Closing summary: Andy Burnham’s water ‘anger’ and UK GDP growth slows
Andy Burnham has committed to keeping water bills down. So he is fast-approaching the point when he will have to do something about it, now that he is prime minister.
On Thursday he accused water companies of treating their customers “as a bottomless source of funding” for the industry’s failings, after proposals that will push households bills even higher were approved.
Millions of households in England and Wales will face higher bills after water companies were given the green light to spend £3.4bn more than planned, including to support new homes and datacentres.
The big UK economic news of the day was the 0.4% GDP growth in the second quarter. The Guardian’s economics editor, Heather Stewart, writes:
Economic growth slowed in the second quarter of the year, as the disruption unleashed by the Iran war began to take its toll, official figures show.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said GDP expanded by 0.4% in the three months to June, down from 0.6% in the first quarter, in line with City economists’ expectations.
While it marked a slowdown, analysts said the data suggested the UK economy had been more resilient in the face of the ongoing Middle East conflict than feared.
Yael Selfin, the chief economist at KPMG, said: “Consumers have faced a series of shocks since the start of the year but have weathered them remarkably well.”
However, she warned the second half of the year was likely to be weaker. “The UK economy closed out the first half of the year on strong footing, but momentum is likely to fade over the coming months,” she said.
And in fashion world, Mike Ashley has expanded his empire yet again. This time it is the Harvey Nichols department store chain that his Frasers Group will take over.
He has said he would keep Harvey Nichols’s Knightsbridge and Edinburgh stores, but rebrand the four other stores – in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Bristol – as House of Fraser or Flannels, writes retail correspondent Sarah Butler.
Harvey Nichols, which was founded in 1831 as a linen shop and became the flag-bearer for 1990s chic, was put up for sale by its long-term owner Dickson Poon after failing to make a profit since the coronavirus pandemic locked out big-spending foreign tourists.
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Key events
Jaguar Land Rover made a profit of £109m in April, May and June despite falling sales and supply chain challenges at Britain’s largest automotive employer.
The manufacturer, owned by India’s Tata, reported a 9.6% drop in revenues to £6bn, which it blamed on temporary supply constraints, including a fire at a key component supplier, the Middle East conflict and the planned wind-down of sales of Jaguar cars.
The profit was a marked improvement from the £242m loss in the same period last year, when the company was struggling with the impact of Donald Trump’s US tariffs on car imports. It also represented a recovery from the hack that knocked out JLR’s production in 2025.
JLR is planning to relaunch Jaguar later this year as an all-electric brand. It is also gearing up for the long-delayed rollout of the electric version of its flagship Range Rover, and the smaller Range Rover Sport.
PB Balaji, JLR’s chief executive, said:
Despite the near-term industry challenges, we continue to see strong demand for our brands and look forward to the launch of four sensational new products in the coming months: Range Rover Electric, Range Rover Sport Electric, Range Rover GT and Jaguar Type 01.
Energy system operator paid £3.5m to secure extra power for solar eclipse
Jillian Ambrose
Great Britain’s electricity system operator spent millions to source enough electricity to meet the country’s demand over a two-hour period yesterday as the near-total solar eclipse caused a sharp drop in renewable energy generation, according to market analysts.
The operator made payments totaling more than £3.5m to secure electricity on Wednesday evening. These included payments totaling £2.76m for a string of gas power units to provide electricity, and a £1.7m price for extra electricity imports, according to market data provider Argus Media.
The most expensive individual payments were made to gas plants earlier in the afternoon so they would be ready for the drop in solar generation as the moon blocked up to 95% of the sun over parts of the country.
The highest price paid to a gas generator was £890 per megawatt hour (MWh) from the Seabank gas plant in Bristol, England between 4pm BST and 5pm, according to Argus. It added that the Connah’s Quay gas plant was paid prices of between £875/MWh and £890/MWh from its generating units between 15:30 and 19.00.
Timothy Santonastaso, an analyst at Argus, said the payments had effectively helped the system operator to build a position before the solar eclipse.
The eclipse removed distribution-connected generation on the side of the network with highest demand, i.e southern England. Because of severe grid congestion in Scotland, it couldn’t be replaced by the Scottish wind, so it fell to Seabank, Connah’s Quay and interconnector imports to provide the energy, which sit at the expensive end of the grid. So the eclipse added to the preexisting, structural problem of network congestion.
Solar generation fell to 553MW at the deepest obscuration of the sun yesterday shortly before 19.30, compared to 2,031MW forecast for Thursday evening at the same time, he added.
The operator was forced to raise an official alarm over the country’s electricity supplies to signal to generators that they should offer all available power sources to help cover the shortfall. There has been no market notice issued for Thursday evening despite higher demand for electricity to temper the heat and lower wind generation.
Sports Direct owner buys Harvey Nichols department stores
Sarah Butler
The owner of Sports Direct has bought Harvey Nichols out of administration after the upmarket department store chain warned it could run out of money if it did not find new funding.
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group said on Thursday it had bought the chain, which is headquartered at its store in Knightsbridge, for an undisclosed sum on the day it was put into administration. Harvey Nichols has 13 stores and 1,200 employees.
In total, it has five large stores – in London, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester– and a smaller one in Bristol. It trades from outlets outside the UK, in Dublin, Riyadh, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait and two in Hong Kong.
Frasers said it was acquiring the London, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester stores, but discussions over the future of the Dublin shop were “ongoing”. The franchise agreements for the overseas stores will continue under the deal.
Harvey Nichols’s restaurant in the Oxo Tower in London is not included in the deal, and is being sold off separately.
You can read the full report here:
Cliff Roney, an activist with the GMB union and a former water worker, said:
Put simply, any bill hike from Thames Water would be an insult. Thames Water spills sewage and leaks millions of litres of water while its senior management enjoy golden handshakes and bonuses.
Meanwhile, customers are yet again being asked to pick up the tab for this company’s many failures.
The only way to stop the betrayal of consumers and water workers is to renationalise our water.
Andy Burnham’s choice on what to do with the water industry in England and Wales will have to assuage the huge anger from the public and campaigners for clean water.
And it will not be long before Burnham will have to take responsibility for the actions of Ofwat, a government-controlled regulator.
Amy Fairman, head of campaigns at River Action, said:
Ofwat waving through yet more water bill hikes is an insult. For 30 years, where was the investment in our crumbling water infrastructure? Tens of billions went to investors while essential water and sewage works were neglected. We got leaks, pollution and soaring bills.
The prime minister wants greater public control of water companies. Now is the time to act.
Start with debt-laden Thames Water. Place it into the Special Administration Regime so it can be restructured in the public and environmental interest. No more blank cheques for failure.
Scotland and Northern Ireland’s water suppliers are run by their governments.
A close reading of Andy Burnham’s comments on water companies being allowed to charge more might suggest that he is yet to decide exactly how to actually achieve his promise of “more public control”.
Burnham said he “will be looking at how we can give the public more control”. That future tense does not seem to signal anything imminent. And to be fair, any British government is unlikely to start a complicated and potentially chaotic process of taking control of Thames Water in the middle of summer holiday season.
But the prime minister will be presented with an unpalatable choice by his officials: do you allow water companies to spend more – paid for with higher bills – or do you keep bills down and allow sewage to keep flowing into Britain’s rivers and seas?
Some people believe full nationalisation could help to avoid that dilemma, but Burnham has only mentioned public ownership in the context of Thames Water, which is so debt-laden that it needs the largest corporate restructuring in British history to allow it to survive under new owners.
Need a guide on the tricky decisions ahead for Burnham? Here’s one I made earlier:
Andy Burnham: ‘I am angry about water company bill increases’
Prime minister Andy Burnham has said he is “angry” over water bills after the government’s regulator today granted permission for five companies to increase bills.
Burnham said the government was “looking at how we can give the public more control” in the water industry – although he did not add any more detail on what measures he might be considering.
Before he returned to parliament, Burnham vowed “more public control” of the privatised water industry, but he has not so far taken any action, including delaying a decision on whether to put Thames Water into special administration.
Burnham said, via Press Association:
I understand why people are angry – I am too.
The truth is customers have been asked to pay more for years, yet serious pollution incidents are at record levels and the pipes are still leaking.
None of which is the billpayer’s fault, who should not be treated as a bottomless source of funding for other people’s failures.
Customers cannot be treated as a blank cheque. Where water companies seek to pass unnecessary costs on to households, they will be challenged.
Our water industry has clearly not been working for people for far too long. That’s why this government will be looking at how we can give the public more control and help keep bills as low as possible.
Shein loses copyright claim against bitter Chinese fast fashion rival Temu
Chinese fast fashion retailer Shein has reportedly lost a lawsuit in London against its bitter rival Temu for alleged copyright infringement.
The two companies race to get new styles from Chinese factories to customers at prices that far undercut European rivals. Yet they have also engaged in tit-for-tat legal actions in the UK and the US, with each claiming the other is copying them.
Reuters reported that the latest claim in London’s high court was brought in relation to photos of some products. Shein had claimed Temu used its photos to advertise copies of those products. From Reuters:
The ruling, which comes as Shein aims for a $30bn to $40bn valuation in a Hong Kong initial public offering, concerns the first round of their London legal battle. Thursday’s ruling dismissed Shein’s claims for copyright infringement and upheld Temu’s counterclaim, seeking damages for having to remove listings when Shein obtained an injunction.
Temu’s separate counterclaim, alleging that Shein broke competition law by tying fast-fashion suppliers to exclusive agreements, is due to go to trial next year.
A Shein spokesperson said the company was surprised by the ruling:
We do not believe that is the right outcome for brands and rights holders seeking to protect their copyright online.
The biggest winner on London’s FTSE this morning is estate agent Savills. The FTSE 250 member is up 8.9% after it announced a jump in underlying pre-tax profits.
Revenue rose 9% in the first half of 2026 to £1.22bn, giving it underlying pre-tax profits of £34.3m. That was up 47%, although profits were down on a statutory basis to £7m because of one-off costs related to the acquisition of the American investment bank Eastdil Secured.
Savills was helped by strong property demand in the US, where it reported investment volumes up by 24%.
However, the company said the UK lagged behind, with investment down 12% – in part because of the latest political disruption. Savills said:
Sentiment in the UK market was more affected by the escalation of the Middle East conflict and its impact on interest rates, and after a positive Q1, activity slowed as investors assessed its implications and latterly those of anticipated political change in the UK.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said the results “painted a pretty gloomy picture for UK real estate”. He said:
Savills’s predictions of a slump in house prices through the remainder of the year will be good news for prospective purchasers but bad news for anyone looking to sell their home in 2026.
Simon Shaw, group chief executive of Savills, said there had been “significant improvement in Savills’s performance”. He said:
Looking forward, the enlarged group’s pipelines are strong, and although transaction timelines are hard to predict in the current environment, I am confident that we are well positioned to deliver value to our clients, colleagues and shareholders.
The number of UK households behind on their mortgage payments fell in the second quarter, according to banking lobby group UK Finance.
There were 77,940 homeowner mortgages in arrears of 2.5% or more of the outstanding balance in the second quarter of 2026, down 1% on the previous quarter, the group said on Thursday.
The figures suggest that, despite the cost of living pressures that are dominating prime minister Andy Burnham’s thinking, UK households’ finances may not be in too bad a state relative to other recent periods. That in turn might help explain the resilience of the UK economy this year.
Repossessions of houses from people who have not paid their mortgages also fell, and “are significantly below the long-term average”, UK Finance said. There were 1,150 repossessions, 8% less than in the previous quarter and 14% less than one year previously.
Ian Harris, president of National Association of Estate Agents Propertymark, a separate lobby group, said:
While these figures are encouraging, it is important not to lose sight of the financial pressures that continue to affect homeowners and landlords. The reduction in mortgage arrears and repossessions is welcome, but affordability remains a challenge for many across the housing market.
Europe’s industrial production remained flat in June, but that was a slightly better result than expected.
Industrial production in the eurozone remained unchanged, and was up by 0.2% in the EU, according to first estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
That was marginally better than the 0.1% expected by economists polled by Reuters. In May 2026, industrial production grew by 0.3% in the eurozone and the EU.
However, Europe’s economy will do well to sustain output over the rest of the summer – particularly given the European droughts that have caused low water levels in the Rhine river, a crucial conduit for Germany’s industry.
Germany’s inland navigation agency, WSV, on Tuesday said the navigable water depth at the chokepoint of Kaub near Koblenz was 15 cm on Tuesday, below the previous lowest recorded level of 25 cm in 2018. With no sign of rains to refill the waterways, the river may remain difficult for fully laden ships to navigate for some time.
Jillian Ambrose
Enough new coalmining projects were proposed last year to increase global supplies by 2.5bn tonnes a year, an increase of 11% from the year before, even as demand for coal plateaus, according to a new report.
Global Energy Monitor, an NGO, found that India ignited a rise in new coalmine proposals in 2025 despite a global slowdown in the number of mine openings because of falling demand for the fossil fuel.
The increase was driven almost entirely by the states of Jharkhand and Odisha, which doubled their proposals for new coalmines in line with an ambitious plan from India’s ministry of coal to increase the country’s output.
You can read the full story here:
Carmakers in the UK constantly complain that they are being forced into unsustainable discounts to sell electric cars. Yet it is a similar picture for petrol and hybrid cars as well, according to data from Insider Car Deals.
In fact, the average discount on a hybrid car has risen above that on petrol cars, as carmakers try to attract buyers. The average hybrid saving rose from 8.7% to 11.0% in 12 months, now worth £6,045, Insider Car Deals said.
Petrol discounts average 10.3%, or £4,599. Discounts on EVs are still ahead of hybrids, at 11.9%, or £6,455, although average EV savings have actually fallen over the past year.
Pat Hoy, founder of Insider Car Deals, said:
For the last few years the really eye-catching new-car discounts have tended to be associated with electric cars. What is interesting now is just how quickly hybrids have caught up.
The average hybrid saving has gone from 8.7% to 11% in a year and is now ahead of petrol. At the same time, the average discount on an EV has actually edged backwards.
The Audi A5 plug-in hybrid was the most discounted in the company’s data, with an average saving of 24.7%.
Anthropic expected to be valued at $2tn in stock market float – report
Speaking of datacentres, there are some interesting stories around today about one of the companies driving the artificial intelligence boom.
Anthropic, the maker of the Claude chatbot, is expected to target a valuation of $2tn or more in a float this autumn, the Financial Times reported. It said:
Half a dozen of the company’s backers told the FT that Anthropic’s rapidly rising revenue would enable it to more than double its current valuation in a planned autumn float. A listing at that level could unlock billions of dollars in gains for the five-year-old company’s early investors but would also test public markets that are growing more nervous about the AI boom. Anthropic’s backers say booming demand for the lab’s advanced AI models and tools justifies their lofty expectations.
The valuation would raise pressure on its big rival, OpenAI, which is also planning a stock market float. It would also confirm chief executive Dario Amodei as one of the richest people in the world.
Anthropic is also on the hunt for takeovers. Bloomberg reported the company is in talks to buy the artificial intelligence startup Decart AI for about $6bn, citing to people familiar with the matter. It said:
Decart makes so-called world models, which aim to simulate the physical world, as well as software that can reduce the cost of training AI by helping chips work more efficiently. The latter tech could help Anthropic’s existing infrastructure absorb more demand, according to a person familiar with the matter. Anthropic, which rarely makes large acquisitions, has been spending heavily on computing power to develop new products and serve customers.
Five water companies allowed to raise bills further for data centres and housing
Five English water companies will be allowed to further raise household bills to fund an extra £3.4bn in spending on infrastructure for datacentres, new housing, and to try to scrub harmful “forever chemicals”.
Southern Water will be allowed the largest bills increase of an average of £43 in the 2027/28 financial year, and £37 in 2029/30, Ofwat, the regulator for England and Wales, said on Thursday.
The government introduced a process for companies to appeal for more cash if costs change within the five-year periods in which bills are set. Nevertheless, the extra spending is likely to prove controversial, given the scrutiny on the privatised water companies’ failings – and large executive pay packets.
13 water companies asked Ofwat to be allowed to raise customer bills to fund works valued at £4.3bn. Ofwat granted permission for £3.4bn in works, but only five of the companies will be able to raise bills.
Wessex Water bills will rise by £4 and then £7 for its customers in south-west England. Thames Water, supplier to London and the Thames valley, will be allowed to charge another £3 and then £5, as will Severn Trent, supplier to Bristol, the Midlands and east Wales. South East Water will be allowed to charge another £1 in 2029/20.
Ofwat said the some of the works funded would include supplies to datacentres in Manchester, which have large water needs for cooling, more infrastructure for tourists in Newquay, Cornwall, and upgrades to Wessex Water’s waste treatment works to remove non-stick “forever chemicals”, formally known as Pfas stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Helen Campbell, executive director for delivery at Ofwat, said:
The cost change process strengthens the ability of companies to deliver without delay. The newly agreed funding will help unlock much-needed new housing development and boost business growth across a range of sectors, as well as improving drinking water quality and the removal of PFAS and forever chemicals.
We will track performance to ensure companies are delivering the expected improvements for customers and the environment. If they don’t, expenditure can be clawed back.
