Category Archives: Business

UK strikes deal with private investors to build £38bn Sizewell C nuclear power plant

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Government’s deal with EDF, Centrica and other backers marks end of 15-year journey to win funding for project

The UK government has struck a deal worth more than £38bn with private investors to back Britain’s biggest nuclear project in a generation, at the Sizewell C site on the Suffolk coast.

The long-awaited multibillion-pound deal, which will be paid for through taxes and energy bills, gives the final go-ahead for construction of the nuclear project, which has almost doubled in cost from when it was first proposed.

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Large rise in abuse claims at mines that may be vital to EU’s energy transition, report says

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Researchers find 270 allegations at mineral projects across 13 countries in Europe and central Asia last year

Mines on the EU’s periphery that could be critical to its energy transition have recorded a large rise in allegations of abuse ranging from workplace deaths to soil pollution, a report has found, with a threefold increase in 2024 from the average of the five previous years.

The nonprofit Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) found 270 allegations of environmental and human rights abuses in transition mineral projects across 13 countries in Europe and central Asia last year, up from 92 the year before.

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Ofwat to be abolished in ‘reset’ of water industry regulation

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Environment secretary backs plan to end sewage spills and financial mismanagement in England and Wales

A new water regulator will replace the powers of Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and the Environment Agency to “reset” a sector tarnished by scandals over sewage spills and financial mismanagement, after a major review of the sector.

The government will adopt the recommendation for England and Wales made in the review it commissioned from Sir Jon Cunliffe, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, which was released on Monday. In England, the powers of Natural England will also be subsumed.

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‘Significant gap’ between Australian companies’ climate commitments and how they actually invest, analysts find

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Experts say the level of ambition in Labor’s upcoming 2035 emissions target will influence the capital decisions of many companies

Investment analysts have uncovered what they say is a “significant gap” between the climate commitments of major Australian companies and how they actually spend their money.

A report from climate consultancy group Pollination included analysis of the public climate disclosures of 12 major Australian companies, looking especially at their decisions on how and where to spend capital.

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Average UK house asking price registers steepest monthly drop for 20 years

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Rightmove blames the 1.2% fall in new sellers’ prices on the end of stamp duty discounts and more homes coming on to the market

The average price of homes coming up for sale dropped by the largest monthly amount in more than 20 years in July, according to a property website, after the end of temporary cuts to stamp duty, and recent increases in council tax on second homes.

The average price being asked by new sellers fell by 1.2%, or £4,531, in July compared with a month earlier, to £373,709.

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Ministers to revive Blair-era Pensions Commission to tackle savings crisis

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Revived body will examine future of the retirement system as analysis shows pensioner income is set to fall

The government is resurrecting the Pensions Commission, amid fears that a retirement crisis could mean today’s workers will be poorer in retirement than the current crop of pensioners.

The move by ministers to revive the landmark commission, established by Tony Blair’s government in 2002, comes as analysis shows that the income of pensioners is set to fall in the coming decades.

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Bangladeshis linked to Hasina regime appear to have made UK property transactions in past year

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Call for asset freezes after figures under investigation in Dhaka employed services of UK law firms and consultants

By the time Bangladesh’s student-led revolution finally toppled Sheikh Hasina, her security forces had already spilled the blood of hundreds of protesters.

Now, almost a year after the country’s autocratic leader fled the former British colony into exile, an interim government is struggling to navigate bitter factional politics and economic turmoil.

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Labor moves to bolster penalty rates and overtime pay protections for millions of workers

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Legislation will prevent award wage penalty rates from being cut in exchange for higher rates of base pay if it will leave workers worse off

Workers who rely on award wages would have their rights to penalty rates and overtime pay protected under one of the first pieces of legislation to be introduced to the new federal parliament.

The changes to the Fair Work Act would effectively ensure workers paid under awards cannot have their penalty rates reduced in return for a higher rate of base pay if it leaves workers worse off.

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Trump sues Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over Epstein report

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President follows through on libel threat over report that said he sent Epstein ‘bawdy’ birthday note and sketch

Donald Trump has sued Rupert Murdoch and two Wall Street Journal newspaper reporters for libel and slander over claims that he sent the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a lewd letter and sketch of a naked woman.

Trump’s lawsuit on Friday, which also targets Dow Jones and News Corp, was filed in the southern district of Florida federal court in Miami.

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Festivalgoers help drive Burberry to best sales performance in 18 months

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Music fans snap up wellies, scarves and light jackets, with shares rising more than 4% on back of better-than-expected performance

Shoppers snapping up Burberry wellies, scarves and light jackets to wear at music festivals have helped the fashion brand to its best sales performance in 18 months despite lacklustre spending by tourists around the world.

Sales of the luxury British brand fell by 2% to £433m in the three months to the end of June, with a 1% decline at established stores, an improvement from the 6% fall in the previous quarter and the best performance since Christmas 2023.

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Netflix uses generative AI in one of its shows for first time

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Firm says technology used in El Eternauta is chance ‘to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper’

Netflix has used artificial intelligence in one of its TV shows for the first time, in a move the streaming company’s boss said will make films and programmes cheaper and of better quality.

Ted Sarandos, a co-chief executive of Netflix, said the Argentinian science fiction series El Eternauta (The Eternaut) is the first it has made that involved using generative AI footage.

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Jaguar Land Rover delays launch of new Range Rover Electric

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Exclusive: Customers are told the carmaker is allowing more time for testing and for demand to pick up

Britain’s largest carmaker, Jaguar Land Rover, has delayed the planned launches of its new electric Range Rover and electric Jaguar models to give it time for more testing and for demand to pick up, the Guardian can reveal.

JLR has written to customers waiting for the Range Rover Electric to inform them that deliveries of the new version of the model will not start until next year, after initially aiming for late 2025.

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New ‘buy now, pay later’ affordability checks may cover even smallest loans

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City watchdog publishes details of its plans to regulate the BNPL market, which has now grown to £13bn

Lenders may have to carry out affordability checks on even the smallest buy now, pay later loans under new rules drawn up by the City watchdog.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)on Friday published details of its plan to regulate the £13bn buy now, pay later (BNPL) market.

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UK unemployment rises and wage growth slows as jobs market ‘weakens’

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ONS data shows jobless rate climbing to highest rate since June 2021 with growth in average earnings slowing to 5%.

Unemployment climbed and wage growth slowed in the three months to May, according to official figures that will pressure the Bank of England to cut interest rates next month.

Data from the Office for National Statistics, released on Thursday, showed that Britain’s official unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in the three months to May, up 0.1% from April to reach the highest level since June 2021.

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Frasers Group sales fall amid ‘challenging’ luxury market and retreat from gaming

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Pre-tax profits fall 24% despite rise in Sports Direct sales, driven by closures of House of Fraser and Game stores

A “challenging” luxury market and retreat from gaming have prompted a fall in sales and profits at Mike Ashley’s Frasers.

The group, which is majority owned by the billionaire former Newcastle United owner, said sales fell by 7.4% to £4.7bn and pre-tax profits slid by 24% to £379.5m as it closed some of its House of Fraser department stores and Game video game shops.

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‘There’s a bit of a queue forming’: how UK firms are enticing buyers for the next generation of fighter jets

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Inside the hangars where robots are poised to keep the UK a top-tier military nation and continue more than a century of building military aircraft

In a factory on the banks of the River Ribble in Lancashire, robot arms stand on a floor striped with glowing lights. They will hold the tail fin for a test model for the UK’s next generation fighter jet, which is intended to fly for the first time in 2027. The jet, known as Tempest, will act as a symbol of Britain’s hopes to remain a top-tier military nation and keep alive more than a century of building military aircraft.

Yet things are markedly different in another hangar at the Warton site, run by British arms manufacturer BAE Systems. There, production of the Typhoon jet, a mainstay of the Royal Air Force (RAF) for two decades, has – for now at least – ground to a halt.

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UK’s anti-corruption champion to visit offshore haven on fact-finding mission

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Foreign Office sending Margaret Hodge to British Virgin Islands to investigate slow progress against financial crime

The Foreign Office will dispatch the UK’s anti-corruption champion, Margaret Hodge, to the British Virgin Islands (BVIs) to find out why the offshore haven is dragging its feet on proposals designed to fight financial crime.

Several of the UK’s semi-autonomous British overseas territories missed last month’s deadline to implement new registers of corporate ownership, a measure targeting the secrecy regimes campaigners say benefit criminals and kleptocrats.

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Sick pay changes could benefit UK firms by up to £2bn, TUC says

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Exclusive: Analysis shows covering part of salaries from first day off can boost productivity and employee retention

Changes to sick pay to cover part of workers’ salaries from the first day off could end up benefiting British businesses by as much as £2bn, according to analysis commissioned by the UK’s main union body.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), which is pushing for the government to stick with its plans for workers’ rights, said modelling showed businesses would gain benefits of £2.4bn thanks to productivity boosts, while facing direct costs of £425m to pay for extra sick days.

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Southern Water issues hosepipe ban for 1m people in Hampshire and Isle of Wight

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Announcement takes number of people hit by restrictions across England to about 8.5 million

Southern Water has become the fourth English utility to issue a hosepipe ban, taking the number of people hit by such restrictions to about 8.5 million.

The latest ban, which comes into force for about 1 million residents across large swathes of Hampshire and all of the Isle of Wight from 9am on Monday, comes after Yorkshire, Thames and South East Water announced similar measures.

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Trump threatens to impose drug and chip tariffs as soon as 1 August

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US president talks of low tariff to give pharmaceutical firms a year or so to build, and then making it ‘very high’

Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on pharmaceutical products and semiconductors as soon as 1 August, the latest deadline for the introduction of his “reciprocal” levies on individual countries.

The US president told reporters late on Tuesday the taxes on drug imports could be announced “probably at the end of the month, and we’re going to start off with a low tariff and give the pharmaceutical companies a year or so to build, and then we’re going to make it a very high tariff”.

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