Sir Jim Ratcliffe: Act now or five million jobs will be lost October 9, 2025 Sir Jim Ratcliffe has called on Europe’s leaders to save the continent’s chemicals industry or risk losing millions of jobs. The founder and chairman of Ineos has urged politicians to make an “eleventh-hour intervention” at what he has described as a “moment of reckoning” for the industry. Sir Jim, who is also known as a [...]
‘Hard to accept’: Small firms round on energy intensive subsidies October 8, 2025 So-called standing charges are going up by as much as 94 per cent for all businesses bar the most energy intensive come April. Many are up in arms, writes Ali Lyon Even businesses like Michael Morris’s Beachcomber Amusements – a traditional arcade that treats guests in the small Fife town of Leven to games of [...]
Rolls-Royce: Losses widen at FTSE 100 giant’s SMR division October 6, 2025 The small nuclear reactor business owned by FTSE 100 giant Rolls-Royce lost £115m in 2024, it has been revealed. Rolls-Royce SMR, which is not yet revenue generating, has posted the higher losses after also making a deficit of £78m in 2023. New accounts filed with Companies House have also shown that the division’s income from [...]
Ed Miliband’s Green New Deal won’t deliver 400,000 ‘new’ jobs October 6, 2025 The language of "job creation" is seductive, but Ed Miliband's promise to create 400,000 'new' green jobs is deceiving, writes Matthew Bowles.
Has the wind shifted on Net Zero? October 2, 2025 Once upon a time the promise of Net Zero enjoyed such universal support that a Tory government signed the UK’s Net Zero pledge into law. Today, the Tories say they’d scrap it – while alarm bells are ringing as the costs of the policy become clearer. In June 2019, Prime Minister Theresa May passed a [...]
Remove windfall taxes on North Sea oil, bosses tell Rachel Reeves October 2, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves should abolish windfall taxes on oil and gas producers in the North Sea, top bosses have said. In a new report setting out UK businesses’ proposals for the Budget, the Chancellor has been urged to focus on cutting energy costs for firms and set out a clearer plan for the North Sea’s [...]
Greg Jackson spins off Kraken from Octopus Energy September 18, 2025 Greg Jackson’s Octopus Energy has announced the spin-off of its technology arm Kraken to become a standalone business. The group said the move is aimed at “speeding up the platform’s expansion across the globe” and allowing Kraken to “fast-track investments into its technology, expand into new energy markets and regions, and drive innovation”. Kraken has [...]
Nuclear plants to be built faster in UK-US energy deal September 15, 2025 Nuclear plants could come online faster in a new deal between the UK and the US aimed at boosting growth in the sector and bolstering energy security. Under plans set to be signed off during US president Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK this week, the time for a nuclear project to get a [...]
Kemi Badenoch doubles down on North Sea oil drilling pledges September 2, 2025 Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch will pledge to make North Sea oil a “cornerstone” of the UK economy amid concerns producers have “much more to do” to reduce carbon emissions in the coming decades. In a speech to the Society of Petroleum Engineers Offshore Europe conference in Scotland, Badenoch will tell industry officials that she [...]
Drax faces FCA probe amid allegations of misleading biomass sourcing August 28, 2025 The City watchdog has launched a probe into British power firm Drax over several issues, including statements regarding its biomass sourcing. The London-listed group informed its shareholders this morning that it was notified on Tuesday that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had commenced an investigation into the group. Drax stated that the probe covers the [...]