Business News

A new survey of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) decision makers in the US and UK, commissioned by carbon credits ratings provider, Sylvera, has found that large US corporations are ahead of large UK corporations when it comes to creating their net zero strategies.

Over three quarters (78%) of US ESG decision makers surveyed said their company has a net zero transition strategy already in place, whereas only just over half (55%) of UK ESG decision makers said the same.

With its striking architecture and bustling atmosphere, Brummies will be no strangers to seeing photographers roaming the streets of the city in search of inspiration. A few have no doubt come across a young photographer called Dan Twist behind the lens at some of the city's most iconic sites over the last few years.

The number of higher rate taxpayers in the UK will rocket 65% in the next four years from 4.1million to 6.8million, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The threshold for 40% tax has been frozen at £50,270 until April 2026. Without that freeze, it was expected the number of higher rate taxpayers would have risen steadily from 4.1m in 2021/22 to 4.8m by 2025/26. Previous OBR estimates suggested that freezing the threshold until 2026 would create an extra one million higher rate taxpayers on top of that.

Eolus and Hydro REIN have signed an agreement with MEAG regarding the sale of 75% of the shares in the 260 MW wind power project Stor-Skälsjön in Sweden.

The transaction covers 75% of the shares in the project company at an enterprise value of EUR 361.4 million (100% basis). Eolus is to sell all its shares amounting to 51% for a purchase price of EUR 18.4 million.

Runwood Homes have announce that Jeremy Richardson, the former Chief Executive of Four Seasons Health Care, will be joining the Group as Chief Executive Officer. Jeremy will take up his new role in early July. 

Gordon Sanders, Founder and current CEO of Runwood Homes, said: “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am thrilled that Jeremy has agreed to join our business.

West Midlands tattoo artist, Hanan Qattan, has secured a five-figure funding package from HSBC UK to open a new tattoo studio in Worcester town centre.

The entrepreneur has used the funding to purchase a two level 1,200 sq. ft. property located in Worcester’s Reindeer Court Arcade to launch Fox and Fortune Tattoo. The support from HSBC UK has also allowed Hanan to apply for planning permission to undertake renovation work to the listed building.

A selection of new-build homes has gone on sale in the Castle Vale area of Birmingham for the first time in over a decade.

Together with Birmingham City Council, leading developer Lovell Homes has launched The Point, a brand-new community of stunning properties for a variety of buyers. Situated just six miles north-east of Birmingham city centre, The Point offers a total of 123 homes that are ideal for first-time buyers and families seeking more space.

A couple of homebuyers from Newbury, in Berkshire, are delighted after moving to a unique development in the town, which they believe has the ‘wow factor’.

Domestic worker Nikki Minns (63) and her engineer husband Gary (64) were previously living alongside Nikki’s mother in her childhood home, a four bedroom property in the Berkshire village of Bradfield Southend. Following the passing of Nikki’s mother, the couple decided to look for a smaller property in the area for a fresh start, looking at both older and newer houses.

The redevelopment of Corporation Street in Birmingham city centre has moved onto the next stage, as renovations of the historic Citadel building are now fully underway by hybrid office developer Kinrise. Set to be the city’s most sustainable workplace, Citadel will be completed this summer and will offer over 46,000 sqft of office, retail and social space behind its remarkable Victorian façade at 190 Corporation Street. 

Anoto Group AB (publ) (“Anoto”) announced in a press release on 6 April that the loan Anoto received from Swedish investors that was announced in a press release on 10 August 2021 now partially is converted into shares.

Anoto is a publicly held Swedish technology company known globally for innovation in the area of information-rich patterns and the optical recognition of those patterns.

The UK’s largest listed provider of private rental homes, Grainger plc, is expanding its portfolio of private rental homes in The Midlands with a stylish new residential development located in central Birmingham. Due to launch in May 2022, the new purpose-built rental development, Gilders Yard, sits on the site of a former jewellery factory and involves the renovation of a three storey Grade II* listed building, once home to local jeweller, J Ashford & Sons. 

Brilliant Planet Limited (formerly Susewi Ltd), the nature-based carbon capture and storage company, announced the closing of its oversubscribed $12 million Series A funding co-led by Union Square Ventures and Toyota Ventures.  Additional and follow-on investors include Future Positive Capital, AiiM Partners, S2G Ventures, Hatch and Pegasus Tech Ventures.

Brilliant Planet is unlocking the power of algae as an affordable method of permanently and quantifiably sequestering carbon at the gigaton scale. 

Podcast listening in the UK is booming. The audience of 19.1 million listeners in 2021 is projected to grow to upwards of 28 million by 2026. And it is in this growing marketplace that UK sales transformation specialist Sales Talent has announced the second season of The Sales Talent Podcast.

The first season generated over 5,000 downloads, with Sales Talent MD Paul Owen and his guests focusing on learning how to sell; it served as an impactful ‘beginner’s guide to sales.’

A city shop owner and employee who persistently sold and distributed illicit tobacco have been given suspended prison sentences.

Karanveer Singh Dhaliwal, the shop owner and former premises license holder of KS News, in Oxford Street, Bilston, and shop manager at the time Ashok Singh Kumar, appeared before a judge at Wolverhampton Crown Court. The two men were both sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years.

Nearly half a million UK businesses are set to benefit from a tax cut worth up to £1,000 from 6 April 2022. The Employment Allowance has risen from £4,000 to £5,000 – meaning smaller firms will be able to claim up to £5,000 off their employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) bills.

Announced by the Chancellor at last month’s Spring Statement to reduce employment costs, the change takes an extra 50,000 firms out of paying NICs and the Health and Social Care Levy.

As part of its ambitious growth strategy, leading law firm Shakespeare Martineau has appointed corporate partner Michael Stace.

With more than 25 years’ qualified experience, Michael joins Shakespeare Martineau from Browne Jacobson, where he was head of the firm’s Birmingham office.