Thames Water agrees payment plan for £123m sewage and dividend fines

Thames Water has agreed a payment plan with the industry regulator for fines it owes worth £123m, as it races to secure funding to avoid temporary nationalisation.The utility company, which serves 16 million customers across London and the south-east, is trying to pull together a deal to avoid collapse.The debt-laden utility company was hit with a record £104m fine by Ofwat in May over environmental breaches involving sewage spills, after failing to operate and manage its treatment works and wastewater networks effectively.At the same time, a further £18.2m fine was levied on Thames for breaking dividend rules, the first penalty of its kind in the water industry

Scottish government trial of four-day week improves productivity and staff wellbeing

Increased productivity and improved staff wellbeing were among the results of a year-long trial of the four-day week by the Scottish government.Two public bodies, South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) and Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB), took part in the pilot, which was launched by Holyrood in early 2024.The two organisations, which had 259 employees in total throughout the trial, implemented a 32-hour working week for a year without any loss in pay or benefits for staff, while committing to maintaining standards of service.AiB and SOSE staggered the non-working day among staff to allow the bodies to function as normal, while part-time staff were offered proportional reductions in their working time.Staff at the two organisations reported less work-related stress and greater satisfaction with their jobs and work-life balance

Annual energy bills set to rise £35 in October, Trump slaps 50% tariff on India – as it happened

The energy regulator for Britain, Ofgem, has said it will increase the cap on energy bills from October by 2%, the equivalent of a £35 rise in annual bills for the average home.Here’s more details of the energy price cap just announced, from Ofgem.If you are on a standard variable tariff (default tariff) and pay for your electricity by Direct Debit, you will pay on average 26.35p pence per kilowatt hour (kWh). The daily standing charge is 53

Woolworths struggles to win back ‘price trust’ from customers – and investors – as Coles’ value rises

Woolworths has shed more than $5bn in market value as it struggles to regain customer “price trust” and stretches product availability.Australia’s biggest supermarket chain on Wednesday reported sales rose 3% in the year to June and 2% in July and August compared to the year before, while profits in 2024-25 fell by a fifth, to nearly $1.4bn.Its market value slipped from more than $40bn to less than $35bn on Wednesday, while Coles rose to a record value of $31bn.Coles has attracted a greater share of sales, recording faster growth of 4% in the year to June and 5% in July and August on the year before, lifting annual profits to more than $1bn

JD Sports sales slump in UK as fragile consumer confidence concerns retailers

JD Sports has revealed a slump in UK sales, amid mounting concern that brittle consumer confidence will damage retailers.Revenues in established UK shops fell 6.1% as the leisurewear company struggled to beat strong trading last year, when it received a boost from the men’s Euro 2024 football tournament and women’s growing taste for sports footwear such as Adidas’s Samba and Gazelle.The company said it had invested in cutting prices online amid “tough comparatives”, especially on footwear for women and children.The sales slide in the UK in the 13 weeks to 2 August contributed to a 3% fall in underlying group sales in the period, with sales increasing only in the Asia Pacific region

People in the UK: how have you been affected by the rise in food prices?

Food inflation in the UK has hit 4.2% this month with there being a “significant increase” in the cost of staple foods such as butter and eggs. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said prices had risen at their fastest pace for 18 months.Those on low incomes are most affected by food price inflation because they spend disproportionately more of their monthly budgets on the essentials of life compared with the wealthiest, who have more room to cut discretionary spending.How do you feel about food inflation? Have the price rises changed your shopping or eating habits?You can tell us how you have been affected by the increase in food prices by filling in the form below, or messaging us