Latest news with #NationalWealthFund
Business News Wales
10-06-2025
- Business
- Business News Wales
UK Government Confirms £14.2bn Investment to Deliver Sizewell C
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has said the UK needs new nuclear to 'deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance' as the UK Government announced a £14.2 billion investment to build Sizewell C nuclear plant. Ten thousand jobs will be created , the UK Government said, including 1,500 apprenticeships. It added that the funding would also support thousands more jobs across the UK. The company has already signed £330 million in contracts with local companies and will boost supply chains across the UK with 70% of contracts predicted to go to 3,500 British suppliers, supporting new jobs in construction, welding, and hospitality. The equivalent of around six million homes will be powered with clean homegrown energy from Sizewell C. The announcement comes as the UK Government is set to confirm one of Europe's first Small Modular Reactor programmes. Taken together with Sizewell C, this delivers the biggest nuclear building programme in a generation, it said. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: 'We will not accept the status quo of failing to invest in the future and energy insecurity for our country. 'We need new nuclear to deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance, because that is the only way to protect family finances, take back control of our energy, and tackle the climate crisis. 'This is the Government's clean energy mission in action- investing in lower bills and good jobs for energy security.' The UK opened the world's first commercial nuclear power station in the 1950s, but no new nuclear plant has opened in the UK since 1995, with all of the existing fleet except Sizewell B likely to be phased out by the early 2030s. Great British Nuclear is expected to announce the outcome of its small modular reactor competition imminently, the first step towards the goal of driving down costs and unlocking private finance with a long-term ambition to bring forward one of the first SMR fleets in Europe. Small modular reactors are expected to power millions of homes with clean energy and help fuel power-hungry industries like AI data centres. The UK Government said it was also looking to provide a route for private sector-led advanced nuclear projects to be deployed in the UK, alongside investing £300 million in developing the world's first non-Russian supply of the advanced fuels needed to run them. Companies will be able to work with the UK Government to continue their development with potential investment from the National Wealth Fund. The UK Government is also making a record investment in R&D for fusion energy, investing over £2.5 billion over 5 years. This includes progressing the STEP programme (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production), the world-leading fusion plant in Nottinghamshire, creating thousands of new jobs and with the potential to unlock limitless clean power.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
OPINION - The City wanted Labour to succeed, but the goodwill has been rapidly squandered
In April 2024 the boardrooms in the City of London and some from industry and commerce were buzzing with excitement at the prospect of Labour taking over from a rudderless Conservative administration. In the previous four years, the Tory government never recovered from the damage inflicted by Covid, coupled with indolent leadership from three Prime Ministers in double quick time. This was Labour's time. The mood was upbeat. 'Fear initially knocked at the door, faith answered; no one was there.' The smoked salmon bagel breakfasts hosted for combinations from Messrs Starmer, Reeves, Reynolds and Siddiq were very encouraging. The PM in waiting and his colleagues had charmingly reassured their board table hosts that Labour was the party for business and growth. Business had nothing to worry about. Labour was very much 'on-side' and knew unequivocally that to achieve growth, incentives to invest must be encouraged. All Labour's ducks seemed to be set up cleverly in a row. It took only six months for the reassured to start having considerable doubts, such was the damage inflicted on business by an increase on employers' share of National Insurance Contributions. There were also very little in the way of incentives to encourage inward investment, despite the formation of the National Wealth Fund and the British Business Bank to support Labour's ambitious plans for massive infrastructure projects. Confidence in the new government started to fall like a stone. Global investors seemed very reluctant to support some of our aspiring SMES, especially the fin-tech operations. Many market activists have blamed Brexit, which had only been delivered in name only. What was so frustrating was the ineptness of the Conservatives, which failed to deliver a gold-plated certainty – the increased prosperity of the 'City' – the quintessential cash cow. The financial sector in the UK was already delivering £75 billion of revenue per annum to the HM Treasury's coffers and there could have been so much more to come. The previous Government failed to capitalise on the value of the City. Brexit should have been a 'slam-dunk' for the City. Sadly, no exciting tax incentives for companies to set up in the UK were put into place. Regulation was far too onerous and cumbersome. Also, if the UK aspired to be the world's leading financial centre, charging stamp duty on trading shares was unrealistic financial nonsense. Also spiteful legislation towards 'non-doms' just exacerbates the negative perception of the UK's ability to create growth. The '80's were the halcyon years for the City, triggered by the abolition of exchange controls in 1979, followed up in 1986 by 'Big Bang', which saw international investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and UBS rub shoulders and then usurp many of the grand old merchant banks of the day such as SG Warburg, Morgan Grenfell, Schroders, Samuel Montagu and Barclays Capital. The introduction of the LIFFE futures market in 1984 and the explosion of derivative trading triggered the expansion of capital markets and a tsunami of IPOS and privatisations. London still remains a major financial hub. However, there is some alarming unappetising data to reckon with. In 2007, the UK had 252 Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) on the London Stock Exchange. This represented a decrease from the 367 IPOs the previous year, with overseas IPOs attracted 86 companies from 22 countries. Last year was a poor year for IPOS, mainly due to a dip in confidence and geopolitical issues – just 17 in total here in London and 18 so far this year. There have been 58 IPOS in New York since January 2025. What is very worrying is that in the last year 88 companies have delisted in London. The delisting started with ARM, which left London supposedly valued at $32 billion, is now valued at $138 billion! Flutter and DarkTrace - fallen to US private equity- plus many others have followed. It is generally acknowledged that US fund managers have access to many more investors and consequently greater liquidity has contributed to a 25% valuation premium there. A lack of confidence and enthusiasm in the UK economy have encouraged moves to New York. Recently, Revolut served notice to establish a new Western Europe HQ in Paris and earlier last week 'Wise' said it will be delisting in London and heading for New York. It is alarming to note that only 4% of the LSE'S annual income is derived from stock exchange business. The rest comes from technology (Refinitiv). The LSE needs to raise its game, as does AIM. Aquis Exchange have hosted 4 IPOS so far this year and the outlook, under fresh ownership of 'Six' looks encouraging. Monzo, Starling Bank, Virgin Atlantic, ASDA and Boots are in the mix of companies that may seek public quotations this year, but much depends on market conditions. Hong Kong's Shein's IPO remains in doubt. If the Government believes in growth, then its emissaries, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, Economc Secretary Emma Reynolds and investment minister Baroness Poppy Gustafsson need to wake up and smell the coffee? Business's risk appetite is at a low ebb. Confidence and sentiment are stagnant. Investors are vital. They must be encouraged with incentives! 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Bloomberg
04-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
UK Bankers Criticized for Lack of Risk Appetite in Green Finance
A senior executive at the UK's National Wealth Fund has criticized the country's banks and money managers for what he characterized as their failure to embrace the risk levels needed to drive the low-carbon transition. 'What I'm not seeing is enough appetite from the banks and the insurance companies, from the pension funds and institutional investors' to finance the low-carbon transition, said Ian Brown, the wealth fund's head of banking and investments.
Bloomberg
04-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Russia's Rainy-Day Fund Lost Around $6 Billion in May
Liquid assets in Russia's National Wealth Fund, the country's rainy-day reserves, declined by 14% in May, as increasing spending on the war in Ukraine and falling oil prices squeeze the budget. The fund's readily usable resources declined to 2.8 trillion rubles ($35.7 billion) in the month, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday. That's a loss of 453.8 billion rubles ($5.8 billion) available for budget deficit financing.
Associated Press
01-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Sancrox Political Advisory: Voters rally around Oyun-Erdene ahead of vote of no confidence
LONDON, June 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On the eve of Mongolia's first-ever parliamentary vote of confidence in a sitting prime minister, new polling shows that voters overwhelmingly back Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene and reject any shift toward a presidential system. The nationally representative poll, conducted by Sancrox Political Advisory from 28 to 30 May 2025, shows that 63% of Mongolian adults want the Prime Minister to 'stay on and implement the National Wealth Fund,' compared to 31% who do not and 6% who are undecided. It also finds that 53% of voters believe MPs should support the Prime Minister and his government in the confidence vote, versus 37% who think MPs should vote 'no confidence' and 10% who cannot say. Additional findings include: These figures demonstrate that, as the vote of confidence approaches, public opinion remains in favor of continuity under Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene's coalition. Voters not only support his economic agenda - most notably the National Wealth Fund - but also oppose expansion of presidential powers. Sancrox Political Advisory is a leading international polling and strategy firm, providing political insight and public opinion research across the globe. Findings Representative poll of n = 1,140 Mongolian adults. Fieldwork conducted 28–30 May 2025. Photo - Photo - Photo - Photo - Photo - Photo - View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Sancrox Political Advisory
