The recent survey questioned residents across the region

Hundreds of people in the West of England support the expansion of Bristol Airport, according to a new YouGov poll. The survey, which questioned more than 1,120 adults, found 44 per cent were in favour of the transport hub’s growth, while 32 per cent were neutral and 24 per cent opposed the plans.

It comes just a month after Bristol Airport once again tabled proposals to expand, promising new destinations and 1,000 on-site jobs, despite concerns from environmental campaigners.

In 2023, the High Court granted the airport permission to increase capacity to 12 million passengers a year after North Somerset Council rejected its proposals in 2020. Now Bristol is looking to grow again – to accommodate 15 million passengers.

The airport has pledged to invest around £500m in improvements to the site and local infrastructure.

Under the plans, the runway would be expanded to allow flights to more cities in Europe and long-haul routes to places such as the US and Middle East.

There would also be a larger terminal, with more shops and restaurants, and the ability to walk onto aircraft without getting on a bus. The proposals include more car parking spaces and public transport improvements, too.

Dave Lees, chief executive of Bristol Airport, said: “It’s great to see such strong support for our plans from across our region. This polling shows that people want to travel from their local airport and value connections – whether they’re travelling for business, leisure, or reuniting with loved ones abroad.

“Our proposals would directly connect our region with new destinations and boost the economy.”

The YouGov poll also found that 60 per cent of those questioned had travelled via the airport in the past two years, while 73 per cent said they were considering using Bristol Airport in the next two years.

Of those who had used or plan to use Bristol Airport, 43 per cent said they were more likely to consider using public transport to access the airport.

Currently 10.8 million people use Bristol Airport every year.

“Fewer local people and business travellers would need to rely on travelling to London airports and could instead explore places further afield from their local airport, while also enabling businesses to reach new markets and the tourism sector to benefit from more international visitors exploring our region,” Bristol Airport said in a statement.

However, local residents and environmental campaigners have raised concerns about the impact of extra carbon emissions from an expanded airport. They also claim increasing capacity could lead to more congestion on local roads around the transport hub and create more noise.

India’s electricity system is entering a decisive phase, where soaring summer demand, rising renewable capacity, and structural gaps in storage are reshaping the entire power value chain. As peak demand touches record levels, experts say the real constraint is no longer generation—but flexibility.

In an interview with ET Now, Apoorva Bahadur, Senior VP, IIFL Capital highlighted how India’s power demand has rebounded sharply after a brief slowdown over the past two years, driven by rising appliance usage, climate volatility, and structural economic growth.

“The power demand definitely has increased quite significantly and this comes after a lull of almost two odd years,” Bahadur noted, pointing out that FY26 is seeing a sharp reversal after subdued demand conditions in FY25.

Renewables Meet Their Limit in the Evening Peak
India’s installed renewable base—led by nearly 150 GW of solar capacity—is now capable of meeting daytime demand comfortably. In fact, during recent peak load conditions of around 256 GW, the grid did not face shortages during the day.

However, the evening hours remain the critical bottleneck.

“The challenge lies in the evening bit wherein the solar does not generate anything, so the contribution of solar goes down to zero,” Bahadur explained.
This mismatch between daytime surplus and evening shortage is now defining the urgency for energy storage systems, particularly Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and pumped hydro projects.Storage Becomes the Critical Missing Link
With gas-based plants facing fuel constraints, hydro output uncertain due to weaker monsoon expectations, and coal plants carrying most of the load, the system is becoming increasingly dependent on storage technologies to balance demand.

“We will also have to add a lot of batteries and pump storage to meet the gap,” Bahadur said, adding that while progress has been made, scaling remains a challenge.

Recent capacity additions have come from players like Adani Green and ACME, while NTPC has also commissioned pumped storage assets. However, the pace is still insufficient to match the speed of demand growth.

“Quite likely that this year if the summer demand continues to outperform, we might see peak shortages like we saw two years back or maybe more than that as well,” he warned.

Storage Arbitrage: The Emerging Profit Pool
A key structural shift is also emerging in pricing dynamics. Daytime electricity prices in India’s merchant market are increasingly falling—sometimes below ₹1 per unit—due to excess solar supply.

This creates what experts describe as a “time-shift arbitrage opportunity,” where electricity stored during low-price hours is sold during high-demand evening peaks.
“Any player who has merchant storage capacity, specifically batteries or pump storage, should corner a large portion of the profit pool,” Bahadur said.

Coal and gas assets with merchant exposure may also benefit, but rising fuel costs are expected to compress margins, especially for gas-based generation.

Power Prices Likely to Trend Higher—For Now
On electricity tariffs, the outlook appears inflationary in the near term due to heavy infrastructure investment across generation, transmission, and distribution.

“Generally there will be an inflationary trend in electricity prices,” Bahadur said, citing large-scale government capex in grids and distribution upgrades, including nearly ₹9 trillion earmarked for transmission expansion up to 2032.

However, this trajectory may eventually reverse.

“Once we cross a certain threshold in terms of renewable plus storage capacity addition, the view will change and it becomes deflationary,” he added, pointing to the near-zero marginal cost of renewable generation.

BESS Competition Raises Concerns on Returns
A growing concern in the sector is aggressive bidding in Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects, which are increasingly bundled with renewable contracts.

Bahadur noted that early-stage optimism in emerging technologies often leads to overly competitive bidding cycles.

“We have seen similar story play out in solar as well when we started this journey in 2014-15 onwards,” he said.

He cautioned that battery economics are still heavily influenced by global supply chains, particularly China, where lithium pricing and policy shifts can directly impact project viability.

“Batteries are commodities so pricing is largely decided by China which has the entire upstream industry,” he said, adding that recent cost pressures could strain returns on aggressively bid projects.

Over time, he expects the market to stabilize, with returns likely converging to more sustainable levels, similar to solar projects where equity IRRs have ranged between 11% and 17% depending on competition.

The Road Ahead
India’s power transition is now clearly entering a storage-led phase. While renewable capacity continues to expand rapidly, the real competition is shifting toward who can effectively store and deploy electricity across time. In this evolving landscape, storage assets are no longer supporting infrastructure—they are becoming the core profit centre of the energy system.

For the modern British SME, the “visual tax” has long been a barrier to growth. High-quality commercial photography—essential for e-commerce, social media, and digital advertising—comes with a hefty price tag, involving studio fees, equipment rentals, and post-production costs.

However, as we move through 2026, a strategic shift is occurring. Businesses are increasingly bypassing traditional shoots in favor of the GPT-Image-2 API to achieve professional-grade visuals at a fraction of the cost.

The True Cost of Traditional Photography vs. AI

Traditional commercial photography is notoriously difficult to scale. A single product shoot in London can easily run into thousands of pounds once you factor in the photographer’s day rate, model fees, and the inevitable delays of physical logistics.

By contrast, integrating the GPT Image 2 API allows a business to generate hundreds of bespoke, high-fidelity images for the price of a single lunch. But the advantage isn’t just in the raw numbers; it’s in the ChatGPT Images 2.0 engine’s ability to understand specific commercial requirements. Whether you need a product placed in a sleek minimalist kitchen or a rugged Highland landscape, the API delivers consistency and quality that was previously only available to brands with massive creative budgets.

Efficiency Through Automation

For an SME, time is as valuable as capital. The primary “How to use GPT-image-2” realization for most firms is that it functions as an automated design department. Instead of waiting weeks for a gallery of proofs, marketing teams can now:

• Generate Instant Lifestyle Content: Transform a basic product shot into a full lifestyle campaign by prompting for specific lighting and environmental textures.
• Localized Marketing: Quickly adapt visual assets for different regions or demographics without needing a second shoot.
• Rapid Prototyping: Test multiple visual styles for a new campaign in real-time, using data to decide which aesthetic drives the most engagement.

Strategic Deployment: Practical Integration for UK Businesses

Deploying the GPT Image 2 API into your business workflow doesn’t require a massive technical overhaul. Platforms like Kie.ai have simplified the process, making it accessible even for firms without an extensive in-house tech team.

1. Identify High-Volume Needs: Start by migrating your most frequent visual needs—such as blog headers, social media backgrounds, and newsletter banners—to an AI-driven workflow.
2. Standardize Your Brand Prompt: Develop a “Brand DNA” prompt that includes your specific color palettes, lighting preferences, and mood. This ensures ChatGPT Images 2.0 produces consistent results that align with your existing brand identity.
3. Workflow Integration: Utilize the GPT-Image-2 API to bridge the gap between creative ideation and final output. By integrating this API into your internal marketing tools or asset management processes, your team can generate high-quality images on-demand, drastically reducing the time from “concept” to “published.”

The Competitive Edge

In the current economic climate, “Cost-efficiency” is more than a buzzword; it is a survival strategy. By leveraging the advanced capabilities of the GPT Image 2 API, British SMEs are no longer at a disadvantage compared to larger corporations.

The ability to produce world-class visual content at scale allows small businesses to be more agile, more creative, and more profitable. As ChatGPT Images 2.0 continues to redefine the boundaries of digital realism, the question for business owners is no longer if they should adopt AI photography, but how quickly they can integrate it to stay ahead of the competition.

PE-backed legal group also acquires Kent’s JE Bennett Law

A specialist law firm has been acquired by private equity-backed Fletchers Group as part of a double deal to create one of the UK’s biggest Court of Protection specialists.

Fletchers has acquired EMG Solicitors, which is based in Durham and also has offices in Gosforth and Penrith, to create a dedicated Court of Protection and private client division under EMG.

It has also acquired Kent-based firm JE Bennett Law, which will join the expanded EMG business. Fletchers Solicitors’ existing 30-strong Court of Protection team will also transfer into EMG.

The expanded Court of Protection business will be led by EMG founder and CEO Emma Gaudern, who will join Fletchers’ management board. The team will have more than 200 specialists across EMG’s current offices as Manchester, Reading and Tunbridge Wells.

The latest deals have received regulatory approval but their value has not been disclosed.

North West group Fletchers was acquired by an affiliate of Sun European Partners in 2021 and has made several acquisitions since, including last year’s deal for family law specialist Rayden Solicitors. The group now has more than 1,000 staff.

Fletchers Group CEO Peter Haden said he was “absolutely delighted” with the deals. He said: “EMG and JE Bennett Law are two highly impressive, respected firms with deep expertise in Court of Protection and private client work. Bringing these teams together creates a specialist practice with real depth across the full spectrum of Court of Protection services, ranging from complex financial management and deputyships to high-value estates and trusts.

“It will also provide a full-service health and welfare offering, supporting clients on some of the most complex health and care decisions, education law matters and continuing healthcare challenges.

“This is a significant step forward in strengthening our private client capabilities and reflects our group strategy of scaling up and building expertise across the different areas of civil justice – expanding from our roots in serious injury and clinical negligence and into complementary areas of law.”

He added: “I am confident the team will quickly establish EMG as the pacesetter to watch, alongside our other specialist brands in the group.”

Emma Gaudern said: “During discussions with Peter and the team it quickly became apparent that Fletchers Group will be the best possible partner for our people and our clients. Being part of a progressive, growth-focused group will help EMG, JE Bennett Law and Fletchers’ CoP team to create a powerful, nationwide force in Court of Protection and private client services.

“The expanded EMG business will operate independently of Fletchers Solicitors with clear professional boundaries; appropriate information safeguards will remain in place, ensuring confidentiality and protecting sensitive commercial information.”

“We will also ensure that any Court of Protection clients introduced to EMG by external firms will not be represented by or referred to Fletchers under any circumstances.”

She added: “Consolidation in the legal sector is accelerating and we are excited to be a part of this significant shift in our industry, with support and backing from Fletchers to re-set our ambitious growth plans both organic, from our increase in scale, and inorganic, as we would love to speak to other firms looking to take advantage of the new opportunities in this evolving market.”

JE Bennett Law is led by founder and managing partner Jane Bennett, who will join the leadership team of the expanded EMG alongside Emma Gaudern, Jemma Morland, co-founder and director of Court of Protection at EMG,and Kate Edwards, director of court of protection at Fletchers.

Jane Bennett said: “Both Fletchers and EMG share our passion for helping vulnerable people, and the new expanded business will provide us with the opportunity to reach far more clients across the country needing our specialist help.”

A British artificial intelligence company founded by one of the architects of fintech unicorn Tide has written to every Member of Parliament warning that the political debate over children’s smartphone use has descended into a “false choice” between blanket bans and unrestricted access.

SafetyMode, the London-headquartered child safety technology firm led by Tide founder George Bevis, has used the parliamentary intervention to press ministers to consider a third path, arguing that on-device technology can give parents meaningful control without locking children out of the digital economy altogether.

The timing is not accidental. The letter lands in Westminster postbags days after a landmark American court ruling found that several of Silicon Valley’s largest platforms had knowingly engineered addictive products for young users, a judgment that has sharpened the appetite among legislators on both sides of the Atlantic for tougher action.

In Britain, the political mood music has shifted markedly over the past eighteen months, with cross-party support building for tighter restrictions on under-16s. Yet SafetyMode’s pitch to MPs is that the conversation has narrowed prematurely.

“Right now, the entirety of the conversation around social media and phone safety seems to pretend all we can achieve is either to open the floodgates entirely or to ban them completely, losing all benefits these technologies may offer,” the company writes in its letter, copies of which have been seen by Business Matters.

The firm, founded by Mr Bevis alongside Bertie Aspinall and product specialist Dan Barker, has spent the past two years developing what it claims is one of the most sophisticated parental control platforms on the market. Unlike rival products that route children’s data through cloud servers, SafetyMode’s technology runs artificial intelligence directly on the device, filtering harmful content in real time while keeping personal information off external servers.

The product was built in partnership with parenting forum Mumsnet, whose research underpins much of the company’s commercial thesis. More than 90 per cent of parents surveyed told Mumsnet that current smartphones are not safe enough for children, while 86 per cent expressed concern about the impact of devices on their child’s mental health and attention span.

Speaking to Business Matters, Mr Bevis said the political class risks reaching for the bluntest available instrument. “We are at a turning point in how society views children and smartphones. There is clear agreement that there is a problem, but the solutions being discussed are too narrow. Regulation matters, but it takes time, and it cannot be the only answer.”

Mr Aspinall, the firm’s co-founder, struck a more pointed note. “The courts, governments, schools and parents all recognise the risks. But companies at the heart of this won’t fix it themselves. So the question becomes, what do we do next? On the one hand is regulation. But if we want to protect children now, the answer is simple. You build safety into the device itself and put control back in the hands of parents.”

The company’s technology has been designed to read context rather than merely scan for prohibited keywords, identifying when conversations turn abusive, sexualised or otherwise damaging, even when those exchanges would slip past conventional filters.

For now, SafetyMode is available only on Android handsets. The firm has been openly critical of Apple, arguing that the Cupertino giant’s restrictions on third-party developers prevent meaningful parental controls being built for iPhone users, a complaint that echoes broader regulatory scrutiny of Apple’s walled garden in both Brussels and Washington.

There is also an industrial strategy dimension to the company’s lobbying. SafetyMode is positioning Britain as a potential global hub for what it calls the “safe tech for kids” movement, arguing that ministers could combine child protection with a fresh wave of innovation, investment and skilled job creation if they chose to back domestic firms developing protective technologies.

Whether MPs will be receptive remains to be seen. Backbench pressure for outright restrictions on under-16s using social media has hardened in recent months, and Whitehall has shown limited appetite for technological solutions that depend on parental engagement. But with the American courts now exposing platform behaviour in unprecedented detail, the case for action of some kind appears unstoppable.

The question Mr Bevis and his colleagues are putting to Parliament is whether that action should empower parents or simply slam the door shut.

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James and Katie Allen want to open the heritage tannery at Great Cotmarsh Farm near Broad Town

Plans to establish the UK’s first micro-scale vegetable tannery for cattle hides at a farm in the Wiltshire countryside have been revealed. James and Katie Allen are seeking to launch the heritage tannery at Great Cotmarsh Farm near Broad Town.

The pair acquired the farm in 2023 and began developing a varied portfolio of business ventures, including a glamping site featuring a shepherd’s hut, and a farm classroom for fashion students teaching sustainable production techniques such as wool-weaving and natural dye-making.

They now intend to add leather production to their offering, through the establishment of a heritage tannery – and have lodged a planning application for change of use to an existing farm building which they reconstructed in 2024.

Their agent, agricultural consultant Woolley & Wallis, has informed the council: “The use of the building for leather tanning of their own hides from the herd established on the farm is still considered agricultural.

“The use as a tannery is ancillary to their agricultural enterprise, much like a farm shop selling their own produce or a farmer producing wine from his grapes on site.

“The tannery produces, sustainable, high-quality, vegetable-tanned cow leather that the applicant can trace back to the exact animal reared on the land.”

The UK was formerly a global leader in leather production for everything from footwear to saddles, with every market town boasting a tanner. However, tanning is a declining craft, and the tanneries still operating rely on dangerous chemicals to speed up the procedure.

“Traditional oak bark tanning is now classified as critically endangered on the Heritage Crafts red list,” said James.

“We are in danger of losing the knowledge from the country completely as the last tanning experts retire.

“Our leather will be made to produce our own leather goods, but also to supply brands looking for hero collections that want true transparency along the leather supply chain, and for artisan leather workers and makers.

“In the future, we’d like to be able to offer farmer returns, enabling farmers to generate another income stream from their cattle enterprise.”

Our micro-scale tannery is an important part of the field-to-fibre story and knowledge exchange we are building on the farm, and we hope to support the creation of other micro tanneries to help reinvigorate a heritage craft that once was a burgeoning part of British enterprise.

A ruling from Wiltshire Council is expected by mid-June.