No ‘capacity’ for Ed Miliband’s warm homes plan, says British bank boss June 2, 2026 A UK banking chief has warned the government does not have the “capacity” to meet its ambition to transition millions of homes to low carbon-heating technologies. Nigel Terrington, the boss of specialist lender Paragon Bank, said Labour faced an “operational capacity constraint” in its bid to implement its warm home plan. The £15bn initiative, which [...]
Neil Woodford criticises BP board for ousting ‘shouty’ chairman May 30, 2026 Once-renowned investment manager Neil Woodford has criticised the BP board for ousting its ‘shouty’ chairman after less than a year in post. Woodford called out the oil giant’s board for removing Albert Manifold after just eight months in the job, noting that he is the third chairman the company has been through in three years, [...]
Energy price cap to jump 13 per cent this summer May 27, 2026 UK households will be hit by a sharp £200 rise in energy bills next month, leaving Brits bracing for a painful winter of higher bills off the back of the Iran war. From 1 July to 30 September the annual energy price cap will be £1,862 per year, up from the current cap of £1,641, [...]
Crude language is the least of BP’s Manifold problems May 27, 2026 Yesterday saw the ousting of BP chair Albert Manifold after less than one year in the role. According to various media reports, Manifold was “shouty” and “aggressive”, with a “volcanic temper”. But try as it might to escape crude language, BP’s board may soon suffer similar missives from its shareholders after another c-suite scandal left [...]
Investment firms anticipate surge in renewable energy spending May 21, 2026 UK investment firms are expecting a sharp surge in financing for renewable energy projects once an end to the conflict in the Middle East is reached, after it triggered one of the worst rises in oil and gas prices in years. Over 85 per cent of firms, accounting for roughly £5.5 trillion in assets under [...]
Starmer scrambles to limit fuel shortage hit May 20, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has spelt out a number of policies to address fuel shortages, signalling the government’s fears that the Iran war could hit motorists and households. During Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer defended an announcement last year to “phase” new sanctions on Russia, while also trailing a policy to freeze a 5p fuel duty cut [...]
Vattenfall energy portfolio poised to be snapped up by private equity firm May 20, 2026 Swedish energy giant Vattenfall is poised to offload a portfolio of its British assets to private equity firm Reinova in the latest step in its retreat from the UK, City AM understands. The conglomerate, owned by the government of Sweden, is set to sell three of its heat network businesses to London-based Reinova Capital for [...]
Reeves to protect energy and infrastructure projects from court challenges May 20, 2026 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is drawing up reforms to give parliament the power to insulate essential energy and infrastructure projects from court challenges. The government is expected to put forward plans to keep the projects safe from judicial review. “For too long, vital infrastructure delivery has been delayed by judicial reviews of projects,” a Treasury spokesperson [...]
Starmer eases sanctions on Russian oil despite calls to ramp up North Sea drilling May 20, 2026 Keir Starmer is to allow Russian imports of diesel and jet fuel in a major softening of what has been a hardline stance towards Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. A licence issued on Wednesday will allow such products to enter the UK “indefinitely”, as long as the oil has been refined in [...]
Data centres to consume tenth of global power by 2050 May 20, 2026 The AI boom is set to drive one of the largest increases in electricity demand in modern history, with data centres expected to consume a tenth of the world’s power by 2050. Global data centre electricity demand will more than double from 500 terawatt-hours (TWh) last year to 1,114TWh by mid-century, according to BloombergNEF data, [...]