6:40 am, December 1, 2022
Brexit checks added £210 to household food bills, research finds
Brexit added an average sum of £210 to household food bills in the two years to the end of 2021, burning a £5.8bn hole in consumers’ pockets, new research suggests.
The increase was driven by extra checks and requirements on goods – representing an ‘important impediment’ to trade with the bloc, with much of the cost passed on to consumers, according to the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics.
The researchers said the hike in prices would disproportionately hit poorer people, as those on low incomes tend to spend a greater share of their pay packets on food.
Huel secures £20m funding boost from investors including Idris Elba
Plant-based meal replacement business Huel has secured $24m (circa £20m) to fuel its growth plans from investors including film star Idris Elba.
The actor and his wife, Sabrina Dhowre Elba, have injected cash into the business alongside Jonathan Ross and Tala activewear boss Grace Beverley.
Venture Capital fund Highland Europe led the funding round as it sought to secure a cash boost to help its ‘scale-up phase’.
First by-election test for Sunak as voters take to the polls in Chester
Rishi Sunak is facing his first test at the ballot box as PM as voters go to the polls today to choose a new City of Chester MP.
The contest will give Labour and the Tories a glimpse into how voters are reacting to a tumultuous six months for the government, as it marks the first Westminster by-election since Boris Johnson’s defenestration and the market chaos that defined Liz Truss’s short stint in No 10.
The vote is to replace former Labour MP Christian Matheson, who quit his Commons seat after complaints of ‘serious sexual misconduct’ were upheld by a parliamentary watchdog.
British Gas to pay customers to use less electricity
Britain’s largest energy supplier is to pay its customers to reduce the amount of electricity that they use during peak hours to help take pressure off the grid.
British Gas said it hoped 100,000 customers would sign up as it launches the demand flexibility service for the households that it supplies.
Under the scheme, households will be paid around £4 for every unit of electricity by which they reduce their consumption during specific times.
Elon Musk’s Starlink internet-beaming satellites to be used in government trial
Elon Musk’s Starlink, which uses satellites to beam a broadband signal down to Earth, is to be used as part of a government trial to get better internet connectivity to remote parts of the UK.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said the technology would initially be tried out at three remote locations – Rievaulx Abbey in North Yorkshire Moors National Park, Wasdale Head in the Lake District and two sites within Snowdonia National Park.
The test sites will use equipment supplied by Starlink, a part of Musk’s SpaceX firm, which uses a network of low Earth orbit satellites to provide internet signal in places where there is limited ground infrastructure or it would be expensive and difficult to put it in place.
Dyson working on ‘self-improving’ machines
Dyson engineers are developing products that will be able to detect and fix issues themselves without any input needed from the owners, the company has said.
Giving an update on the company’s £2.75bn investment plan into new technologies announced earlier this year, the firm’s chief engineer said it was working on products that could ‘self-improve’.
Jake Dyson said the company hoped its devices would one day be capable of detecting flaws in themselves and then fixing them – even before the owners were aware of a problem – and would ultimately become more intelligent the longer a user owns them.
Bill Clinton among famous faces remembering Fleetwood Mac star Christine McVie
Former US president Bill Clinton was among the famous faces remembering Fleetwood Mac star Christine McVie and her ‘legendary career’.
Heavyweights from across the music industry including Duran Duran, Haim, Questlove and Sheryl Crow all posted online tributes to McVie following news of her death.
McVie, who featured in the band alongside Mick Fleetwood, her husband John McVie, as well as Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, died yesterday at the age of 79 after a short illness.
Honda’s new Civic Type R to start from £46,995
Honda has confirmed pricing for its latest Civic Type R.
Available to order now, the latest incarnation of the famous hot hatch will cost from £46,995, with this latest-generation model building on its predecessor’s design with a revised gearbox and fresh styling tweaks.
It uses the same 2.0-litre powertrain as in the older model, but it’s linked to a revised six-speed manual gearbox that brings faster and more responsive shifts. Power has increased from 316bhp to 325bhp, and Honda says the new model will go from 0-60mph in 5.2 seconds.
Wednesday’s headlines on Car Dealer you might have missed
- Exclusive: Arnold Clark has pulled out of its deal to buy car dealer group Cars 2
- Yeomans adds VW Group to portfolio after buying 12 businesses from Helston Garages
- Inchcape’s group chief financial officer resigned after making sexist remark, it is revealed
- Car industry calls on government for urgent action plan to safeguard post-Covid recovery
- Euro Car Parts adverts are banned for making misleading claims about savings
- Sleepy Hertfordshire town offers best value used cars in the country, new study by AA Motors reveals
- Vauxhall reveals electric Astra with 258-mile range
Market movements
The FTSE 100 closed up 61.05 points yesterday at 7,573.05. Meanwhile, the Cac 40 was up 69.58 points at 6,738.55, the Dax gained 41.59 points, ending on 14,397.04 and the Dow Jones was up 737.24 points, finishing on 34,589.77.
Weather outlook
It’ll be cloudy with some rain in northern England and Scotland today, says BBC Weather. Elsewhere will be largely dry with variable cloud, although Wales and south-west England will have longer spells of sunshine.
Friday will be dry with sunny spells in Northern Ireland and far western parts of Britain. Again, it’ll be largely cloudy and dry elsewhere, but some brightness will develop in the south-east later.
