always looks so spontaneous! this is business live from bbc news with ben bland and egon cossou. britain's top bosses have a big paycut but still earn more than 100 times the salary of average workers. live from london, that's our top story on wednesday, 21st august. the salaries of the ftse 100 bosses are down by 13%, yet, on average, they still earn a massive $4.2 million a year. also in the programme... alibaba considers delaying its $15

billion listing in hong kong, amid the political unrest in the territory. also in the programme... a fall generally and asian shares, but markets rally. helping the beauty industry go green. we'll talk to the woman who says you can look good while doing good. a study estimates up to a0 million old, unused tech gadgets are piling up in uk homes. so, what do you do with your old phones, computers, etc? let us know — just use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. get your tweets coming in. i have drawers of old gadgets, but i do not know where any of the charges are, slight problem!

a major complaint by many workers across the world is that their salaries remain fairly stagnant, while their bosses continue to enjoy bumper pay rises. however, times may be changing. a new report by the high pay centre suggests the salaries of chief executives for the uk's top 100 listed companies saw a significant drop last year. the report found that median pay for ftse 100 bosses fell by 13% in 2018 to $4.2 million, compared to $4.8 million in 2017. despite the fall, their pay is still 117 times that of the average uk full—time worker earning $35,700 a year. in the united states this week, the influential business roundtable urged companies to treat workers on the same importance level as pursuing profits. the business group has around 200 members with combined annual revenues of $7 trillion. members include the likes

of amazon and general motors. joining us now is luke hildyard, director of the high pay centre. we were taught of the study —— you we re we were taught of the study —— you were pa rt of we were taught of the study —— you were part of the study. is it a good thing or a bad thing? definitely a good thing ceo pay is falling. how pay at the biggest companies is distributed between the top, middle and bottom has a impact on living standards. there might be a little bit more to give those in the middle and bottom a pay rise. however, talking about pay packages still over 100 times what the average uk worker is getting, still clearly a lot of room to distribute things more fairly and proportionately. does the disparity in wages between the level are great people and people at the top, morally, it might

be reprehensible, but in practical terms, does it make a difference?m does have an impact on morale if you are working at the company when offered a meagre pay rise and you see that guy, it usually is a guy, at the top cashing in with millions every year, you do often see the cases of strikes, industrial conflicts, the aggrieved workers will use pay of the chief executive as one of their grievances. is that politics of envy? i do not think it is. it is right to be concerned about social cohesion, think about the sheer inefficiency of lavishing all this money on one, two people at the top. as i said, how play is distributed within companies has a big effect on incomes —— pay. if we offering so much at these people at

the top, it is right to ask whether it is fair, proportionate. whether we could distribute things evenly while still ensuring people in positions of responsibility are incentivised to do a good job. what about the argument companies need to pay to attract top talent? that is put about a lot and it is slightly overstating the importance of individual executives on companies around for decades, with operations on multiple continents, tens of thousands of staff. the amount a single die at the top effects that is pretty limited. —— amount a single guy. we take that approach, assume a superstar single guy. we take that approach, assume a superstar ceo will transform the fortunes of a company and we feel we have to love ever more billions on the people at the top in order to get them into those kinds of positions —— we have to lavish. when you get into that

position, underestimating the wider workforce and economic context, you end up with very unequal workplaces and very unequal economy as a whole. the uk is one of most unequal economies. thank you very much for joining us. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. donald trump is considering a new payroll tax cut to help boost the economy. these taxes are used to finance health insurance, social security and pensions. mr trump thinks the cut would act as a stimulus. the world's biggest retailer — walmart — has sued tesla. it says panels supplied by the electric car—maker caused fires at about seven of its stores. walmart says the fires destroyed goods worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. ryanair is heading to court to try to stop uk pilots from striking on thursday. legal action is already under way

in ireland to try to stop irish pilots doing the same. the strike is over pay and conditions. the uk government says it will automatically enrol british firms in a customs system, as it speeds up preparations for a no—deal brexit. 88,000 companies will be signed up to the system which will allow them to trade with eu states after brexit. there are reports that chinese e—commerce giant alibaba has delayed its up to $15 billion listing in hong kong. the news comes amid the 11th week of anti—government demonstrations in the territory, which have become increasingly violent. monica miller has the latest from singapore. what more do we know about the delay? the hong kong listing of eilidh barbour is being closely watched by the financial community for indications on the business

environment —— alibaba. they have said they do not comment on market rumours. but it has been said the decision was made after the e—commerce giant held a board meeting last week and the listing was expected to take place in august. however, according to sources, the decision was made on the lack of financial and political stability in hong kong which has experienced 11 weeks of pro—democracy demonstrations and some have been incredibly violent. however, it does not mean it is a done deal. sources have told reuters the alibaba ipo could take place as early as october. thank you. the markets... equities in asia are next after investors took a pause after recent gains. —— mixed.

fresh worries about a global recession led investors to dump risky assets. the focus now turning to a key speech by federal reserve boss jerome powell at the end of the week. let us see how will europe looks at the start of the trading day. slightly better performance than asian shares, not a bad rally. the other key thing markets will be watching as the notes from the us federal reserve accompanying the latest decision on interest rates, those notes are due later on wednesday. michelle fleury has the details of what's ahead on wall street today. as interest rates remain in focus, wall street will be paying close attention to america's central bank when it releases the minutes from itsjuly policy meeting. after the fed's first rate cut in more than a decade, they are expected to provide more insight into that decision. while the quarter percentage point reduction was widely flagged, two members of the committee voted against it. and more retailers are scheduled to report earnings. with shoppers spending more, lowe's

is likely to reap the rewards. the home improvement company is forecast to report a rise in same—source sales for the second quarter. also, after strong earnings from walmart, all eyes turn to rival big—box retailer target when it posts its second—quarter results. uk prime minister borisjohnson is heading to berlin today to talk to angela merkel about scrapping the so—called northern ireland backstop which is a contentious part of the brexit negotiations. let's talk to jeremy thomson—cook, from complete currency consulting. going to berlin today, is he fools mission? do you have rejected his plan and for getting rid of the backstop. a backstop he voted for when he voted for theresa may's deal backin when he voted for theresa may's deal back in may two earlyjune. in the grand scheme of things, this is the

uk and the eu going round in circles. the eu have been fairly concrete, incredibly concrete, about the need for a backstop and it is just an insurance policy, not something that comes in as soon as the withdrawal agreement is agreed between the uk and the eu on the basis during the transitional period, something around the northern ireland border is not agreed, there is a fallback position and that he will not cast aside island by saying, we don't need a backstop at all —— the eu will not cast aside. the e were saying we will not enter wider negotiations. that backdrop as well —— the eu were saying. all of the conversations between johnson and angela saying. all of the conversations betweenjohnson and angela merkel, emmanuel macron, another round of political posturing until we get close to the 31st of october deadline and we will likely see another extension but was no deal packs are still likely to be voted down in the houses of parliament ——

we will likely see another extension because no—deal brexit is still likely to be voted down. no concerns in the us according to president trump, he said talk of a recession is nonsense. however, his chief of staff yesterday was briefing republican party donors, saying, if there was a recession, it would be short and not particularly deep. different messages coming out of the white house at the moment. starting to talk about tax cuts. 0ne republican presidents talk about tax cuts, normally it is because they feel economic growth is slowing. the biggest pressure is the trade war between the us and china, seeing prices rise, workers, middle class working class people will need to see more money in the pockets and best way to do that is with tax cuts. the fact we are talking about tax cuts gives things away a little bit. thank you. you will be back to

talk about the papers. still to come... greening the beauty industry — we'll meet the woman who says looking good shouldn't cost the earth. you're with business live from bbc news. the uk has attracted record investment from overseas investors in the first seven months of 2019. that's according to the latest industry figures. tech firms got £5.5 billion in funding and more than half of that came from investors in america and asia. eileen burbidge is from passion capital and is also a technology entrepreneur. what is behind the move? the figure is removed today by an organisation high chairand is removed today by an organisation high chair and partially funded by the government, dcms, also led by the government, dcms, also led by the digital economy council, it is

saying that foreign investors as well as domestic investors continue to be really optimistic about britain's tech sector and it is something to be celebrated. is this going to be affected by brexit? to be really honest, what will probably affect the tech sector in the uk are things like freedom of movement and the ability to continue to attract the world's greatest talent to add to domestic talent we already have, fantastic skills base. in terms of what the trend is showing, given the uk is attracting about $1 billion of investment financing a month, it will not really slow to a great degree even following brexit. do you think, there was talk earlier this year about a possible tech bubble, isn't that casting a shadow?” about a possible tech bubble, isn't that casting a shadow? i don't know about her bubble because i think the idea of a bubble thinks it will definitely be bursting, everything isa definitely be bursting, everything is a bubble until it bursts. we are clearly in history's longest bull

market cycle across all sectors so we are certainly benefiting from that and he are seeing investor enthusiasm. what we should not take away from is how strong britain is playing on a global scale. we are attracting more finance on a per capita basis than even the us right 110w. business live page online is updated through the day, phone, tablet. this may not be great, if you are a parent. aviva says a million more young people are likely to find themselves living with their parents over the next decade, the main reason being the lack of affordability of housing. you can read more about that online. you're watching business live.

our top story... britain's top chief executives have a big paycut — their salaries are down by 13%, but they still earn more than 100 times the salary of average workers. now, if you haven't noticed, healthy living is a growing industry. more and more of us are becoming increasingly aware of what you put into our bodies and the environment and even our beauty products are starting to echo this trend. a recent poll by nielsen found 15% of skin care consumers now want products without artificial ingredients. with a majority willing to pay more for sustainable goods. the market for organic products is set to reach around $22 billion by 2024. well, one brand that's aims to take advantage of this growing market is the beauty kitchen. founded in 2010 by a chemist, the uk—based company makes natural and eco beauty products.

with us now isjo chidley, founder of beauty kitchen. tell us about the business. high pay —— beauty kitchen we want to produce natural products and looking at multi attributes. what is that? the tendency of the beauty industry is focusing on ingredients and the efficacy on your skin rather than looking at lots of areas, ingredients, efficacy, packaging, supply chain, the business. that is what i mean by multi—attributes. across the board? yes. you started life as a chemist, what brought you into this field? i have always had a great interest in beauty and had social media been around in the 90s, maybe i would have been a blogger. i

wa nted maybe i would have been a blogger. i wanted to do my own thing and beauty kitchen was something i could do to bring sustainable bt to life. the containers you have brought in, they look containers you have brought in, they loo k exa ctly containers you have brought in, they look exactly like other containers i see on the shelf and any number of stores for face washes, shower products —— sustainable beauty. how do these containers differ? what we have done at beauty kitchen, we have used what is currently available, glass, aluminium, we also have certain elements of plastic, but when we make... isn't that a dirty word these days, plastic? let me explain a little bit. the plastic pumps you talked about earlier, they do not have a metal spring inside so it means from a recycling perspective, they are higher up the list. things like aluminium, for me, aluminium, more than 90% of aluminium, more than 90% of aluminium is recycled whereas less than 9% of plastic is recycled. what

we wa nt than 9% of plastic is recycled. what we want to do is encourage people to reuse and refill the products. we have introduced a return, refill, repeat programme which means consumers can take these back to the store or post than that, we will wash them, refill them, send them back out. there is a partnership with the high street store in the uk. people can refill at the store. that is the boots store of the future in cove nt that is the boots store of the future in covent garden which opened in the last couple of months. do you think that will be increasingly the way we behave with our products, personal care products, that we get in the habit of almost like the way people used to with milk bottles, rinse them out, get them refilled? the same principle. it is about looking to the past but making it contemporary for the future, that is what we are trying to do at beauty kitchen. are you worried this is

pa rt kitchen. are you worried this is part of a fad, the idea of people wanting to go to another place to refill? is it a fad? i don't think it isa refill? is it a fad? i don't think it is a trend, i think it is a lifestyle change that is growing every day. on the news earlier, we we re every day. on the news earlier, we were talking about resources from gadgets you have got in your cupboard, it is similar to every single industry. being more sustainable and using resources as much as possible and keeping it in a loop is what is important. good luck with it. all this week, we've been looking at the challenges of facing older workers and why companies are often trying to keep hold of them. but today, we're heading to silicon valley, where the workforce at tech companies is often so young, people can start to feel marginalised in their mid—30s. our technology reporter dave lee reports. more than 20 years of experience in silicon valley and elsewhere,

getting work here used to be a doddle but things started to change when he turned 50. he was applying forjobs for which he should have been an extremely strong contender. i would say 85% of the time as jobs went to people who were 10—15 years younger and you start blaming yourself and you start to question yourself and you start to question your own abilities. he probably shouldn't blame himself. across silicon valley, the average age of employees are strikingly low. according to independent research, the average worker at facebook is 29. amazon, 30. but there is a movement helping those who want to stay relevant and fulfilled at silicon valley firms. this is a meeting of a group called the modern elders, a group who come to network and adapt skills. as founder of the group literally wrote the book of

wisdom in the work. . at 58, much older than many of his co—workers. 0nly older than many of his co—workers. only 8% of companies have a diversity and inclusion programme have expanded that to include age, just as relevant metric of diversity as race or gender. we are living longer and most of us will work longer, some by choice, some by necessity. how do we have modern elders have a continuing role in the workplace? what other business stories has the media been taking an interest in? many and varied, we have picked out some of them. jeremy thomson—cook from complete currency consulting joins us again 0ne one from our own website, electric waste, old gadgets, upgrading your phone and tablet, what do you do with the old ones? leave them in a

drawer? countless old chargers, i know in our house, three, four mobile phones, ipad, creaking, but this is apparently typical, people do not tend to recycle them, send them to companies quite happy to refurbish them and sell them into other parts of the world, for example. we have been asking for tweets on this, what do you do with old tech gadgets? simon says, it makes the good point, the study, a0 million apparently knocking around in drawers and cupboards, he says, every one of those a0 million had a charger, 80 million bits of tech. mandy says, i am in australia, i'm totally guilty of this, the study was a totally guilty of this, the study wasa uk totally guilty of this, the study was a uk one. marks is, the uk has obviously got very big drawers. ——

mark says. do you think there is a sense in which these old gadgets could become collectors items, retro chic? i have got an old computer games then i would happily turn on when i have a quiet moment, but other things like your old blackberry, old iphone, unlikely to be so. a lot of people trying to recycle them to get out the rare earth metals. maybe we have to recycle more and keep the costs down. the data concern is an issue. people think if they have payment information, they might suddenly find someone has bought something using the data on the old device, something like buying a country, perhaps, the president of the united states! what a segway. president

trump cancelling his deck mark visit after the danish pm is that you absolutely cannot buy greenland —— denmark visit. i do not know if they started out as a joke that became serious or was serious and now a joke, definitely a humorous element, he wanted to buy greenland, the danish prime minister, part of denmark, has said, no, absolutely not going to happen, it was never going to happen, how did you even think this? he has cancelled a two—day trip to denmark that was going to happen later in autumn. whether it promotes further battles between the eu and that us over other matters, wait and see. it highlights how unreliable the us administration is at the moment. indeed. good to see you, jeremy. thank you. thank you for watching. that is eight from business live

today, see you soon, goodbye. —— thatis today, see you soon, goodbye. —— that is it. good morning. you may have heard already, turning much warmer as we head into the bank holiday weekend. a phrase you will not hear a weather forecaster saying often. sunny start forecaster saying often. sunny start for some of us today but rain in the full cost coming courtesy of this weather front moving east —— in the forecast. to the south—east, high pressure building here, for much of england and wales today, dry. a few showers this morning in the north and west, mostly clearing, one or two showers later on as the band of rain starts to move in. the rain particularly heavy across northern ireland and the west of scotland. on top of that, strong winds, these are the gusts, potentially up to 50, 50

five miles per hour across exposed western areas of scotland. further south and east with sunshine, temperatures up into the 20s, 21, 22. through tonight, the band of rain will continue to move east, into northern parts of england, it will fragment and weaken into thursday morning, but they will be rain here first thing on thursday. 0vernight temperatures staying in double figures for most of us. thursday, that of rain linked in with the cold front i showed you are the start, moving south, but into the start, moving south, but into the area of high pressure. this next weather system brings more rain into northern ireland and scotland and the rain could be quite heavy and persistent, particularly in western scotla nd persistent, particularly in western scotland where they will be pretty high rainfall totals by the end of the day. south, showers. much of england and wales, thursday is looking dry with sunny spells.

temperatures up to 2a thursday afternoon, 18—19 in the north. for the next few days after that, high—pressure across the near continent starts to develop across the uk, keeping these weather systems that pay out in the atlantic. because of that, start to try again much warmer air from the south and south—east —— start to drag in. temperatures rising on the bank holiday weekend, 29 in the south—east of england, plenty of dry weather and plenty of sunshine. lots of usable weather for the bank holiday weekend. goodbye.

you're watching bbc news at nine with me rachel schofield — the headlines: borisjohnson will meet german chancellor angela merkel in berlin later today to repeat his demand for fundamental changes to the brexit withdrawal agreement. thousands of homeless children are growing up in converted shipping containers according to a report by the children's commissioner for england — who says the situation is a scandal. children become very anxious, withdrawn, they feel ashamed that they are homeless. they feel ashamed of where they are living. cardinal george pell, the most senior catholic cleric to be found guilty of child sexual abuse, has lost an appeal in australia against his conviction. president trump has cancelled an official state visit to denmark after the nation's prime minister confirmed greenland