Ministers must ‘trade more’ in face of Iran war Business The government must keep the option of an energy bailout for businesses on the table if oil prices continue to spike, the British Chambers of Commerce boss will say in a speech urging ministers to “trade more, not less” in the face of the Iran war. Shevaun Haviland will warn of the “profound” impact that [...]
Is it time to add infrastructure to your portfolio? Business The UK has, for many years, consistently underinvested in infrastructure compared to its G7 peers. With flagship projects, the country has a terrible track record. In the past year, the long-awaited, controversial high-speed HS2 rail line saw its expansion into the north of England scrapped due to escalating costs. Meanwhile, the Lower Thames Crossing development [...]
On This Day: When Britain led the atomic age Opinion On this day in 1956, Calder Hall became the first nuclear power station to supply domestic electricity, so what went wrong? Asks Eliot Wilson Sixty-nine years ago today, on 27 August 1956, the United Kingdom reached an extraordinary scientific and industrial milestone. Calder Hall Nuclear Power Station near Seascale on the coast of Cumbria was [...]
From CND to evangelist: Julia Pyke has nuclear ambitions for Sizewell C August 22, 2025 Julia Pyke has fended off judicial reviews and staunch local opposition, and waded through Britain’s unwieldy Treasury ‘Green Book’ process to get Sizewell C commissioned by the government. Now, she tells Ali Lyon, there’s just the small issue of building what will be the UK’s joint-largest power plant. It was in 1980s Lichfield – the [...]
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 [...]
Laing O’Rourke: Heathrow Terminal Five builder doubles profit August 4, 2025 Laing O’Rourke, the construction giant behind Heathrow’s Terminal Five, more than doubled its profit during its latest financial year. The business has posted a pre-tax profit of £41.5m for the 12 months to 31 March, 2025, up from the £18.1m it reported for the prior year. The profit comes after Laing O’Rourke lost £288m in [...]
Sizewell C gets £38bn sign-off with support of Centrica and France July 22, 2025 Energy secretary Ed Miliband has signed off on a £38bn deal to build Sizewell C, with Canadian investment fund La Caisse, British Gas owner Centrica and French state companies lining up to back the nuclear power station. In a final decision signed off by Miliband, the government has agreed to be the largest equity shareholder [...]
EDF investment hailed as ‘vote of confidence in UK’, despite reduced stake July 8, 2025 The Prime Minister has hailed investment by French energy giant EDF in the Sizewell C nuclear plant as “a vote of confidence in the UK as an investment destination”, though the company appears to be taking a reduced stake in the major project. The French state-owned electricity company said it had agreed in principle to [...]
US giant Apollo to back Hinkley Point C with £4.5bn loan June 20, 2025 US private capital group Apollo Global will back the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station with a £4.5bn loan, according to reports. The loan will be provided as unsecured debt to EDF, the French state-owned energy firm delivering the project, at an interest rate of just under seven per cent, sources told the FT. While [...]
Reeves to lay out 10-year infrastructure plan worth £725bn June 15, 2025 Chancellor Reeves is set to deliver a 10-year infrastructure strategy plan which will lay out efforts to boost growth and upgrade services across the UK. The new blueprint for UK infrastructure will come around a week after Reeves delivered the Spending Review, which marked out £190bn in extra government spending commitments for the years between [...]