Octopus Energy is urging UK companies to invest in Japan as part of a new transpacific deal

Octopus Energy founder has urged more British companies to invest in Japan just days after the UK signed a new trans-Pacific trade deal.

Greg Jackson hailed the pact as a “win-win” – despite dire estimates that it will contribute less than 1% to UK GDP a decade from now.

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He said: “Just as Margaret Thatcher revived the British car industry with Nissan, Honda and Toyota in the 1980s, creating good jobs in Britain and an export market for Japanese companies, we can look forward to a new kind of relationship with Asia. ”

Julia Longbottom, the British ambassador to Japan, said at a briefing in Tokyo there are huge benefits for British companies – particularly in the energy, financial services and pharmaceuticals sectors.

Octopus Energy has been in Japan for three years.

It first secured a US$200 million investment from Tokyo Gas, which has an underground power plant in the Japanese capital that uses a mix of energy sources to heat and cool buildings.

It now has over 160,000 household Octopus Japan customers after adding 10,000 weekly.

Mr Jackson said he would “like to see” more British firms doing something similar.

Octopus has also signed a seven-figure investment in a Japanese firm, Yotsuya Capital, to build new solar farms on abandoned golf courses across the region.

Japan is the world’s most competitive energy market after power monopolies were shattered in the wake of the 2016 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Octopus Energy has further ambitions for international expansion, including in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the US, Australia and New Zealand, and intends to close “gaping holes” in the South Asian and African energy markets “in the next year” or two “.

“If it works in Japan, it can work anywhere,” said Hajime Nakamura, CEO of Octopus Energy Japan.

WORKING RAIN IN MANCHESTER

MANCHESTER is the best place for new jobs in the UK.

According to Bloomberg’s analysis of recruitment sites, the northern city has had an average of 338 monthly job postings for every 10,000 local workers over the past three years.

London has the most vacancies, but it slips to 21st when ranked by the number of postings per local worker.

Manchester is followed by Cambridge, Reading, Milton Keynes, Bristol, Exeter, Oxford, Leeds, Nottingham and Peterborough with the highest concentration of vacancies per local worker.

Birkenhead, Gillingham, Sutton Coldfield, Southend-on-Sea and Hull have the lowest concentration of sites.

Experts said this is because residents typically commute to nearby larger cities, where most jobs are.

SUGAR’S LOSER IS A BIG WIN

LORD Sugar has reaped a multi-million pound return on its investment in a company set up by a losing finalist in The Apprentice.

Sugar, 76, took a 50 per cent stake in Susie Mas Tropic skincare brand for £200,000 in 2011, despite finishing third on the BBC hit that year.

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Tropic Skincare, which Ms Ma founded after selling body scrubs in a London market, had sales of £90.6m and profit of £10.5m in 2021.

Lord Sugar said: “When I first met Susie I saw a unique determination and determination.

“Now is the right time to allow Susie to take the company to new heights.”

Ms. Ma said it has always been her ambition to regain full control of the business, but she will “always be so grateful” for Lord Sugar’s investment.

Last month, gym owner Marnie Swindells won Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment in series 17 of The Apprentice.

HORROR SHOW

CINEWORLD has abandoned the sale of its UK and US operations, opting instead for a debt restructuring plan that will still wipe out shareholders.

The cinema chain’s shares fell by a third yesterday after it announced a deal to exit US bankruptcy protection.

It now has a market value of just £26million but around £8billion in debt.

As part of the overhaul, Cineworld is looking to raise a further £2billion. The pandemic-hit company filed for bankruptcy in September.

NATWEST DELAY

THE long-awaited sell-off of taxpayers’ 41.5 percent stake in NatWest has been delayed by two years due to nervousness in the banking sector.

The government put £45.5 billion into a 2008 bailout of what was then the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The Treasury has been feeding the market shares but said yesterday it will only consider selling more shares if it means “value for money”.

The sector was hit by the collapse of US technology lender Silicon Valley Bank and the bailout of Credit Suisse.

NHS FIRM HACK

CAPITA is the latest company to admit to being the victim of a cyber attack following a major IT outage over the weekend.

The attack blocked employees and customers from email, virtual meetings, and spreadsheets.

The company, which runs operations for the NHS and military, said it had been working hard over the weekend to restore access.

However, a spokesman emphasized that no customer data had been compromised.

Royal Mail, Go-Ahead and JD Sports have also been hacked in recent months.