Popular fizzy drink set to make major change – and fans will be furious

COCA-COLA has warned shoppers to expect higher drinks prices this year — having already hiked costs by 12 per cent.

Despite bumper results, James Quincey, Coca-Cola chief executive, said: “There will be price increases across the world in 2023.”

The Diet Coke maker, which has hired Kate Moss to front its campaigns, revealed that in Europe prices had increased by 15 per cent in the three months to the end of December compared to the previous year.

Overall sales grew by 7 per cent to £8.2billion.

1,300 British jobs to go as car maker switches to leccy

FORD is cutting 1,300 British jobs over the next two years — with around one in five workers being made redundant.

The cull comes as the car maker shakes up its operations to focus on a smaller range of electric vehicles, which require fewer workers and less engineering work, Ford said.

Ford is cutting 3,800 jobs across Europe - around 11 per cent of its entire workforce - with Britain and Germany the countries hardest hit.

Last year Ford said that it will no longer make the Fiesta, the UK’s best-selling car, as it prepared to have an electric-only fleet in Europe by 2035.

The bulk of the job cuts will be at Ford’s technical centre in Dunton, Essex, where it employs around 3,400 people.

The Dunton site is famous for being responsible for the creation of Ford’s Transit van, the most popular van for delivery drivers in the country.

The business said that several hundred back office roles will also be lost — but production sites in Halewood, Daventry and Dagenham will not be affected.

John Scarola, 72, who worked for Ford for 33 years and used to lead the staff unions, said that the cuts would have “a devastating effect” on the community in Dunton.

Ford’s role as a manufacturer in Britain is particularly culturally significant, and the strikes by its female sewing machinists in 1968 were turned into a film Made in Dagenham.

The pay protests changed modern industrial practices and led to the Equal Pay Act.

Martin Sander, Ford’s general manager in Europe, said: “These are difficult decisions, not taken lightly. We recognise the uncertainty it creates for our team.”

Hacking rise due to WFH

WORKING from home has made firms more vulnerable to computer hackers.

The Royal Mail, JD Sports and data firm ION have all been victims of cyber attacks in recent weeks.

And more than half of small businesses have been been hacked — 15 per cent more than before the pandemic — according to a survey of 500 bosses by Vodaphone.

Tina McKenzie, policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “The digital economy presents a huge opportunity for small firms to reach new markets and customers, but these benefits come with challenges.

“This report sheds light on how vulnerable small firms are to criminals in cyber space.”

The National Cyber Strategy published last year says remote working and online transactions have increased risks for businesses.

Bust firms rise

THE number of companies going bust last month shot up by seven per cent to 1,671 as businesses struggled with rising costs.

Liquidations in January also rose by 52 per cent compared to a year ago, to 189, due to an increase in winding-up petitions by HMRC.

After firms were helped to stay afloat in the pandemic by government loans, many are now faced with higher bills.

Restructuring experts predict even more will fail when energy bill support is sharply reduced in April.

RETAIL business rates are set to drop by 20 per cent in April after the Government made changes to reflect a fall in property values.

But the British Retail Consortium said the system still needs overhauling to reflect whether a shop makes a profit or loss.

Real pay drops

WAGES grew at near record levels in the last three months of 2022, but failed to keep up with inflation.