Steel group warns Labour’s industrial strategy must ‘go much further’ amid UK exit threat September 13, 2024 ArcellorMittal has threatened to quit the UK over a protracted dispute surrounding the redevelopment of a commercial port in south-East England.
Price rises and smaller data packages: Regulator voices concerns over Vodafone’s £15bn Three merger September 13, 2024 The planned £15bn merger between Vodafone and Three could lead to price increases for tens of millions of mobile customers, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has warned. The watchdog added that the deal, which was first announced last year, could also see customers get a reduced service such as smaller data packages in their [...]
Grangemouth: £100m support package pledged after oil refinery closure September 13, 2024 The Scottish and UK governments pledged a £100m support package for Grangemouth yesterday after bosses at Petroineos announced Scotland’s only oil refinery is to close with the loss of 400 jobs. The company confirmed to staff at the site on Thursday that the refinery will close in the second quarter of 2025 – with it [...]
New rail line connecting Midlands and North West set to deliver £70bn economic boost September 13, 2024 “Doing nothing is not an option”—this was the message today as a consortium of business leaders and politicians unveiled ambitious plans for a new rail line connecting the Midlands to the North West. The proposed rail link, set to connect Lichfield in Staffordshire to High Legh in Cheshire, could add an estimated £70bn to local [...]
Retail group calls for ‘rates corrector’ in next Budget September 13, 2024 High business rates and other bills have led to an overtaxing of the retail industry compared to its size in terms of GDP, according to fresh data. The British Retail Consortium found that retail pays 7.4 per cent of all business taxes – £33bn – a share 1.5 times greater than its share of the [...]
National debt: Government must reform or things will ‘blow up’ September 12, 2024 Sooner or later the British government is going to face a reckoning on the national debt.
UK government says data centres are now Critical National Infrastructure September 12, 2024 The UK government has officially designated data centres as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), as it looks to further boost investment in the UK’s critical hubs of digital information. With this new status, data centres will receive extra government support to protect crucial data, including NHS records, financial information, and personal smartphone data against major incidents [...]
ECB cuts interest rates again as inflation continues to ease September 12, 2024 Despite the cut, interest rates remain in restrictive territory in the eurozone, meaning monetary policy is still bearing down on inflation and slowing growth.
City minister: New capital rules will give banks certainty and stability September 12, 2024 As City Minister, I know that our financial services will underwrite the growth our country needs in the decade to come. The facts speak for themselves. More than £20bn worth of equity capital has been raised in London alone this year, which is over three times what has been raised in the next three European [...]
Scotch Whisky sector demands support amid export slump September 12, 2024 The Scotch Whisky Association has called on the government to provide additional support to the industry following a slump in exports. The Scotch Whisky industry is a major contributor to the UK economy. The Scottish Whisky Association (SWA) states that the industry is worth £7.1bn annually and supports 66,000 jobs across the UK, mainly in [...]