Thursday newspaper round-up: Energy bills, Tata Steel, NMC Health
Household energy bills are to rise after prices on the UK’s wholesale electricity market soared to a record high last month, furthering concerns about more families being pushed into fuel poverty this winter. The electricity market price passed the £100 a megawatt-hour mark last month for the first time since the market was formed in 1990, according to analysis by Imperial College London. - Guardian
The owner of Port Talbot steelworks crashed to a £347m annual loss as the pandemic hit demand, but insisted its finances are healthier after its parent, Tata, pumped in almost £1bn of equity. Losses at Tata Steel UK in the year to the end of March improved from £654m a year earlier but underlined the struggles of Britain’s steel industry. - Guardian
Treasury civil servants will be allowed to permanently work from home for most of the week in a shift that threatens to undermine Rishi Sunak as he attempts to revive cities by pushing for office workers to return. Job adverts reveal that most of the department’s staff will never have to come back to their desks full time, and will be free to stay at home for two or three weekdays. - Telegraph
More than half of American businesses are planning or considering requirements relating to the Covid jab by the end of the year, more than double the 21 per cent of companies that have some form of mandate at present. Options vary from a strict order for all employees to be vaccinated to limiting access to certain areas such as cafeterias to inoculated workers, according to Willis Towers Watson. - The Times
Creditors of NMC Health, the former FTSE 100 private healthcare group embroiled in a “massive” fraud scandal, have approved a restructuring that will allow 34 group companies to exit administration in Abu Dhabi and to continue to operate the core business. In a vote in the United Arab Emirates yesterday, creditors gave “overwhelming” support for an effective debt-for-equity swap called a deeds of company arrangement. - The Times