In its final report the High Pay Centre says the median remuneration of a FTSE 100 CEO has risen to a record £5.06m
The bosses of Britain’s largest listed companies received record pay last year, fuelling the widest earnings gap with workers in eight years.
Median pay for FTSE 100 chief executives hit £5.06m in the last financial year, according to data released by the High Pay Centre, an 8.6% increase on £4.66m the previous year and the highest level on record.
Continue reading...Consortium preparing for potential legal battle amid reports new PM could put the company into temporary public ownership
The group of investors pursuing a rescue bid for Thames Water have said they are willing to discuss greater public control but are also preparing for a potential multi-billion pound legal battle amid reports that Andy Burnham could temporarily nationalise the company.
London & Valley Water (L&VW), a consortium of 100 institutional investors that hold £17bn of the company’s £21bn debt, has said it is open to government involvement with Thames Water, but indicated that this does not include public ownership in the struggling company.
Continue reading...People in Tunbridge Wells area face lower pressure, intermittent supply or no water after ‘instrument failure’
Thousands of homes and businesses in Kent are facing water supply problems for a second day, including a “complete lack of water” in some cases, South East Water said.
About 7,000 properties in the Tunbridge Wells area could face low pressure, intermittent supply or no water, after an “instrument failure” at a nearby water treatment works, SEW said.
Continue reading...Health Foundation paper argues health is an economic asset and improving it could generate £72bn for public finances
Restoring the deteriorating health of the UK’s population to the level of 2014 would boost GDP by 2% and generate a £72bn dividend for the public finances, research suggests.
A paper by the Health Foundation thinktank, published on Sunday, argues the nation’s health should be valued by policymakers as an economic asset.
Continue reading...£200,000 investment comes after harvests in Britain hit by wet winter, spring frost and hail, then heatwaves
The owner of Ribena is to invest £200,000 in helping blackcurrant bushes withstand stress after extreme weather put a squeeze on this year’s UK harvest.
That harvest is now under way in the berry’s main growing regions including East Anglia, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Kent and Scotland. It is expected to be about 10% below the average of 10,000 tonnes, as the climate crisis drives extreme weather across Britain and elsewhere.
Continue reading...Move would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to potentially profit from seeing president’s posts first
Donald Trump’s media company is planning to charge for special high-speed access to Truth Social posts, including possibly his own, affecting national security and financial markets.
The move announced on Thursday would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to get news first from top Truth Social contributors so they could profit off subsequent moves in stocks, bonds and interest rates.
Continue reading...Move dealt ‘severe blow to Chinese companies’ confidence in investing in the UK’, says Ministry of Commerce
China’s government has said it is “strongly dissatisfied” with the decision to nationalise British Steel this week, 15 months after the UK government stepped in to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs.
On Thursday, British Steel was brought under public ownership to protect “the future of steel production”, the government announced.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Watchdog asked to look into how James Watt got data of ex-crowdfunders he invited to join buy-back bid
James Watt, the BrewDog founder who sold the debt-laden “punk” brewer earlier this year, is the subject of complaints to the UK’s data privacy watchdog linked to his surprise bid to buy the company back, the Guardian has learned.
BrewDog’s brand, intellectual property, UK breweries and 11 bars were sold to the US cannabis and drinks firm Tilray in March for £33m, in a deal that rendered the shares of more than 200,000 crowdfunding investors worthless.
Continue reading...British domestic holidays are being pushed to their highest levels since Covid
The start of the peak summer season is set to bring millions of drivers on to British roads, with concerns of traffic chaos as the port of Dover faces its biggest test yet of new EU border controls.
The semi-functioning entry-exit system (EES) is credited, along with the heatwaves and fears about flights after the war in Iran, with helping push British domestic holidays to its highest levels since Covid halted international travel.
Continue reading...Agreement, without admission of liability, ends 19-month high court dispute that small-business owners said left them with large debts
Vodafone has settled a long-running legal claim filed by 62 of its former franchisees who alleged the mobile phone group “unjustly enriched” itself at their expense by up to £85m.
The small-business owners – some of whom said they had suffered suicidal thoughts because of the pressure exerted by the telecoms group – launched the high court claim in 2024 after running up large personal debts they said had been caused by their deals with the company.
Continue reading...One Nation MP says the media should be prepared to interview far-right activist. Follow today’s news live
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Michelle Rowland says mandatory minimum standards for datacentres don’t apply to existing developments
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, told ABC News that mandatory minimum standards for datacentres would apply to new developments, not existing ones.
The scope and the timing of those is something that I think will be properly determined by national cabinet.
This is an issue that not only state governments but local councils have been dealing with as well.
It goes from being this hunched-over ball of fluff at the top of a tree looking down at you, to suddenly spreading out its limbs and flying over your head like a magical flying carpet, or this weird stingray-UFO thing in the sky.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Andrew Bailey says he does not regret meeting Reform UK leader to discuss cryptocurrency regulation
The Bank of England governor has said he would have put off a meeting with Nigel Farage last autumn had the Reform UK leader’s £5m gift from a crypto billionaire been under investigation at the time.
Andrew Bailey said he did not regret meeting Farage to discuss the Bank’s plans for cryptocurrency regulation last September, months before the controversial donation from the Thailand-based investor Christopher Harborne was revealed by the Guardian in April.
Continue reading...Worse-than-expected figures for three months to June come amid concerns over lopsided economy
China has posted worse-than-expected growth figures for the three months to June as its economy expanded by just 4.3% – one of its lowest quarterly readings on record.
The rate, which came in under the government’s target of 4.5% to 5%, was one of the weakest since reporting on official quarterly GDP figures began in the early 1990s.
Continue reading...Annual results show struggling firm’s net debt has risen to £18.5bn, up from £16.8bn a year earlier
Thames Water has said it has sufficient funding to survive until the end of the year but warned of “material uncertainty” over its future as it scrambles to recapitalise to avoid nationalisation.
The UK’s largest water company, which serves 16 million customers in London and the south of England, said it continued to work with creditors, regulators and the government on a recapitalisation plan.
Continue reading...Bradley John Murdoch was convicted of 28-year-old’s murder but remains were never found
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Northern Territory Police have opened evidence boxes to uncover several previously unseen photographs from the investigation of the murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio and attempted abduction of his girlfriend Joanne Lees.
Tuesday is the 25th anniversary of the infamous outback disappearance.
Continue reading...One manager expects takings to treble during England’s semi-final with Argentina on Wednesday; while national sales are up 10%
The beleaguered pub sector is getting a boost from England’s World Cup run, with some landlords reporting roaring sales as anticipation builds for a bumper night on Wednesday for the semi-final clash with Argentina.
Lisa Mayall, the manager of the British Oak in Kingswinford near Dudley in the West Midlands, was jubilant after England’s 2-1 win against Norway on Saturday night and brisk takings at the pub’s till. She expects hundreds more customers for the team’s next game at 8pm BST.
Continue reading...Premium cherry-on-the-vine are poised to take top spot in Britain’s £1bn-a-year tomato market
For a long time the classic round, red tomato has dominated British salads and sandwiches, but its supremacy is coming under threat as sales of rainbow colours and the upmarket rival “cherry on the vine” take off.
“Non-red tomatoes” sales are up 21% this year, a growth rate that far exceeds the overall market, according to Paul Faulkner, of Evesham Vale Growers.
Continue reading...Foreign ministers will discuss options on Monday but decision on imports is not expected for months
The EU has been accused of dragging its feet over upholding international law, on the eve of a long-awaited debate about banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements.
EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday will discuss a possible ban on imports from the settlements, against an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where a UN inquiry found Israel to be committing a genocide, and surging state-backed violence in the occupied West Bank, which has killed at least 235 children.
Continue reading...Habitat destruction strongest driver of species loss, with legislation keeping 99% of listed species from going extinct
The Trump administration repealed a crucial part of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Friday, finalizing a new rule that will open habitats of imperiled wildlife to development, logging, mining and other uses.
For the last 50 years, the landmark environmental law included a broader understanding of the word “harm”, which ensured that not just the plants and animals themselves were protected but also the places that are critical to their survival. The inclusion of habitat in the “harm” definition was upheld by the supreme court in 1995, which ruled in support of old-growth forest protections relied on by endangered spotted owls.
Continue reading...Carmakers welcome ruling against suit claiming manufacturers including Nissan, Ford and Peugeot fitted devices to defeat emission tests
Car manufacturers have welcomed a high court verdict that rejected most of the allegations in a “dieselgate” claim brought on behalf of 1.6 million UK owners of polluting cars.
In her judgment, Lady Justice Cockerill said that “in the majority of instances, the court found that the relevant strategy did not constitute a prohibited defeat device” – software that enables the engine to behave differently in tests.
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