Business & Economy

Published: 03 December 2025. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Thames Water, the UK’s largest water and wastewater provider, is edging ever closer to a critical deadline as it struggles to secure a major rescue deal needed to stabilise its finances. The company, burdened by nearly £20bn of debt, has warned that it has already spent £1.43bn of the £1.5bn emergency funding package it received, with the remaining...

Published: 01 December 2025. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. Virgin Media has been fined £23.8m after Ofcom concluded the company put thousands of vulnerable customers at risk during its transition from analogue to digital landline services. The regulator said the failures directly endangered people dependent on telecare alarms, which allow elderly and disabled individuals to call for help during emergencies. The penalty marks one of the most...

Published: 1 December 2025. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Keir Starmer has warned that Labour’s economic plan will take years to deliver, urging the public and his political opponents to judge the government at the end of the parliament rather than during the turbulence surrounding last week’s budget. His remarks come after days of heated political debate, with critics challenging the chancellor’s decisions and accusing her of...

Published: 1 December 2025. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. High streets across the United Kingdom experienced noticeably lower footfall during this year’s Black Friday period, highlighting the growing caution among consumers as concerns continue to mount over the direction of the national economy in 2026. Newly released data suggested that shoppers were reluctant to visit traditional retail destinations, underscoring the strain created by persistent living costs, rising...

Published: 28 November 2025 Friday. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online China's leading telecom companies, Huawei and ZTE, have won multiple contracts this year to supply 5G equipment in Vietnam, signaling Hanoi's deepening ties with Beijing and raising concerns among Western officials, according to seven sources with direct knowledge of the situation. Vietnam had long been cautious about integrating Chinese technology into sensitive infrastructure. However, in recent months,...

Published: 28 November 2025 Friday. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online EU antitrust regulators will examine whether Apple's Apple Ads and Apple Maps should be subject to the stringent requirements of the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA) after both services met key criteria. The U.S. tech giant, however, argues that they should be exempt. Apple's App Store, iOS operating system, and Safari web browser were already designated as...

Published: 28 November 2025 Friday. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Former miners who will see a 41% rise in their pension after years of campaigning have welcomed the move – but say some will "never" get to benefit from it. Members of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) – held by the government since 1994 – will receive £2.3bn, Rachel Reeves announced in Wednesday's Budget. Trustee...

Published: 28 November 2025 Friday. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Prime Minister Mark Carney’s newly announced agreement with Alberta to advance a long-debated oil pipeline to Canada’s Pacific coast has already ignited significant controversy across the country. The deal, presented as a historic reset of relations between Alberta and Ottawa, marks the federal government’s strongest endorsement yet of a major energy project aimed at expanding access to...

Published: 28 November 2025 Friday. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online India is facing one of its most intense national debates in years after the government moved to implement what many are calling the country’s biggest labour reform since independence. By consolidating 29 federal labour laws into four simplified codes, the government has dramatically reshaped the rules that govern the country’s vast workforce. Supporters say the reforms modernise...

Published: 27 November 2025 Thursday. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Japanese beer giant Asahi revealed on Thursday that a massive cyber-attack in September has potentially exposed the personal information of more than 1.5 million customers. The company stated that the attack had affected its operations across factories in Japan and forced employees to manually process orders while systems were offline. Asahi said preliminary investigations showed that personal...