Ocado has claimed a rare financial win after US grocery giant Kroger agreed to pay the British retail-tech group $350 million (£276m) in compensation, even as it scrapped another of the automated warehouses built around Ocado’s much-touted robotic fulfilment technology. Shares in the FTSE 250 company jumped as much as 16% in early trading on Friday before settling nearly 7% higher, offering brief respite for a business that has seen its market valuation collapse from...
The UK’s electric vehicle market hit the brakes in November, delivering its weakest growth in almost two years as the Chancellor’s looming pay-per-mile tax sowed uncertainty among buyers, and left Tesla nursing the sharpest fall in registrations. New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that just under 40,000 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) were registered last month — only a 3.6% rise on November 2024, and a dramatic slowdown for a sector...
Barclays Eagle Labs and Sustainable Ventures launch National Climate Tech Accelerator to supercharge UK’s green innovation economy The UK’s climate tech sector is set for a major boost as Barclays Eagle Labs and Sustainable Ventures officially launch the National Climate Tech Accelerator (NCTA) — a nationwide programme designed to fast-track the growth of the UK’s most promising climate and sustainability startups. Applications opened in early November, and more than 80 high-potential climate tech founders from...
Netflix has agreed a £54 billion deal to buy Warner Bros, setting the stage for one of the biggest and most transformative mergers the entertainment industry has ever seen. The streaming giant confirmed on Friday that it had reached a $72 billion agreement to acquire Warner Bros Discovery’s storied film and TV assets, including HBO — the home of Succession, The Last of Us and Game of Thrones. If approved by US regulators, the takeover...
As a Democrat who’s been on winning and losing presidential campaigns against Donald Trump, it’s clear to me that the Republican Party’s top competitive edge in recent elections was its anti-establishment populist message. I say ‘message’ because actions always matter more than words — especially when the actions contradict the words. That’s happening now. Trump and Vance are breaking their promises to stand up for everyday Americans against corrupt elites. The prices Trump and Vance...
President Donald Trump on Thursday hired a new architect to lead the next phase of the White House ballroom project. Trump tapped Shalom Baranes Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based architectural firm to oversee the ballroom design effort. ‘As we begin to transition into the next stage of development on the White House Ballroom, the Administration is excited to share that the highly talented Shalom Baranes has joined the team of experts to carry out President Trump’s...
HMRC’s newly strengthened tax informant reward scheme — unveiled in last month’s Budget and launched with immediate effect — is facing an early backlash from business owners who warn it could trigger a wave of malicious claims and cost the Revenue far more than it recovers. The scheme gives HMRC the power to pay informants 15–30% of additional tax recovered above a minimum threshold of £1.5 million, excluding penalties and interest. Officials say the measure...
Senate Democrats attempted to derail a batch of dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees but ended up giving Senate Republicans a surprise victory in the process. Republicans were on the way to starting the long procedural process of confirming 88 of Trump’s picks but were blocked by Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., over an issue with one of the nominees in the group. When Senate Republicans went nuclear and changed the rules surrounding the confirmation process...
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers on Thursday unveiled a two-year healthcare framework that would extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year. ‘We are talking about whether or not the federal government is subsidizing a plan to the tune of 78 percent or 88 percent. But that difference means a lot to the 24 million people who are impacted by it,’...
More than 160 House Democrats voted against a pair of bills Thursday aimed at keeping foreign influence out of U.S. schools. Both pieces of legislation passed with bipartisan support, though Democrats’ top ranks opposed each one. ‘We just want to educate our children, focus on reading, writing and arithmetic, developing a holistic child, giving the ability to them to think critically,’ House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told Fox News Digital when asked about the...
