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00:00Hello and welcome to the latest Business Brief on Friday the 2nd of May.
00:04Reform UK has beaten Labour by just six votes in Runcorn and Helsby.
00:09It's Sir Keir Starmer's first by-election defeat as Prime Minister.
00:12The seat had a Labour majority of nearly 15,000 less than a year ago.
00:17Nigel Farage called it a big moment as reform gained ground in local elections nationwide.
00:23Nat West has posted stronger than expected profits, hitting £1.8 billion in Q1.
00:28Boss Paul Thwaites says customers stayed resilient despite global uncertainty.
00:33Lending, deposits and trading income all rose in the quarter.
00:36The government's stake in the bank recently dropped below 2%.
00:39Shell has reported a dip in profits as it presses ahead with investment and shareholder payouts.
00:45Adjusted earnings fell 27.9% to £4.19 billion in the first quarter.
00:51It comes amid falling oil prices and tighter market conditions.
00:55Harrods was hit by a cyber attack yesterday, joining a growing list of UK retailers being targeted.
01:02The luxury store cut internet access to protect its systems.
01:05Harrods says it's investigating and working to protect customer data.
01:10UK factories have seen the steepest drop in export orders since the pandemic.
01:15Demand from the US, Europe and China is falling amid fears over Trump's tariffs.
01:19April's manufacturing index rose slightly but still shows seven straight months of decline.
01:25And Microsoft is hiking Xbox prices in the UK and elsewhere, citing rising costs and market pressures.
01:32In Britain, the Series S goes up by £50 to £300 and the Series X hits £500.
01:38Controller and headset prices are rising too, as are game prices.
01:42That's all for today. Thank you for listening.
01:45I'll see you next time.
01:46I'll see you next time.