Britain’s last coal-fired power station set to close in landmark moment September 26, 2024 The UK’s last remaining coal-fired power station is to shut at the end of September, drawing to a close Britain’s 142-year reliance on the fossil fuel to produce electricity. Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station has been generating electricity since 1968 via its four coal-fired boilers, eight vast cooling towers and 199-metre tall chimney, which occupies a prominent [...]
A lesson from King Canute for the EV transition: You can’t force hype September 25, 2024 European politicians need to learn a few lessons about demand, writes Paul Ormerod
Bank of England’s Bailey doubts interest rates will fall back to near zero September 24, 2024 With inflationary pressures easing, rate-setters cut rates for the first time since the pandemic in August. However, they subsequently voted 8-1 to keep rates steady last week.
Pubs face ‘double whammy’ of tax hikes as hundreds call last orders for good September 23, 2024 Around 50 pubs per month ‘vanished’ from England and Wales in the first half of the year as hospitality struggled with costs and tax rates. The overall number of pubs in England and Wales, including those vacant and being offered to let, fell to 39,096 at the end of the first half of 2024, down [...]
Misery index gives cause for hope September 23, 2024 There is an unmistakable inverse correlation between emiserating factors like unemployment, wages and house prices and consumer confidence, but new analysis suggests things may be looking up, says James Sproule The cost-of-living crisis may be difficult to define or quantify, but it is easy enough to feel – and misery has been felt not just [...]
Engineer exodus to Saudi is damaging major UK infrastructure projects, HS2 contractor warns September 19, 2024 Egis Group chief Laurent Germain said the number of engineers leaving was creating "a lot of tension" during the recruitment process.
Quorn: Meat-free food brand loses more than £60m as supermarket sales slashed September 19, 2024 The company behind meat-free food brand Quorn lost more than £60m during its latest financial year as its sales in UK and US supermarkets continued to decline. The North Yorkshire-headquartered Marlow Foods has posted a pre-tax loss of £63.4m for 2023, having also made a loss of £15.4m in 2022. The last time the Quorn [...]
Inflation stays at 2.2 per cent ahead of Bank of England’s interest rate decision September 18, 2024 The figures come a day before the Bank of England will announce its latest decision on interest rates.
Car insurance prices may be coming back down to earth, data shows September 17, 2024 Results from the UK's major insurers have signalled car insurance costs are beginning to come down, after reaching record levels last year.
Ed Miliband brands renewable energy transition a ‘national security fight’ against nimbys September 17, 2024 Britain’s transition to renewable energy is the “economic justice, energy security and national security fight of our time”, Ed Miliband has said, as he pledged to “take on the blockers”. The energy security and net zero secretary told Energy UK’s annual conference in London that fossil fuel “dependence” continued to leave the UK “deeply vulnerable [...]