Great British News: Top 10 national news stories you may have missed this week - The Stratford Observer

Great British News: Top 10 national news stories you may have missed this week

Stratford Editorial 13th Feb, 2022   0

You might think it’s all doom and gloom in the media, but it’s not… good things are happening too!

Once again there has been a lot of Great British news to report this week (7th – 13th February 2022).

Here are ten positive national news stories from the last 7 days you may have missed:

10. Commercial work propels UK construction growth to six-month high

Photo credit: Press photo HS2 – News License.

Business activity in the UK construction sector increased for the twelfth consecutive month in January and growth picked up since December, according to the latest PMI® data compiled by IHS Markit and CIPS. The report shows there were also encouraging signs for the near-term outlook as new orders rose at the fastest pace since August 2021 and input buying was the strongest for six months. Optimism was the strongest since May 2021 and largely reflected increasing tender opportunities and expectations of a swift recovery for the UK economy in 2022… click here

9. Councils given spending boost to build back better




Photo credit: Houses of Parliament in London – Pixabay

Councils in England will have access to a share of £54.1 billion in funding for the coming financial year including more than £1 billion of additional money for social care. This is the largest cash-terms increase in grant funding in ten years and includes a one-off 2022/23 Services Grant worth £822 million for councils to spend as they see fit on local priorities. The measures confirmed by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove this week, will allow councils to maintain and improve the services they provide, while protecting residents from excessive council tax increases… click here

8. Levelling up: Europe’s largest creative hub in London expands to Yorkshire creating 500 jobs


“This significant investment and vote of confidence in the northern creative industries is fantastic news” – Minister of State Nigel Adams (right). Photo credit: UK Gov. Creative Commons License.

Tileyard London is Europe’s largest community of independent artists and businesses, convening 150 creative companies and home to over 250 creative organisations, artists and independent creative industry businesses, including an industry-leading educational and training facility. It is expected that the new site in West Yorkshire will create around 500 new skilled jobs in the area and is benefitting from a £20 million Levelling Up grant provided by central government to support the creative and digital hub which will complete the regeneration plan for Waterfront Wakefield… click here

7. Amazon boosts UK film and TV industry with exclusive studio deal

Shepperton Film Studios in Surrey. Photo credit: Shepperton Film Studios copyright Pinewood.

Prime Video has signed a multimillion pound long-term contract for the exclusive use of new production facilities at Shepperton Studios in a further boost for the UK film and TV industry. The company, which recently said it was moving production of the second season of its highly anticipated Lord Of The Rings series from New Zealand to the UK, has signed a deal for use of nine sound stages, workshops and office accommodation totalling about 450,000 square feet at the Surrey studio. The deal will make it the second biggest studio in the world… click here

6. £174 million to provide homes for 2,900 rough sleepers

Photo credit: Press Photo Creative Commons News License.

Rough sleepers across the country will be supported off the streets and into long-term homes with £174 million funding boost, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has announced this week. The funding, which forms part of the government’s Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme, will create over 2,900 move-on homes between 2021 and 2024 as part of the £433 million programme. All housing provided includes refurbished flats from unlettable homes in disrepair and new build properties, converted hotels and schools… click here

5. Britishvolt and Glencore to open world-leading battery recycling plant in UK

British impact startups like BritishVolt in Blyth have raised £2 billion in investment in 2021, up from £1.7 billion last year. Photo credit: Britishvolt

Battery pioneer Britishvolt, the UK’s foremost investor in battery cell technologies and R&D, has entered into an industry-leading battery recycling joint venture with strategic partner Glencore. The joint venture will develop a world-leading ecosystem for battery recycling in the UK. The facility will process all Britishvolt’s valuable battery manufacturing scrap from their Gigafactory in Blyth and is expected to be operational by mid-2023 with the long-term aim of being 100% powered by renewable energy… click here

4. UK’s new £45 million ‘globally significant’ glass centre that will focus on decarbonising glass production

Photo credit: Glass Futures

UKRI and BEIS have marked the ground-breaking of the new Glass Futures Centre of Excellence in St Helens, near Liverpool this week. The 165,000 square foot transformational global glass research and innovation facility is expected to complete in January 2023, ready for fit-out. It is being delivered by NSD at Saints Retail Park, a site with links to the historic glass industry for which the town is famed. This dynamic and fast-moving partnership has rapidly turned the Glass Futures concept into a deliverable and contracted scheme in less than two years… click here

3. Build Back Better Council promises to unlock investment, boost job creation and promote Global Britain

Photo credit: UK Gov

Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosted a Prime Minister’s Business Council this week alongside Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer and leading business figures in 10 Downing Street. The Prime Minister’s Business Council, or Build Back Better Council as it is also known, brings together a broad range of business leaders from across the whole British economy working in partnership with the government to unlock investment, boost job creation, promote Global Britain and level up the whole of the UK… click here

2. British fintech attracts staggering $37.3 billion which is more than rest of EMEA combined

City of London – Fintech capital of Europe. Photo credit: Pexels

New figures show total UK fintech investment hit a staggering $37.3 billion in 2021, up sevenfold from $5.2 billion in 2020 according to KPMG’s Pulse of Fintech, a bi-annual report on fintech investment trends published this week. The report shows the UK remains at the centre of European fintech investment with British fintechs attracting more funding than their counterparts in the rest of EMEA combined. Five out of the ten largest fintech deals in the EMEA region were completed in the UK… click here

1. UK confirmed as the fastest growing economy in G7

Photo credit: Pixabay

New figures from the Office of National Statistics show the UK economy rebounded with growth of 7.5% last year despite falling back in December due to Omicron restrictions. The Office of National Statistics show the UK having the fastest pace of growth since World War II and being the fastest growing economy in the G7. The 7.5% growth the UK economy recorded in 2021 is the highest of the G7 major economies indicating a strong bounce back from the pandemic despite shrinking 0.2% in December as Omicron restrictions hit the hospitality and retail sectors… click here

This post is sponsored by the Conservative Post who post positive news stories every day. The Conservative Post is an independent news group about conservative values – free people, free speech, free markets and small government.

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