Natpower trumps Labour with £1bn battery storage project August 28, 2025 Global energy company Natpower is set to dwarf a key Labour investment in battery storage development as it said £1bn would be injected into one of the largest storage sites in the UK. The new battery storage project on Sembcorp Utilities’ Wilton International Site near Middlesbrough will receive £1bn in private funding with “no government [...]
Banking net zero club to change structure after member exodus August 27, 2025 The global banking industry’s climate group will hold a vote on the future of its structure following a mass exodus of members. The Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) will determine whether it will transform from a membership-based alliance to a “new framework initiative”. It comes after the world’s banking giants fled the group as the financial [...]
Borough wars: London’s e-bike chaos is hurting its commuters August 22, 2025 It’s an e-bike apocalypse out there, or at least it is if you’re trying to cross West London on two wheels. Hounslow Council’s recent decision to ban Lime, the capital’s most ubiquitous e-bike operator, has turned London’s meticulously planned cycle routes into a geopolitical minefield. The capital’s commuters are now finding themselves stranded at borough [...]
How the banking net zero fantasy ran out of gas August 20, 2025 Over the past year, the world’s biggest banks‘ net zero enthusiasm has quickly and quietly dried up. Top lenders have backtracked, diluted or outright abandoned their environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies. The return of President Donald Trump has been highlighted as a turning point for green finance with firms across the financial industry turning sour [...]
Balfour Beatty receives profit boost from government contracts August 13, 2025 Infrastructure group Balfour Beatty recorded a jump in profit for the first half of the year after a bumper performance in its UK construction. The London-listed firm posted a £20m rise in pre-tax profit for the first six months of the year to £132m, up from £112m last year. It came as the business’ UK [...]
Rachel Reeves told to ‘get out of the way’ ahead of Autumn Budget August 13, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been told to “let businesses get on with it and get out of the way” ahead of delivering her second Autumn Budget in the coming months. A group of 1,500 private business leaders surveyed by KPMG said the Chancellor should focus on promoting higher wages and lower costs for companies. They [...]
Investors should steer clear of Ed Miliband’s clean energy auction August 7, 2025 Labour’s upcoming AR7 renewable energy auction risks locking in higher energy costs for decades, as political support for net zero falters and public resistance to green subsidies grows, says Maurice Cousins Today applications open for the government’s latest renewable energy auction, Allocation Round 7 (AR7). In Whitehall, it is just another technocratic acronym. But for [...]
BP makes its largest oil discovery in 25 years August 4, 2025 BP has made its biggest oil discovery in a quarter of a century off Brazil’s Atlantic coast, in a big boost for the beleaguered oil giant mired in a battle to turn around years of underperformance. The petrochemicals giant’s head of production and operations, Gordon Birrell, announced the “significant discovery” in Brazil’s Santos Basin to [...]
Barclays follows HSBC in ditching net zero banks club August 1, 2025 Barclays has become the second London-based bank to exit the net zero banks club as the financial services industry continues to row back on climate policies. The FTSE 100 giant – which recorded a £1bn profit jump for the second quarter – said on Friday the UN-convened Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) “no longer has [...]
Smart Pension invests £330m into Octopus Energy fund as Mansion House Accord bears fruit July 29, 2025 Smart Pension has made a £330m investment into two funds managed by Octopus Energy in an early sign the Chancellor’s Mansion House Accord is beginning to bear fruit. The pensions firm, which has more than £7bn in assets under management, said the commitment will represent 5 per cent of the portfolio of its default fund, [...]