Higher energy bills to pay for nuclear plants

The holiday is over

House prices dipped slightly as the stamp duty holiday wound down at the end of June. The tax break meant that home buyers were spared paying any stamp duty on the first £500,000 of their property price. Purchases that complete before October will still benefit from reduced stamp duty, with the tax only kicking in at £250,000. House prices have still risen over the last year by almost 9%.

Gloom looms for spoons

Despite England’s performance in Euro 2020 being a boon for most pubs, Wetherspoons, which has not televised most matches, has seen the decline of its sales double. Even during the tournament, sales are down 20% on pre pandemic years. The company has also indicated that it will raise its food prices in the near future, as a temporary cut in the VAT rate to help businesses deal with the pandemic disappears over the coming year.

The nuclear option

Households in the UK could see higher energy bills as the government looks for ways to fund the building of new nuclear power plants. One £20 billion plant is planned for England’s east coast, and would produce enough electricity to power 6 million homes. The government sees the building of new nuclear power plants as key to achieving the UK’s target of zero net emissions by 2050.

Welsh wine shines

A “deliciously fresh” pinot noir has become the first Welsh vintage to win gold at the Decanter World Wine Awards. The wine competed with more than 18,000 other wines in blind tasting, with 635 gold medals being awarded in total. The result comes on the back of increasing success for UK winemakers, with an English sparkling wine winning one of a select number of “best in show” awards at the same competition.