The Bank of England is facing a renewed challenge in its efforts to manage inflation and steer the economy, after fresh data showed starting salaries in the UK rose at their fastest pace in nearly three years. According to the latest figures from job search platform Adzuna, the average advertised salary hit £42,278 in April, […]
British taxpayers have injected more than £400 million into Sheffield Forgemasters, the historic steelmaker and defence contractor, just three and a half years after the company was brought into public ownership — burning through a decade’s worth of planned investment in record time. The Ministry of Defence confirmed this weekend that a total of £403 […]
Zuber Issa, the billionaire entrepreneur who co-led the £6.8 billion acquisition of Asda in 2021, is investing millions in a new venture — the revival of Duckhams, a storied British motor oil brand once favoured by Formula 1 legends including Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna. Issa’s investment, made independently of his brother Mohsin, is set […]
Job creation from new businesses in the UK has fallen to an eight-year low, with start-ups hiring fewer staff and closures contributing to a rising economic toll, according to new analysis by Cynergy Bank. The bank’s Business Births & Deaths Index, which draws on official data from the Office for National Statistics, shows that the […]
OnlyFans, the content subscription platform best known for its ties to the adult entertainment industry, could soon have new owners. According to reports, a US investor group led by Los Angeles-based Forest Road Company is in talks to acquire the London-headquartered platform for up to $8 billion. The sale would mark a significant exit for […]
Millions of households across the UK will see some relief on their energy bills this summer, after energy regulator Ofgem announced a 7% cut to the price cap, reducing the average annual bill to £1,720 from July 1. The £129 drop follows a sharp 6.4% rise in April, which had pushed average annual bills to […]
Artificial intelligence systems could account for nearly half of all power consumption in global datacentres by the end of this year, according to new research — fuelling growing concerns over the environmental impact of AI technologies. The analysis, conducted by Alex de Vries-Gao, founder of the Digiconomist tech sustainability platform, suggests that AI could represent […]
The UK’s private sector shrank for the second consecutive month in May, fuelling concerns that the economy’s strong start to the year could be reversed in the second quarter. The S&P Global/CIPS purchasing managers’ index (PMI) — a key barometer of economic health — rose slightly to 49.4 in May from 48.5 in April, but […]
British consumer confidence has bounced back this month, according to the latest GfK survey, as fears of a global trade war subside and optimism about personal finances improves — despite a spike in inflation linked to rising household bills. The consumer sentiment index rose by three points to -20 in May, its highest level in […]
The UK government is considering selling the Sevington border control post in Kent, a facility built for post-Brexit customs checks, following this week’s UK-EU trade pact that could render dozens of similar sites redundant. Constructed in 2021 at a cost of tens of millions, the Sevington site near Ashford was designed to process up to […]