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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Competition offers British & Canadian researchers opportunity to travel onboard a ice capable ship for a one-week expedition through the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
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.
New high-tech bomb disposal robots will provide greater protection for soldiers and the public in a new deal for the British Army announced on Friday 10 May 2024. High-tech robots will protect soldiers and the public from variety of threats including explosives and hazardous materials.
£4 million to expand world-leading laboratories to improve UK biosecurity and tackle emerging threats to tree health. The battle against tree-disease spreading beetles such as the Emerald ash borer and the larger eight-toothed spruce bark beetle has taken a significant step forward today thanks to new government funding.
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