Ofgem launches £450m energy innovation fund August 31, 2021 Energy regulator Ofgem today said that it would offer firms hundreds of millions of pounds of funding over the next half-decade to develop innovative new solutions for the electricity grid. In all the watchdog will make £450m available to network companies, system operators, and businesses to help accelerate the UK’s push towards net-zero. It added [...]
UK hopes to wrap up trans-Pacific trade alliance talks ‘by end of 2022’ August 28, 2021 The UK is planning to complete negotiations to join trade alliance the Trans-Pacific Partnership by the end of next year, Liz Truss has said. In an interview with the FT, the international trade secretary said that the talks were government’s immediate priority for its post-Brexit trade agenda. She said that joining the alliance would enable [...]
Scottish Green Party backs SNP power-sharing deal August 28, 2021 The Scottish Green Party will enter government in Holyrood for the first time in history after its members backed a power-sharing deal with the SNP. An overwhelming majority of its 808 members voted in favour of the agreement, the party said. Writing on Twitter, the party said: “We will work together to build a greener, [...]
Last UK civilian flight leaves Kabul as Afghanistan airlift ends August 28, 2021 The British Ambassador to Afghanistan said that the time had come to end the UK’s airlift of civilians from Kabul. His words came as a defence official confirmed that the last purely civilian flight had now left Afghanistan. “It’s time to close this phase of the operation down but we haven’t forgotten the people who [...]
Delta Covid variant patients twice as likely to need hospital care August 28, 2021 A new study into the Delta variant of Covid-19 suggests that those who contract the variant are twice as likely to require hospital care than those who contracted the original disease. The findings, which were published in medical journal the Lancet, looked at cases of the disease between March and May. However, it found that [...]
Cazoo shares rise on New York debut in fast start to firm’s ‘next chapter’ August 28, 2021 Used car platform Cazoo ended its first day of trading as a public firm up 7.6 per cent after the firm made its long-awaited stock market debut yesterday. The $8bn float, which makes serial entrepreneur Alex Chesterman’s latest project the most valuable US listed UK firm, came after it completed its merger with SPAC Ajax [...]
Fix lorry driver shortage by hiring furloughed workers, Kwarteng says August 28, 2021 The business secretary has written to firms telling them to hire UK-based workers facing an “uncertain future” to solve the current lorry driver shortage. In a letter to business leaders, Kwasi Kwarteng rejected calls to loosen immigration rules to fix the problem, which is causing shortages of certain food products. Instead of turning to overseas [...]
Government set to ban single-use plastic plates and cutlery August 28, 2021 Single-use plastic plates, cutlery and polystyrene cups are set to be banned in the UK amid plans for a new “war on plastic waste”, ministers have announced. It is the latest step in attempts by the government to tackle plastic pollution after pledging to prevent all avoidable plastic waste by the end of 2042. A [...]
August sees highest numbers of commuters into the City this year August 27, 2021 August has seen the highest number of commuters travelling into the City since the pandemic began, new data from Transport for London (TfL) today shows. Since lockdown was lifted in July, more and more people have headed back to their offices, in a positive omen for the future of the Square Mile. 19 August was [...]
Air Partner shares climb as super-rich private jet bookings soar August 27, 2021 Shares in private jet hire firm Air Partner climbed 5.1 per cent this morning after the firm said that US bookings in the first half of the year were above pre-pandemic levels. Such has been the rise in bookings, the firm has been able to offset the decline in business travel, which remains in the [...]
