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Household energy bills are forecast to fall by around £117 from April, as government policy changes outweigh modest increases in wholesale prices.
Energy consultancy Cornwall Insight predicts that the Ofgem price cap will drop 7 per cent to £1,641 a year for a typical dual-fuel household when it is reset on 1 April.
The forecast reduction is slightly smaller than Cornwall Insight’s previous estimate of an 8 per cent, or £138, cut, reflecting a recent uptick in wholesale energy prices. Ofgem is due to confirm the official cap level by 25 February for the period running to 30 June.
The projected fall follows measures announced in last November’s budget by Rachel Reeves, including the scrapping of the Energy Company Obligation scheme. Cornwall Insight estimates these policy changes will reduce the cap by about £145 a year once VAT and pricing allowances are factored in.
However, higher network charges, linked to the operation and maintenance of Britain’s energy infrastructure, have offset part of the saving.
Wholesale gas prices have been volatile in recent weeks due to geopolitical tensions, but remain below the levels seen when the January price cap was set. Cornwall Insight expects bills to remain “relatively steady” through the rest of 2026, with only a modest increase forecast in July.
Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, said: “Any reduction in bills is positive, especially at a time when affordability matters. The fall in policy costs is doing most of the heavy lifting, and while wholesale prices have been in the headlines, their impact on April’s bills is limited.”
He cautioned that keeping bills down would be challenging as the UK invests in modernising its energy networks and reducing reliance on imported gas. “There needs to be an honest conversation that the transition to a more secure energy system won’t be cost free,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the government was delivering on its promise to cut average household costs by £150 from April.
Comparison site Uswitch said all households would see adjustments to bills regardless of supplier or tariff type. However, it stressed that savings would depend on individual consumption levels, with higher-usage households seeing larger reductions.
Simon Francis of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition urged consumers to look beyond the headline average figure and examine unit rates and standing charges when the final cap is announced.
While the projected drop offers short-term relief, analysts warn that structural pressures on the energy system mean long-term stability remains far from guaranteed.
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Household energy bills set to fall by £117 from April

The owners of Virgin Media O2 have agreed a £2bn takeover of challenger fibre network Netomnia, marking a significant step towards consolidation in Britain’s crowded broadband market.
Liberty Global and Telefónica, alongside InfraVia Capital through their Nexfibre joint venture, will acquire Netomnia, currently the UK’s second-largest alternative network provider.
The deal will expand Nexfibre’s footprint to around 8 million households by the end of next year. Combined with Virgin Media O2’s existing infrastructure, the enlarged network will cover approximately 20 million premises and serve about 6.2 million customers.
That scale brings it close to Openreach, the network arm of BT Group, which has passed just over 21 million premises with full fibre.
Shares in BT fell 2.5 per cent following news of the acquisition.
Founded in 2019, Netomnia is one of dozens of “altnets” that emerged to challenge the dominance of Openreach and Virgin Media O2. However, many smaller fibre operators have paused expansion amid higher borrowing costs and weaker-than-expected customer take-up.
Rajiv Datta, chief executive of Nexfibre, said the enlarged group would offer greater scale to wholesale partners, including Sky, which recently began using CityFibre’s network in addition to Openreach.
The transaction saw Virgin Media O2 beat CityFibre, backed by Goldman Sachs, which has previously positioned itself as a natural consolidator of the fragmented sector.
Simon Holden, chief executive of CityFibre, criticised the move, warning it risked recreating an “ineffective duopoly” between BT and Virgin Media O2 and calling on the Competition and Markets Authority to scrutinise the overlap.
The acquisition will be financed with £850m in equity from InfraVia and £150m from Liberty Global and Telefónica, alongside a £2.7bn debt facility to fund both the purchase and further network expansion.
The deal comes as Virgin Media O2 continues to face customer losses, shedding 18,000 broadband subscribers and 165,000 mobile customers in the latest quarter.
Separately, Liberty Global has agreed to pay €1bn to Vodafone for its 50 per cent stake in VodafoneZiggo, the Dutch joint venture. Liberty plans to merge VodafoneZiggo with its Belgian unit Telenet and spin off the combined entity, Ziggo Group, via a listing in Amsterdam next year.
The Netomnia acquisition signals that consolidation in the UK fibre market, long expected as funding tightens and competition intensifies, is now gathering pace, potentially reshaping the balance of power in Britain’s broadband industry.
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Virgin Media O2 owners strike £2bn deal for Netomnia in fibre consolidation push

Octopus Energy Generation is investing nearly $1bn in Californian clean technology projects, deepening its exposure to the US energy transition and accelerating plans to deploy $2bn across the country by 2030.
The funding, channelled through Octopus-managed funds, spans carbon removal, heat battery technology and solar-plus-storage infrastructure, reinforcing the company’s strategy of backing next-generation decarbonisation assets in advanced markets.
Octopus will support two California-based carbon removal companies focused on grassland restoration and reforestation, converting degraded land into high-quality carbon-absorbing assets. Several large technology firms have already agreed to purchase carbon credits from the projects, providing long-term revenue visibility.
The investor will also back heat battery technology developed in the Bay Area, aimed at decarbonising hard-to-electrify industrial processes. The systems are designed to replace fossil-fuel boilers with renewable-powered thermal storage, cutting emissions in sectors that have proven difficult to transition.
As part of the investment drive, Octopus is acquiring a solar and battery storage project in California. The site is expected to be fully operational by July 2026, helping convert the state’s abundant solar resource into dispatchable, low-cost electricity.
The announcement builds on earlier North American investments, including backing floating offshore wind developer Ocergy and solar projects in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The move comes as Octopus expands its international footprint while maintaining close ties to the UK market. Britain’s clean energy economy grew three times faster than the wider economy in 2024, according to CBI data, and Octopus said overseas investments would ultimately support UK returns and expertise.
Zoisa North-Bond, chief executive of Octopus Energy Generation, said California’s policy environment and technology ecosystem made it an attractive long-term partner.
“Octopus and California are both leading the way in clean energy innovation,” she said. “With supportive policy and world-class entrepreneurship in and around Silicon Valley, it’s an ideal place to back investments that will benefit the UK economy.”
California currently generates more than two-thirds of its electricity from clean sources and aims to reach 100 per cent by 2045, positioning it as one of the world’s most ambitious energy transition markets.
The announcement was made during a visit by the Governor of California to Octopus’s London headquarters, underscoring the growing transatlantic collaboration in clean technology and infrastructure investment.
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Octopus Energy Generation to invest $1bn in California clean tech

UK space technology firm SatVu has secured £30m ($40m) in fresh funding, including a strategic investment from the NATO Innovation Fund, as it accelerates plans to deploy a multi-satellite thermal imaging constellation.
The round brings SatVu’s total equity funding to £60m ($80m) and marks a shift from single-satellite demonstration to scaled execution of its space-based “Activity Intelligence” capability.
The investment also includes participation from the British Business Bank, Space Frontiers Fund II, managed by SPARX Asset Management, and Presto Tech Horizons, alongside existing backers including Molten Ventures and Lockheed Martin.
SatVu’s technology uses high-resolution thermal imaging from space to detect heat signatures associated with activity inside and around buildings, industrial facilities and critical infrastructure, day and night. The company says this enables governments and institutions to monitor mobilisation, operational readiness and infrastructure performance in ways that traditional commercial sensors cannot.
Two satellites, HotSat-2 and HotSat-3, are scheduled for launch in 2026, with additional satellites, HotSat-4, HotSat-5 and long-lead components of HotSat-6, already under contract. While a single satellite can observe any point on Earth, a constellation increases revisit frequency, allowing persistent monitoring of patterns of life and operational change.
Anthony Baker, co-founder and chief executive of SatVu, said the funding would allow the business to scale a sovereign thermal capability built in the UK. “High-resolution thermal imagery from space reveals activity that is otherwise invisible,” he said. “From monitoring military supply chains to detecting covert activity, thermal intelligence is essential to modern ISR.”
The investment aligns with NATO’s mission to support advanced technologies that enhance allied security. Trisha Saxena of the NATO Innovation Fund said SatVu’s platform offers “a level of detailed data that was simply not available before”.
SatVu has also received backing through UK defence innovation programmes, including a Defence Innovation Loan awarded via the Defence and Security Accelerator, now part of UK Defence Innovation.
Luke Pollard said the government was committed to scaling British defence SMEs. “Our support for firms like SatVu is building sovereign capabilities while driving economic growth,” he said.
Camilla Taylor, chief financial officer at SatVu, described the raise as a pivotal step. “We now have a clear path to a multi-satellite constellation and sustained delivery,” she said, adding that the company is moving from capability demonstration to commercial scaling.
As allied governments place greater emphasis on resilience, independent intelligence and infrastructure monitoring, SatVu’s backers argue that persistent thermal Earth observation could become a critical new data layer in defence, security and economic decision-making.
The funding positions SatVu to expand its constellation rapidly and establish itself as a key supplier of sovereign thermal intelligence across NATO nations and beyond.
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NATO Innovation Fund backs SatVu with £30m investment to scale thermal intelligence

Profit margins at the world’s largest luxury goods companies have almost halved in just three years, prompting calls for more disciplined cost management that preserves brand equity while restoring profitability.
Research from supply chain consultancy Inverto, part of Boston Consulting Group, shows that the average operating margin across the 20 biggest luxury groups has fallen from 24 per cent in 2022 to 13 per cent today.
Half of those companies have seen margins decline over the period, while five are now operating at a loss.
Analysts say the slowdown in global demand, particularly in key markets such as China and the US, has combined with rising input and operational costs to squeeze profitability in a sector long associated with premium pricing power.
Traditionally, luxury houses have adopted high-cost approaches across their entire business, including areas not directly tied to product craftsmanship or customer experience, such as IT, logistics and back-office functions.
Daniela Klotz, managing director at Inverto, argues that meaningful savings can be achieved in these “indirect categories” without diluting brand identity.
“In indirect spend areas, systematic management can unlock savings of 8 to 10 per cent, or more, within six to twelve months,” she said.
One example is software licence optimisation. Many global brands overpay for unused or over-specified licences. “One client reduced software spending by 15 per cent through a rightsizing strategy,” Klotz noted.
Similarly, marketing and visual merchandising often incur heavy centralised production and international shipping costs to maintain brand consistency. By enabling approved regional suppliers to produce materials to centrally defined specifications, companies can preserve visual standards while reducing logistics and production costs.
“With the right strategy, spend in this category can fall by up to 30 per cent,” Klotz said.
Klotz said luxury brands need a clear, data-driven assessment of which elements of their supply chains are truly essential to maintaining brand equity and which can be streamlined.
Once that framework is established, artificial intelligence can help identify operational inefficiencies. AI tools can optimise transportation routes and shipping schedules, cutting freight costs while maintaining delivery standards.
In fashion, AI forecasting models can also help reduce overproduction, a persistent challenge when balancing sizes, colours and seasonal demand. Improved forecasting can limit discounting and wastage, directly protecting margins.
The luxury sector’s long-standing reliance on premium pricing and brand prestige is now being tested by softer consumer sentiment and more cautious spending.
Klotz argues that protecting margins in the current environment requires sharper focus. “With a clear cost management strategy and a disciplined approach to what is essential and what is not, fashion and luxury brands can significantly improve their margins,” she said.
As investor scrutiny intensifies and growth moderates, the sector’s next phase may depend less on headline price increases and more on operational excellence behind the scenes.
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Luxury brands urged to protect margins as profits slide

Providing excellent customer service is often essential for a business to succeed. Even with a strong product and competitive pricing, a business can struggle if its customer service doesn’t meet expectations.
Negative experiences, such as delayed email responses, short-tempered shop workers, or frustrating returns processes, can put customers off. In some cases, a single negative experience may be enough to dissuade someone from returning.
In this article, we’ll explain the importance of prioritising customer service for long-term success, with guidance from 1st Formations, a company formation agent.
What does customer service involve?
To improve your business’s customer service, you first need to understand what it involves.
Customer service covers every interaction a customer has with a company, from their first enquiry to after-sales support. These interactions can take place across digital channels such as email and social media, over the phone, or in person. Each touchpoint can influence how customers perceive the business and whether they feel confident buying from it.
It’s worth remembering that good customer service involves resolving issues, such as complaints and refunds, as well as supporting satisfied customers.
Whatever the situation, strong customer service is typically built on three key pillars: responsiveness, consistency, and empathy. Responsiveness refers to how quickly a business acknowledges a customer. Sometimes, a full resolution requires some time, but customers still appreciate a speedy acknowledgement. Consistency ensures everyone receives the same standard of service across channels and team members. Empathy is also important as it helps staff respond thoughtfully and tailor solutions to individuals. When you put these together, you can achieve excellent customer service. With responsiveness, consistency, and empathy in place, customers should receive timely replies, reliable outcomes, and meaningful interactions.
Why customer service matters
The quality of customer service can affect trust, influence the likelihood of repeat sales, and determine if people recommend the business to others. Over time, interactions shape a company’s reputation, which can influence its financial performance.
Customers who experience poor service often reassess their trust in a brand. This may mean they choose not to return and speak negatively of the business. On the other hand, good interactions can reinforce confidence, encourage repeat custom, and lead to positive word of mouth.
Why exceptional customer service increases customer retention
Retaining existing customers is often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, which is why many growing businesses view improving customer loyalty as a long-term investment.
When customers experience reliable service or see that a business resolves issues effectively, they are more likely to return. In some cases, customers may even pay slightly more to buy from a business they already trust.
Customer service as a driver of reputation
Customer service plays a role in how potential customers form opinions about a business, even if they haven’t experienced the service first-hand. Online reviews and social media posts can influence how people perceive a business, both positively and negatively.
While it’s hard to avoid ever receiving a single negative review, how you respond to disgruntled customers can also shape your reputation. For example, a business that replies to comments and shows that they’re willing to resolve problems can still build trust. By contrast, ignoring problems or responding defensively to feedback can discourage potential customers.
Turning service interactions into business insights.
Approached thoughtfully, customer service can become a strategic decision rather than a reactive response.
While addressing a single complaint may resolve an immediate issue, repeated feedback about the same concern often signals a wider problem. For example, if an individual comments that their coffee isn’t strong enough, an additional espresso might be a short-term fix. However, if it happens repeatedly, it’s likely time to consider changing your café’s choice of coffee. Attentive businesses look for patterns like this and can use them to refine their products or services over time.
Looking beyond complaints, it’s also worth finding out what you’re doing well as a business. A lot of customers are more likely to contact a business to complain rather than praise it. Because of this, it’s worth creating opportunities for customers to share feedback. Try running a survey to uncover what people like and where you could make improvements. If you act on these insights, you can refine your offering and better align it with customer needs.
Consider how service is part of a business’s overall health
Delivering strong customer service is just one part of running a sustainable business. It’s also something that’s only possible if you have engaged employees. As a founder, it’s crucial to support all staff with training, clear standards, and recognition to help the team offer top-tier service.
Providing good customer experiences also relies on smoothness throughout the organisation. While some people may only think of service in terms of direct interactions with customers, behind-the-scenes departments, like logistics and product development, can also influence customer happiness. For example, delayed shipping due to a planning issue reflects poorly on the customer experience. Similarly, inconsistent sizing across a clothing range can frustrate shoppers and put a strain on the business’s returns process.
When back-end operations are optimised, it can become easier for frontline staff to focus on delivering positive customer experiences. Improved service standards can encourage repeat custom and may help reduce customer churn over time, supporting greater financial stability across the business.
Applying customer service principles to build a thriving business
Customer service delivers the greatest value when it’s embedded consistently across a business, rather than treated as a standalone function.
One practical way to apply strong service is by ensuring your systems support customers at every stage of the buying journey. Investing in improving backroom processes, training customer-facing teams to communicate with empathy, and proactively acting on feedback can strengthen customer service at all touchpoints.
It’s important to remember that customer service isn’t a nice-to-have extra. It should be valued as an integral part of a business that can influence reputation, customer retention, and its overall financial health. Organisations that embed service excellence across their operations are often better positioned to build customer trust and succeed.
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Why customer service is integral to business success

More than a third of UK employers are planning to scale back permanent hiring as a result of the government’s new workers’ rights reforms, according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
The poll of 2,000 businesses found that 37 per cent intend to reduce recruitment of new permanent staff once the changes take effect, while more than half expect an increase in workplace conflict.
Employers warned that the new Employment Rights Act, which introduces expanded protections including day-one statutory sick pay, easier trade union recognition and a shorter qualification period for unfair dismissal claims, could act as a “further handbrake on job creation”.
Government estimates suggest the legislation will cost businesses around £1bn annually. However, the CIPD said the official analysis may underestimate the true impact, particularly the additional time and administrative burden placed on HR departments to implement the reforms.
Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the CIPD, said the changes risked compounding pressures already faced by employers following last year’s £24bn rise in employer national insurance contributions.
“There is a real risk that these measures will act as a further brake on recruitment,” he said, urging ministers to consult meaningfully with business and consider compromises where appropriate.
The survey found that 55 per cent of employers anticipate more disputes once the reforms are in place. Businesses cited concerns over the reduction in the unfair dismissal qualifying period, from two years to six months, alongside new rights for zero-hours workers and enhanced powers for trade unions.
Under the act, unions will gain improved access to workplaces for recruitment and organising activity, while employees will benefit from expanded “day one” rights.
James Cockett, senior labour market economist at the CIPD, said the findings diverged sharply from government expectations. Whitehall’s impact assessment predicted that greater union engagement could reduce conflict, yet only 4 per cent of employers surveyed believed disputes would decline.
The CIPD noted that most UK businesses, particularly the 1.4 million micro and small employers, do not formally recognise trade unions. In that context, it argued, it is unclear how expanded union rights would materially reduce workplace tensions.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has welcomed the reforms, describing them as the most significant upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation and arguing they will improve dignity and wellbeing at work.
Business groups, including the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the British Chambers of Commerce, have previously expressed reservations, particularly around guaranteed hours contracts, seasonal work and industrial action thresholds.
The CIPD warned that some elements of the legislation could have unintended consequences. Changes to unfair dismissal, statutory sick pay and zero-hours contracts may lead some employers to rely more heavily on temporary or contract labour rather than permanent hires, potentially increasing employment insecurity.
As businesses weigh the costs of compliance against economic uncertainty, the survey suggests the government faces a delicate balancing act between strengthening worker protections and sustaining job growth.
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Workers’ rights reforms prompt a third of employers to curb hiring

The UK’s gender pay gap will not close for another three decades if progress continues at its current rate, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
Analysis of official earnings data by the union body shows that the average disparity between men’s and women’s pay stands at 12.8%, equivalent to £2,548 a year. At that pace of improvement, the gap would not be eliminated until 2056, the TUC said.
The gap varies sharply by sector. In finance and insurance it is widest at 27.2%, while in leisure services it is just 1.5%. Even in female-dominated sectors such as education and health and social care, the pay gap remains significant at 17% and 12.8% respectively.
The gender pay gap reflects the difference in average earnings between men and women across organisations and industries. Companies with more than 250 UK employees are legally required to publish gender pay data.
The TUC said the disparity means the average woman “effectively works for 47 days of the year for free” compared with male colleagues.
“Women have effectively been working for free for the first month and a half of the year compared to men,” said TUC general secretary Paul Nowak. “With the cost of living still biting hard, women simply can’t afford to keep losing out.”
The pay gap is largest among workers aged 50 to 59, a trend the TUC attributes partly to the long-term impact of women pausing or scaling back careers to take on caring responsibilities.
The union federation is calling for improved access to flexible working, expanded childcare provision and stronger parental leave policies to help narrow the gap. Nowak described the government’s recent Employment Rights Act as “an important step forward”, but argued further action was needed so parents could better share caring duties.
Business groups have previously warned that additional employment rights and benefits could increase costs for employers. Matthew Percival, director of the future of work and skills at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said firms were already facing significant pressures.
“The cost of doing business is leading to job cuts,” he said. “With major changes to employment laws coming, the government must take care not to add further strain.”
Under new rules, employers will be required to publish action plans setting out how they intend to reduce their gender pay gap.
A government spokesperson said ministers were “tackling the root causes of the gender pay gap” through measures including expanded childcare entitlements, strengthened protections for new mothers and changes to flexible working rights.
Despite incremental progress in recent years, the latest figures suggest that without faster reform and structural change, pay parity remains a distant prospect.
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Gender pay gap won’t close until 2056 at current pace, warns TUC

Former business secretary Sir Vince Cable has called for a police and government investigation into the conduct of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor during his tenure as the UK’s trade envoy, following the release of US justice department files that appear to show he shared official and commercial information with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The newly released documents suggest that Andrew, who served as Britain’s special representative for international trade and investment from 2001 to 2011, forwarded UK government documents and commercially sensitive material to Epstein.
Sir Vince, who was secretary of state for business and trade during part of Andrew’s tenure, described the alleged behaviour as “totally unacceptable” and said the matter should be scrutinised by law enforcement authorities.
“We need a police or DPP check on whether criminal corruption took place and a government investigation into how this was allowed to happen,” he said.
Andrew has consistently and strenuously denied any wrongdoing.
According to the documents, in 2010 Andrew forwarded an email exchange concerning Royal Bank of Scotland and Aston Martin to a contact, David Stern, who subsequently passed it to Epstein. The correspondence reportedly included details about RBS restructuring plans and comments regarding its then chief executive, Stephen Hester, as well as references to internal tensions at Aston Martin.
It remains unclear whether the information originated directly from Andrew’s official role. At the time, RBS was majority-owned by the taxpayer following its financial crisis bailout. Andrew was also a customer of the bank and may have had separate dealings with management.
Further emails cited in the US files indicate that Andrew may have shared government visit reports relating to Vietnam, Singapore and China with Epstein. Separate correspondence suggests information about Iceland was passed from Treasury sources to banker Jonathan Rowland.
Under official guidance, trade envoys are bound by confidentiality obligations covering sensitive commercial and political information obtained during official visits.
Thames Valley Police confirmed it had consulted specialists at the Crown Prosecution Service regarding the allegations.
Labour MP Sarah Owens, chair of the women and equalities committee, said Andrew must answer questions from police and Parliament. Fellow Labour MP Rachael Maskell called for greater transparency and accountability, arguing that Andrew should be stripped of his remaining constitutional roles.
King Charles has previously expressed “profound concern” over allegations surrounding his brother. Buckingham Palace has said it stands “ready to support” police if requested.
The latest disclosures add to longstanding scrutiny of Andrew’s association with Epstein. Additional images released in the US document tranche have further intensified calls for him to testify in the United States.
The former duke recently relocated from his Windsor residence to the Sandringham estate in Norfolk as pressure surrounding the case continues to mount.
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Andrew’s time as trade envoy should be investigated, says Vince Cable