Planning permission for a services site near Catterick has been quashed at the High Court

A decision to grant planning permission for a multi-million-pound motorway service area off the A1(M) in North Yorkshire has been quashed by the High Court after an intervention by a rival firm.

Roadchef is planning an 11-hectare service station at Catterick. Plans for the MSA at Pallet Hill Farm were approved by North Yorkshire Council’s (NYC) strategic planning committee in December 2024.

But a legal challenge at the High Court in Leeds by rival services operator Moto, which runs a service area at Scotch Corner and has planning permission in place to redevelop nearby Barton Services, has delayed the development.

The challenge was based around the risk of the site flooding, with recent flood risk mapping issued by the Environment Agency showing the site as having areas at a high risk of flooding (zone 3) and some areas of medium risk (zone 2).

Moto argued that Roadchef had not demonstrated that there were no alternative sites for the development in areas with a lower risk of flooding. The council had then accepted the applicant’s submissions ahead of the planning committee’s vote, it was claimed.

The court agreed, with the decision notice stating: “The (council) officer’s report wrongly accepted that the flood risk sequential test was ‘passed’ without a flood risk-based sequential assessment of alternative locations for the proposed development.

“The report displays a flawed approach to national policy in this regard, which is a material error in the context of the decision as a whole.”

The application will now need to be reassessed by the council, with a new consultation process already underway. The court ruled that North Yorkshire Council must pay Moto’s costs.

The application was approved in 2024 despite widespread objections from the local community, amid claims the scheme would “decimate” a wildlife haven. Campaigners said it would destroy a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation used by red-list protected migratory birds, including curlew and lapwing.

Campaigners and several councillors also voiced concerns about proposed mitigation measures, which included a new habitat for wildlife on land around 10 miles away at East Cowton. The application had been provisionally approved by members of Richmondshire District Council in 2022, but was being brought back to North Yorkshire Council because of a legal issue.

North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director for community development, Nic Harne, said: “We acknowledge the High Court’s decision and fully accept the outcome. A revised application has now been submitted, and we will review it through the normal planning process.”

A spokesperson for Roadchef said the High Court ruling was an “unfortunate and disappointing issue” which was brought about by a technical error.

They added: “The proposed Motorway Service Area at Catterick received provisional approval from Richmondshire Council in 2022 and approval from North Yorkshire Council in 2024. This development represents a critical piece of infrastructure and investment for the strategic road network and will deliver substantial benefits to the local economy.

“We are actively working with North Yorkshire Council to resubmit this application and remain committed to delivering this development.”

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The number of Welsh spinouts firms have also fallen shows new research from UK Research and Innovation

The new UK Research and Innovation report has revealed what too many Welsh founders already know – we create technology firms but struggle to finance them through the critical early stages. Too few are supported through to serious scale and this is especially true of those spinout businesses that are founded to take university research into the marketplace.

On initial reading, the report shows some good news, with Wales accounting for 3% of UK research income and producing 3.6% of UK university spinouts founded between 2013 and 2024, suggesting we may be punching above our weight in creating companies.

However, the bad news is that Welsh spinout formation has fallen from around 19 per year in 2013-15 to around seven per year in 2022-24, which means fewer bets, fewer shots on goal, and fewer companies reaching the stage where external capital can realistically back them.

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This should worry anyone who cares about productivity, private sector job creation, or building home-grown firms. Indeed, here is where we should all pay attention, because the report’s figures are genuinely alarming.

While Wales generates 3.6% of UK spinouts, it captures only 1.4% of pre-seed and seed equity investment into spinouts, and an astonishing 0.1% of early-stage VC equity investment. In other words, while we create innovative businesses, they just don’t get the finance necessary to scale.

This is not a small gap but a massive market failure at the exact stage where spinouts transition from “clever science” to commercial execution i.e. building a product, hiring commercial leadership and pricing a serious seed round.

This is the phase where companies either become investable businesses or remain permanently “nearly ready,” and where momentum is either built or lost. If we are capturing virtually none of the early-stage venture capital equity going into spinouts, we are effectively saying they are not a strength of the economy and that Wales, through its Development Bank and other funders, is not properly backing our own potential when it needs it the most.

In fact, the biggest constraint, and one I have been highlighting in this column for two decades, is that Wales simply does not have enough experienced venture capital investors on the ground with the capability and appetite to lead rounds to back winners again and again with only 1.1% of venture capital firms having any office presence here in Wales (and that includes the Development Bank).

If you don’t have lead investors with the necessary expertise, you don’t just get fewer deals, you get weaker syndicates, smaller rounds, slower progress, and a higher risk that firms are pulled towards stronger ecosystems once they show promise. When that happens, Wales loses the long-term value created when a business finally scales.

Worst still, the report suggests that of the Welsh spinouts founded since 2013 and at least three years old, the majority have failed to raise at all: the worst performance in the UK. In addition, only one in 50 have secured later-stage venture capital rounds above £10m, i.e. a tiny proportion of university-born Welsh firms are reaching the funding thresholds associated with meaningful scale and long-term value creation.

That is scandalous. Those who are part of the funding ecosystem should not try to celebrate spinout formation and then quietly ignore the fact the majority go nowhere because there is insufficient capital being made available.

We know Wales is never going to outspend London, south east England or the east of England on venture capital but that is not the issue.

What is important is whether we can build our own coherent pathway that converts research-led potential into investable ventures and then into scaling businesses that stay and grow here.

Unfortunately, the evidence suggests we are failing at that test, and it is a shameful performance because it is not inevitable as Wales has universities generating commercialisable research and founders willing to take the leap. And while an outlier, the recent success of Draig Therapeutics, a recent spinout from Cardiff University that has received more than £100m in venture investment, shows the massive potential that exists within our academic institutions.

On the other hand, there have been no real spin-offs from the compound semiconductor sector in South Wales despite it receiving more than £500m of funding from public and private organisations. In addition, one of these funders – the Cardiff Capital Region – has its own £50m investment fund and yet despite operating alongside one of the UK’s most strategically significant deep tech clusters, it has made little impact on turning this investable innovation into businesses that scale.

This is despite the report showing that in the UK, semiconductors are a sector where spinouts dominate and if Wales is going to win in this vital industry, it typically wins through university commercialisation and scale finance which simply isn’t happening.

Therefore, a funding system that includes the Development Bank of Wales, the British Business Bank and the Cardiff Capital Region that cannot get companies from pre-seed to seed, and from seed to meaningful growth, is inadequate at best. At worst, it becomes a machine for producing failure with talented founders wasting time, universities burning credibility, and taxpayers subsidising activity that does not translate into long-term value.

We need to face the reality caused by those funding Welsh businesses, namely that most Welsh spinouts go nowhere due to a lack of capital. In the absence of any meaningful private venture capital, we need our economic development bodies to build a coherent funding pathway.

Only when we commit resources to doing that properly and create a group of sustainable technology-based scaling firms that create wealth and well-paid jobs in Wales, can anyone claim that our spinouts are a strength and that innovation from our universities are the engine growing the economy.

High-net-worth Californians are increasingly setting their sights on Las Vegas as they look to reduce their tax burden and protect their finances as a proposed wealth tax looms in the Golden State. 

New data shows that by the end of 2025, more than 23% of Realtor.com listing views for Las Vegas homes came from Los Angeles, making it the leading source of out-of-market interest.

San Jose accounted for more than 8% of views, while Riverside, California, made up nearly 4%, according to Realtor.com.

“Migration from California to Las Vegas may reflect both tax considerations and the meaningful affordability gap between the two markets,” Realtor.com senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones told FOX Business in an email.

MARK ZUCKERBERG BECOMES LATEST CALIFORNIA BILLIONAIRE TO RELOCATE TO FLORIDA AMID TAX CONCERNS

A view of the Los Angeles city skyline is seen here. (Simonkr / Getty Images)

That gap is substantial. Los Angeles’ typical home price topped $1 million in January, while San Jose’s median listing price was even higher at $1.1 million. 

In contrast, Las Vegas’ median listing price stood at $465,000, according to Realtor.com.

Nevada’s lack of a state income tax also remains a major draw, Jones said.

“Taxes and overall cost of living are major drivers, and Nevada’s lack of state income tax continues to be one of the most frequently cited reasons for the move,” Jones said. 

“For some clients, it’s purely financial. They can sell a $2 million to $3 million home in California and purchase a comparable or larger property in Las Vegas for less while reducing their ongoing tax burden.”

HOMEBUYERS GAIN UPPER HAND IN 3 MAJOR CITIES AS INVENTORIES GROW

The Bellagio Water Fountain Show is viewed from Caesars Palace Hotel & Casino on May 29, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (George Rose/Getty Images)

The migration trend also comes as California considers a proposed wealth tax that would impose a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of residents with assets exceeding $1 billion.

The measure, backed by the Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West, would need roughly 875,000 signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has opposed the measure, warning it could push high earners to leave the state.

“While policy discussions like a potential wealth tax may influence timing for some high-income households, the ability to convert expensive coastal real estate into greater purchasing power in a lower-cost market is likely also a significant driver,” Jones told FOX Business. 

BILLIONAIRES FLEE CALIFORNIA ‘WITHIN SEVEN DAYS’ OVER PROPOSED WEALTH TAX: INSIDE THE MIAMI MIGRATION

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a rally on Nov. 8, 2025, in Houston, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

“Together, these financial incentives are helping sustain cross-state housing demand.”

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are buying a waterfront mansion in Miami’s exclusive “Billionaire Bunker,” becoming the latest high-profile California billionaire to establish roots in Florida amid tax concerns.

FOX Business’ Kristen Altus contributed to this report.