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An infrastructure investor owned by Schroders, the fund management behemoth, is in pole position to buy a solar farms operator that received hundreds of millions of pounds from a scandal-hit local authority.

Sky News understands that Schroders Greencoat has become the leading contender to acquire Toucan Energy, which collapsed into administration exactly a year ago.

It was unclear this weekend whether Schroders Greencoat was in formal exclusivity to buy the portfolio of more than 50 solar parks.

Interpath Advisory, which is overseeing the administration process, appointed KPMG – the accountancy firm from which it was spun out – to handle the auction.

Other bidders which had been in contention until recently included GLIL and CKI, the Hong Kong-based infrastructure giant.

Toucan’s collapse came after Thurrock Council had invested more than £650m into the business over a four-year period.

Although the local authority will receive a significant repayment from the sale of the solar assets, Toucan’s collapse could yet cost taxpayers tens or even hundreds of millions of pounds.

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Thurrock’s financial mishaps echo those of other councils that have invested in ill-fated private sector companies, including a significant number in the energy sector.

Thurrock Council Pic: Google Street View
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Thurrock Council Pic: Google Street View

The timetable for a deal being completed was also unclear.

A spokesman for Schroders declined to comment.

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Pizza Hut to shut 68 restaurants in UK after company behind venues falls into administration

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Pizza Hut to shut 68 restaurants in UK after company behind venues falls into administration

Pizza Hut is to close 68 restaurants and 11 delivery sites with the loss of more than 1,200 jobs after the company behind its UK venues fell into administration.

The company has said 1,210 workers are being made redundant as part of the closures.

DC London Pie, the firm running Pizza Hut’s restaurants in the UK, appointed administrators from corporate finance firm FTI on Monday.

It comes less than a year after the business bought the chain’s restaurants from insolvency.

On Monday, American hospitality giant Yum! Brands, which owns the global Pizza Hut business, said it had bought the UK restaurant operation in a pre-pack administration deal – a rescue deal that will save 64 sites and secure the future of 1,276 workers.

A spokesperson for Pizza Hut UK confirmed the Yum! deal and said as a result it was “pleased to secure the continuation of 64 sites to safeguard our guest experience and protect the associated jobs.

“Approximately 2,259 team members will transfer to the new Yum! equity business under UK TUPE legislation, including above-restaurant leaders and support teams.”

Nicolas Burquier, Managing Director of Pizza Hut Europe and Canada, called Monday’s agreement a “targeted acquisition” which, he said, “aims to safeguard our guest experience and protect jobs where possible.

“Our immediate priority is operational continuity at the acquired locations and supporting colleagues through the transition.”

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The administration comes around six weeks after a subsidiary of Yum! filed a winding up petition against DC London Pie.

DC London Pie was the company formed after Directional Capital, which operated franchises in Sweden and Denmark, snapped up 139 UK restaurants from the previous UK franchisee Heart with Smart Limited in January of this year.

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Oil and gas workers offered cash to retrain, in major plan for future clean energy workforce

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Oil and gas workers offered cash to retrain, in major plan for future clean energy workforce

Ministers have unveiled their flagship plan to train and recruit workers for the booming clean energy sector, which it is hoping to supercharge in the next five years.

Up to £18m of new money has been pledged by the UK and Scottish governments specifically to move those working in the oil and gas sector into new roles.

Their jobs are about to fall off a cliff as the industry declines, with at least 40,000 of the current 115,000 jobs forecast to disappear by the early 2030s.

Almost all of those roles are thought to be fairly easily transferable into green industries – requiring little more than a few months of extra training.

But in the absence of government help, workers have been moving abroad, industry says, taking with them the expertise Britain badly needs to for its new greener energy system.

And it has left them feeling forgotten about after years of working to keep the lights on, and increasingly swayed by Reform UK, both GMB and Unite unions have warned Labour.

Pledge to double green jobs by 2030

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Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told Sky News that creating jobs in sectors like carbon capture and storage and hydrogen would help “create a future for those in the North Sea communities”.

The new £18m will pay for careers advice, training, and “skills passports” to enable oil and gas workers to make the switch without having to repeat qualifications.

The cash was announced on Sunday in the new Clean Energy Jobs Plan, which details how the government hopes to make good on its promise to double green jobs by 2030.

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Renewables overtake coal for first time

Mr Miliband said in an interview: “This plan shows 400,000 extra jobs in the clean energy economy by 2030.

“This isn’t a target. This is actually what we believe is necessary to meet all the plans we have across the economy.”

The first strategy of its kind hopes to plug the UK’s massive skills gap that threatens to derail the government’s target to green the electricity system by 2030.

It identifies 31 priority occupations that are particularly in demand, such as plumbers, electricians and welders, and lists a target to convert five colleges into new “Technical Excellence Colleges” to train workers.

‘You can’t train people for jobs that aren’t there’

Unions welcomed the plan, but pointed out that skills and training do not equate to new jobs.

They say it will mean nothing without extra money and a revitalised domestic supply chain to build all the green technology needed, from fibreglass wind turbines to aluminium sub-sea cables.

Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary who has threatened to cut ties with Labour over its policy to end North Sea oil and gas drilling and watering down of a ban on zero-hours contracts, welcomed the “initial steps” but called for “an equally ambitious programme of public investment”.

Professor Paul de Leeuw from the Energy Transition Institute in Aberdeen said the plan was “genuinely new and different”, and had for the first time joined up relevant information and strategies in one place.

But “you can’t train people for jobs that aren’t there”, he added, also calling for an investment plan.f

Reform heartlands could benefit from Labour’s jobs plan

The boom in clean energy jobs stands to benefit Reform heartlands along the east coast of Britain.

That fact is more by luck than design, given the east coast’s proximity to offshore wind farms and carbon capture and storage fields in the North Sea.

Reform promises a radically different vision for the country’s future, based on reopening coal mines and maxing out nuclear power and what’s left of North Sea oil and gas to boost jobs and the economy.

Its deputy leader, Richard Tice, objects to land being used for solar panels and pylons.

Government modelling forecasts an additional 35,000 direct jobs in Scotland, 55,000 in the East of England and 50,000 in the North West.

To keep the unions sweet, the government will also have to follow through on its pledge to boost the rights of those working offshore in green energy.

A current loophole gives protections like the minimum wage to oil and gas workers in UK territorial seas, but not to workers in the clean energy sector.

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The true cost of claiming on your car insurance – and why fault doesn’t always matter

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The true cost of claiming on your car insurance - and why fault doesn't always matter

It’s a question your insurer will never answer: how much does your car insurance go up after a claim?

Complex algorithms, individual circumstances, the nature of the accident and a list of other factors are all in play, making a definitive answer hard to come by – especially when your premium often rises each year regardless.

Two insurance experts we spoke to on the record couldn’t offer any firm guidance – though they did lift the bonnet on the processes involved and how any increase might be calculated.

Perhaps the only reliable indicator is anecdotal evidence – so we asked Money blog readers for their stories, many of which we’ve included at the bottom of this piece.

They show huge disparities, with some facing 10% to 50% increases, while others were – counterintuitively – quoted a cheaper price when they came up for renewal.

One reader’s premium increased by as much as 207% – and around one in five ended up paying at least 170% more.

A recurring theme was that initial renewal quotes jumped significantly, but some of the edge was taken off by shopping around.

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Pic: iStock
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Pic: iStock

Can you sort it out without involving an insurer?

All of this might make you wonder if it’s cheaper, after a minor accident, to sort things out directly between both parties.

It can be done – but it’s a risky road to go down.

As one insurance insider told us, agreements a few hours after an accident regularly dissolve.

“They all say they’re happy, and then…”

Injuries, real or exaggerated, are not always apparent in the immediate aftermath, and what appears to be superficial damage on, say, your bumper, can end up requiring a new radiator.

Read all the latest Money news here

So this route can leave you in a tricky spot, legally and financially – you need to be really sure about who you’re dealing with and it’s always best to seek independent advice.

Don’t forget, too, that most policies will be invalid if you have an accident and don’t report this to your insurer. That doesn’t mean making a claim – you can tell them for “information only” – but, as some of your stories below prove, a note on your file could affect future quotes.

Fault or no-fault – it doesn’t always matter

One thing that might surprise people is that fault isn’t always a decisive factor in how much a premium may rise.

Jenny Ross, editor of Which? Money, told us: “If you’re involved in an accident or something happens to your car, this affects your risk profile whether it’s your fault or not.

“The reason is, risk isn’t a statement of how good or conscientious a driver you are, or how likely you are to cause accidents – but a statistical estimate of how likely you are to be involved in an incident that might lead to a claim.”

For example, a recent incident could be reflective of difficult traffic conditions where you tend to drive, and this will be the factor that pushes up a premium.

Someone else’s accident can impact your premium

Stuart Masson, editorial director at The Car Expert, told the Money blog a premium may be affected if people with a similar profile to you have an accident.

“Insurance companies use demographic data to calculate premiums based on accident data – and that can penalise you indirectly,” he said.

For example, your postcode, type of car and job title are all factors that can influence your premium costs.

“If there has been an accident (regardless of fault) involving someone with your job, living in your postcode and driving your model of car, it will inevitably factor into the algorithm as an increased accident risk and therefore increase your premium,” said Masson.

Does no-claims discount protection work?

Many people pay extra to protect their no-claims, but they may not realise this protection will (usually) only withstand a limited number of claims per year.

And while NCDP is likely to lessen the impact of any rise in your premium, it won’t stop it altogether.

“The reason is, it’s not directly protecting your premium (which will probably increase if you claim), but the discount applied to it,” said Ross from Which?.

She gave this example:

If your premium was £1,000, and you had a discount of 50%, you’d pay £500. If you claimed, and the underlying premium rose to £1,200, without NCDP your discount might fall to 30% – meaning you’d pay £840 (an increase of 68%). If you had NCDP preserving your 50% discount, you’d pay £600 – still an overall increase of 20%.

Loyalty does not pay

If your renewal quote does rise, it’s important to shop around – both our experts and most of the readers who wrote in concur.

“Don’t give your insurer any loyalty, because they won’t show you any,” said Masson.

Your stories

My premium went from £387 to £569 for a no-fault claim that isn’t closed yet and hasn’t gone to court, even though the other driver claimed responsibility. Had I not added the claim to my insurance quote, my premium this year would have been £418. If it’s not my fault, I don’t understand why I have to pay more.
Bharat – 47% increase

Shortly after leasing our car somebody hit it in a supermarket car park and drove off. We called our insurer to check if we could claim and how that would affect our premium. We didn’t in the end and paid for the repair ourselves (about £300). When we came to renew, the quoted premium had gone from £550 to more than £1,200 so we shopped around and settled on a policy with a £530 quote. When we were finalising the payment, the agent ran a check and said there was an incident noted on “CARE” and that the policy was now going to be £650.
Steven London – 18% increase

I had an accident in February – an at-fault claim. My insurance went up from £700 to £850 a year, which I thought was reasonable. 33M, Porsche Macan, £400 excess, £1,600 total claim value for repairs to both vehicles.
Anonymous – 21% increase

I had an accident where I was deemed at fault in March. At renewal time in May, I was still quoted £100 less than the previous year, even with this claim settled. Maybe my age (now 25) brought it down.
William Ferguson – decrease

A woman driving a large SUV came out of a side road without stopping and wrote my car off. Her insurers, Direct Line Motability, straightaway admitted full liability as I was not at fault. Later, after I bought a Ford Fiesta, my Aviva premium jumped from £249.86 last January to a quotation of more than £1,000 because I was “in an accident”. I used all the comparison sites to get new quotations (some did not even bother to ask who was to blame for the accident!). Premium quotes ranged from over double (Admiral – £510.41) to well over five-fold my January premium – all because I was “involved” in an accident!
Christopher, Chester – 104% increase

My car insurance with John Lewis went up from around £650 to £1,150 after a claim for a no-fault accident. This after paying for protected NCB and being with them for years. I had to shop around and got cover elsewhere for £690.
Anonymous – 6% increase

After 15 years claims-free, my car was damaged overnight by an unknown driver. Since I couldn’t prove a responsible party, I was deemed at fault. My premium skyrocketed from £280 to £860 after that single incident. The repairs cost just £500. I would have been better off footing the bill privately.
Anthony, Portsmouth – 207% increase

Having had no claims for 20 years, I was unfortunate to be on the receiving end of two instances of bad driving, and another of just bad luck, in a few months. Having added these no-fault claims to my AA quote, the price went up to more than £480 (from £297). I phoned to ask why, arguing the premium shouldn’t go up as I was 64, retired and doing fewer miles. I was effectively told that retirees are considered higher risk, and my claims history, despite the circumstances, still showed I was higher risk.
Carol Sim – 61% increase

In 2023, when I was 20, I had an accident in my 2018 1.5 Mini Cooper when a driver went into the back of me at a roundabout. My insurance went up from £655.25 to £1,001.25. But seeing as I had changed vehicle to a 2021 Cooper S as well as changed locations from Cornwall to Kent (which added £130.70 to the price), I didn’t think this was too bad.
Ross – 53% increase

I reinsured my Audi A7 after a rear-end shunt that was my fault. I have a good driving record with full no-claims discount. It was going to cost me £300 more to renew, but using comparison websites I got it £50 cheaper than before the bump (£480). I do have no-claims protection which is taken into account, as well as my age, 59.
Neil Pannett, West Sussex – 10% decrease

My quote with Admiral was reasonable considering the extras. I was 32 and my wife was 29 when I bought the car. Insurance was roughly £760, which went down over the years to about £480. In 2023, a driver who had passed their test two days earlier hit our vehicle. All documents were sent off and my insurance said it clearly wasn’t my fault – it went down as a non-fault. A year later when my insurance was due for renewal, Admiral wanted just shy of £1,300. Needless to say, after being with them seven or so years from a previous vehicle, I went to Hastings Direct which gave me the same policy for £560.
Ross Curtis, Kent – 17% increase

After a claim where I struck a post at a coffee drive-through (it was a newly erected post and in my nearside blind spot) my renewal premium went from around £370 to just over £1,000! It was my only claim ever with a maximum non-claims discount on record.
Graeme – 170% increase

I was hit from behind by a car that had left no gap and had been tailgating me for a while – I went from paying £44 to £77 a month on renewal. The accident was classed as a no-fault on my insurance. My motorbike insurance also increased from £90 to £240.
Tony Reilly – 167% increase

I had an accident in London near Edgware Road where I was found to not be at fault. But during the investigation my premium went up from £400 to £660. After a year and being forced to pay the extra £160, I got my no-claims bonus back and my insurance went down to the £400 region again.
M’hamed Naana – 65% increase

I have had to make two no-fault claims (October 2023 and June 2025). I have just come to renew my insurance, but the price increased by more than £100. Using comparison sites I found a premium almost £200 cheaper. I rang to confirm the second no-fault claim, but it increased the quote by £65. The person on the phone apologised as “although I am not at fault, the rules are it increases the risk”.
Barry Horne – decrease

I had two non-fault claims over a year. Both times I wasn’t in the car and both times the full amount was recovered from the other party. Despite this, my protected no claims insurance policy went from £334 to £960 a year.
Martin – 187% increase

My vehicle was involved in an accident last year which was determined to be no-fault to me and the third party paid the claim. When I came to renew this year I got some quotes, first without declaring the claim, then declaring the claim. The second lot of quotes were consistently 10% higher.
Ian – 10% increase

I made a no-fault claim through Admiral Insurance when a car ran into my Audi. The other driver and his insurer admitted it was entirely their fault. My car was written off by Admiral. Two months later my renewal quote went up from £678 to £1,059.
MC, London – 56% increase

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