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The taxpayer support for household energy bills could cost up to £140bn in an “extreme” scenario, an energy market expert has warned.

Cornwall Insight, which became a prominent voice in predicting levels for the energy price cap before it was replaced by the government’s energy price guarantee (EPG) this month, said its findings showed a near doubling of the forecasts between the best and worst cases.

The energy price guarantee limits the amount you can be charged per unit of gas or electricity to help ease the damage to family finances caused by the wider cost of living crisis.

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It means that the taxpayer will pay the difference between the set unit cost and any higher unit cost.

The scheme shields households from the worst of the scary wholesale costs in the market, largely caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, for the next two years.

The guarantee, the government said, should mean the average annual bill remains below £2,000 a year as it is supported by the £400 grant for every household the temporary removal of green levies from bills.

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Crucially, the size of a bill will depend on the amount of energy used as the scheme covers the cost of a unit. It does not cap the amount you will pay overall.

Cornwall Insight put the range of the total cost at between £70bn and £140bn for the two years.

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Chief executive Gareth Miller said of the gulf: “This reflects a febrile wholesale market continuing to be beset by geopolitical instability, sensitivity to demand, weather, and infrastructure resilience.

“The risk around these factors grows in the second year of the scheme as uncertainty increases with time.

“No one is clear on what the single curve of prices will be, so the government will find it hard to accurately plan for how to cover the EPG expenditure.

“Fortune befriends the bold, but it also favours the prepared. The large uncertainties around commodity markets over the next two years means that the government could get lucky with costs coming out at the low end of the range, but the opposite could also be true.

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“In each case, the government may find itself passengers to circumstances outside its control, having made policy that is a hostage to surprises, events and volatile factors. That’s a difficult position to be in.

“The good news is that there is a route through this. The government could use the next few months to develop more targeted energy support policies for households, building on proposals brought forward during the late summer across industry actors and think tanks.”

It delivered its report as the chancellor comes under intense pressure to change course after his mini-budget spooked financial markets.

The chief concern was over the level of borrowing that would be required to fund the growth plan.

There has yet to be independent scrutiny of the forecasts as the Office for Budget Responsibility was not required to deliver its verdict at the time of the mini-budget.

Then, Kwasi Kwarteng put the cost of his tax-cutting agenda – since slimmed by £2bn because of the U-turn on abolishing the top rate of income tax – at £45bn.

The cost of energy aid packages for households and businesses would come to around £60bn over the first six months, he suggested, adding that the sum came with a big health warning because the wholesale price environment remained volatile.

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iPhones sold in US will no longer come from China – as Apple reveals impact of Trump’s tariffs

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iPhones sold in US will no longer come from China - as Apple reveals impact of Trump's tariffs

Apple says devices sold in the US will no longer come from China, as the tech giant tries to mitigate the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Most iPhones will be sourced from India instead, with iPads coming from Vietnam, to prevent dramatic price rises for American consumers.

Unveiling financial results from January to March, the company said the US president’s escalating trade war has had a limited impact on its performance so far.

However, Apple CEO Tim Cook believes the tariffs will add £677m in costs during the current quarter – assuming Trump’s policies don’t change.

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Revenue for the first three months of the year stood at £71.8bn, with earnings of £18.6bn also beating analyst expectations.

High demand for iPhones during this period may have been driven by US shoppers rushing to make purchases before the new tariffs came into force.

But the full impact of any panic buying will only emerge when Apple reports its results from April to June later in the year.

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Apple’s reliance on Chinese factories to manufacture its iPhones meant the company was far more exposed to the impact of Trump’s trade war than others.

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After the president unveiled plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries – now largely paused for 90 days – Apple’s stock plunged by 23%, wiping out £582bn of value.

While its share price has recovered slightly, it remains 5% lower than before “Liberation Day”.

Growing tensions between Washington and Beijing are also having an impact on Apple’s sales in China, which fell 2.3% between January and March.

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Addressing the planned changes to manufacturing, Mr Cook added: “We have a complex supply chain. There’s always risk in the supply chain. What we learned some time ago was that having everything in one location had too much risk with it.”

Devices sold outside of the US will continue to be made in China.

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Space NK owner kicks off £300m-plus sale process

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Space NK owner kicks off £300m-plus sale process

The owner of Space NK has kicked off a formal sale process more than a year since it hired bankers to auction the high street beauty chain.

Sky News has learnt that teasers have begun being circulated to prospective bidders in recent weeks, despite anxiety about consumer confidence in a stuttering UK economy.

Manzanita Capital, a private investment firm, engaged bankers at Raymond James to oversee an auction in April 2024.

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A deal is expected to fetch between £300m and £400m.

Manzanita has owned Space NK for more than 20 years, and is not expected to sanction a sale unless it receives an attractive offer.

One party contacted about a potential bid said the business appeared to be in good financial health.

Manzanita has also owned the French perfume house Diptyque and Susanne Kaufmann, an Austrian luxury skincare brand.

Founded in 1993 by Nicky Kinnaird, Space NK – which is named after her initials – trades from roughly stores and employs more than 1,000 people.

It specialises in high-end skincare and cosmetics products.

Manzanita previously explored a sale of Space NK in 2018, hiring Goldman Sachs to handle a strategic review, but opted not to proceed with a deal.

Manzanita has been contacted for comment, while Raymond James declined to comment.

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Tesla’s board members have reportedly started looking for Elon Musk’s successor as CEO

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Tesla's board members have reportedly started looking for Elon Musk's successor as CEO

Tesla’s board members have reportedly started a search for someone to replace Elon Musk as CEO.

Several executive search firms were approached to find a successor around a month ago, the Wall Street Journal reported.

But it added that the current status of the succession planning for the electric car-maker was not known.

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Tesla’s chair, Robyn Denholm, later reacted to the report by insisting that any suggestion of an active search was “absolutely false”.

She added that the board was highly confident in Musk’s ability to continue “executing on the exciting growth plan ahead”.

Musk’s net worth has plunged and Tesla stocks have fallen sharply amid a public backlash over his role in Donald Trump’s government. He owns just under 13% of Tesla stock and is the largest shareholder.

The world’s richest man has been leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has overseen the firing of tens of thousands of government employees.

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He has also supported far-right parties in Europe, which has led to protests against Musk and Tesla, which have seen its showrooms and charging stations vandalised across the US and Europe.

President Trump has labelled the vandals “terrorists”.

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It comes after Musk said the time he spends with DOGE would “drop significantly” from May and he will dedicate more time to running his companies, such as Tesla, SpaceX and X.

The board members met with Musk and asked him to announce publicly he would spend more time at Tesla, the report said.

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It was unclear if Musk, who is a member of the board, was aware of any attempts to identify a successor, or if his pledge to spend more time at Tesla had affected succession planning, it added.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump said Musk could be part of his administration for as long as he wants.

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“You’re invited to stay as long as you want,” Mr Trump said.

He said Musk had been “treated unfairly” for his role in helping Mr Trump slash the size of the federal government, adding: “You really have sacrificed a lot.”

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