#birmingham-city-powerhouse

#birmingham-city-powerhouse

The UK has about 1.59GW of currently installed datacentre capacity at just under 190 sites. If we add existing capacity to that which is planned to complete by 2030 and which has planning consent, we get 4.9GW.

UK businesses face some of the highest electricity costs in Europe, a situation that has worsened following the recent surge in global gas prices linked to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

British Steel operates the last two remaining blast furnaces in the UK but it is still economically controlled by the Chinese company, which bought it out of insolvency in early 2020.

Perforated metal has long been valued for its strength, versatility, and clean visual appeal. Created by punching patterns of holes into metal sheets, it offers a practical balance between airflow, light control, and structural support. Across industries such as architecture, construction, mining, and interior design, perforated metal has become a go-to material for projects that require both function and style.

Ali's store, Fly Vape, is located in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, an area that has become a surprising hub for the vaping industry, housing over 50 outlets specializing in vaping products.

Of the UK's top 10 datacentre projects, only one - at East Havering in Essex, with projected capacity of more than 600MW - is in the London area. The remainder, totalling just under 4GW, are spread north from Oxfordshire, to Lincolnshire, North Wales, the north east and Scotland, most being sites that can tap into offshore wind or nuclear power.

Due to a parts supply challenge with a supplier, we are temporarily pausing production on certain vehicle lines at our Solihull production facility. We are working closely with that supplier to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and minimise any impact on our clients or our operations.

The RFU council will vote at Twickenham on proposals to ringfence the 10-team Prem with no promotion or relegation until 2030, when a staged expansion is planned, beginning with the addition of two more teams. While former top-flight sides such as London Irish, Wasps and Worcester Warriors as well as ambitious Champ clubs like Ealing Trailfinders will be given the opportunity to apply, Prem Rugby is also keen to secure new additions.

This kind of support of industry is not uncommon. Our competitors get two or three times what we get. It is a competitive world and you need to think about that. Narrowbody is the single biggest opportunity in a generation. It is natural for the UK government to support it.

A new campaign is aiming to collect 50 objects that sum up Englishness in an effort to move the conversation away from reductive arguments over whether to hang a St George's flag or not. Supported by the Green party politician Caroline Lucas, the musician and campaigner Billy Bragg, and Kojo Koram, a law professor, the A Very English Chat campaign hopes to tackle England's growing social divisions and political polarisation.

The site will eventually comprise five HPE Mod Pods, which are modular datacentre pods capable of delivering 1.5mW of datacentre capability, and will be powered by electricity generated from landfill gas at the site. The Derbyshire site will go live in the second half of 2026, according to Carbon3.ai chief strategy officer Sana Kharegani.

Battersea Power Station is a former coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames in London, originally designed by architects J. Theo Halliday and Giles Gilbert Scott. Notable for its appearance on the cover of Pink Floyd's 1977 studio album Animals and in Alfred Hitchcock's 1936 film Sabotage, the station is one of the world's largest brick buildings and is known for its Art Deco interior fittings and décor.

And Prue Leith's leaving Bake Off. Let us focus, then, on the few, brief bright spots we can if we really squint hard into the darkness see. There's microplastics maybe not poisoning our every organ as thoroughly as we thought. There's Gwyneth Paltrow announcing that she loves a 6pm dinner and early beddy-byes. That's not quite how she put it, but that's what she meant.

Chinese state-owned carmaker Chery is pressing ahead with its rapid UK expansion by launching a fourth brand in the British market, underlining its ambition to become a long-term player in one of Europe's most competitive automotive landscapes. The group confirmed it will introduce vehicles under the Lepas brand, a new line focused on battery-electric and hybrid SUVs aimed at younger families. While Lepas is being developed primarily with Europe in mind, the UK will be one of its early launch markets.

The stats speak for themselves. In 2015's 'A List', out of 418 executives, 79 (19 per cent) were women and only eight (2 per cent) were BAME. Shockingly, in the second decade of the 21st century, it is still possible to go to a leading marketing or communications industry event and only see a handful of black or Asian faces in the room.

Whether you're coordinating a corporate conference at the ICC, organising a school trip to Cadbury World, planning wedding guest transport, or arranging a sporting event visit to Villa Park or St Andrew's, the logistics of moving groups through Birmingham's busy streets can quickly become overwhelming. The solution lies in selecting professional coach services that understand the city's geography, traffic patterns, and venue requirements.

Seventy-two different metrics were assessed and divided into these categories: economy (GDP per capita, employment levels, wage rate); research and development (number of patents, startups and presence of top universities); cultural interaction (proximity to World Heritage Sites and number of theatres, museums, stadiums and hotel rooms); livability (life expectancy and rent prices); environment (air quality and waste recycle rate); and accessibility (the price of a cab and the number of international flights).

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

The initial ZEBRA-zero emission bus regional areas-scheme, touted proudly by Prime Minister Johnson's Government, committed to 4,000 British-built buses by the end of the last Parliament. The scheme delivered just 2,270 buses, of which about 46% were built abroad. There was a material and harmful chasm between political rhetoric and delivery for UK manufacturers Euan Stainbank MP (Falkirk, Labour)

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.