They are among five suppliers given permission by the sector watchdog to increase charges

Thames Water and Wessex Water are among five water firms given the provisional go-ahead by the industry watchdog to hike bills further as part of plans allowing suppliers to spend an extra £3.4bn.

Ofwat revealed in its draft determination that five of 13 suppliers across England and Wales are set to be given permission to increase charges for customers to pump in the additional investment by the end of the decade to help upgrade networks to cope with new housing and data centres and tackle forever chemicals to ensure drinking water is safe and reliable.

Debt-laden Thames Water is one of the firms provisionally allowed to increase customer bills between 2027 and 2030, alongside Severn Trent Water, Southern Water, Wessex Water and South East Water.

Thames Water covers a large area of London and the Thames Valley as well as Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. Wessex Water, meanwhile, includes Dorset, Somerset and Bristol as well as most of Wiltshire and parts of Gloucestershire and Hampshire.

It follows a three-month review by Ofwat, with the 13 firms originally putting forward requests for further investment of £4.3bn.

Ofwat will now consult on the draft decision until September 24 with a final verdict due in December.

Helen Campbell, executive director for delivery at Ofwat, said: “The newly agreed funding will help unlock much-needed new housing development and boost business growth across a range of sectors, as well as improving drinking water quality and the removal of PFAS and forever chemicals.

“We will track performance to ensure companies are delivering the expected improvements for customers and the environment. If they don’t, expenditure can be clawed back.”

Environment Secretary Angela Eagle said: “I know that households across the country are watching every pound and I share their frustration that years of underinvestment and toothless regulation has led to this.

“We have already ringfenced money earmarked for new infrastructure so it can only be spent on fixing the problems, and will go further by fundamentally reforming the water sector so that it works for the public; keeping bills as low as they can be, and delivering higher standards, better performance and cleaner waterways.”

The news comes just days after Thames Water sparked outrage after handing a delayed £1m “golden handshake” to its chief financial officer and agreeing controversial retention payouts to top bosses as it battles to secure its financial future.

The stricken supplier is sinking under a debt pile of more than £20bn.

Thailand’s July CPI eased to 2.0% yoy, below forecasts, driven by softer fuel prices. Core inflation remains manageable at 0.8%. BoT expected to hold rates at 1% through year-end amid subdued demand. THB strengthened to 33.00/USD but remains among Asia’s weakest currencies in 2025.

Key Points

• Inflation: July CPI rose 2.0% yoy, below the 2.4% consensus and June’s reading, marking the lowest since March; core CPI averaged 0.8% YTD, under the government’s 1.5% forecast.
• Policy Outlook: BoT likely to hold rates at 1% through year-end, citing manageable inflation and subdued demand pressures, per Assistant Governor Don Nakornthab.
• FX: USD/THB fell to 33.00, a seven-week low; THB still down 4.5% YTD, underperforming regional peers.

Inflation Eases Below Expectations

Thailand’s July Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.0% year-on-year, falling short of the Bloomberg consensus estimate of 2.4% and down from June’s 2.4% reading. This marks the lowest inflation print since March, driven largely by softer retail fuel prices that eased overall cost pressures. Despite the headline moderation, core CPI has been gradually climbing, averaging 0.8% over the first seven months of 2025—still comfortably below the government’s full-year core inflation forecast of 1.5%. Commerzbank strategists note that while underlying price pressures persist, they remain manageable and well-contained, suggesting inflation dynamics are not yet a pressing concern for policymakers or the broader economy.

Steady Monetary Policy Outlook

Given the benign inflation environment, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) is expected to hold its policy rate at 1% through the remainder of 2025. Commerzbank strategists see little justification for a shift in monetary policy at this stage, as demand-side pressures remain subdued and inflation risks appear skewed to the downside. This view was reinforced by BoT Assistant Governor Don Nakornthab, who recently indicated that inflation is under control and could potentially undershoot earlier projections due to weak consumer demand. The central bank’s cautious, wait-and-see stance reflects confidence that current price trends do not warrant tightening, while also leaving room for flexibility should conditions change later in the year.

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Currency Performance Remains Weak Despite Recent Gains

In foreign exchange markets, the Thai baht (THB) strengthened modestly, with USD/THB falling 0.2% to 33.00, its lowest level since June 22. The currency has now gained for four consecutive sessions, aided by rising global gold prices, which have historically supported the baht given Thailand’s gold trade dynamics. Despite this short-term rebound, the THB remains the third worst-performing currency in Asia this year. On a year-to-date basis, the baht has depreciated 4.5% against the US dollar, a significantly steeper decline than the average 1.9% drop seen among other Asian currencies excluding Japan. This underscores that, despite recent stabilization, the baht continues to face broader structural and cyclical headwinds relative to regional peers.

Source : Thai Baht: Benign inflation keeps BoT on hold – Commerzbank

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Ford Motor Co. is giving its Louisville Assembly Plant a massive makeover as it prepares to build a new electric truck in 2027.

The automaker is investing $2 billion to transform the roughly 3-million-square-foot Kentucky factory from gas-powered vehicle production to EV manufacturing, according to an announcement from Ford.

The plant will build Ford’s new Fathom midsize electric truck using the company’s Universal EV Production System, which is designed to cut parts, simplify assembly and speed up production.

“It is simply foundationally different from how we have done things before,” Kevin Young, Ford’s advanced program manufacturing chief, said in a statement. “Operators can see everything in front of them and don’t need to bend or reach to do it.”

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A covered Ford Fathom moves through new production equipment at the Louisville Assembly Plant. (Ford Motor Company)

The Kentucky overhaul is part of a broader $5 billion investment that Ford says will create 4,000 jobs across the Louisville Assembly Plant and BlueOval Battery Park Michigan.

Under the new system, the Fathom will be built in three major sections – the front, rear and battery deck – allowing employees to work on each section simultaneously before joining them together.

Ford is also turning to large aluminum castings that replace what once was dozens of smaller stamped and welded parts.

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Equipment operates inside Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant as the automaker expands factory automation. (Ford Motor Company)

The new system will allow the Ford Fathom to be assembled 40% faster than products currently built at the Louisville plant, according to the company.

The plant is also getting a major technology upgrade.

Wi-Fi access points have nearly tripled from 385 to 1,080, and Ford says the plant will have the highest level of final-assembly automation of its factories worldwide.

Employees have also been training in Michigan on the new production process, which the company says is designed to make assembly work easier and more efficient.

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Ford’s tire room at the Louisville Assembly Plant is shown as the automaker overhauls the Kentucky facility for Fathom electric truck production. (Ford Motor Company)

“We’ve engineered an 84% reduction in reaching over the fender,” Bryce Currie, Ford’s chief manufacturing officer, said in a statement. “The wiring harness is also more than 4,000 feet shorter and 22 pounds lighter than in our first-gen electric SUV, making it much easier to install.”

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Ford remains on track to begin prototype builds using production-ready parts in the first quarter of 2027, with Fathom production expected later that year.

Flock Safety, the embattled AI-powered security camera operator, announced an overhaul to its privacy and security measures Thursday amid growing backlash from consumers and reports of law enforcement abuse. 

As public backlash to the company’s growing network of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) continues to build, the company announced a new set of reforms that includes enhanced privacy protections, strengthening of control for local law enforcement offices and enhanced accountability measures.

To start, Flock is reducing its standard data retention window from 30 days to seven. Previously, all data captured by one of the company’s more than 119,000 cameras nationwide was deleted after the 30-day window. Now, the company announced on Thursday that data will only live on Flock servers for one week.

While law enforcement agencies often respond to privacy-concerned critics by explaining that the Flock system helps them catch criminals, Flock said that 90% of all searches using its product happen within a week anyway, seemingly keeping the privacy reform consistent with law enforcement priorities.

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One step Flock is taking is reducing its standard data retention window from 30 days to seven. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

However, for law enforcement agencies that need more time to investigate, Flock announced the launch of “Evidence Mode,” a feature that will allow agencies to preserve data for longer based on state or local policy. 

Another privacy protection the company announced will be the ability for agencies to decide which types of criminal offenses they want to share data about with other municipalities. 

“For example, City A could allow City B to search its cameras for a stolen vehicle or violent crime while blocking searches related to immigration enforcement,” the company said.

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Flock has come under fire from privacy advocates and concerned citizens, who expressed worry that Flock will be storing data on servers for the long term. 

Some, such as Knox County, Tennessee, Mayor Glen Jacobs have called for a national moratorium on the deployment of Flock’s cameras. 

Civil liberties advocates, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have also offered significant criticisms. 

The ACLU said in a Thursday statement that Flock’s reforms “seem to be a thinly veiled PR attempt to counter communities’ genuine privacy concerns with its mass surveillance system with largely hollow security promises, rather than an earnest effort to address them.”

The backlash has been partially fueled by reports of police abusing the technology to stalk romantic partners. Flock’s latest series of reforms also seek to proactively prevent abuse of its technologies.

A recently released framework called Audit Assistance flags abnormal search behavior. Previously, the feature was optional, with Flock reporting that a third of agencies turned it on. Now, the company says “Flock is making it standard for every law enforcement customer. When a system detects abnormal activity, the user is locked out in real time until an administrator reviews the searches. Flock is moving to more proactively address and root out misuse of technology.”

Flock said that in the 1 million investigations which its technology was involved in last year, roughly 10,000 missing people were located.  (Osmancan Gurdogan/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Flock will also require a reason for every search going forward.

In July 2025, the company introduced an optional case code requirement. The new reform makes the case code mandatory for searches, though there will be an override for “genuine emergencies” such as missing children, the company said.

“A search without a reason is a search that shouldn’t happen in the first place, and now Flock’s system automatically treats it that way,” Flock told FOX Business.

Flock has come under fire from privacy advocates and concerned citizens, who expressed worry that Flock will be storing data on servers for the long term. (Flock Safety)

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Despite the public backlash, Flock highlighted the company’s success in helping to locate missing people, saying that in the 1 million investigations that Flock’s technology was involved in last year, roughly 10,000 missing people were located. 

Boss of Grosvenor Casinos parent says tax plans ‘cast clouds over a regulated industry’

Britain’s “much-loved” bingo halls could be at risk of closure if Andy Burnham proceeds with a £460m increase in gambling taxes, according to the owner of Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo.

Richard Harris, chief executive of Rank Group, said on Thursday: “Tax proposals from anti-gambling campaigners continue to cast clouds over a regulated industry that is proud to support jobs across the country [and] deliver great hospitality experiences to millions of customers.”

The FTSE 250 company reported paying more than £225m in taxes last year, and warned the government against imposing further tax increases on the gambling sector.

Before Andy Burnham’s appointment as Prime Minister, a left-wing think tank had suggested he could generate £460m by raising tax on slot and fruit machines from 20 to 40 per cent.

Any rise in Machine Games Duty (MGD) “will further impact venue viability across both Grosvenor and Mecca and will lead to a reduction in tax receipts within 12 months,” Rank Group stated, as reported by City AM.

While the government abolished a tax on physical bingo halls earlier this year, the prevalence of gaming machines at Mecca Bingo venues means the company could still suffer from such a tax rise.

Harris said higher gambling taxes would mean that “much-loved bingo halls and casinos will be forced to close, impacting customers in local communities”. The group said it is focusing on efforts to drive revenue from its digital machines and electronic gaming at its Grosvenor Casino and Mecca Bingo sites.

Rank Group recorded a five per cent rise in gaming revenue, to £835m, in the year to June, though pre-tax profit fell by 15 per cent to £39m.

The firm said its statutory profit was impacted by a £7.5m impairment charge relating to its gaming machines.

The business generated an average £7.6m gaming revenue per week at its Grosvenor Casinos arm, a rise of five per cent, which operates around 50 venues across the UK.

The group introduced 850 new machines across 37 of its casinos in an attempt to boost turnover, but noted that the Middle East conflict weighed on performance in its table gaming offering.

Rank has been scaling back its portfolio of Mecca bingo halls, responding to an “oversupply” of venues throughout the UK.

The group has been left with “a much healthier estate of core clubs and flagship venues, well-placed to compete more effectively in their marketplaces,” it said.

Gaming machine revenue climbed by six per cent at Mecca, accounting for 42 per cent of the business’s gaming turnover across the year.

Entain, the FTSE 100 owner of Ladbrokes, on Thursday criticised the government’s “significant and disappointing” hike to taxes on remote gambling, which it said weighed on its underlying earnings.

The Rank Group traces its origins back to media group The Rank Organisation, founded by Hull-born J Arthur Rank.