Wednesday newspaper round-up: Prepayment meters, rail services, BAE Systems
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Wednesday 31 May 2023
(Sharecast News) - British households on prepayment meters face missing out on up to £130m of support for their energy bills if they fail to redeem government vouchers before they expire in a month's time. Under the energy bills support scheme, which runs until 30 June, all households are entitled to discounts of up to £400 on their bills. - Guardian
Rail services in parts of England have ground to a halt with the first of three train strikes this week taking place as the long-running dispute between the unions and the government over pay, jobs and conditions continues. A 24-hour strike by members of the driver's union Aslef is under way and a further day of industrial action is planned for Saturday, the day of the FA Cup final. - Guardian
The boss of BAE Systems has discussed setting up weapons production inside Ukraine in talks with Volodymyr Zelensky. In a further sign of Britain's central role in arming Ukrainian forces, the FTSE 100 maker of Challenger 2 tanks, artillery pieces and ammunition crucial to the war against Russia held direct talks with the country's president, both sides confirmed on Tuesday evening. As well as manufacturing and repair facilities, Mr Zelensky and BAE chief executive Charles Woodburn discussed setting up a local office in the country. - Telegraph
A fund management company behind a scandal-hit property investment trust that raised £740 million from UK investors has been accused of disguising rent arrears and secretly releasing a developer from refurbishment obligations. Home Reit, which specialises in housing for the homeless, said after hiring corporate investigators that Alvarium Home Reit Advisors, its former manager, had failed to bring several matters to its attention. It said the "lack of transparency" had "hampered the board's ability to assess the medium-term financial strength of its tenant base and the ability of its tenants to pay rent". It also said the manager had provided "inaccurate information" to an outside body, the Good Economy, a consultancy that had been responsible for assessing the trust's social, environmental and economic impact. The consultants were blocked from carrying out physical inspections of properties. - The Times
The construction of new offices in London's West End is consistently outpacing the City for the first time as demand from financial services trails that of other sectors. The volume of space being developed in the Square Mile business district is close to its lowest level in at least eight years, according to research by Deloitte, in contrast with the steady recovery in activity in the West End since the pandemic. - The Times
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