News Category
-
North-South divide in small business confidence
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has released findings that shows a growing gap in confidence between businesses in Scotland, North East England and Wales and those in the Midlands and the South of England. The FSB’s Small Business Index, a measure of small business confidence across the UK, shows that in the last 12 months, smaller firms in the North East, Yorkshire, Scotland and Wales have all experienced a year-on-year decline in confidence. In Wales, ...
-
UKEF reintroduces cover for Iran
UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, has reintroduced cover to support UK companies seeking to compete for business in Iran. Cover is now available on a case-by-case basis in Sterling and Euros and in recognition of the UK’s place as a global centre for financial and professional services, UKEF is making available a £50 million facility guaranteeing payments to ...
-
Funding for low carbon automotive R&D
Five projects to develop new low carbon and energy efficient technology in the automotive sector have been awarded £75 million of joint government and industry funding to boost jobs and growth in the sector, Business Secretary, Sajid Javid, has announced. The winning projects are expected to design new products and systems that will change technology used in the automotive sector ...
-
Wind power provides 41% of Scotland’s electricity needs
Analysis by WWF Scotland of data provided by WeatherEnergy has found that for the month of December, wind turbines alone provided around 1,352,399MWh of electricity to the National Grid, enough to supply, on average, the electrical needs of 148% of Scottish households. That’s enough for 3.59 million homes – a record for 2015 - representing an increase of 6% compared to December 2014. The top two months for wind power output were December (1,352,399MWh = 3.59m homes ...
-
Business activity continues to rise
Private sector business activity rose across England and Wales during the final month of 2015, according to the latest Lloyds Bank Regional Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). The pace of expansion was solid, though marginally slower than in November. The index for England’s combined manufacturing and service sectors was 55.5 in December, slightly below November’s reading of 56.0 but indicating a solid rate of expansion overall. The index has now registered ...
-
UK fishermen see next phase of the discard ban
Fishermen targeting certain demersal species such as haddock, sole and plaice must land all their catch, Fisheries Minister, George Eustice, has announced. The demersal discard ban which took effect on 1st January is the latest phase of the wider discard ban which will bring an end to the wasteful practice of throwing fish back, dead, overboard. It follows the introduction of the pelagic landing obligation in January 2015, targeting mid-water species such ...
-
Farming Recovery Fund extended
Farmers hit by Storm Eva flooding in Lancashire and Yorkshire will receive emergency funding of up to £20,000 each Environment Secretary, Elizabeth Truss, has announced. The Farming Recovery Fund, originally launched to help farmers hit by Storm Desmond in Cumbria, Northumberland and parts of Lancashire, has been extended to farmers in all the areas affected by storms over Christmas and Boxing Day. Farmers affected by flooding are able to claim grants ...
-
Cebr refreshes world economic forecasts
The Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) has published its World Economics League table for 2016 with key forecasts as follows: Slower Chinese GDP growth and a weaker currency mean that China is now forecast to overtake the US in 2029 compared with 2025 in last year’s forecasts. Japan has the weakest forecast growth of all major economies and is likely to be overtaken by both the UK and Germany during the 2030s. Germany’s population ...
-
England’s Costal Path extended
Work is now underway to open more of England’s coastline as part of wider plans to complete a path that will eventually stretch out across 2,700 miles of stunning walking routes, covering 100% of the country's coastline by 2020. Currently people can explore 101 miles of coastline via the England Coast Path in Cumbria, Durham, Dorset and Norfolk, with a further 95 miles of new routes set to open in Kent and Somerset ...
-
Diesel generator subsidies threaten decarbonisation
A new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) claims that the proliferation of diesel generators within the UK energy system and the returns that investors have been able to secure are having a negative impact on decarbonisation and energy security. Last year the Government introduced a new energy policy which has awarded £109 million in subsidies, paid out of consumers’ energy bills, to new diesel generators, which are the dirtiest form of energy ...
