ScottishPower named worst energy supplier for customer service

ScottishPower has been ranked Great Britain’s worst energy supplier for customer service in a survey from a leading consumer body, which placed many of the biggest suppliers near the bottom of the league table.British Gas and EDF Energy were just above ScottishPower at the foot of the annual Which? rankings. These are based on a satisfaction survey of almost 12,000 energy customers alongside the group’s assessment of each supplier’s customer service.Which? found that ScottishPower had the lowest customer satisfaction score and tied with EDF Energy for the second-lowest score on the consumer champion’s overall assessment. The weakest performer was So Energy, which finished fourth from bottom overall

Rachel Reeves pulls out of London Stock Exchange event after new Trump tariff threat

Rachel Reeves has pulled out of a planned appearance at the London Stock Exchange to celebrate a “new golden age” for the City, after Donald Trump’s threat to implement tariffs until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.The chancellor’s withdrawal from the event, which was designed to be a celebration of business in the UK after the FTSE 100 rose above the 10,000 mark for the first time, came as markets opened down on Monday morning after the US president’s threat.In the UK, the FTSE 100 fell 0.4% after stock markets fell overnight in Asia as investors turned to safe-haven assets such as gold and silver.France’s Cac 40 fell by 1

Out of sight: spectacular HS2 tunnels offer glimmer of hope for stalling project

Seventy metres down, in deep incognito beneath a disguised ventilation shaft in the Chilterns countryside, lies HS2’s buried treasure: two 10-mile tunnels, built to avoid an area of outstanding natural beauty, eerily spectacular in gleaming concrete.They are, laments a staffer on the high-speed railway scheme, what all of the route should look like by now: pristine, fully constructed, and just waiting for a railway to run through them.The ballooning cost of HS2, and the construction delays that have dogged the project, have provoked much soul-searching and bluster about a supposed national inability to build infrastructure.From mothballed worksites scarring central London to abandoned routes in the Midlands and the north, plenty has not gone to plan. But this first look inside the completed 9m-diameter tunnels – their ventilation shafts the final piece in the jigsaw – shows what civil engineers with a clear remit can do

China’s economy hit growth target last year despite Trump trade war and property crisis

China has said its economy grew 5% last year, hitting Beijing’s official target as the world’s second-largest economy overcame Donald Trump’s tariff war with a record trade surplus.Data released on Monday by Beijing’s National Bureau of Statistics showed the Chinese economy hit the official target of “around” 5% – the same growth as in 2024 – despite a slowdown to 4.5% in the final three months of the year.The quarterly figure eased from 4.8% growth in the third quarter and was the weakest quarterly figure since early 2023, when the economy also grew at 4

Woolworths online delivery platforms tested: which is cheapest and how do they compare with in-store shopping?

Australia’s biggest supermarket has added yet another online delivery option, offering more choice – but perhaps also complexity and confusion – for Woolworths shoppers.The delivery platform DoorDash has emailed customers to let them know it is now delivering the supermarket’s groceries, promising “more choice for last-minute top-ups, weekly shops and everything in-between”.This gives Woolworths customers four main delivery options: the supermarket’s own website, DoorDash, UberEats and Milkrun, which Woolworths acquired in 2023.So which Woolworths option is cheapest? And how do prices compare to buying in store? Guardian Australia tested it out.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailWoolworths started using DoorDash soon after rival Coles severed its arrangement with the platform to partner exclusively with UberEats

World stock markets brace for turbulence after Trump’s latest tariff shock

Global stock markets are bracing for falls when trading resumes on Monday after Donald Trump threatened eight European countries with fresh tariffs until they support his ambition to acquire Greenland.The US president’s plan to impose new trade levies of 10% on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland from 1 February, rising to 25% on 1 June, is creating fear in the markets, and among European businesses.Trading on the brokerage IG’s weekend markets suggest there will be losses on the London Stock Exchange when it reopens on Monday, while rising geopolitical fears could drive precious metal prices towards new record highs. Wall Street, which reopens on Tuesday, is also on track for a fall.“This latest flashpoint has heightened concerns over a potential unravelling of Nato alliances and the disruption of last year’s trade agreements with several European nations, driving risk-off sentiment in stocks and boosting safe-haven demand for gold and silver,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG