Your commercial news round-up: UK pubs, AI investment risk, EU steel tariff, Discord cyberattack

Reading time: four minutes

The UK government is pushing for late-night openings across pubs and restaurants to fuel economic growth, while the Bank of England (BOE) warns of a looming market correction amid soaring AI valuations. Elsewhere, the UK steel industry faces what could be its biggest crisis yet as the EU plans steep tariffs, and Discord reports a third-party data breach affecting around 70,000 users. Read on for LCN’s pick of this week’s top commercial stories making headlines!

• Pubs, clubs and restaurants in England and Wales could stay open into the early hours under Labour’s plans to boost economic growth. The government-backed proposal aims to help the hospitality sector by relaxing alcohol licensing laws, with Keir Starmer expected to support the move. The reforms would overhaul the Licensing Act 2003, adding a new objective about promoting economic growth to the existing four that guide local councils. CEO of UK Hospitality Kate Nicholls said that “a new and improved licensing system that is fit for the 21st century will be a huge boost to the nation’s pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels”. However, the proposed reforms, developed without adequate input from policing, ambulance services, local licensing authorities, health experts or citizens, have been described as a “charter for chaos”. CEO of charity Alcohol Change UK, Dr Richard Piper, added that the longer hours “will inevitably mean more victims of crime, including domestic violence, more antisocial behaviour and disturbance, more police time spent dealing with drink-fuelled incidents and both ambulance and A&E staff having to deal with even more people who have come to harm as a result of alcohol”.
   
• The BOE has warned on Wednesday that the “risk of a sharp market correction has increased”, following a rise in valuations of AI-focused tech firms. For example, OpenAI’s valuation has surged to $500 billion from $157 billion last October, while Anthropic has almost tripled its valuation to $170 billion since March. The bank’s financial policy committee said: “On a number of measures, equity market valuations appear stretched, particularly for technology companies focused on artificial intelligence. This […] leaves equity markets particularly exposed should expectations around the impact of AI become less optimistic.” The caution is reflected by research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which revealed that 95% of organisations are seeing zero return from their investments in generative AI. The bank also warned that “downside factors included disappointing AI capability/adoption progress or increased competition, which could drive a re-evaluation of currently high expected future earnings”. 
   
• The EU has announced plans to increase tariffs on imported steel to 50%, a move the UK steel industry has said could be “perhaps the biggest crisis” the sector has faced. The EU is the UK’s largest steel export market, worth nearly £3 billion and accounting for 78% all UK exports in 2024. Under the proposed changes, tariff-free quotas will drop to 18.3 million tonnes, which is a 47% cut from 2024 levels. The measures will take effect early next year, following the approval of most EU member states and the European Parliament. The European Commission’s executive vice president for prosperity and industrial strategy, Stéphane Séjourné, said: “We have global overcapacity, unfair competition, state aid, and undercutting in prices and we are reacting to that. Eighteen thousand jobs were lost in the steel sector in 2024. That's too many, and we had to put a stop to that.” Meanwhile, the director general of UK Steel, Gareth Stace urged the government to “go all out to leverage our trading relationship with the European Union to secure UK country quotas or potentially face disaster”.
   
• Messaging platform Discord has revealed that around 70,000 of its users may have had their official ID photos and personal data exposed, following a cyberattack on a third-party age verification provider. The compromised data may include personal information, partial credit card details and messages exchanged with its customer service agents. The company has contacted all affected users and is working with law enforcement. Discord also revoked the third-party provider’s access to its systems, but didn’t name the company. While some online commentators have claimed that the breach was larger  the reports suggest, a spokesperson from the company denied the claims and said they were “part of an attempt to extort payment”. The spokesperson added: “We will not reward those responsible for their illegal actions.”

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