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Tuesday newspaper round-up: City & Guilds, water companies, home ownership

(Sharecast News) - The new owners of the vocational training body City & Guilds appear to have more than tripled the pay of its top six executives right at the moment the company is cutting £22m of costs and shrinking its UK workforce. The large increases to salary and bonuses have emerged during a scandal over the sale of the qualification awards business by its former owner, the UK charity City & Guilds London Institute (CGLI), to the international certification company PeopleCert. - Guardian Water companies could be let off fines for polluting the environment under changes announced in the government's new white paper. The environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, hailed the changes as "once-in-a-generation reforms" featuring "tough oversight, real accountability and no more excuses". Campaigners called the proposed move to soften the approach to fines "desperate", and said the government was letting companies off the hook. - Guardian

At least 1.5 million people have been locked out of homeownership because of Britain's housing crisis, developers have warned. The scale of declining homeownership has been laid bare in a new report from the Home Builders Federation (HBF), which has blamed a lack of affordability among first-time buyers. - Telegraph

The UK has retained its ranking among global chief executives as the second most important market for international investment, beaten only by America, but international rivals are "gaining ground". Last year, Britain also secured second place in the annual global CEO survey, the highest position secured by the nation in the 29-year history of the research by PwC. - The Times

More than 10,000 businesses in Britain may save time and money as a result of plans to scrap 33 outdated restrictions, the competition regulator has claimed. The Competition and Markets Authority has set out proposals to ditch so-called "remedies" that were introduced to restrict monopolists or curb other anti-competitive behaviour. - The Times

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Tuesday newspaper round-up: Anthropic's Claude, BrewDog, energy bills
(Sharecast News) - The AI model Claude has surged in popularity after being blacklisted by the Pentagon last week over ethics concerns. Claude climbed to the No 1 spot on Apple's chart of top free apps on Saturday in the US - dethroning OpenAI's ChatGPT, just one day after the Pentagon tapped OpenAI to supply AI to classified military networks. The bot's app climbed the iPhone app charts in the UK but did not beat out ChatGPT. Claude also raced up the Android charts in the US and UK, though ChatGPT reigned supreme, according to data from Sensor Tower. - Guardian
Monday newspaper round-up: OBR, Rolls-Royce, small businesses
(Sharecast News) - Rachel Reeves must reform the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to open the way to more public investment, an alliance of thinktanks has argued ahead of the chancellor's spring forecast on Tuesday. With Keir Starmer's government under intense pressure after Labour's defeat by the Greens in Thursday's Gorton and Denton byelection, the thinktanks called on Reeves to review the watchdog's remit. - Guardian
Friday newspaper round-up: Mandelson, social media, Lloyds
(Sharecast News) - Peter Mandelson is facing an inquiry by the EU's anti-fraud agency after the European Commission requested the body look into his activities during his time as trade commissioner in Brussels. The commission said it referred the peer, 72, to the European Anti-Fraud Office, known as Olaf, last week after the US Department of Justice released documents allegedly showing he shared sensitive government information with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. - Guardian
Thursday newspaper round-up: UK Power Networks, Starlink, farmers
(Sharecast News) - A French utility has agreed to buy the owner of the electricity cables and power lines across London, the south-east and the east of England in a deal worth £10.5bn. Paris-headquartered Engie said on Wednesday that it had struck a deal to buy UK Power Networks (UKPN) in a "major milestone" for the company's ambition to become the "best energy transition utility". - Guardian

Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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