here's our business corespondent, joe lynam. ingvar kamprad can safely be described as a retailing genius. born in 1926 in southern sweden, he started selling matches aged five. then seeds and then pencils. at 17, he formed ikea — named after his own initials and the area where he was born. now, it's probably the best known furniture store in the world with over 400 giant shops and annual sales of $112 billion. mr kamprad was inspired to create the idea of flat—packed furniture when watching someone remove the legs off a table to fit it into a customer's car. ikea grew exponentially in the 1980s based on the simple but untested idea that customers would buy well—designed furniture and assemble it in their own homes. one famous designer tipped his hat today

our business correspondent joe lynam reports.ospital under construction. it will be the biggest single bed hospital in the uk, and it's being built by carillion. now there's concern that projects like these could be affected if the company collapses. from prisons to hospitals, to schools and rail, carillion is responsible for some of the uk's largest infrastructure and maintenance projects. so, should the government bail the debt—laden company out? i think what has to happen in this case — the contracts have to be kept going and supporting the supply chain and the tens of thousands of workers. that can be done by the government taking lots of this in—house, or re—tendering in other cases. the government can'tjust do a financial bailout. the shareholders and creditors — the big banks — have to take a hit. they can't just offload all the losses to the taxpayer. carillion is a major british company with hundreds of contracts running prisons, maintaining hospitals and mod facilities, with almost 20,000 employees here and tens of thou

and joe lynam joins me now. labour have issued a statement in response to crisis.ister for the cabinet office, and joe lynam joins me now. there is an enormous dilemma here for the government — what are they likely to do? the options are that it has got to the stage that the depths are such and the extent of the contracts throughout the country are such that the government is in a bind, because it doesn't want to see the contracts for the tour stops, because some of them are vital. a maintain our schools, prisons, mod facilities, and building major infrastructure projects such as hs2 and building major infrastructure projects such as h52 and royal liverpool hospital. it doesn't also wa nt to liverpool hospital. it doesn't also want to bail out the private company, it is as recently as last june, cruelly and paid its shareholders a dividend of that i cannot doesn't look good to six months later being in crisis talks about the survival of the company, if you were paying shareholders. although shares have collapsed by 90% over the last year. the government has to make

joe lynam has more. and more than 7,000 staff. we don't yet know how christmas was for house of fraser, but we know it has asked its landlords to slash the rent. but do shoppers still like the department store? it's got the shops i like to browse in, within the department store, so it's quite easy to just go from one place to the next. yeah, there's lot of good quality brands in there, and there's quite a lot of variety, as well. i think it has a good reputation for good quality products. but i know all of the high street has been affected at the moment, and isn't doing that well. i kind of think it's for older people, as well. i have that opinion, but maybe because it's more expensive. i don't know. last month, one credit agency said that house of fraser was now far more likely to default on its debts, adding to the issues faced by the company. it is not unusual for retailers to seek rent reductions from their landlords. m&s and next are doing so already. in fact, traditional retailers are facing a host

and joe lynam joins me now. they are a huge company. how they got into such trouble?”y got into such trouble? i think their appetite for contracts was bigger than their stomach. to apply for these giant contracts, uk wide, to run prisons, schools, mod facilities, you need scale. they built upscale by being a jenny willott construction company, and engineering giants. smaller companies are precluded from applying for those kinds of gigs. they promised that they would do a certain amount of work within a certain amount of work within a certain amount of time. but the income flow has been much less than they told their banks, when they borrowed money from their banks to apply for these contracts and franchises. the income flow back through has not really did what they expected. that has brought them to a situation where they owe their banks £900 million. they are in difficulty. they have a huge role in the public sector. what are they likely to do? they are caught in a bind. the conservatives love these types of contracts. it means that the government won't necessarily ha

joe lynam, bbc news.k in the east china sea, eight days after bursting into flames, following a collision with another ship. the vessel had been transporting nearly a million barrels of oil from iran to south korea. all 32 crew members are presumed dead. more than 160 passengers and crew had a narrow escape, when their plane skidded off a runway in turkey. the boeing 737 slid down a steep slope, coming to restjust a few metres from the edge of the black sea. one of the plane's engines broke off, ending up in the water. no passengers or crew were hurt. two of the world's leading fashion photographers, have been suspended from working for vogue and other magazines owned by the publishing house conde nast. the new york times has published a series of allegations against mario testino and bruce weber, that they sexually harassed young male models. they both deny the claims. adina campbell reports. he is one of the royal family's favourite photographers. mario testino has been capturing famous faces for four t

joe lynam, bbc news.an union has demanded an apology from president trump after he made to rocketry remarks about the continent. a record 42,000 operations to remove rotting teeth from children were carried out last year alone. a ban on credit and debit surcharges comes into force today amid concerns companies could raise their prices in response. and a full round—up of these sports news this morning with mike. how are you? have you tried out?” news this morning with mike. how are you? have you tried out? i have! great news for british tennis. johanna konta to says she has recovered from the hip injury that disrupted preparations for the australian open which begins on monday in melbourne, succeeded ninth for the tournament and plays the american madison brengle in the first round. she is aiming to reproduce the form that took to the semifinals two years ago. i'm coming into this year with very different challenges. i'm feeling conscious of really appreciating being back and playing and almost being grate

joe lynam, bbc news.is fee for re—shooting scenes in a film to the legal defence fund of the time's up initiative. he'd been paid $1.5 million for reshoots for the film, all the money in the world. that's because christopher plummer was brought in to replace kevin spacey, who is facing allegations of sexual misconduct. the time's up movement was recently launched against inequality, sexual harassment and abuse in response to the harvey wein—steen scandal. —— weinstein scandal. with more, here's the bbc‘s peter bowes in los angeles. all the money in the world tells the story of the kidnapping of paul getty. kevin spacey in the original filming of the movie played his grandfather, j paul getty, but when the news of the allegations of sexual harassment came out against kevin spacey, he was dropped pretty quickly from this film even though they had actually completed it. as you say, christopher plummer was brought into play his part. that also meant that michelle williams and mark wahlberg had to be brought b

joe lynam, bbc news.ct the humble baguette by making it a unesco cultural treasure. emmanuel macron said the "baguette is the envy of the whole world" and agrees with master bakers that should follow in the footsteps of naples pizza in italy, which became unesco listed last year. it is a national symbol and a huge part of french life. now master bakers are pushing for baguettes to be officially recognised as a cultural treasure, and its traditional recipe and iconic shape, and world—famous name legally protected. translation: we speak of a french person with a baguette under his arm. why not? artisan bread makers are worried about mass produced copies flooding into supermarkets. frozen bread with imported ingredients but still bearing the name baguette all the same. translation: there are a lot of imitations but here, the baguettes are home—made. we wake up at two or three o'clock in the morning to make bread. the traditional banquette is already protected by french law. to meet the criteria, it must only

joe lynam, bbc news. hundreds of thousands of people homeless. from there he headed to lima — the final stop on his week—long south american tour. tim allman reports. devotion, dedication and worship. by the seaside. an estimated 200,000 people turned out for this open—air mass on a beach in trujillo. a festive, joyous spirit, on the one year after much of this area was devastated by flooding and landslides. a desperate situation, recognised by paul francis. translation: you know the power of nature, you experienced force, the painful consequences are still present in so many families, especially those not yet able to rebuild their homes. afterwards he visited one as rds, not the argentinian city of his birth, buenos aires. many hope that that will bring a new sense of optimism and renewal. i am really happy, said this woman. we were able to come and see him and beat you with all our brothers and sisters. i think the fa ct brothers and sisters. i think the fact the pope chose this community isa fact the p

our business correspondent joe lynam, is at london's waterloo station. joe.ices and hundreds of thousands of passengers including some from here at waterloo station, one of britain's busiest stations, will be affected by this strike. in total, five companies are affected, southern, northern, south—western, greater anglia and merseyrail. with the exception of southern, there will be three days of strikes this week starting tonight at midnight the 2a hours and then again on wednesday and then again on friday. in terms of mitigation, some of the train companies will be offering a rail replacement bus service, and some rival train companies will be accepting tickets even though they are not directly involved in the dispute, which centres on the role of guards and one person operated trains. as ever, passengers are caught up in the dispute and it is only a few days since rail fares went up substantially at the start of the year. joe lynam, many thanks. let's take a look at some of the day's other top stories. there's to be a review into how the parole board makes

joe lynam, bbc news.ukip henry bolton, is under pressure to resign, after his girlfriend was suspended from the party, for making offensive remarks about prince harry's fiancee, meghan markle. mr bolton, who's the party's fourth leader since the brexit referendum, hasn't made any comment. here's our political correspondent alex forsyth. it was only last september that henry bolton got ukip's top job, promising to focus on brexit. we, as a party, are a party of leaders. in fact, he was the party's fourth leader in a year and now there are questions about his personal life and political future. his girlened, jo marney, has been suspended from ukip for making offensive comments and some in the party think it is cause for him to resign. all we see, week after week, is henry's personal issues, which frankly no—one cares about, but where is the substance, where is the policy? i think as long as this story runs, our party becomes weaker and his leadership becomes weaker and untenable. in a series of text message

joe lynam has more.,000 staff. we do not yet know how christmas was for house of fraser, but we know it has asked its landlords to cut the rent. so what do people think when they think of house of fraser? it has got the shops that i like to browse in within the department store, so it is quite easy to just go from one place to the next. it has a lot of good quality brands, and quite a lot of variety. i think it has a good reputation for good quality products. and i know all the high street has been affected at the moment and is not doing well. in terms of reputation, it is up there withjohn lewis, maybe a bit more down—market thanjohn lewis, so it occupies that gap in the market. i kind of think it is for older people, but maybe because it is more expensive. it's not unusual for retailers to seek rent reductions from their landlords, marks and spencers and next are already doing so and traditional retailers face challenges such as rising rents, especially in big cities, the national living wage going up,

joe lynam, bbc news. earlierjoe explained to me the extent of carillion‘s financial problems.te for contracts was bigger than their belly, to put it bluntly. basically, to apply for these giant contracts, uk wide, to run prisons and school and mod facilities and build hs2, you need to have scale. so they built up scale by being a genuine construction company and engineering giant. so smaller companies are kind of precluded from applying for those gigs. what happened is they bid for these massive contracts, won them, promising that they would do a certain amount of work within a certain amount of time to the government. but the income flow has been much less than they told their banks, so they borrowed money from their banks to apply for these contracts and franchises, and the income flow back through has not really been what they had expected and that is what got them into a situation where they now owe their banks £900 million. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. 0ur guest

our business correspondent joe lynam reports.is is liverpool ‘s newest hospital under construction which will be the single biggest hospital in the uk and it is being built by carillion. there are concerns that projects like this could be affected at the company collapses. karelian is responsible for some of the uk's largest infrastructure projects so should the government bail the debt—laden company out? should the government bail the debt-laden company out? what needs to happen in this case is the contracts need to be kept going. supporting the supply chain and the tens of thousands of workers can be done by government taking it out of in—house or re—tendering in many cases but the government cannotjust do a financial bailout. the shareholders and the creditors and the big banks have got to take it. they cannot just off—load the big banks have got to take it. they cannotjust off—load all the losses onto the taxpayer. carillion isa losses onto the taxpayer. carillion is a major british company with hundreds of contracts running

joe lynam, bbc news.en the prime minister! now, a 2004 trek taken by a group of men has been turned into a play. black men walking covers a few miles in the peak district, but 2,000 years of black history. ali fortescue had been to meet the cast and the real men they portray. we are home. 2,000 years of black british history, told on a walk in the peak district. we walked england before the english. it's a play inspired by a real walking group and just days before the first curtain call, the cast have come back to where the story started for a final run—through and to meet the men who inspired the play. so the story takes place on a day when the walkers probably shouldn't be going out because of weather warnings, and along the way, they encounter over 500 years of black british history, characters from the past emerging. what the play is looking at is, how long do you have to be in a place to become part of it? how long do you have to be in yorkshire to become a yorkshireman or woman? so today is all abou

joe lynam, bbc news.uth african police have used rubber bullets to disperse a mob trashing h&m stores in and around johannesburg, after the brand used a controversial picture of a black child. violence spilt over in several malls as protests organised by activists turned ugly. h&m apologised for the image, which ran on its website. the hollywood actor, mark wahlberg, has given the money he got for reshooting scenes in a film, to a fund which supports people who've experienced sexual harassment. it comes after he was paid more than a million, while his female co—star michelle williams received sixty pounds a day in expenses for the work. the scenes had to be filmed again after kevin spacey was dropped in the wake of sexual assault and harassment allegations against him. tenants could be given greater powers to tackle rogue landlords after the government agreed to back a private members' bill. it comes as figures show one in ten tenants has had a gas leak, a fire or safety concern in their home over the las

joe lynam, bbc news.ed that it could deploy ground forces today, after launching air attacks against kurdish fighters in northern syria. more than a hundred targets were bombed in the afrin region. 0ur turkey correspondent, mark lowen reports. the first strikes of a new front in syria's war — turkish f—16s pounding kurdish positions from the air. thick plumes rising above the enclave of afrin, held by the syrian kurdish militia, the ypg. turkey sees them as terrorists linked to the kurdish militant group the pkk, which has waged an insurgency in turkey since the 1980s. the airstrikes were backed by turkish artillery from the border, tanks in place, ready to roll in. turkey's aim is to stop the kurds extending their territorial control in northern syria. standing side—by—side with turkey, syrian rebel fighters leading the ground offensive for now. the incursion is called 0peration olive branch, but it is anything but peaceful. turkey is up against kurdish military might. they have been backed by the us in

joe lynam, bbc news.e of the ukip leader, henry bolton will be up for discussion when the party's national executive holds an emergency meeting later today. there have been calls for him to step down after it was reported his girlfriend had sent offensive texts, including racist comments about prince harry's fiance meghan markle. let's talk to our political correspondent, emma va rdy. it seems they are dammed if they do, dammed if they don't. there are some who are worried about another leadership contest. as you say, the fear of yet another rather embarrassing leadership contest under the circumstances might just save him but we will have to wait and see the outcome of that meeting today. he will certainly be fighting today. he will certainly be fighting to try to save his job. he is expected to face a vote of confidence from the nec committee, the party's ruling body at the nec don't have the power to sack henry bolton, that would have to go to a vote of wider members in the party. this is all coming to

joe lynam, bbc news.s could be given greater powers to tackle rogue landlords after the government agreed to back a private members' bill. it comes as figures show one in ten tenants has had a gas leak, a fire or safety concern in their home over the last year. adrian goldberg from 5live investigates has the story, tell us more. this story just this storyjust moved on in the last 24 this storyjust moved on in the last 2a hours. this storyjust moved on in the last 24 hours. very much so. we were being told the government was not backing this private members bill, though they were talking to the mp concerned. they felt essentially local government had enough powers to clamp down on rogue landlords, and further powers would not go as far as the proposed legislation. yesterday, i got an e—mail through, saying the government is going to back the private members bill which will give tenants powers as individuals to take on rogue landlords. so, that is quite a big shift for the government. and i suppose it refle

joe lynam reports. ingvar kamprad can safely be described as a retailing genius.nd then pencils. at 17, he formed ikea — named after his own initials and the area where he was born. now it's probably the best known furniture store in the world, with more than 400 giant shops and annual sales of £30 billion. kamprad was inspired to create the idea of flatpacked furniture when watching someone remove the legs of a table to fit into a customer's car. he disowned his previous support forfar right parties in sweden, during the war, and lived a modest lifestyle — his house and possessions did not reflect his wealth. translation: i don't think i'm wearing anything that i haven't bought at a flea market. that's because i want to give a good example. if we are going to be conscious about our economy, one can't just talk about it, one has to show that. the genius of ingvar kamprad was to persuade millions of people to come to his giant superstores, pick out products that they may like but not necessarily need, and then collect it in person from the warehous and, crucially,

our business correspondent, joe lynam, reports.company you have never heard of. it is an engineering, construction and outsourcing giant which maintains dozens of schools, prisons and mod facilities. it is also building parts of hs2 and the royal liverpool hospital, thanks to pfi contracts. but it also owes its banks almost £1 billion, and that's why the government is chairing crucial talks about what might happen if carillion was placed into administration. what are the options if — and it's a big if — carillion cannot find a solution with its banks? the government could bail out the company and effectively nationalise it, with all the moral hazard attached to that. it could take back all the contracts with carillion and reassign them to healthier companies. or it could be placed into administration. consultants would then wind up unprofitable parts. potentially it could be devastating, because many of them are owed millions by carillion. if they don't get those monies, they are of course at risk as a business. the other thing, th

joe lynam reports. ingvar kamprad can safely be described as a retailing genius.ve, then seeds and then pencils. at 17, he formed ikea, named after his own initials and the area where he was born. now, it is probably the best known furniture store in the world, with more than 400 giant shops, and annual sales of £30 billion. kamprad was inspired to create the idea of flat—packed furniture when watching someone remove the legs off a table to fit into a customer's car. he disowned his previous support forfar—right parties in sweden, during the war, and lived a modest lifestyle. his house and possessions did not reflect his wealth. translation: i don't think i'm wearing anything that i haven't bought at a flea market. that's because i want to give a good example. if we're going to be conscious about our economy, one can't just talk about it. one has to show that. the genius of ingvar kamprad was to persuade millions of people to come to his giant superstores, pick out products that they may like but not necessarily need, and then collect it in person from the warehou

joe lynam reports. we've all seen them.ery end of the buying process. in percentage terms it may not sound like a lot, but card surcharges add up, until today. under a new eu directive retailers on or off—line can no longer charge customers for paying with a credit or debit card. the treasury says this surcharges cost uk consumers £166 million annually, but some companies, such as concert venues, can still charge a booking or service fee. this is a significant win for consumers. no longer will they be penalised just for paying by credit or debit card. not all companies will increase prices. we have to wait and see how they react to the law that is being introduced and see whether or not prices go up. if prices do go up consumers can vote with their feet, and shop around and find the best deals for them. some retailers, such as this delivery firm just eat, say they will impose new costs on customers who pay by card. others may simply raise prices. so not all consumers will be better off. tributes have been paid to the comedy

here's our business correspondent, joe lynam.fely be described as a retailing genius. born in 1926 in southern sweden, he started selling matches aged five. then seeds and then pencils. at 17, he formed ikea — named after his own initials and the area where he was born. now it's probably the best known furniture store in the world, with over 400 giant shops and annual sales of $112 billion. he was inspired to create the idea of flatpack furniture when watching someone remove the of flatpack furniture when watching someone remove the legs from a table to fit into a customer's car. he disowned his previous board forfar right bodies in sweden during the warand right bodies in sweden during the war and lived a modest lifestyle. his house and possessions did not reflect his wealth. translation: i don't think i'm wearing anything that i haven't bought at a flea market. i want to give a good example. if we are going to be conscious about our economy, one cannotjust talk about it, one has to show that. the genius of ingvar kamprad was to

joe lynam, thank you very much.ast of england ambulance service has apologised to the family of a pensioner who died after waiting nearly four hours for paramedics to arrive. the 81—year—old woman rang 999 complaining of chest pain at 8pm on tuesday. paramedics arrived three hours and 45 minutes later, by which time the woman had stopped breathing and could not be saved. the ambulance service offered its sincere condolences, and said it was stretched, with pressures on staff and the nhs as a whole. 0nline casino operators are failing to prevent money—laundering and protect problem gamblers, according to the gambling commission. it expressed "significant concerns" in a letter to all uk operators, and requested they review procedures. the commission said many operators were unable to spot signs of financial crime and compulsive gambling. the united states has been criticised for calling an emergency meeting of the united nations security council to discuss anti—government protests in iran. china and russia said the un

joe lynam looks back at his life. sold and, especially, assembled.rted selling matches aged five. then seeds and then pencils. started selling matches aged five. at 17, he formed ikea — named after his own initials and the area where he was born. named after his own initials now, it‘s probably the best known furniture store in the world, with over 400 giant shops and annual sales of $42 billion. £30 billion. kamprad was inspired to create the idea of flat—packed furniture when watching someone remove the legs off a table to fit it into a customer‘s car. the legs off a table to fit it he the legs off a table to fit it disowned his previous s far he disowned his previous support for far right parties in sweden before the war and lived a modest lifestyle. h is the war and lived a modest lifestyle. his house did not reflect his wealth. translation: i don't think! am buying anything that i have not bought at a flea market. i want to give a good example. if we are going to be conscious about our economy, we have to show that. the genius of ingvar kamprad w

joe lynam, bbc news. hits back at an author's claims he is childish and impulsive — calling him a total loser, and describing himself as a "very stable genius". an ambulance service apologises to the family of a woman who died after almost a four—hour wait for paramedics. air strikes on a rebel—held area of syria are thought to have killed at least 17 civilians. plans to improve the reading standards of children from disadvantaged backgrounds have been announced by the department for education. there'll be a network of 35 literacy centres across england, to work with primary schools in challenging areas. here's our education correspondent, elaine dunkley. closing the inequality gap in classrooms is key to giving every child the best at. research shows that fifield who struggle with language or six times less likely to reach the required standards at age 11 than those with good language skills. today, the government has launched a 26 what you buy an investment to improve standards in reading and writing. t

here's our business correspondent joe lynam. hospitals, prisons and even libraries. if it collapsed, there is a concern who bo who would take over at short notice. and it's notjust public service that is would be affected. thousands of private firms in the construction sector are also dependent on carillion for subcontracted work. we cover 5596 dependent on carillion for subcontracted work. we cover 55% % of steel works contracting in the uk and that's worth £3 billion to the uk economy. it's represents 120,000 workers. so, if you multiply that across all of the subtrades in the uk, the affect on subcontractors could be significant. and today there was a flurry of activity at there was a flurry of activity at the cabinet office, itself having a face—lift. pulling together all the different strands of government, dependent on carillion. because carillion carries out so much work for so many different arms of government, it needs to be co—ordinated here at the cabinet office. what they are working on todayis office. what they are

our business correspondent joe lynam is here. the co ntrove rsy over all this comes off the back of the controversy over the failed carillion company and the danger to the pension scheme there. absolutely, at the end of 2016, the pensions deficit at carillion stood at £600 million. the company continued to pay dividends to their shareholders, in other words, continued to pay dividends to their shareholders, in otherwords, give money back to the people that own the company, while the pensions hole grew and some estimates are putting the hole now at close to £900 million. that looks awful for those people who support free enterprise and the prime minister stresses that she continues to support capitalism and free enterprise and those that ta ke and free enterprise and those that take risks need to be rewarded but if they continue to line their pockets and filch from pension schemes and suchlike, then they face massive fines and retribution. what she is hoping to do is introduce new measures in the forthcoming white paper to deal wi

here's our business correspondent joe lynam.ompany you have never heard of. it maintains hundreds of schools, hospitals, prisons and even libraries. if it collapsed there is a concern about who would take over at short notice. —— carillion. it is not just public services, at short notice. —— carillion. it is notjust public services, thousands of private sector firms are dependent upon carillion for subcontract work. it represents 120,000 workers. if you multiply that, then the effect could be significant. there was a flurry of activity at the cabinet office, it sells having a face—lift, pulling together all the different strands of government, dependent on carillion. it carries out so much work is only different arms of government, it needs to be awarded native here at the cabinet office. they are working on contingency plans, should they collapse, and it isa plans, should they collapse, and it is a big should, then they will be ready to continue working in prisons and schools and hospitals and there will not be so much interrup