The EU’s plans to ban the manufacture of traditional combustion engines from 2035 will shrink the industry, BMW’s chief executive has warned as the German car industry battles with increased competition from China in the electric vehicle sector. In a comment that will alarm Brussels, Oliver Zipse told the Paris motor show the 2035 cutoff…

The department store chain Fenwick, which closed its historic shop on London’s Bond Street in February, has reported its seventh year of losses as sales fell. The family-owned group, which is left with eight department stores led by Newcastle, said sales fell 3% to £299m in the year to January and it almost halved losses…

The under-pressure builder Bellway has hailed the government’s planning system revamp, arguing it will “unlock” new housing across the country, as councils received £68m to construct thousands of homes on disused brownfield sites. In comments released as it reported a sharp fall in revenues and profits, the UK housebuilder said the drive by the deputy…

Keir Starmer has twice refused to rule out a rise in employers’ national insurance contributions in the budget, stressing Labour’s manifesto promise was that it would not raise taxes on working people. His words came as the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, gave a strong hint on Monday that the rise was in her sights at the…

Google has signed a “world first” deal to buy energy from a fleet of mini nuclear reactors to generate the power needed for the rise in use of artificial intelligence. The US tech corporation has ordered six or seven small nuclear reactors (SMRs) from California’s Kairos Power, with the first due to be completed by…

I cancelled my RAC membership last year, so I was surprised to receive an email recently that offered me “an extra year’s membership – completely free”. I rang to ensure the offer wasn’t a scam and was told that the year’s membership would, indeed, be free – unless I had a breakdown and required roadside…

Name: Landlines. Age: 148 years old. Appearance: A cable attached to your phone that’s tied to your house. I haven’t had a landline for years. Oh, you young whippersnapper! You’re really missing out. On what, exactly? On so much! Telling the caller your full telephone number when answering the phone, being trapped in a room…

The government has said its first international investment summit since Labour’s general election landslide has secured a total of £63bn of pledges to plough money into the British economy. The investments announced, which include the £63bn of private-sector promises as well as public investment, include: £6.3bn on datacentres, including a £1.9bn datacentre campus at Didcot…