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Donald Trump’s two Scottish golf courses have posted another year of financial losses despite a strong rise in turnover, as the former US president’s business empire continues to invest heavily in luxury tourism and golf.
Accounts filed for 2024 show that Trump Turnberry, in Ayrshire, increased its revenue by 15 per cent to £24.2 million, driven by higher visitor numbers, luxury travel groups and stronger performance in its high-end golf offering, where green fees can exceed £1,000 a round.
Operating profit at the historic resort more than doubled to £2.3 million, but a £2.9 million depreciation charge pushed the business into a pre-tax loss of £631,779 — an improvement on the £1.7 million loss recorded the previous year, when depreciation costs were slightly lower at £2.8 million.
At Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire, turnover rose by 22 per cent to £4.5 million, narrowing losses to £937,693 compared with £1.4 million in 2023. The improvement was attributed to increased visitor numbers and international attention following tournaments such as the PGA Seniors Championship, hosted at the site in August 2024.
In a statement accompanying the accounts, Eric Trump, the former president’s son and executive vice-president of the Trump Organization, said both properties were now seeing the benefits of sustained investment and renewed interest from overseas tourists.
He said: “The revenue increase was driven by luxury travel groups and leisure visitors to Turnberry, while the golf business outperformed expectations. Ownership remains steadfastly committed to their vision for the properties and confidently foresees a positive fiscal improvement as the investment activities flow through in the medium and longer term.”
The Turnberry resort, which employs more than 440 staff, has undergone significant refurbishment since its purchase by Trump in 2014 from the Dubai-based group Leisurecorp in a deal reportedly worth around $60 million. The course, redesigned by Martin Ebert, last hosted The Open Championship in 2009, when Stewart Cink defeated Tom Watson in a playoff. The R&A has since declined to return the major tournament to the course, citing logistical challenges and, in recent years, political sensitivities surrounding the Trump brand.
Nevertheless, the organisation said earlier this year it was conducting new feasibility work on Turnberry’s future as a championship venue, suggesting it may not be permanently off the rota.
In Aberdeenshire, where the first Trump course opened in 2012 after a lengthy and contentious planning battle over environmental concerns, the Trump Organization remains focused on expansion. Trump himself visited the site in July 2024 to open a second course, designed by renowned architect Martin Hawtree, as part of an effort to turn the coastal estate into a global golf destination.
Sarah Malone, executive vice-president of Trump International Scotland, said both properties “saw substantial revenue growth across all income streams in 2024 and attained their highest ever annual turnovers.”
“Both businesses have also benefited from major capital investments to further expand and enhance their world-ranked golf courses and leisure facilities,” she added.
Neither business declared a dividend for the year. Trump International employs more than 100 staff, with both properties continuing to be backed by the Trump Organization’s broader investment strategy in European hospitality and golf assets.
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Donald Trump’s Scottish golf resorts still loss making despite rising revenues

Britain’s renewable electricity generation hit a new record for the third quarter of 2025, with wind and solar output combining to deliver the country’s cleanest power mix on record, according to the latest data from Montel Analytics.
In the three months to the end of September, total renewable output — including wind, solar, hydro and biomass — reached 31.9 terawatt hours (TWh), the highest Q3 figure since records began in 2014. Renewables accounted for 51% of Britain’s total power generation, overtaking all fossil-fuelled sources combined.
Wind power led the charge with 17.7TWh, up 6% year on year and the highest third-quarter output ever recorded by Montel. The increase came despite several periods of curtailment, particularly in September when strong winds coincided with weak demand, driving electricity prices into negative territory for several hours.
Solar generation also saw exceptional gains, producing 6.2TWh — the second-highest quarterly total since records began, behind only Q2 2025. This marked a 32% increase on Q3 2024’s total of 4.7TWh, fuelled by prolonged sunshine and intense summer heatwaves in early July and mid-August that sent temperatures soaring and boosted cooling demand across the UK.
Phil Hewitt, Director at Montel Analytics, said the figures reflect Britain’s accelerating transition toward renewable energy and the growing impact of clean generation on the overall power mix.
“High levels of renewable generation are symptomatic of a long-term commitment to producing more of our power from clean sources,” Hewitt said. “Wind output would have been even higher had it not been for several curtailments across the quarter. Because of the high levels of renewable generation, the requirement for gas-fired power was significantly reduced.”
The surge in renewables has continued to displace gas-fired power. Combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants produced 15.4TWh in Q3 — slightly up from the record low of 13.8TWh a year earlier, but still 25% below 2023 levels, when gas generation totalled 20.5TWh.
Meanwhile, output from Britain’s nuclear fleet fell to 7.8TWh, its lowest third-quarter level since 2014. Multiple reactors, including Hartlepool 2, Heysham 1 and 2, and Torness 1 and 2, were offline for maintenance and refuelling during the period.
As a result, Britain’s Q3 power mix was dominated by renewables (51%), followed by gas (24%), imports (13%), and nuclear (12%).
Hewitt noted that the high renewable share, combined with reduced summer demand, helped stabilise wholesale power prices during Q3.
“The quarter followed the expected seasonal trend, with warmer weather easing system demand and contributing to lower gas and electricity prices than seen in Q2,” he said. “We expect that stability to continue into Q4, unless geopolitical tensions — particularly in the Middle East — push gas prices higher.”
Gas storage levels across Europe are now nearly full ahead of winter, but analysts warn that emerging La Niña conditions could bring colder-than-normal weather to the UK and northern Europe later in the year.
“A La Niña event typically occurs every three to five years and can bring a colder winter,” Hewitt said. “That could increase demand, speed up storage drawdowns, and add upward pressure on wholesale prices. However, this appears to be a weak La Niña event and may fizzle out.”
The new data underlines the resilience and importance of renewables in the UK’s energy system — even amid market volatility and infrastructure constraints.
Analysts said the record-breaking quarter reinforces the UK’s position as a global leader in clean energy generation, while also highlighting the need for greater grid flexibility and storage to prevent curtailments during high-output periods.
As the UK heads into the winter months, the balance between renewable generation, system demand, and gas market stability will be critical to maintaining energy security — and to sustaining the downward trend in wholesale prices that consumers and businesses are hoping will continue.
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Wind and solar power drive UK renewable electricity record

Instagram is introducing a PG-13-style content rating system to give parents greater control over what teenagers see on the platform, Meta has announced.
The change marks one of the company’s most sweeping efforts yet to align social-media content moderation with the kind of age guidance familiar from the cinema. All users under 18 will automatically be placed into a “13+” setting modelled on the US parental guidance film rating. Teens will only be able to opt out with explicit parental consent.
The PG-13 system, created in the United States more than four decades ago, has become shorthand for content considered broadly suitable for teenagers but containing material that may be inappropriate for younger children. Meta said its new approach would mirror that framework online.
“While there are obvious differences between movies and social media, we made these changes so teens’ experience in the 13+ setting feels closer to the Instagram equivalent of watching a PG-13 movie,” Meta said. “We wanted to align our policies with an independent standard parents are already familiar with.”
Instagram already restricts sexually suggestive, graphic, or adult content such as tobacco or alcohol promotion on teen accounts. The new settings go further, tightening filters around strong language, risky stunts, and imagery linked to harmful behaviours, including posts featuring marijuana or drug paraphernalia.
Search results will also be restricted more aggressively. Keywords such as “alcohol” or “gore” — and even common misspellings — will be blocked under the new moderation system.
The approach has been designed to resemble the UK’s 12A cinema classification. Just as films such as Titanic or The Fast and the Furious may feature fleeting nudity or moderate violence but remain accessible to teenagers, the new Instagram rules will not prohibit all instances of partial nudity or stylised aggression.
Meta said the system would launch first in the US, UK, Australia and Canada, before being expanded to Europe and other regions early next year.
The move comes amid growing scrutiny of Meta’s child-safety record and the effectiveness of its moderation tools.
A recent independent review led by Arturo Béjar, a former senior Meta engineer turned whistleblower, concluded that 64% of new safety tools on Instagram were ineffective. Conducted alongside academics from New York University, Northeastern University and the UK’s Molly Rose Foundation, the study found persistent exposure to harmful content among teenage users.
Béjar said: “Kids are not safe on Instagram.”
Meta rejected the findings, insisting that parents already have “robust tools” to manage teenagers’ accounts and monitor activity.
The UK communications regulator Ofcom has also warned that social media companies must adopt a “safety-first approach” under the forthcoming Online Safety Act, saying platforms that fail to protect children will face enforcement action and potential fines.
Child-safety campaigners welcomed the intent behind the PG-13 system but questioned whether it would deliver meaningful change.
“Time and again Meta’s PR announcements do not result in meaningful safety updates for teens,” said Rowan Ferguson, policy manager at the Molly Rose Foundation. “As our recent report revealed, they still have work to do to protect young people from the most harmful content. These further updates must be judged on their effectiveness — and that requires transparency and independent testing.”
Critics argue that parental controls can be effective only if they are easy to use and clearly communicated to families, while some digital-rights advocates warn that over-blocking could limit teenagers’ access to legitimate health or educational resources.
The rollout of a PG-13-style content standard reflects Meta’s wider strategy to bring its platforms closer to traditional media norms amid rising pressure from governments and watchdogs.
By borrowing a familiar system from the film industry, Instagram hopes to reassure parents that it is taking responsibility for the wellbeing of its youngest users — and to set a benchmark other social platforms may now feel compelled to follow.
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Instagram to introduce PG-13-style controls to protect teen users, says Meta

British autonomous driving start-up Wayve is in early talks with Microsoft and SoftBank over a potential $2 billion funding round, in a deal that would value the London-based AI firm at $8 billion, according to The Financial Times.
Founded in 2017 by Cambridge PhD students Alex Kendall and Amar Shah, Wayve has developed a breakthrough approach to self-driving cars, using machine learning and computer vision to teach vehicles how to drive through real-world video and data—rather than relying on pre-programmed rules.
The fast-growing company is already backed by an elite roster of investors, including SoftBank, Nvidia, Microsoft, Ilya Sutskever (OpenAI co-founder), and Yann LeCun (Meta’s Chief AI Scientist). Last year, SoftBank led a $1 billion round, with Nvidia adding another $500 million in September during CEO Jensen Huang’s high-profile visit to London with President Trump.
Wayve’s AI-powered software is designed to make any car hands-free. It is currently being trialled with retail and logistics partners including Asda, Ocado, and Uber, with UK road tests set for next spring. The company has also signed a landmark deal with Nissan, aiming to integrate its technology into Nissan vehicles by 2027.
From humble beginnings in a garage, Wayve now employs over 800 staff across six countries, making it one of the UK’s most internationally ambitious AI ventures. The planned investment—if finalised—would signal continued confidence in Britain’s AI innovation sector, at a time of intensifying global competition in autonomous driving and artificial general intelligence.
A key benefit of Wayve’s approach is its ability to handle unpredictable scenarios—such as pedestrians stepping into the road or sudden swerves from other vehicles—making it a strong contender in the race to scale safe and adaptable self-driving solutions.
Industry experts hope the rollout of driverless cars will dramatically reduce road accidents by removing human error, drunk driving, and road rage from the equation.
Wayve declined to comment on the fundraising talks.
Read more:
Wayve wheels in Microsoft and Softbank for $2bn cash injection

Retail technology platform Patchworks has secured £5 million in new funding to accelerate its expansion into the United States and scale its next generation of AI-powered integration tools for enterprise retailers.
The round, led by existing backer Gresham House Ventures with growth lending from Palatine Growth Credit, comes as the company reports a 41 per cent year-on-year increase in annual recurring revenue and deepening adoption across ecommerce and omnichannel retail.
The latest investment will be used to expand sales and marketing in North America, enhance product innovation, and embed new AI capabilities into its integration platform. Patchworks helps retailers connect and automate systems across ecommerce, ERP, POS, CRM, PIM and fulfilment channels — a critical layer for businesses managing complex, multi-system operations.
Many retailers still rely on disconnected legacy systems that cannot share information in real time, resulting in overselling, delayed orders, and costly manual processes. Failures in integration have been linked to some of retail’s biggest collapses, including Target Canada, Debenhams, and BHS, where poor data flow contributed to stock and fulfilment crises.
Patchworks’ platform aims to remove that friction by offering retailers a single, scalable integration layer. Its software connects core systems in days rather than months, giving merchants faster access to accurate data, smoother customer experiences and reduced operational risk.
The company said the new investment would help retailers “future-proof their infrastructure” and respond to fast-changing consumer behaviour.
By layering AI into its system, Patchworks plans to introduce smarter automation tools and enable large language models to query retail data directly, helping teams identify insights, streamline fulfilment, and eliminate repetitive manual tasks.
“Retailers and brands need flexible, future-proof infrastructure to stay competitive,” said Jim Herbert, chief executive of Patchworks. “This follow-on investment is a huge vote of confidence in our platform and our strategy. We’re doubling down on the US market, scaling our partner ecosystem, and continuing to enhance the platform with AI so our customers can connect, adapt and grow faster.”
Patchworks’ momentum has been driven by what the company calls its “partner flywheel” — a model that incentivises digital agencies and technology providers to deliver the platform at scale. This partner-first approach has helped it achieve global delivery coverage and maintain close alignment with the evolving needs of the retail tech ecosystem.
Caroline Tulloch, Investment Director at Gresham House Ventures, said: “Patchworks has gone from strength to strength since our first investment in 2021. The business has built strong fundamentals and a clear path to scale. This additional funding will accelerate growth, particularly in North America, and we are excited to continue supporting Jim and the team.”
William Chappel, Managing Partner at Palatine Growth Credit, added: “Patchworks sits at the heart of the modern commerce ecosystem, helping retailers unlock efficiencies and innovation. We are delighted to back its expansion strategy as it captures more market share in the fast-growing iPaaS segment.”
Patchworks has emerged as a key player in the shift toward composable and MACH-based retail technology stacks, which allow brands to assemble best-in-class tools rather than rely on monolithic systems.
The platform’s ability to integrate these modular systems has made it a go-to choice for enterprise retailers seeking agility and resilience. The company already counts several global brands among its clients and continues to strengthen its presence through partnerships with major digital agencies.
With sustainability-focused backers and a strategy aligned to long-term digital transformation, Patchworks is positioning itself as a critical enabler of retail’s next phase — one defined by connected data, automation, and adaptive infrastructure.
Herbert said: “Our mission is simple — to help retailers stay connected in a fragmented world. The commerce ecosystem is evolving fast, and our platform ensures our customers are always one step ahead.”
Eversheds Sutherland advised on the deal.
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Patchworks raises £5m to power US expansion and future-proof retail technology

The UK head of Fujitsu Services Limited, the company behind the Post Office’s disastrous Horizon IT system, has received a 50% pay rise — despite the firm still refusing to quantify compensation for hundreds of wrongly convicted sub-postmasters.
The Japan-owned technology giant handed its best-paid UK executive — believed to be Anwen Owen, Fujitsu’s UK chief — £591,000 in total pay for the year to March 2025, up from £388,000 the previous year.
Corporate filings show that Owen, who joined the board in 2022, was previously a senior government official, serving as head of engagement at HM Treasury between 2010 and 2012.
The revelation comes as Fujitsu continues to face widespread criticism for its role in what has been described as the biggest miscarriage of justice in British corporate history.
Fujitsu’s annual report, filed last week, also reveals the company faces a £4 million claim for damages brought by a sub-postmaster on 10 July 2025 — believed to be Lee Castleton, a former postmaster from Bridlington who was portrayed in ITV’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office, the BAFTA-winning dramatisation that reignited public outrage over the scandal.
The company stated that “it is not yet possible to predict the outcome” of the case.
The Horizon IT inquiry, led by Sir Wyn Williams, continues to investigate the Post Office’s use of Fujitsu’s flawed accounting software, which led to more than 900 wrongful prosecutions between 1999 and 2015.
Of those, over 230 sub-postmasters were jailed, and at least 13 are believed to have taken their own lives after being accused of theft or fraud that they did not commit.
Despite the ongoing scandal, Fujitsu’s UK business remains highly profitable. The company generated over £1 billion in revenue last year, primarily through government contracts.
The firm has paused bidding for new public sector work while the Horizon inquiry continues but remains a major supplier to UK departments.
In total, the company’s annual wage bill reached £500 million for its 5,800 employees, with average salaries rising 4.2% to £84,135.
Fujitsu’s Japanese parent company injected a further £80 million of capital into its UK arm last year, following a £200 million cash injection the year before, underscoring the scale of financial pressure amid mounting legal and reputational challenges.
Lord James Arbuthnot, the former Conservative MP who has long campaigned on behalf of wronged sub-postmasters, condemned the pay increase as “bizarre” and “deeply inappropriate.”
“The management of Fujitsu in the UK has been absolutely disastrous for Fujitsu itself and for Japanese business in general,” he said.
“It has shown itself to be unethical, dishonest, and completely uncaring about the disaster it has brought to the sub-postmasters and the cost to the taxpayer.
For some reason, which I cannot understand, the government still continues to think that it is a fit and proper organisation with which to do business. It is not — and it ought not to have any government contracts at all.”
His comments add to growing pressure on the government to ban Fujitsu from future procurement processes until its financial contribution to the compensation scheme is confirmed.
The government has said it will pursue Fujitsu for its share of compensation costs, which could total hundreds of millions of pounds once final settlements are reached.
A Fujitsu spokeswoman declined to comment on executive pay or ongoing legal cases.
She said: “We remain committed to providing our full co-operation to the inquiry as Sir Wyn Williams prepares his final report.
We continue to engage with the UK Government regarding Fujitsu’s contribution to compensation.”
The company insists it has already implemented internal reforms and strengthened governance processes, but critics argue its leadership has yet to demonstrate genuine accountability for the systemic failures that destroyed lives.
The Horizon case remains one of the darkest chapters in modern British business history — exposing the devastating human impact of digital failure, and prompting questions about corporate ethics, state procurement, and oversight of technology suppliers.
As Fujitsu’s top executive enjoys a near £600,000 salary, the long road to justice — and adequate compensation for those wrongfully accused — continues.
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Fujitsu boss gets 50% pay rise despite Horizon scandal fallout

The Open University (OU) has joined forces with NatWest and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to relaunch the Open Business Creators Fund, a nationwide initiative offering early-stage women entrepreneurs financial support, mentoring, and access to training resources.
Launched in a video message by Baroness Martha Lane Fox, Chancellor of The Open University, the competition offers individual grants of up to £2,500, backed by £50,000 in sponsorship from NatWest.
The fund is open to women and those who identify as women aged 16 and over living anywhere in the UK, and is aimed at supporting those in the idea or early stages of starting a business.
“This is more than a competition – it’s a launchpad for women entrepreneurs,” said Chaitali Patel, Head of Prospects at The Open University. “With the support of our Validate platform, every applicant leaves with a stronger, clearer business concept and the confidence to take it forward.”
A learning-led approach to entrepreneurship
What sets this initiative apart is that every applicant is guided through the OU’s Validate business development platform — an interactive tool that helps users refine and test their business ideas.
Validate walks participants through identifying customer needs, developing value propositions, understanding key partners and resources, and producing a professional business portfolio. The completed portfolio then forms part of the fund application, meaning even those who don’t secure a grant gain practical skills and a tangible business plan.
The initiative builds on The Open University’s long-standing commitment to inclusive, accessible entrepreneurship, helping remove the barriers often faced by women, people of colour, and those from lower-income backgrounds when starting out in business.
Alongside the funding competition, the OU and NatWest will host a three-part webinar series across October and November — free and open to all — designed to inspire and equip new founders with practical skills.
The series, themed around Confidence, Capabilities, and Connections, features high-profile entrepreneurs, academics, and industry mentors:
Webinar 1: Confidence – Tuesday, 21 October (12:00–13:00)
Mags Byrne, Entrepreneur in Residence at The Open University, and Stef Genesis, a pioneer in the esports industry, will share their journeys. OU Business School’s Liz Moody will lead a hands-on workshop to help participants refine and strengthen business ideas.
Webinar 2: Capabilities – Wednesday, 5 November (12:00–13:00)
Ronke Maye, founder of Ronke Maye Ltd, will discuss audience engagement and relationship-building, followed by NatWest experts on managing costs and projecting revenue.
Webinar 3: Connections – Tuesday, 18 November (19:00–20:00)
A dynamic panel featuring Soyna Barlow, Justice Williams, Claudine Reid MBE, and OU Entrepreneur in Residence Russell Dalgleish will explore networking, visibility, and collaboration.
Anyone can register for the webinars through the Open Business Creators website.
Applications open until 21 November
To apply, participants must complete their Validate portfolio and submit it via the Open Business Creators entry formby midnight on Friday, 21 November 2025. Winners will be announced on 19 December 2025.
The competition provides more than just funding — it’s designed to foster a sense of community among new founders, connecting them with role models and professional networks through NatWest’s Enterprise team and The Open University’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Patel added that the initiative represents a broader push to democratise access to entrepreneurship: “Everyone should have the chance to turn an idea into a viable business — not just those with existing networks or resources. This fund is about levelling the playing field.”
The fund’s return comes at a time of rising interest in female entrepreneurship, with women starting businesses at faster rates than ever before but still facing significant disparities in funding access.
By combining NatWest’s business expertise with the OU’s education and mentoring framework, the partnership aims to support women from all backgrounds to build sustainable, scalable ventures — and, in turn, boost the UK’s entrepreneurial landscape.
To learn more and apply, visit: Open Business Creators Fund
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The Open University and NatWest launch £50,000 ‘Open Business Creators Fund’ to empower women entrepreneurs

The consortium behind PPE Medpro has announced its readiness to enter discussions with the company’s administrators to explore a possible settlement with the government, following the High Court’s ruling that the firm must repay £121.9 million for breaching its PPE contract with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
In a statement shared with Business Matters, a spokesperson for the consortium said: “The consortium partners of PPE Medpro are prepared to enter into a dialogue with the administrators of the company to discuss a possible settlement with the government.”
The announcement follows nearly five years of legal proceedings and mounting political pressure, with PPE Medpro having spent £4.3 million defending its position in court — and consistently maintaining that it delivered all 25 million gowns required by the £122 million contract.
Throughout the process, PPE Medpro offered to settle on a no-fault basis, including proposals to either remake the entire 25 million gown order or pay a £23 million cash equivalent. These offers, made repeatedly before, during, and even after the trial, were rejected by the DHSC.
By contrast, a separate £135 million claim the DHSC brought against Primerdesign Ltd was settled quietly for £5 million, on a no-fault basis, just weeks before trial.
Critics now argue that the government’s handling of the Medpro dispute has been inconsistent and politically charged, particularly as the gowns supplied by PPE Medpro — although found not to meet sterility requirements under a technical clause — were never suitable for NHS frontline use due to being single-bagged, a feature the DHSC reportedly failed to specify across all gown contracts at the time.
“This case has become a distraction from the real issue: the government’s inability to manage PPE procurement, usage, or resale,” said one industry observer.
An £85 million missed opportunity?
Significantly, PPE Medpro has long argued that the gowns — while not deployed by the NHS — were viable for use in non-sterile environments, and could have been resold internationally.
An independent expert valuation found the gowns could have been worth £85 million on the global market at the end of 2020. Yet the government made no attempt to resell or repurpose them, despite sitting on a decade’s worth of surplus gown stock and ultimately writing off nearly £10 billion of pandemic PPE.
Had the DHSC chosen to act, the net financial difference between contract cost and resale value would have been just £37 million — a fraction of the claim pursued in court.
On 2 October, Mrs Justice Cockerill ruled that PPE Medpro breached the contract by failing to prove that the gowns had undergone a validated sterilisation process, despite providing all delivery documentation and post-sterilisation test certificates.
The judge noted that the required documentation for radiation dose mapping — which the company later obtained after sending investigators to China — was not provided in time for trial. The failure, she ruled, constituted a technical breach of contract, and PPE Medpro was ordered to repay the full contract value.
Barrowman and Mone have slammed the ruling as a “travesty of justice” and accused the government of scapegoating them to deflect attention from its wider pandemic procurement failures.
PPE Medpro is now in administration, and it remains to be seen whether the consortium’s willingness to re-engage with the government will lead to a negotiated resolution — or further legal wrangling.
But as calls grow for transparency over the government’s own procurement decisions, the PPE Medpro saga is no longer just a legal dispute — it has become a symbol of the political and financial fallout of the UK’s Covid-era spending spree.
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PPE Medpro consortium signals willingness to settle as spotlight turns to government’s £85m missed resale opportunity

A senior industry figure has called on the Government to take robust retaliatory action against the European Union’s new trade restrictions on British steel, warning that they could devastate the UK’s manufacturing base.
Simon Boyd, managing director of Dorset-based structural steel company REIDsteel, urged ministers to impose reciprocal tariffs to protect UK producers, manufacturers and supply chains after Brussels announced plans to slash tariff-free quotas for British steel exports.
The EU’s new measures will halve the UK’s tariff-free quota for structural steel exports and impose a 50% tariff on all shipments exceeding that limit, as part of a wider package designed to curb imports of Chinese steel.
“The total EU market for structural steel is eight million tonnes per annum, of which the UK is currently granted a tariff-free quota of 108,000 tonnes — less than 2% of the market,” Boyd said.
“Conversely, the UK market is 800,000 tonnes per annum while EU producers enjoy a tariff-free quota of 680,000 tonnes, equivalent to 85% of the UK market. Hardly fair trade.”
Boyd, who earlier this year campaigned to save British Steel’s blast furnaces at Scunthorpe, said the proposed changes would leave British exporters “virtually shut out” of the European market while allowing EU producers near-unrestricted access to the UK.
“All UK producers will be impacted by this change in policy,” he said. “Not only will exports be hit, but we could see a flood of imported steel if we don’t tighten our own trading measures.”
He called for the Government to “react boldly” by either negotiating an exemption from the EU’s anti-dumping measures or threatening equivalent counter-tariffs to restore balance.
“The EU may need to prop up its own ailing steel sector and fight off Chinese dumping, but this cannot be at the expense of the UK,” he warned. “There is no time to lose.”
According to industry body UK Steel, the sector directly employs 36,800 workers and supports a further 46,000 jobs in its supply chain. It contributes £1.7 billion directly to the economy, £2.2 billion through its supply network, and adds £3.1 billion to the UK’s balance of trade.
Industry leaders fear that without decisive action, the EU’s new tariffs could accelerate the decline of Britain’s heavy industry and undermine the Government’s ambition to rebuild domestic manufacturing.
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Government urged to get tough with EU over new steel tariffs