Even more energy suppliers are short of capital. Ofgem needs to toughen up

When half the nation’s retail energy suppliers, including Bulb with 1.7 million customers, failed during the gas crisis of 2021-22, the embarrassed regulator, Ofgem, decided it should probably pay more attention to companies’ balance sheets. Better late than never.The cost of mopping up the corporate calamities added up to £2.7bn, or £94 on every household’s energy bill, calculated the National Audit Office

The Original Factory Shop calls in administrators, putting 1,200 jobs at risk

The Original Factory Shop homeware chain has called in administrators, putting 1,200 jobs at risk, putting the decision partly down to higher costs from government policies.Administrators from Interpath have been appointed at the 137-store discount retailer, which was bought by the private equity firm Modella Capital less than a year ago.On Wednesday, the video game chain Game Retail filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, while the fashion chain LK Bennett was bought out of administration by a restructuring specialist.Administrators said the Original Factory Shop would continue to trade on high streets while they “assess options for the business”. Its website ceased taking new orders on Wednesday but orders placed before 28 January would be delivered as usual

Microsoft shrugs off AI bubble fears again with strong financial results

Investor interest in Microsoft shares may have weakened in recent months, but the company posted strong financial results on Wednesday which yet again demonstrated that the AI boom is roaring on.Microsoft reported earnings for the second quarter of fiscal year that are likely to keep the party going for Wall Street, despite slowing growth in its key cloud computing business.Microsoft reported revenues of $81.27bn against expectations of $80.32bn, and improved from the 12

Artificial intelligence will cost jobs, admits Liz Kendall

Increasing deployment of artificial intelligence will cause job losses, the UK technology secretary has warned, saying: “I want to level with the public. Some jobs will go.”In a speech on government plans to handle the impact of AI on the British economy, Liz Kendall declined to say how many redundancies the technology might cause but said: “We know people are worried about graduate entry jobs in places like law and finance.”She said: “Others will be created in their place”.While some forecasts have suggested the fast-developing technology could create a net increase in employment, Kendall said: “I’m not complacent about that

Are England missing a trick by not taking Joe Root to the T20 World Cup? | Taha Hashim

The final night was Harry Brook’s but Joe Root still took the series, as he usually does in Sri Lanka. It was here that he began his stratospheric run against the red ball, a double hundred at Galle in 2021 the first of 24 Test tons in the next five years. Go back to 2014, his first visit to the country with England, and there’s an unbeaten 50-over century in Pallekele, a trick he repeated on Tuesday in Colombo.As Root and Brook sat on the Premadasa outfield after England’s 53-run win in the deciding one-day international, it was the former’s shirt that one supporter repeatedly pleaded for from the stands, never mind what the captain had just done. Local admiration is expected when the 35-year-old has never left a tour of Sri Lanka without at least one match winning knock

Sinner set for ‘toughest challenge’ in semi-final against Djokovic after swatting Shelton

Jannik Sinner is under no illusion about the difficulty of his semi-final meeting with Novak Djokovic after defeating Ben Shelton on Wednesday. “It’s one of the toughest challenges we have in our sport,” he said. “It’s great to have Novak playing at this very, very high level. It’s a grand slam, it’s always very difficult against Novak. Let’s see what’s coming