameron was really trying to push to get uk banks to open up and make it easierfor them to get uk banks to open up and make it easier for them to conduct business in and out of iran. i think that will be a huge deterrent going forward. 24 coming in. -- thank you forward. 24 coming in. -- thank you for coming in. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... a joint report from two committees of british mps says the board of uk construction giant carillion was responsible for its collapse. thousands ofjobs were lost when the company went under with debts of about $2 billion in january. they say regulators should now consider banning the former directors from serving on company boards. former carillion director richard adam said he rejected the findings. the american cereal giant kellogg's says its pulling out of venezuela because of the deteriorating economic situation. staff we're stopped from entering a factory on tuesday. president nicolas maduro called the closure illegal and said he was handing the company to workers so they could continue production.

burberry has released its annual results — and announced plans to buy back $200m in shares. revenue at the luxury fashion retailer slipped slightly — while pre—tax profit rose 5% to about $550 million. it's chief executive, marco gobbetti, says efforts to re—energise the brand are showing promising early signs. i feel like i haven't ifeel like i haven't talked i feel like i haven't talked about the japanese economy for quite a while. today it is in the news for the wrong reasons. it shrank by more than expected in the first three months of this year. the annualised contraction marked the end of the longest stretch of economic growth there since the 1980s. rupert wingfield—hayes is in tokyo. why such a bad start to the year?

well, i think it is a sign of how difficult it is to get growth, particularly growth of consumption back into japan over a sustained period. for the last five or six yea rs, period. for the last five or six years, they have been throwing money at the problem, with fiscal stimulus and a lot of quantitative easing going on. that has not had a sustained effect. the reason for thatis sustained effect. the reason for that is very serious underlying structural issues for the japanese economy, the biggest wannabe in demographics. japan's working age population has shrunk by an amazing 30 million people in the last 20 yea rs. 30 million people in the last 20 years. japan is also the oldest country in the world, with more than a quarter of the population over the age of 65. they are people who traditionally do not like to spend, oi’ traditionally do not like to spend, or it is very difficult to get them to spend. and then there is the issue of salaries

injapan, which then there is the issue of salaries in japan, which have then there is the issue of salaries injapan, which have really been static for the last 20 years, despite the fact that many japanese corporations have got record profits. they are not passing them on to employees. if you are not getting paid more, you are not going to spend more. thank you very much indeed. asian stock markets dipped on wednesday after pyongyang abruptly called off talks with seoul, throwing a us—north korean summit into doubt. meanwhile surging bond yields revived worries about faster us interest rate hikes that could curb global demand. that's after strong us retail sales and factory data — which analysts think could lead the central bank to push interest rates higher. that tends to draw investment towards currency rather than equities — hence the dip in most major markets. this is the picture across the european markets at the start of the trading day. all of them are up slightly. but there are no games really to be writing home about.

let's ta ke really to be writing home about. let's take a look at how the day ahead holds for us on wall street. after surprisingly strong us retail sales in april pushed the yield on us government debt to a seven—year high on april, investors in macy's are hoping that some of the good news trickles down to the beleaguered department store chain. now, most analysts are expecting that macy's will report its second consecutive quarter of revenue growth when it releases earnings before us markets open here on wednesday. elsewhere, corporate america is expected to continue to push back against president trump's protectionist trade policies. as part of three days of public hearings on the proposed import tariffs on chinese goods, general electric is expected to say the proposed tariffs could seriously undermine the competitiveness of its us manufacturing operations. joining us is shaun port, chief investment officer at investment management company nutmeg. good morning, nice to see you. with

regards to financial markets, there is quite a bit going on. some of it is quite a bit going on. some of it is out of our control in terms of geopolitics. what is on your mind at the moment? i think it is the strength of the us economy. we saw retail sales and industrial orders looking really strong, after a soft qi, looking really strong, after a soft oi, globally, as well as in the us, we are seeing a nice rebound in the us economy. interest-rate rises, how many are you predicting this year? another three interest rate hikes this year, if we move towards four i think the markets would get more worried. three is very much baked in the cake, as you say. next year is the cake, as you say. next year is the real key. we are going to see interest rates, will they go up further in 2019? it is likely we will see rate rises into next year. what do you make of the way the markets reacted to geopolitical situation is that the us is embroiled in? the iran situation,

and now these questions over the summit with north korea? these get factored into markets. when there was a rise, markets get worried and investors discount the risks, i think it becomes less significant for global markets on trade and geopolitical tensions. want to watch as the tension between israel and iran via syria, because that is pushing up the oil price, which could have an impact on the global economy. theresa may has a cabinet meeting today and they will discuss plans for a post—withdrawal customs union. is that something investors will be watching closely? absolutely, and i think time is running out. we need to see progress on the northern ireland customs arrangement next month ago to eu leaders, before the end of the summer recess, to leaders, before the end of the summer recess, to make leaders, before the end of the summer recess, to make progress towards the october deadline. at the moment, investors are not really placing much bets against the pound but that could change if we don't get progress. it can change very

quickly, as we have learned. anything on the radarfor later in the week? interesting that we are seeing the end of the earnings season, companies reporting the results in the us and globally. we will continue to see how companies are doing really well. sean will be back later. he is going to speak about sleep and menopause, and what else? football! it is all in this programme! and we could... well, we will be looking at whether this is the answer into getting more body diversity into the fashion world. we will find out if robot mannequins could be the way of the future. first, let's talk about carillion. the board of collapsed construction firm carillion has been found culpable for its costly collapse, according to two committees of mps. the government and major accounting

firms have also been blamed. joining us now from our business newsroom is theo leggett. what did the report find? as you mentioned, the report sprays out scathing criticism is quite literally. it's not just out scathing criticism is quite literally. it's notjust the board, it is the auditors, the government and everything else. the central accusation is that basically carillion was too ambitious, it focused on growth and spent a lot of money buying other businesses. many of those had substantial pensions deficits. it also bid for contracts that were not profitable. that is partly how it got into trouble. there is another accusation, that financial problems were hidden from shareholders through aggressive accounting practices. mps also accused the board of focusing on protecting executive bonuses, while

treating long—term obligations such as the carillion pension scheme with contempt. 0verall, they describe khari lee and's growth and ultimate failure is a story of recklessness, who —— hubris and greed, say the director was in denial of what had happened. some of those criticised have rejected the conclusions. former chairman philip green said that the board had always tried to act in the best interests of the company and shareholders. some criticism as well of the government and regulators. what exactly? yes, the government is accused of, and i quote, lacking sufficient decisiveness and bravery to tackle failures of corporate regulation. the regulators themselves are accused of being toothless, of being too passive in tackling carillion‘s problems. the mps referred to a semiprofessional, part—time system that does not provide the necessary degree of insight for government to

manage risk. let's not forget who else is criticised, the big four accountancy firms. although, again, they denied doing anything wrong. thanks. more detail on the business live website, it is the place to go. you're watching business live — our top story. eu leaders meet in hungary today to find ways to shield european businesses from the impact of us sanctions against iran. it follows president trump's decision to withdraw from the iran nuclear deal. a quick look at how markets are faring. just looking across how things are going in europe, all slightly higher, a different picture to this time yesterday and although the price of oil has come down a little in the last 24 hours it is still relatively high and stocks are

enjoying the ride. now, how many times have you tried on a piece of clothing and found that it doesn't fit? don't say anything about my jacket. it's perfect. no problem there.” wrote that into the script. like most people probably too many times. well, this next invention mightjust help. it's a kind of smart mannequin that uses robotic technologies to actually physically change sizes based on the measurements entered by the designer. 0r or the person who is making the patterns. the company behind the innovation, euveka, produced around 100 of these mannequins this year in europe. it's targeting both high—end luxury fashion houses as well as ready to wear brands. it's also used by the military and other organisations. we're joined by audrey—laure bergenthal, founder of the french start—up euveka.

nice to meet you, thanks for coming in. we were looking at the mannequin and you are showing the video, and it moved depending on the measurements inputted. extraordinary. this was your idea. you were studying to be a lawyer, so what happened ? you were studying to be a lawyer, so what happened? i was listening closely to my mother, she looks like catherine tanura, but she complained she could not find garments that fit well, and i realised that they were made on these wooden mannequins that are so made on these wooden mannequins that are so unrealistic and archaic, that i decided to make it robotic. i thought it was easy, but then the magic of the body is so complex that it took years to perfect the robot, it took years to perfect the robot, it took years to perfect the robot, it took seven years of research and development. can i ask how you went from somebody who was studying law to creating this extraordinary robot rest are moving from law to engineering, how did you do that

question i was bold and young and unconscious. that is the key to success. you don't know what is going to happen next. i decided to drop off my studies and went to study fashion and patter—making. i worked for five years to know my future users tastes and habits and to know them from the inside. then i moved to robotics and learn how to speak with engineers and get into a male dominated word —— world, but it went well, and it went well and was quite a success. i wasjust thinking, if you are putting specific measurements and sizes in for somebody who wants to buy an item and the mannequin is changing s0 item and the mannequin is changing so it reflects them, wouldn't it be easierfor them to be so it reflects them, wouldn't it be easier for them to be fitted out themselves? it is industrial

equipment forfashion themselves? it is industrial equipment for fashion brands and made—to—measure brands, and when the customer doesn't need to be there, because normally when you make garments you need people to come to war three times, and this is difficult to have done. —— two or three times. each brand has its own weight to size their garments —— its own way. they have to trade each time on the mannequin, and they will be able to test every time and will be able to test every time and will be able to target their customer more directly and won't be able to ta ke more directly and won't be able to take the shift, and it is the mass customisation revolution. you have gone from creating this robot to providing many mannequins to high—end fashion brands, but also the military and health care services. as a business, you are very diverse, which is great. but you have also had requests from

people to come up for a robot for the face or feet and other top —— parts of the body. talk this through that. we were so amazed because we thought it would be only for fashion and then it came back for the sport, medical and military sector which was more crucial, because you can make garments that have a function, that can cure or protect. for instance, in the military section, there is an anti—bulletjacket, and they have made a jacket like this. it was really a surprise when we went in january, it was really a surprise when we went injanuary, because they came for the cosmetics because faces have changed through the age. a robot that will have a face that is changing and moving to show emotions? yes, and the ageing process , emotions? yes, and the ageing process, and for the body, the

different way that the body evolves according to the diversity according to where you are from. and also for glasses, there is a problem. but you can't make these robots quick enough, can can't make these robots quick 7 can't make these robots quick enough, can you? we are organising our growth. we need to handle the growth and it's a lot of work, but it's ok. we need to do everything and move fast. given what you do, what do you think the next step will be? what is the natural next phase? the natural next move is that we are dealing with fashion, medical, sports and military with a robot thatis sports and military with a robot that is for the garments industry and we are widening our target to europe and the us where we are opening a branch in new york in january 2019 and one in shanghai where we have a huge market, in september 2019 as well. it's very intense. all right, we will watch

this space. so lovely to meet you. thank you so much for having me. 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 as it happens on the business live page. there is insight and analysis from the team around the globe and we want to hear from you. get involved on the bbc business live web page will .0n . 0n business .0n business —— on . 0n business —— on twitter we are on bbc business. business live, on tv and online. what you need to know, when you need to know. shaun is back to talk football, sleep and the menopause and i can feel the heat as we speak. the menopausal uk economy risks a once in a sentry

slump says the deputy chief of the bank of england. —— once in a century. this is a press briefing that was all over the papers yesterday. a very strange term to describe the uk economy. quite a brave term, and he has been criticised. but it is about the lack of productivity growth in the uk relating back to the end of the 19th century when productivity stall. productivity is so important for real wage growth, tax receipts and the health of the uk economy. the global economy is going through the same phase, with a lack of productivity. you have to give something to explain why they decided to hold interest rates when the rises had been trailed very teasingly sometime. growth was very slow in first quarter and seems slow in the second quarter so there is no real urgency to raise the rates despite inflation being high. i think the bank of england have more breathing room than the end of last yearan

breathing room than the end of last year an interesting one in the financial times. fifa year an interesting one in the financialtimes. fifa to year an interesting one in the financial times. fifa to vote on a $20 billion shake—up on world football. great headline, but what is it about? a potential extra to global tournaments which is not great for uefa, but good for football as a business, so potentially a $25 billion proposal for the two new tournaments. like they need to make more money. the fa talks about the top clubs competing for $2 billion every four years and some would say that top clubs don't need any more money because they have plenty as it is. absolutely right, but this is business so they wa nt to right, but this is business so they want to introduce a new tournaments every two years to challenge uefa, so every two years to challenge uefa, so maybe less revenue from the champions league but a global club tournament would be big business. body clock linked to do mood disorders. basically those who do not get enough sleep night and

ignore the natural rhythms of sleep could be at risk of some quite severe mood disorders, we are talking about bipolar, serious depression, so what does it tell is? it was a study of 91,000 people and found a disrupted body clock can link to these disorders. a big study. some of these disorders do tend to happen in younger people first. the causality is interesting. is that a result of the mental illness or is it the other way round question mark interesting you mention young people because one person got in touch on twitter saying people in their 20s and 30s willingly work night shifts, but it's not advisable at a later age. we will have to leave it there. sorry to have cut you off, sam. that is it and we will be back tomorrow. see you tomorrow. indeed. see you soon. see you tomorrow. indeed. see you soon. goodbye. yesterday was a fairly warmer day

for many of us with temperatures up into the low 20s across the south, but today will feel a little bit chilly compared to yesterday and we start with a bit of cloud and outbreaks of rain across england and wales but things should get brighter in the afternoon. it will turn colder because we have a cold front moving south and east, and you can see the orange ahead of that, then the blues, the cooler weather is behind that. behind that front we have some sunshine in northern ireland which will go into northern england. for england and wales, generally cloudy start with outbreaks of rain which will become patchy as it moves further south with some brighter skies developing across southern with some brighter skies developing across southern areas. with some brighter skies developing across southern areas. but look at the temperatures, much lower than yesterday around 13 or 16 celsius. 0vernight, any cloud across southern areas will mostly clear away and then we have variable cloud into

thursday morning but with lengthy clear spells it could turn chilly with temperatures in the countryside down to three or four celsius. thursday will start dry and sunny for many of us. we will see cloud developing the afternoon across northern and eastern parts of england, into scotland and northern ireland. the best of the sunshine will be across wales through southern and south—western areas and temperatures similar to today into the high teens. this is the friday forecast. not a great deal of change with dry and sunny weather. some rain and cloud brushing the far north of scotland through the day, but those temperatures in the mid to high teens. going into the weekend, high teens. going into the weekend, high pressure firmly in charge of the weather and there is the weather front just the weather and there is the weather frontjust brushing the weather and there is the weather front just brushing the the weather and there is the weather frontjust brushing the north west, so frontjust brushing the north west, soa frontjust brushing the north west, so a bit of cloud in northern and western areas but on the hole on saturday, clear skies, a lovely start of the day for many so if you are getting married on saturday,

plenty of sunshine and temperatures getting up to about 20 or 21, but evenif getting up to about 20 or 21, but even if you're planning a street party, joining in the celebrations, for most of us, it is dry and sunny. there will be cloud in the north and west, dry weather, lots of sunshine and warmer than friday. temperatures getting up to the high teens and low 20s for many parts of the uk, so all in all, over the next few days, a little bit chilly but warming up by the weekend. goodbye. hello it's wednesday, it's 9 o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire, welcome to the programme our top story, is the much trumpeted summit between donald trump and kim jong—un going to be called off? north korea is threatening to cancel it if washington continues to insist it must give up its nuclear weapons programme. mps have published a scathing report on the collapse of the construction and services giant carillion, accusing the board of "stuffing their mouths with gold" instead of looking after their workers. the directors at carillion were

running the company into the ground, more concerned about paying themselves lavish salaries, big bonuses and continuing to pay out dividends. ultimately, they were pulling the wool over the eyes of the investors, people saving for pensions and working there.