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News Archive


14/5/2024
PM Sets Out Blueprint To Boost British Fruit And Vegetable Sector
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sets out his blueprint to boost British fruit and vegetable sector as the first UK Food Security Index is published.   The Prime Minister will tell the second Farm to Fork Summit at Downing Street tomorrow that the UK needs to reduce its reliance on overseas fruit and vegetables and back British producers.  
14/5/2024
Earnings And Employment From Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK - May 2024Thumbnail for article : Earnings And Employment From Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK - May 2024
Early estimates for April 2024 indicate that the number of payrolled employees rose by 0.4% compared with April 2023, a rise of 129,000 employees.   This annual increase was largest in the health and social work sector, with a rise of 170,000 employees.  
13/5/2024
Limited Liability Companies Cause Moral Hazard - Richard MurphyThumbnail for article : Limited Liability Companies Cause Moral Hazard - Richard Murphy
The UK's system of creating limited companies very cheaply and almost wholly unaccountably creates risks for us all from fraudsters, cheats and crooks, all of whom can use these companies to prejudice our well-being.  So why do we let it happen? ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY Richard Murphy is Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School.  
13/5/2024
Haventus Secures £100 Million Credit Facility From Scottish National Investment Bank And Uk Infrastructure BankThumbnail for article : Haventus Secures £100 Million Credit Facility From Scottish National Investment Bank And Uk Infrastructure Bank
Construction work underway to develop Ardersier Port energy transition facility, boosting offshore wind capability.   Haventus, the energy transition facilities provider, and owner of Ardersier Port, east of Inverness, has secured a £100 million joint credit facility from the Scottish National Investment Bank (the Bank) and UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) with £50 million investment from each.  
13/5/2024
Scottish Investment Bank And UK Investment Bank Join Up To Attract Private CapitalThumbnail for article : Scottish Investment Bank And UK Investment Bank Join Up To Attract Private Capital
he Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) and the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that cements their close working relationship and shared ambition to attract additional private investment into Scotland.   Both banks are government owned yet operate independently to invest public capital on a commercial basis to deliver wider social, environmental, and economic impacts.  
13/5/2024
Affordable Homes-for-rent Strategy Supported With £20 Million To Thriving InvestmentsThumbnail for article : Affordable Homes-for-rent Strategy Supported With £20 Million To Thriving Investments
The Scottish National Investment Bank (the "Bank") has committed a further £20 million to the Mid-Market Rent ("MMR") strategy ("New Avenue Living" or the “Fund”) managed by Thriving Investments, the social value and ESG-focused real estate fund manager.  The Bank's follow-on investment will support the development of up to 100 new homes and takes its total investment in the Fund to £60 million.  
13/5/2024
Orbex Secures £16.7m Investment For Rocket ‘ramp Up' PeriodThumbnail for article : Orbex Secures £16.7m Investment For Rocket ‘ramp Up' Period
The UK spaceflight company Orbex has received £16.7m from six backers in an update to its Series C funding round.   With pre-launch testing underway, the funding will help Orbex ramp up the development of Prime, its 19-metre long, two-stage rocket designed to transport small satellites into Low Earth Orbit.  
13/5/2024
Un-jammable Quantum Tech Takes Flight To Boost Uks Resilience Against Hostile ActorsThumbnail for article : Un-jammable Quantum Tech Takes Flight To Boost Uks Resilience Against Hostile Actors
A first-of-its-kind achievement as quantum navigation tech developed in the UK has been successfully tested in flight.   In a commercial world-first, quantum navigation tech developed in the UK was successfully tested in flight while GPS jamming is relatively rare and does not directly impact an aircraft's flight path, quantum systems will provide another layer of security the government has supported the company running the tests, Infleqtion, and their partners from across the country with nearly £8 million as part of its vision to make the UK a leading quantum-enabled economy In a first-of-its-kind achievement, the UK has successfully completed commercial flight trials of advanced quantum-based navigation systems that cannot be jammed or spoofed by hostile actors.  
13/5/2024
UK Joins European Super-computing Scheme As World-class British Researchers Now Able To Bid For FundingThumbnail for article : UK Joins European Super-computing Scheme As World-class British Researchers Now Able To Bid For Funding
British researchers, businesses and academics will have enhanced access to future supercomputer research funding from today (Monday 13 May) 2024 as the UK joins the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC).   The UK joins a world-class European supercomputing eco-system and unlocks an enhanced share of the Horizon funded portion, worth £770 million from 2021-2027.  
13/5/2024
Scottish Investment Bank And Uk Investment Bank Join Up To Attract Private Capital
he Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) and the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that cements their close working relationship and shared ambition to attract additional private investment into Scotland.   Both banks are government owned yet operate independently to invest public capital on a commercial basis to deliver wider social, environmental, and economic impacts.  
13/5/2024
Government Looks To Save £4billion In Payments - Universal Credit Claimants Must Seek 18 Hours Work
People claiming universal credit and working fewer than 18 hours a week will be expected to look for more work, after a change to the welfare system that starts on Monday.   Before now, claimants only had to work 15 hours.  
12/5/2024
BSE - Disease Confirmed In Ayrshire
A case of classical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) has been confirmed on a farm in Ayrshire.   Precautionary movement restrictions have been put in place at impacted premises and cover animals which have been in contact with the case.  
12/5/2024
Leading Tech Firms Invest Over £2 Billion In The UK In One WeekThumbnail for article : Leading Tech Firms Invest Over £2 Billion In The UK In One Week
Major investments have been made in the past week alone.   Over £2 billion invested by world leading tech companies in the UK this week AI firm CoreWeave are investing £1 billion in the UK Comes as the Chancellor visits the Siemens Healthineers site, marked for a new factory supporting more than 1,300 skilled jobs The Chancellor has welcomed the "safe bet" world leading tech and AI companies are making in Britain, as over £2 billion of investment in the UK has been secured in a single week.  
12/5/2024
More Than 1,000 Newly-refurbished Homes For UK Armed Forces Families
Over a thousand properties have been brought back into use for the Armed Forces and their families thanks to £400m investment in military accommodation.   Military accommodation refurbishments mean over 1,000 properties available to home personnel and their families.  
12/5/2024
4th Islands Forum Opens Up Collaboration On Housing For IslandsThumbnail for article : 4th Islands Forum Opens Up Collaboration On Housing For Islands
The UK Government hosted the 4th Islands Forum on the Isle of Anglesey/Ynys Môn in Wales on 8 May 2024 to discuss housing delivery for island communities.   On Wednesday 8 May representatives from participating islands across the UK joined the Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, with ministers and senior officials from the Welsh Government, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive, and local MP for Ynys Môn Virginia Crosbie to discuss housing.  
12/5/2024
Sea Rider Competition For Early Career ResearchersThumbnail for article : Sea Rider Competition For Early Career Researchers
Competition offers British & Canadian researchers opportunity to travel onboard a ice capable ship for a one-week expedition through the Gulf of St.  Lawrence.  
12/5/2024
Levelling Up Partnerships Rolled Out In Scotland For First Time  Thumbnail for article : Levelling Up Partnerships Rolled Out In Scotland For First Time 
Dundee announced as first place in Scotland to benefit from tailored Levelling Up Partnerships.   Dundee has been chosen as the first area in Scotland to benefit from a major tailored regeneration programme designed to support communities across the UK.  
12/5/2024
UK Swiftly Exits Its Third Recession In 16 Years
The UK economy has bounced back from recession, with stronger-than-expected growth of 0.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2024 - the strongest of all G7 economies.  This momentum will need to be maintained given Britain's wider economic backdrop of frequent downturns and stagnation, with GDP per capita growth down 90 per cent over the past 16 years, the Resolution Foundation on Friday.  
12/5/2024
Farmer Payments Begin In Scotland - Upland Sheep Support Funding
More than 1,000 sheep farming businesses will receive their share of around £6.6 million from today.   97% of the eligible applications to the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme (SUSSS) 2023 have now been processed for payment.  
12/5/2024
UK Continues To Shine In Its Services Exports, While Goods Trade Disappoints
Commenting on the latest ONS trade data for Q1 2024, Emily Fry, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: "While the UK's improving trade balance was a major contributor to strong economic growth in early 2024, the trade data is less rosy than it appears.   “The improving trade balance was driven by a sharp fall in imports, with good exports also falling and only services exports growing by 1 per cent, driven by travel and transport.