News

Magazine archive
National Wealth Fund to double investment pace with focus on clean energy and green steel

The National Wealth Fund has set out plans to sharply accelerate investment, committing up to £5 billion a year of public money into clean energy, industrial transformation and strategic infrastructure as part of a more focused growth strategy. Under the new approach, the fund will prioritise ten sectors, with clean energy at the core. These include energy storage, electricity networks, nuclear power, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage, alongside ports, green steel manufacturing, transport infrastructure,...

UPS to cut 30,000 jobs as it accelerates shift away from Amazon deliveries

UPS has announced plans to cut up to 30,000 jobs this year as it continues to reduce deliveries for its largest customer, Amazon, which the parcel giant says have been weighing heavily on profitability. The world’s largest package delivery firm said the job reductions would be achieved primarily through voluntary buyout offers to full-time drivers and by not replacing staff who leave the business. The move forms part of a broader turnaround strategy aimed at...

YouTube criticised for pulling out of UK TV audience measurement system

YouTube has been criticised by broadcasters and advertisers after withdrawing from the UK’s main television audience measurement system, just months after agreeing to be measured alongside traditional TV channels and rival streaming platforms. The move follows legal action by YouTube’s owner, Google, which sent cease-and-desist letters to Barb and its research partner Kantar Media, blocking access to data used to attribute viewing sessions to individual content creators. The decision came after Barb began including viewing...

Royal Mail delivered Christmas post late to 16 million people, Citizens Advice finds

Royal Mail has come under renewed fire after research found it failed to deliver Christmas letters and cards on time to around 16 million people, the worst festive performance in five years outside periods of strike action. The findings, published by Citizens Advice, suggest the number of people affected by delays over Christmas 2025 was 50 per cent higher than in 2024, highlighting what campaigners describe as a persistent deterioration in postal services. Anne Pardoe,...

Poundland owner Gordon Brothers buys LK Bennett out of administration

The struggling British fashion brand LK Bennett has been bought out of administration by US restructuring specialist Gordon Brothers, raising the prospect that its remaining nine UK shops could close with the loss of around 380 jobs. Gordon Brothers, which acquired Poundland for £1 last year, confirmed it has purchased LK Bennett’s global brand and intellectual property assets for an undisclosed sum after the retailer collapsed for the second time in six years. The Boston-based...

Lanarkshire named latest AI Growth Zone with 3,400 jobs and £8.2bn investment boost

More than 3,400 jobs and billions of pounds of private investment are set to flow into Lanarkshire after the UK government named the region as Scotland’s first AI Growth Zone, a flagship initiative under its Modern Industrial Strategy. The Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone, announced on 29 January, will be delivered by Scottish data centre operator DataVita at its Airdrie site, in partnership with AI cloud specialist CoreWeave. The project is expected to generate more than...

Pornhub to block UK access for new users amid age-verification row

Pornhub will restrict access to its website for UK users from next week, effectively blocking new visitors in protest at tougher age-verification requirements introduced under the Online Safety Act. From 2 February, only people who already hold a Pornhub account will be able to access the site. The same restrictions will apply to other adult websites owned by its parent company Aylo, including YouPorn and Redtube. Aylo said the UK’s age-check regime had failed to...

Gulf shipping operations grind to halt near Iran; US quietly prepares for possible strike: ‘Heightened risk’

Shipping in the Persian Gulf dipped sharply Wednesday as tensions with Iran intensified amid signs the U.S. was positioning military forces for a potential strike, according to maritime intelligence assessments. The U.S. Navy’s USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group entered the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility Monday, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News Digital, as President Donald Trump continued to keep military options on the table. ‘At this stage, it remains ambiguous, and...

Gulf shipping operations grind to halt near Iran, US quietly prepares for possible strike: ‘Heightened risk’

Shipping in the Persian Gulf dipped sharply Wednesday as tensions with Iran intensified amid signs the U.S. was positioning military forces for a potential strike, according to maritime intelligence assessments. The U.S. Navy’s USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group entered the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility Monday, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News Digital, as President Donald Trump continued to keep military options on the table. ‘At this stage, it remains ambiguous, and...

Powell warns Lisa Cook’s Supreme Court case could be most consequential legal threat in Fed’s history

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Wednesday that a Supreme Court showdown over sitting Fed governor Lisa Cook could have far-reaching consequences for the central bank’s independence and the U.S. economy. ‘I would say that that case is perhaps the most important legal case in the Fed’s 113-year history. As I thought about it, it might have been hard to explain why I didn’t attend,’ Powell told reporters Wednesday at the Federal Reserve. ‘Paul Volcker...