Business

Eyewitness: Remembering a job done By James Matthews, Scotland correspondent Hunterston is a human story too. It showed in the gathering of around a dozen former employees who lined the approach road to watch this nuclear power station, their station, breathe its last. The 40-second rapid release of steam into the cold January air was

California is seeing a surge in hospitalizations, up 59% in a little over a week, and the state’s latest ensemble forecast says it’s only the beginning. On December 31, state data showed 5,835 patients hospitalized with Covid. Eight days later, the total had jumped to 9,275 — data was not published for January 1 due

The US jobs recovery stalled at the end of last year even as official figures confirmed annual record growth in employment numbers. Closely-watched data from America’s bureau of labour statistics (BLS) showed the world’s biggest economy added 199,000 jobs in December – well short of the 400,000 figure pencilled in by forecasters. Experts said a

Los Angeles County reported a staggering 37,215 new Covid-19 cases today, by far the highest single-day number of the entire pandemic. Hospitalizations and deaths have doubled in the past week as well, although those counts are still well short of the peaks set during last winter’s surge in infections. The daily cases number broke a

Annual house price growth hit 9.8% last month as the market “defied expectations” in 2021 – but growth is likely to slow considerably in the coming year, Halifax said. The increase was the biggest since July 2007, according to the lender, as prices rose month-on-month by 1.1%. It is the latest confirmation of a buoyant

Dalip Sethi has been promoted to partner at Los Angeles-based management/production company Rain Management Group. Dalip has been with RMG since 2009, joining the company as an assistant. He was promoted to Manager in 2012, and has since built an impressive television and film client roster with a focus on writers, filmmakers, producer-directors and showrunners.

The scrapping of pre-departure coronavirus testing for people arriving in the UK has resulted in a leap in interest in international travel, companies have reported. The measure, which was introduced in the run-up to Christmas to combat the Omicron variant, will be withdrawn from 4am on Friday across the UK now Scotland has decided to

Three months after the death of its longtime CEO Brian Goldner, Hasbro has named his successor. Chris Cocks, who served as president and COO of the company’s Wizards of the Coast and digital gaming division, has been promoted to chief executive officer. Cocks, who joined Hasbro in 2016, will take over from interim CEO Rich

Fashion retailer Next has set out plans to hike its prices by as much as 6% over coming months as costs soar partly thanks to labour shortages pushing up wages. The group, which published a trading update showing better than expected revenues over the Christmas period, also cited higher shipping and manufacturing costs. A hike

EXCLUSIVE: The NFL has teamed up with United States Army Green Beret and NFL Legend Nate Boyer to promote Boyer’s feature directorial debut MVP, in addition to the non-profit on which the film is based. The film dramatizes the formation of Merging Vets & Players (MVP), a non-profit created by Boyer and Fox Sports NFL Insider Jay

A local authority-backed energy supplier with 170,000 customers faces collapsing within weeks as a last-ditch search for new funding nears its end. Sky News has learnt that Together Energy, which is 50%-owned by Warrington Borough Council, is likely to run out of money later in January without an emergency capital injection. A source close to

EXCLUSIVE: Under The Shadow and Wounds duo Babak Anvari and Lucan Toh of Two & Two Pictures have renewed their first look TV deal with AMC Studios. The filmmakers first struck a deal with The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad network in 2017. Two & Two, which is in post-production on Anvari’s third feature, the Netflix

Travel firms are calling for the removal of COVID testing restrictions, saying it would have no real impact on the spread of the Omicron variant in the UK. The call from trade body Airlines UK and Manchester Airports Group (MAG) comes after recent figures showing one in 25 people in England had COVID-19 just before

“Are you really doing a domestic box office marketshare piece?” Such is the whine from several studio insiders and corp comms folk. Of course, we are. Why wouldn’t we? In the best and worst of times, in the published horserace of box office dollars, we still need to know where the studios stand when all

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will hold further talks with energy suppliers on Wednesday as the government continues to explore ways of softening the blow of a forecast 50% increase to household energy bills. A third round of talks between industry and ministers in the week since the Christmas break comes after Boris Johnson said he

EXCLUSIVE: The start of a new year is often associated with personnel changes and job switches. That is the case with three ICM Partners agents, JR Ringer, Kevin Hussey & Brett Pacis, who are leaving but staying in the representation business with new gigs. I hear talent agent JR Ringer is joining Verve’s talent team

Shop prices climbed at their fastest rate for nearly three years last month and the increase looks set to accelerate, according to a monthly report published by the retail industry. Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed prices in December were 0.8% up compared with a year earlier, the highest rate since March 2019.

The National Association of Broadcasters is ushering in a new era, with former exec Curtis LeGeyt replacing former Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith as president and CEO. Smith, who served two terms as a Republican in the Senate, had guided the major lobbying organization for 12 years. He has shifted to an advisory and advocacy role

David Bowie’s back catalogue has been sold to Warner Music Group in a deal reported to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The deal covers songs from the 26 studio albums released within the star’s life as well as the posthumous album Toy, and two he made with the band Tin Machine. It spans