Category: 3. Business

Hayden Morgan of Pinsent Masons, who advises organisations on meeting sustainability goals and managing risk, was commenting after the UK government pledged to tie the country’s pursuit of ‘net zero’ targets to a lowering of energy bills. New policy to achieve those twin objectives was trailed in its response (92-page / 649KB PDF) to a report issued by the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) and in its carbon budget and growth delivery plan (CBGDP) (238-page / 1.74MB PDF).

The UK government has a legal obligation, under the Climate Change Act 2008, to deliver a net zero economy by 2050. Under the Act, the government is further required to set five-yearly carbon ‘budgets’ that align with the net zero goal. After each budget is approved by parliament, the government must set out the proposals and policies it has or will develop for meeting that and future carbon budgets. The CBGDP represents the government’s latest attempt to meet that reporting obligation: earlier versions of the report were ruled unlawful.

The CCC, which advises the government on setting its carbon budgets, faces a statutory duty to report on the UK’s progress towards the net zero target and on delivery against the carbon budgets.

In June, the CCC called on the government to put “making electricity cheaper” top of its net zero agenda priority list. This is because, it said, “the UK’s electricity-to-gas price ratio remains too high” to incentivise homeowners and businesses to take up low-carbon options for heating buildings. It called on the government to remove “policy costs from electricity” to incentivise the switch to “efficient electric technologies”. For example, it said “the UK’s electricity-to-gas price ratio remains too high to ensure the underlying cost-savings of heat pumps’ greater efficiency are captured by households”.

The government has now confirmed it will act on this.

“The UK has a particularly high ratio of residential electricity price to gas price compared to many countries in Europe,” the government said. “Our electricity price does not reflect the cheaper wholesale price of clean energy. This means low carbon technologies can be more expensive to run than fossil-fuel powered alternatives.”

“Over this parliament the government will be working relentlessly to translate the much cheaper wholesale costs of clean power into lower bills for consumers. This will be core to every decision we make. We will set out our plans in due course,” it said.

Further measures “to reduce costs and make electrification an economically rational choice for a wider range of businesses and organisations” will also be consulted on, it said.

Morgan said: “Whilst the UK has had a leading role in developing policies leading to green investment and associated deployment in energy generation, with green electricity generation among the highest in the world, per capita, this is not yet reflected in the price of energy and erodes the UK’s climate leadership credentials. With the application of the appropriate fiscal and policy levers set out in these plans, there is optimism that the UK will continue to demonstrate the case for economic growth, whilst de-carbonising electricity, and building climate resilient infrastructure.”

In the CBGDP, the government highlighted how the UK has “already met, and overachieved” against the first three carbon budgets that were set, which covered the period from 2008 to 2022. It said the UK is “on track to meet the fourth”, which applies to the period for 2023 to 2027. The UK’s fifth and sixth carbon budgets have already been set. The government is due to outline the seventh carbon budget by June 2026. It will cover the period from 2038 to 2042.

Siobhan Cross of Pinsent Masons said that a major focus of the CBGDP is on decarbonisation of UK real estate. She has written a separate article analysing the measures the government has outlined in this regard.

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India’s vehicle sales rose 6.1% year-on-year in the quarter through September, a key leading indicator for companies like Castrol, which derives about 80% of its revenue from the automotive segment.

India’s automotive engine oils market size is estimated at 1.12 billion liters in 2025, and is expected to reach 1.15 billion liters by 2030, according to a report by research firm Mordor Intelligence.

Two-wheeler sales climbed 7.4% during the quarter, while commercial vehicle sales advanced 8.3%, industry data showed.

Castrol India, which also makes industrial lubricants like turbine and hydraulic oils, said total revenue from operations grew 5.8% to 13.63 billion rupees in the quarter.

Total expenses grew 3.8% in the quarter, with heavyweight cost of raw and packing materials consumed growing 2.7%.

($1 = 87.8950 Indian rupees)

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Sweden’s 155 largest companies were included in this year’s Webranking by Comprend, where the average score was 46.7. Sandvik took the top spot with 86.6 points, ahead of Trelleborg (85.1) in second place and Pandox (78.7) in third.

“I’m extremely proud that we once again top the Swedish webranking, and we put a lot of effort into optimizing the digital experience for all visitors,” says Björn Roodzant, Head of Communications and Sustainability at Sandvik. “The award is proof of excellent work, but we are aware that we must continue to evolve and improve to maintain our leading position.”

Another confirmation of Sandvik’s high-quality website is a monthly survey conducted by the company Webperf. While the Webranking focuses on content, Webperf measures technical aspects such as accessibility, speed, web standards, and information security. Here, Sandvik has been best in class among all OMX 30 companies every month for almost two years (since December 2023).

Primark saw sales drop in the UK as people spent less at the budget retailer, its owner Associated British Foods (ABF) said.

In the year to September it saw a 3.1% fall in like-for-like sales compared with the year prior, which it said reflected weak consumer confidence that meant shoppers were spending less in stores.

The company said it expected the “subdued” retail market to impact Primark sales into 2026.

Across the entire business, which alongside Primark also owns food brands Twinings, Ovaltine and Ryvita, profits fell 13% to £1.4bn for the year and ABF said it was exploring splitting off the fast-fashion retailer and its foods brands into two separate businesses.

Chief executive George Weston said though he was “confident” for 2026, it depended on the “consumer environment” which was was “particularly unpredictable at the moment”.

Shoppers have been tightening their belts amidst cost increases from rising inflation, leading them to spend less on things like fashion and turning to even cheaper competitors such as Shein and Temu.

Inflation, the rate at which prices rise, has held stubbornly at 3.8% for the year to September. Although inflation is down from highs seen in 2022-2023, it remains above the Bank of England’s target of 2%.

Randeep Somel, fund manager at M&G Investments told the Today programme the decline of Primark sales showed “the consumer is staying at home and seeing how the Budget goes at the end of this month”.

The Associated British Foods boss said in a call after the financial results that there was a “working assumption” in ABF that a separation of Primark “is where we would like to get to”, although no decision had been made.

The news comes as a series of casualties on the UK high street continue as the costs of maintaining bricks-and-mortar stores becomes too high amidst rising online competition and pressure on consumer spending.

Recent retail names that have had to close stores or enter administration include Bodycare, Claire’s, and Pizza Hut which said it will be slashing the number of restaurants it operates.

Making its global debut at EICMA, the Honda WN7 is Honda’s first  electric motorcycle. Under the tagline of ‘Be the wind’, the all-new bike has been developed to offer the refined, quiet and smooth ride – with instant acceleration – that only EVs can provide. At the same time, extensive testing on Europe roads helps to ensure the Honda WN7 has all the Honda hallmarks of riding enjoyment, balance and poise.
Built around a 9.3kWh lithium-ion battery and 18kW motor^*2, the Honda WN7 is A2 license compliant, and offers the convenience of a 140km range and – in addition to home charging – compatibility with the CCS2^*3 car charging infrastructure which allows a 20% to 80% charge in 30 minutes.  
The Honda WN7’s technical specification includes full LED lighting with a unique DRL signature, ‘frameless chassis’, forward and reverse walking speed assist, multiple power modes, Regenerative Deceleration Selector, forward/reverse Walking Speed Mode, Selectable Speed Limit Assist (SSLA), Cornering ABS and Honda Selectable Torque Control (HSTC).
The slim, futuristic design language is complemented by a new Honda product mark, and fittingly for such a ground-breaking machine, the arrival of the Honda WN7 comes at the same time as a new EV branding for Honda’s two-wheeled line-up.