Lean times hit the vertical farming business
Chris Baraniuk Technology of Business reporter Getty Images AeroFarms filed for bankruptcy protection in June Not long ago, vertical farming seemed unstoppable. Big tech was going to supercharge agriculture, one of the oldest industries in the world, and the revolution would start with salad leaves. Warehouse-grown greens, flourishing in trays neatly stacked beneath row upon […]
Where we are in charts
Steve Duffy, Gwyndaf Hughes & Steffan Messenger BBC News Getty Images The River Conwy bursts its banks in Llanrwst last October The UK is hosting a summit at the end of October which is regarded as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control. The COP26 meeting in Glasgow could lead to major […]
New plan to pay farmers who protect winter soil
Roger Harrabin BBC environment analyst Getty Images The empty brown fields of England’s winter countryside could be transformed under government plans for farming. Cold naked acres will in future be clothed in vegetation as farmers are paid for sowing plants that bind the soil together. The aim is to hold precious topsoil on the land, […]
Taste for takeaways outlasts Covid lockdowns
Elisabeth Mahy Wake Up to Money, BBC Radio 5 Live Carol Deeney Cafe owner Carol Deeney says 50% of sales are now via delivery app If any of Carol Deeney’s customers fancy a bacon roll or a haggis toastie, they can pop down to her Scottish Street Food café in east London. But she says […]
Rail industry urges workers not to spurn the train
Getty Images Unless workers start taking the train again, there could be long-term adverse effects on city centres and High Streets, the rail industry has warned. Train commuting is still just 33% of its pre-Covid rate, while car journeys have reached pre-pandemic levels, said the Rail Delivery Group (RDG). If workers continued to go by […]
50,000 more HGV driving tests promised a year
Getty Images The government has confirmed plans to speed up the process of obtaining an HGV driver licence, amid a nationwide shortage of drivers. Up to 50,000 more HGV driving tests will be made available each year by shortening the application process and the tests themselves, it said. The UK faces a shortfall of around […]
Hauliers and poultry workers to get temporary visas
PA Media Up to 10,500 lorry drivers and poultry workers can receive temporary UK visas as the government seeks to limit disruption in the run-up to Christmas. The government confirmed that 5,000 fuel tanker and food lorry drivers will be eligible to work in the UK for three months, until Christmas Eve. The scheme is […]
Military to deliver petrol to UK garages from Monday
PA Media Armed forces personnel will begin delivering petrol to garages across the UK from Monday, the government says. Almost 200 servicemen and women, 100 of them drivers, will provide “temporary” support to ease pressure on stations. Ministers have also announced that up to 300 overseas fuel tanker drivers will be able to work in […]
Northern Ireland ‘losing out on tens of millions of EU funding’
Pacemaker Finance Minister Conor Murphy said £70m had been lost to the Stormont executive Northern Ireland is losing out on tens of millions of pounds with the end of funding which had previously come from the EU, the finance minister has said. Conor Murphy said £70m had been lost to the Stormont executive, with a […]
‘The staffing issue is impossible’
Phil Mercer BBC News, Sydney Getty Images Overseas staff have underpinned Australia’s hospitality sector for decades but the pandemic forced many bar workers and wait staff to return home Wanted: goat farmers, acupuncturists and zookeepers. Pandemic border closures have further exacerbated a serious skills shortage that has, for years, held Australia’s economy back. Many foreign […]