NFU President reflects on a ‘wretched year’ for farming

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UK farmers face a stark picture of the challenges faced by UK farming after a stitched year in he industry, says NFU President Tom Bradshaw. He says volatile input costs, commodity prices at record levels in some farming sectors and on the floor in others, a reduction in direct payments and one of the wettest periods in decades that resulted in a disastrous harvest, have left their mark and many farming businesses worse off.
“To cap a wretched year, we saw a Labour government, which, after 14 years in opposition, promised to reset its relations with British farmers and deliver a much-needed lift to farmer confidence. Instead, it delivered an inflationary Budget and all but removed the tax reliefs for agriculture property and business property. In all my years in the industry, I’ve never experienced the anger, despair and sense of betrayal following the Chancellor’s announcement to changes to inheritance tax, which has long protected farming’s ability to pass on the farm business to the next generation, thereby protecting food producing businesses and the nation’s food security.”
He said these raw emotions had played out at fermers’ mass lobby of MPs in Westminster, the farmer rally in Whitehall, and at the various tractor protests in London and around the UK, with tens of thousands of farmers passionately expressing how this tax will devastate their businesses, families, rural communities and national food security.
“Ultimately, this needs to be sorted out by the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves with a solution that will mitigate the extreme human impacts of this indefensible family farm tax policy on the current holders of those businesses, for whom, up until 30 October, the best tax advice was to hold their farm until death. Rest assured, we will keep fighting to find a solution.”

Private sector predicts fall in activity in next three months, says CBI

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Private sector firms expect activity to fall in the three months to March, according to the CBI’s latest Growth Indicator, which shows expectations are at their weakest in more than two years. This pessimism was shared across all sub-sectors. Business volumes in the services sector are anticipated to decline (-18%), driven by predicted falls in both business and professional services (-13%) and consumer services (-37%). Distribution sales are expected to fall steeply (-35%), and manufacturers also anticipate output to fall (-31%), with expectations at their weakest since May 2020. The disappointing outlook comes as private sector activity fell again in the three months to December, at a faster pace than in the three months to November (-21% from -13% in November). Activity has been flat or falling since August 2022. Alpesh Paleja, CBI Interim Deputy Chief Economist, said: “There is little festive cheer in our latest surveys, which suggest that the economy is headed for the worst of all worlds – firms expect to reduce both output and hiring, and price growth expectations are getting firmer. Businesses continue to cite the impact of measures announced in the Budget – particularly the rise in employer NICs – exacerbating an already tepid demand environment. “As we head into 2025, firms are looking to the government to boost confidence and to give them a reason to invest, whether that’s long overdue moves to reform the apprenticeship levy, supporting the health of the workforce through increased occupational health incentives or a reform of business rates. “In the longer term, businesses will be looking to the industrial strategy to provide the stability and certainty which can unlock innovation and investment – and provide that much needed growth for the economy which can deliver prosperity for firms and households alike.”

South Yorkshire company signs AI deal with Swedish manufacturer

South Yorkshire tech company IntelliAM is to launch a commercial partnership with Swedish manufacturing powerhouse SKF to drive forward the global AI revolution. The agreement, announced this month to the Aquis Stock Exchange, is expected to see breakthrough machine learning platform created by Dinnington-based IntelliAM embedded into SKF’s products. SKF is a leading global supplier of products, solutions and services for the reduction of friction in rotation and one of the largest public companies in the world. The company is present in around 129 countries with over 17,000 distributors and has exposure to over 40 industries. A letter of intent between both companies will be a precursor to a partnership agreement for the provision of IntelliAM’s machine learning platform and SKF AI-ready products, for both IntelliAM and SKF sales teams. IntelliAM, which floated earlier this year on the specialist growth market Aquis, was created on the back of years of industry knowledge and domain expertise. Many of the world’s biggest manufacturers, including half of the world’s top ten food and drinks producers, use IntelliAM’s machine learning and AI solution to tap into billions of manufacturing data points to improve productivity. The SKF partnership will unlock new possibilities across industry, says Tom Clayton, CEO at IntelliAM. “This marks a pivotal moment in the partnership between SKF and IntelliAM. By embedding our machine learning platform into SKF’s exceptional products, we are not only enhancing their performance but also unlocking new possibilities for industry as a whole.” Erika Morichetto, Director SKF Lubrication Management Sales Europe, Middle East & Africa added: “Our ambition is that we can continue to grow together and explore this market with joint product and customer development, now also with the intention to extend this to include machine learning. “We see that machine learning will provide an opportunity to enhance the connected SKF products in application and support our clients with insights for their machines or processes and improve their maintenance practices.” The discussions between the two companies are built upon a long-term partnership. It is anticipated that detailed contractual discussions will be concluded in 2025.

Yorkshire garden centre group moves in to Huddersfield site

The former Dobbies Garden Centre Pennine in Huddersfield is to join Bradford-based Yorkshire Garden Centres Group, which also acquired the Deans Garden Centres in York and Scarborough earlier this year. Mark Farnsworth, MD of Yorkshire Garden Centres said: “Pennine Garden Centre is well known to many of our team who used to work there when it was owned by the Armitage family. Our team are excited about returning to the centre, and we hope we can revitalise the business in the coming months. We are delighted to welcome some of the Dobbies team into the business, and we look forward to them playing their part in the refurbishment over the next few weeks. We intend to reopen the store in the early spring.” YGC Partners, a partnership with Altia Ltd, will reopen the four-acre site, previously run by the Armitage family, who sold it to Wyevale and subsequently Dobbies, following a period of refurbishment. 17 members of the Dobbies team will join the business. Yorkshire Garden Centres began with the acquisition of Tong Garden Centre by Mark Farnsworth and Tom Megginson in 2015. They invested £9m and have turned Tong into one of Yorkshire’s leading garden centres. The Group’s strategy is to operate destination garden centres with a compelling mix of retail, food and play for all the family. It now operates sites at Tong, Tingley, Otley, Bingley, York and Scarborough.

Sheffield clean energy company signs hydrogen generation deal with EU buyer

ITM Power has been selected as the technology provider and awarded a Front-End Engineering Design contract for a 50MW green hydrogen production site in the European Union for an undisclosed experienced green hydrogen plant developer.
The FEED will be based on ten NEPTUNE V units, our full-scope 5MW containerised electrolyser plant ideally suited for mid-sized projects. The FEED will support the project development ahead of a Final Investment Decision (FID) for the whole project, which the customer expects to take in 2025. The plant is planned to start producing approximately 5,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually from the second half of 2027 and supply local industries.
Dennis Schulz, CEO, said: “We are excited to have been selected as the technology partner for this project. NEPTUNE V was only launched in May of this year, and this FEED confirms our view at the time that mid-sized green hydrogen projects would experience strong momentum in the near term.”
 

Motor manufacturers invited for views on switch to electric vehicles

The UK automotive and charging industries have been invited to shape the UK’s transition to zero emission vehicles in a new consultation. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has launched a consultation to ask views from industry on how to deliver the manifesto commitment to restore the 2030 phase-out date for new purely petrol and diesel cars and make the transition to zero emissions vehicles a success. The 2030 phase out date is said to have been broadly supported by industry before the previous UK government extended the phase out to 2035. Currently more than two-thirds of car manufacturers in the UK, including Nissan and Stellantis, have already committed to fully transitioning to electric cars by 2030. Today’s consultation will restore clarity for vehicle manufacturers and the charging industry so that they have the confidence to invest in the UK in the long-term and drive growth in the UK automotive industry. To support manufacturers in the transition, it’s said that the ZEV Mandate already features a range of flexibilities to help industry comply in a way that makes sense for them and the wider market, including selling fewer zero emission vehicles than the headline target if they make up for it in other ways. The consultation explores the design of the flexibilities to ensure they continue to support manufacturers. This consultation is focused on how to reach the 2030 target. It will give the sector the opportunity to consider how the current arrangements and flexibilities are working, which hybrid cars can be sold alongside zero emission models between 2030 and 2035, and any further support measures to help make the transition a success for industry and consumers. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “Employing 152,000 people and adding £19 billion to our economy, the UK’s automotive industry is a huge asset to our nation — and the transition to electric is an unprecedented opportunity to attract investment, harness British innovation, and deliver growth for generations to come.” Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “There is no route to net zero without backing British industries and workers. There are huge advantages for British industry and we must make sure decarbonisation creates jobs and opportunities.” One in four new cars sold this November was an EV, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – a 58% increase on November 2023. EV owners are seeing the benefits too, as 97% of electric car drivers say they do not want to go back to petrol and diesel cars.

New scheme aims to avoid food waste thanks to £15m investment

Thousands of tonnes of food that might otherwise go to waste will be delivered to those who need it most with the help of a new £15n government fund. An estimated 330,000 tonnes of edible food is either wasted or repurposed as animal feed before leaving farm gates every year. While farmers would prefer for this to be destined for people’s plates, charities that redistribute food often lack the means to collect food from farms and get it to those who need it. To strengthen the links between farms and charities and help solve the problem of farm food waste, a new scheme will see grants starting from £20,000 made available to the not-for-profit food redistribution sector in England. Throughout the year but especially over Christmas, the season of goodwill, this will help organisations like homeless shelters, food banks and charities fight hunger. It will help British farmers to deliver good food for those that need it and reduce the costs they face when dealing with waste, while also increasing the capacity and capability of the redistribution sector to take on farm surplus. Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh said: “With families gathering to celebrate Christmas and the New Year, it’s important to remember those in our communities who may be going hungry this festive period. “Nobody wants to see good food go to waste – especially farmers who work hard to put food on family tables across the country.

“Our new fund will help the charitable sector to work more closely with farmers, helping to find new opportunities to get their world-leading produce to those most in need within our communities.”

The funding could go towards enabling successful applicants to buy new equipment, such as balers or hoppers, to allow bulky food items to be collected or processed into parcels, and technology to help donors and food redistribution charities work more closely. Money could also help provide more training to staff, to enhance their IT and food safety skills. Information on when the fund opens and full eligibility criteria for applications will be confirmed in the New Year.

More than 4,000 filed tax returns on Christmas Day

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More than 4,400 people avoided peeling the sprouts to file their tax return online on Christmas Day, says HM Revenue and Customs. In total, 40,072 customers, as well as spending the three-day holiday indulging in usual Christmas pastimes of eating, drinking and watching festive favourites on the TV, found time to go online and wrap up their 2023 to 2024 tax return, well ahead of the 31 January deadline. Festive filing statistics show that over Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day:
  • 15:00 to 15:59 proved to be the most popular time to file on the big day itself, with 368 filing their return
  • 11,932 customers missed out on leftovers for lunch, submitting their tax return on Boxing Day, with the most popular time being 16:00 to 16:59 and 1,108 filing during that time.
  • 23,731 filed on Christmas Eve instead of last-minute shopping and wrapping. The most popular time was 11:00 to 11:59 when 3,458 filed their tax return
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “People who need to file a Self Assessment return and already have can enjoy the rest of the festive period knowing they’ve got it wrapped up for another year, and can enjoy singing Auld Lang Syne knowing their tax affairs are in order. For those who haven’t started yet, our online service is available 365 days a year so there’s still a chance to get it done before 2024 is out!”

Bradford’s year as City of Culture holds promise of new jobs, says Government

Bradford has been promised a major boost to economic growth including thousands of new jobs as final preparations are made for its year as UK City of Culture 2025, says Culture Minister Sir Chris Bryant has announced. An additional £5 million in funding takes the amount of economic support for Bradford’s year to £15 million, helping the Bradford Culture Company deliver a programme of events and support a legacy of cultural regeneration. It will also encourage the next generation of creatives with 6,000 training opportunities expected across the district and Bradford expecting to create 6,500 new jobs as a result of being UK City of Culture. The £5m additional investment is helping to kickstart economic growth, investment and reform and the extra funding will go towards the development of key venues that will host next year’s events, such as Bradford’s touring venue – The Beacon. It will provide key equipment for Bradford Theatres, who run one of the UK’s oldest concert halls, St George’s Hall, as well as Alhambra Theatre, The Studio, Kings Hall & Winter Garden and will support the development of new spaces for the National Science and Media Museum. Bout 1,000 events will take place in 2025, developed alongside and in collaboration with local artists and creatives. They are expected to attract an additional 3.3 million visitors and bring in a visitor spend of nearly £140m into the local economy over the course of the year. It is also estimated that the increased cultural and economic activity as a result of being UK City of Culture 2025 could leverage and accelerate an extra £700m of growth for the Bradford district by 2030, whilst helping to get more people involved in cultural events across the city. More than 3,000 volunteers are being recruited to ensure that events run smoothly. This will boost civic pride as part of Bradford’s year in the spotlight by engaging communities right across the district and upskilling people wanting to get involved in events happening throughout the year. Dan Bates, Executive Director at Bradford 2025 said: “By working together with DCMS we are not only creating new opportunities, but also equipping local people with the skills needed to thrive. This commitment to Bradford to enhance and develop its infrastructure, and ensuring our creative venues are accessible for all, will leave a lasting impact on generations to come. This investment is helping to shape a brighter, more dynamic future for Bradford and beyond.”

Government intensifies clampdown on illegal working

Immigration officials have been out in force across the UK to disrupt rogue employers who hire migrants illegally and exploit vulnerable people, and to address the promise of illegal jobs that are used by criminal smuggling gangs to sell spaces in small boats crossing the Channel. Particular focus has been on targeting car washes, nail bars, supermarkets and construction sites suspected of hiring illegal workers and subjecting them to squalid conditions and illegal working hours at below minimum wage. As part of activity to tackle illegal working, Immigration Enforcement also plays a critical safeguarding role, working closely with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and other organisations to allow employees to report labour exploitation. More biometric fingerprinting kits will also be deployed to the frontline, allowing officers to check those they apprehend in illegal working raids against police databases on the spot, rather than having to take them to local police stations. Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Crime at Immigration Enforcement is Eddy Montgomery. He said: “This activity demonstrates our laser focus on holding employers to account and safeguarding those who are made to work in squalid conditions.

“I am proud of the teams across the country, for their hard work in accelerating this activity in recent months to prevent exploitation and ensure those who break the law face consequences.”