Smiths Group: Shares jumps as demerger on track May 20, 2025 British engineering firm Smiths Group posted a boost to revenue in the third quarter as it progressed on demerger plans. The group’s revenue jumped 10.6 per cent on the back of “strong performance and momentum in the order book”. Shares in the group rose over two per cent to 2,100p during early trading on Tuesday. [...]
Centrica: Major gas facility to shut without government help May 18, 2025 The boss of Centrica – which owns British Gas – has warned the UK’s largest natural gas storage facility will be “decommissioned” unless the government steps in. Speaking on BBC Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, company boss Chris O’Shea called for the government to underwrite the business’ investments in the Rough facility near the East Yorkshire [...]
Business Secretary can’t commit to lower energy costs in industrial strategy May 14, 2025 Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds was unable to confirm whether the government’s upcoming industrial strategy will include a roadmap to lower industrial energy costs and help for businesses wrestling with high prices. Reynolds faced questions from MPs on the Business and Trade committee yesterday over whether he could guarantee lower costs for industry. He told the [...]
Ørsted’s cancelled offshore wind project puts net zero mission at risk, says Shadow Energy Secretary May 7, 2025 There are growing doubts over the government’s ability to meet its net zero targets after the company behind one of Britain’s biggest-ever wind farms abruptly pulled the plug on the project, citing overwhelming cost pressures. Denmark-based Ørsted, which won the contract to develop the 2.4GW Hornsea 4 offshore windfarm last year, said it took the [...]
Shell: FTSE 100 giant’s shares rise after unveiling buyback and profit hit May 2, 2025 Shell recorded a sharp fall in first-quarter profits on Friday, after crude oil priced weakened amid geopolitical uncertainty. The FTSE 100 oil giant recorded adjusted earnings of $5.58bn (£4.2bn) for the first three months of the year. Whilst this surpassed analyst expectations of $4.96, it marked a stark fall from the $7.73bn reported for the [...]
Investment funds in April: Energy plummets while property soars May 1, 2025 Energy funds suffered deeply during April as an expected slowdown in global growth caused oil prices to tank throughout the month. Five energy funds featured in the bottom 10 performing investment funds, alongside two resource funds, with Guinness Global Energy as the worst performer, falling 13.5 per cent. “With the price of a barrel of [...]
Tony Blair is right to call for ‘reset’ of ludicrous Net Zero debate April 30, 2025 If energy secretary Ed Miliband still believes that critics of his dash to Net Zero are peddlers of “nonsense and lies” he has a new name to add to his list of dangerous misinformation merchants: Tony Blair. I do appreciate that some people believe that his name belongs on exactly that kind of list, but [...]
Ed Miliband’s reckless Net Zero ideology April 29, 2025 Rumours persist that Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, could be shunted out of his role when the Prime Minister conducts his first major reshuffle since last summer’s election victory. Keir Starmer has the perfect excuse; the world has changed. He’s fond of saying that, and of course it’s true; huge changes are afoot and the global economy [...]
Grid connection for clean energy firms to be fast-tracked, ministers say April 15, 2025 Grid connections for businesses delivering clean energy are to be prioritised, ministers have said. The government has said so-called ‘zombie projects’ which hold up the queue for National Grid connectivity are set to be axed from the waiting list. While industries including data centres and AI, wind energy and solar projects will be accelerated for [...]
Nationalising British Steel won’t help the UK’s dying industry April 9, 2025 Nationalising British Steel is a painting-over-the-cracks solution. The real problem is energy prices, writes Elinor Bale.