News Archive

26/9/2024

 
Trading Standards - Student Loan Scams

Students heading to university are being targeted by scammers trying to access their student loan accounts.  These scams are particularly prevalent during September and October, when student loan payments are released.  

26/9/2024

 
Trading Standards - Medical Alarm Scams

There has been a significant increase this year in phone scams related to medical emergency panic buttons, wristbands or pendants.   According to data from trueCall, over 900 scam calls about medical alarms have been reported by Scottish consumers in the last two months alone.  

26/9/2024

Next Week's US East Coast Ports Strike Will Disrupt Global Supply Chains And Could Impact Christmas

The international delivery expert Parcelhero is warning that a planned strike by US dockworkers in key US ports such as New York, Houston and Savannah will cause immediate disruption to US-UK trade and a strike lasting just two weeks could disrupt goods into 2025.   US dockworkers are planning to strike at 36 ports on the US East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico from 1 October.  

26/9/2024

 
Trading Standards - Courier Fraud And Fake Bank Calls

A 77-year-old woman from Stirling recently lost £3,500 after being phoned by scammers posing as her bank's fraud prevention team.   They were able to gain her trust by providing some of her personal information, such as date of birth and recent spending history.  

26/9/2024

 
UK Constrains Russia's Future LNG Plans

The UK has sanctioned 5 ships and 2 entities involved in the Russian Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) sector.   The UK has sanctioned 5 ships and 2 entities involved in the Russian Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) sector.  

26/9/2024

 
Manchester To Host 2025 Uk Space Conference

Space professionals from organisations across the UK will descend on Manchester in July 2025 for the UK Space Conference.   Sponsored by the UK Space Agency, the biennial event brings together organisations with an interest in space to meet, network, discover business opportunities and help shape the future of the space sector.  

26/9/2024

 
Trading Standards - Recruitment Scams

Research by JobsAware has found that there was a rise of 259% in reports of recruitment scams last year, compared to 2022.   Around 30% of UK adults have experienced employment scams or fraud online, losing on average over £3,000 to scammers.  

26/9/2024

 
Pm Tells US Investors Britain Is Open For Business As He Secured Major £10 Billion Deal To Drive Growth And Create Jobs

A major £10 billion investment which will create thousands of jobs in the North East of England has been announced by the Prime Minister in New York on 25 September 2024.   Major U.S.  

26/9/2024

 
Security Industry Authority Mounts Nationwide Operation To Disrupt Labour Exploitation

The SIA has carried out a surprise nationwide operation in conjunction with HMRC and Home Office Immigration Enforcement to tackle labour exploitation.   On Wednesday 18 September 2024, compliance and criminal investigation officers from the Security Industry Authority (SIA) led an extensive enforcement and intelligence-gathering operation at 35 separate locations across the United Kingdom.  

26/9/2024

 
£1bn Investment Secures Over 300 Jobs In North Wales

The UK and Welsh Government have announced £1 billion of investment into Shotton Mill in North Wales.   Major joint investment in Deeside will safeguard 147 jobs and create a further 220.  

26/9/2024

 
New Support For Semiconductor Firms To Grow, Powering Growth In £10 Billion Uk Industry

Support for semiconductor scale-ups announced as Lord Vallance kicks off a stakeholder forum ahead of the G7 Semiconductors Points of Contact group in Cambridge.   Science Minister Lord Vallance unveils new support for UK semiconductor scale-ups to advance innovations, from phone screens to medical tech.  

26/9/2024

 
Zombie-style Knives Banned

From this week, zombie-style knives and machetes are now illegal to possess or sell as part of new measures introduced to halve knife crime in a decade.   Zombie-style knives and machetes have this week (24 September 2024) been added to the list of prohibited weapons in the Criminal Justice Act 1988 as the government cracks down on dangerous weapons with no legitimate purpose.  

26/9/2024

Trafficking Of Cultural Property - Uk Statement To The Osce

Emma Logan, UK Delegation to the OSCE, says that by disrupting cultural property trafficking, we can also disrupt broader Serious Organised Criminal activity.   The trafficking of cultural property, be it an antiquity or modern artwork, can be an enabling element to conflict, non-state threats and can facilitate money laundering for Serious Organised Crime (SOC).  

26/9/2024

 
Personal Injury Discount Rates In Scotland & Northern Ireland

Personal injury discount rates (PIDR) in Scotland and Northern Ireland have been updated.  PIDR determines damages awards to people with long-term injuries.  

26/9/2024

 
Retail Sales Great Britain - August 2024

Retail sales volumes (quantity bought) are estimated to have risen by 1.0% in August 2024, following a rise of 0.7% in July 2024 (revised up from a 0.5% rise in our previous publication).   Some supermarkets and clothing retailers reported a boost because of warmer weather and end-of-season sales.  

25/9/2024

 
If You Want Hard Work, Unsocial Hours And Low Pay Become A Care Worker - The Sector Needs A Better Pay Rise

Despite the subject of Care being spoken about over and over Care Workers are leaving the job for higher paid employment.   For all the efforts of recruiters in the private and public sector it mostly comes down to low pay levels.  

25/9/2024

 
New Measures Set Out To Reduce Net Migration

The government's plan to reduce net migration has been bolstered by new measures announced on Tuesday 24 September 2024.   New measures to cut historically high levels of net migration have been announced today, bolstering the Home Secretary's approach to tackle the root causes behind the UK's long-term reliance on international recruitment.  

25/9/2024

 
Government Announces Great British Energy To Be Headquartered In Aberdeen With Offices In Edinburgh And Glasgow

In his conference speech, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the state-owned public energy company, Great British Energy (GB Energy) will be headquartered in Aberdeen, which is a significant development for Scotland.   Keir Starmer said: "We said GB Energy, our publicly owned national champion, the vehicle will drive forward our mission on clean energy, we said it belonged in Scotland, and it does.  

25/9/2024

 
The UKs Unhappiest Workers Are In Scotland - More Workers Than Ever Across Whole Of UK Looking To Quit Their Job

Workers in Scotland are the most dissatisfied across the UK, according to a major annual study of employee happiness in the workplace.   The third annual Employee Value Report found that regionally workers in Scotland were the least content in the UK, with 31% saying they did not feel valued by their employer.  

25/9/2024

 
Graphene At 20 - Still No Sign Of The Promised Space Elevator, But Here's How This Wonder Material Is Quietly Changing The World

Twenty years ago this October, two physicists at the University of Manchester, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, published a groundbreaking paper on the "electric field effect in atomically thin carbon films".  Their work described the extraordinary electronic properties of graphene, a crystalline form of carbon equivalent to a single layer of graphite, just one atom thick.