Source: Sharecast
British electricity prices were double those paid in France and Spain in the spring, with the steel industry saying the disadvantage could hinder UK efforts to switch to greener technology. UK companies paid nearly £66 per megawatt hour (MWh) for wholesale electricity in the second quarter of 2024, well over double the French and Spanish equivalents in the same period, according to analysis of industry data by the lobby group UK Steel. – Guardian
British Gas has filed a record number of winding-up petitions against small businesses, threatening to tip restaurants and care homes into bankruptcy. British Gas Trading sought winding-up orders against 111 companies in 2023 and a further 60 were filed so far this year. It marks a significant increase on previous years, with just 38 filed in 2022 and 13 in 2021. – Telegraph
Tata Steel has snubbed unions and closed one of two blast furnaces at its biggest plant under plans to switch to a greener form of production. The company said it had ceased operations of blast furnace 5 in Port Talbot, south Wales, as part of its restructuring programme to stem “unsustainable” losses of more than £1 million a day. The decommissioning of the blast furnace and associated facilities started immediately after the last liquid iron had been produced. The second blast furnace is due to be shut down in September. – The Times
Two of the biggest hitters in private equity, KKR and CVC, are among the bidders to have put forward offers of more than €3 billion for B&B Hotels. Goldman Sachs’ investment division, which is looking to offload the hotels chain, is understood to have received a handful of proposals pitched between €3.2 billion and €3.3 billion. – The Times