A consortium led by Karbon Homes, plus Thirteen Group, are part of a major housebuilding initiative announced by the Government
15:50, 25 Aug 2026Updated 16:11, 25 Aug 2026
House under construction(Image: PA)
Housing associations and a council in the North East are to deliver thousands of new homes in the region after securing multimillion-pound Government funding.
Northumberland housing group Karbon Homes has led a consortium that also involves believe housing, Bernicia, Durham Aged Miners Homes Association and Livin to deliver 2,533 homes with Government funding of £350m. And Middlesbrough’s Thirteen Group has received £349.2m to build 2,750 new properties.
Advertisement
The funding is part of a national programme worth almost £10bn announced by the Government following Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s pledge to have the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period. Newcastle City Council is one of three local authorities in England to get direct funding, securing £141.4m to build 966 houses in the city.
Sarah Robson, executive director of development and asset management at Karbon Homes, said: “Alongside meeting customer needs and strengthening local communities, working collaboratively will also enable us to strengthen procurement, share expertise and support the development of a more resilient construction supply chain.
Sarah Robson of Karbon Homes(Image: Helen Smith Photography)
“We’re delighted to receive the maximum available allocation for our partnership bid which reflects our track record and ambition. Although we recognise the financial constraints the Government is operating within, this first wave of funding is critical to ensure we can continue to deliver the much-needed affordable homes our region needs, and we hope further funding will follow in due course.”
Thirteen Group will build properties in the North East, the Tees Valley, and in Yorkshire and Humber.
Advertisement
Chief executive Matt Forrest said: “This is fantastic news for Thirteen and the communities we serve, and will enable us to build thousands more social and affordable new homes over the next 10 years. These homes are very much needed – our new builds attract more than 200 applications each and we really need to close that gap between supply and demand as quickly as possible.
“Developing is in our DNA at Thirteen and securing this funding – the largest sum we’ve ever been allocated – is a huge vote of confidence in our ability to deliver quality new homes at pace and scale. We have a long-established and successful partnership with Homes England and these homes will be in addition to the 1,763 we’re currently developing under the previous funding programme.”
John Johnston, chief executive of housing group Bernicia and chair of the North East Housing Partnership, said: “We very much welcome the announcement of £445m in funding to build 3,400 new social and affordable homes across the North East.
“The North East Housing Partnership is ready to mobilise and begin delivering these much-needed homes for people across the region to support the North East mayor’s Plan for Homes. And with over 50,000 people on housing waiting lists in our region, we know demand is huge, so we will continue to work alongside the mayor to develop the case for additional, long-term funding that matches our shared ambition for new homes and the housing need in the region.”
Financial expert Jeff Sica joins Stuart Varney to analyze retail earnings from Home Depot and Walmart, evaluating consumer health, real estate trends and the impact of inflation on home improvement sectors.
Walmart is making a new play for younger, style-conscious shoppers with a women’s fashion brand offering most items for less than $25.
The retail giant is rolling out Scenario, a modern bohemian collection featuring apparel, shoes, jewelry, handbags and other accessories, at all of its stores.
Advertisement
The launch includes 280 styles, according to Walmart.
“We’ve been on a journey to democratize fashion by focusing on expanding our assortment, elevating the experience in-store and online, reaching new customers and changing [the] perception [of] Walmart fashion,” a spokesperson for the retailer told FOX Business in an email.
Walmart is rolling out Scenario, a modern bohemian collection featuring apparel, shoes, jewelry, handbags and other accessories. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Scenario is designed to appeal to women around age 35 who want trendier details than Walmart’s existing brands traditionally offer, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The line includes embroidered blouses, pintuck denim shirts and faux leather bags, with a focus on natural fabrics such as cotton, the outlet reported.
Walmart said it developed the brand after research found nearly one in five women ranked bohemian fashion among their preferred styles, even though none of its existing private labels were perceived as directly catering to that look.
Scenario is designed to appeal to women around age 35 who want trendier details than Walmart’s existing brands traditionally offer. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Scenario will take over some space previously devoted to Time and Tru, Walmart’s women’s brand focused on classic wardrobe staples, according to the Journal.
The retailer tested elements of the bohemian aesthetic within its Time and Tru assortment before deciding to build a dedicated lifestyle brand, the company said.
The existing brand will continue with a smaller selection focused on its most popular items, the outlet reported.
“This is an ‘and’ strategy,” Denise Incandela, executive vice president of fashion for Walmart U.S., told the Journal. “We’re still going to cover those big-volume driving socks and underwear and denim and Ts.”
Walmart said it has launched or relaunched 15 private brands over the past five years as it works to modernize its fashion business. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO — Hyundai Motor Co. CEO José Muñoz smiled and nodded as a fellow executive discussed the automaker’s “mueos-ideun ganeunghada” philosophy during the reveal of its new flagship Genesis GV90 SUV.
The term means “anything is possible” in Korean. It’s a mantra for the South Korean automaker that has proved to be true for the company’s U.S. ambitions as well as for Muñoz himself, a Spanish-U.S. dual national who is the first non-Korean executive to lead the automaker.
Hyundai has experienced rapid growth in the U.S. so far this decade despite an onslaught of geopolitical changes and a slowing market. And it’s hoping to keep that going. The company is ramping up production at a new $7.6 billion plant in Georgia to continue to capture more sales and market share.
“My top three priorities are U-S-A,” Muñoz told CNBC during an interview last week after the Genesis reveal. “USA is helping us to really make good progress, not only in the most important market and the most competitive market in the world, but also elsewhere.”
Advertisement
Hyundai Motor Group, which includes its namesake vehicles as well as the Kia and luxury Genesis brands, has increased its market share this decade more than any major automaker in the U.S., according to data from Mobility Global.
The group has grown its U.S. market share from 8.4% in 2020 to 11.2% through last year, and its sales have grown 50% over that period, making the South Korean company the fourth best-selling automaker in the country. Its market share is up to 11.8% through the first half of this year, according to auto intelligence firm Mobility Global.
No other major automaker is even close to such market share gains, with most flat to down during that timeframe. Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, at an estimated 2.1 percentage point increase in market share, is the only company even close, according to Mobility Global.
Hyundai’s U.S. performance has helped it become the third best-selling automaker globally and the second most profitable based on operating income, Munoz said.
Advertisement
Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung downplayed the company’s rapid rise when speaking last week to CNBC: “It’s important, but speed doesn’t matter. How we grow in the right way [is what matters]. I think that’s more important.”
But investors have definitely taken notice of the growth, with shares of the company on the Korea stock exchange up nearly 250% since 2020.
Hyundai’s $26 billion U.S. plan
Hyundai expects its growth to continue with a $26 billion investment plan through 2028 that could include making its new Metaplant in Georgia the largest vehicle assembly plant in the country.
Muñoz told CNBC the company is considering plans to increase the expected production capacity at the plant from 500,000 units to between 700,000 and 800,000 units by 2028. It currently produces the all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 as well as the Kia Sportage hybrid, with additional vehicles expected in the coming years.
Jose Munoz, chief executive officer of Hyundai Motor Co., speaks at the Busan International Mobility Show in Busan, South Korea, on Friday, June 26, 2026.
Advertisement
SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The goal is for Hyundai to produce at least 80% of the vehicles it sells in the U.S. domestically by the end of this decade, up from roughly 40% in 2024.
“For that purpose, we need to add more capacity,” Muñoz said. “We are ramping up as fast as we can.”
The investment is the largest in the company’s U.S. history, as it aims to increase sales to 5.55 million vehicles globally under a “Bold 2030 Vision” plan outlined by Muñoz last year at the company’s first investor day ever held in the U.S.
Advertisement
The plan is an ambitious outline to increase sales by roughly 35% from last year to 2030. That includes entering new markets globally, with the U.S. as an anchor for continued profitable growth.
Muñoz on Wednesday reconfirmed those plans during the company’s 2026 CEO investor day, including a 6% targeted global market share for Hyundai and Genesis.
Muñoz last week said President Donald Trump’s tariffs, including 15% on autos from South Korea, have played a role in the company accelerating its U.S. production plans.
“Tariffs are helping accelerate our localization plan. That’s very, very simple,” he said. “The good thing is that we had already started before tariffs were announced. So in a way it’s helping us to accelerate.”
Advertisement
The Georgia plant is key for Hyundai and Kia, both of which have grown sales roughly 45% in the U.S. since 2020.
The Hyundai Metaplant is seen on Sept. 9, 2025, in Ellabell, Georgia.
Elijah Nouvelage | Afp | Getty Images
“This decade’s been about a brand transformation, and the growth has been phenomenal. We’ve really transformed everything,” Eric Watson, Kia America vice president of sales operations, said during an interview. “We continue to plan to grow.”
Advertisement
Kia’s growth plans include increasing U.S. sales to 1.02 million vehicles in the U.S. by 2030, the company’s CEO, Ho Sung Song, said earlier this year. That is expected to be assisted by Kia’s entry into pickup trucks and more capable SUVs that are known as “body-on-frame” vehicles.
“We think that’s an important segment to be involved in, a body on frame vehicle/truck,” Watson said. “It’ll be an important piece of our growth strategy that we’ll look forward to announcing more in the future.”
Hyundai also plans to add such vehicles, including a midsize pickup truck. The company earlier this year debuted a rugged concept vehicle called the Boulder, which could mean additional production capacity in the U.S. for body-on-frame models.
“It’s a new unexplored territory for us,” Muñoz said. “We are always, always assessing the opportunities that we have in the market.”
Advertisement
From ‘cheap’ to luxury, value
Hyundai entered the U.S. market in 1986, followed by Kia in 1993 with cheaper options than American consumers could get from U.S. automakers and aiming to compete against growing Japanese companies such as Toyota Motor.
Since then, Hyundai executives said several transformations — from overhauling quality and design to logos and dealer showrooms — have led the brands to where they are today as quality value plays.
“Both Kia and Hyundai are really good at being able to offer more in the vehicle than the consumer expects, and that they expect at that price point,” said Stephanie Brinley, associate director of Mobility Global’s AutoIntelligence. “It’s not about being a ‘cheap car.’ It’s just being able to offer a little bit more than expected.”
Muñoz attributed Hyundai’s success to its customer focus and its ability to surprise buyers, many of whom are new to the brand, with the capabilities and features of its vehicles. He also said the global reach of Hyundai, which also owns steel plants and other suppliers, is paramount to its progress.
Advertisement
“We have determined that being competitive is a key element for the American consumer. So, affordability is something that we fully understand and we apply,” he said. “We want to offer the customer the right product, the right features at the right level of price.”
That “right level” has been widening for the automaker in the U.S. It continues to sell entry-level vehicles that start in the $20,000s for Kia and Hyundai, while growing the top-end sales for both brands. Its Genesis luxury brand, meanwhile, has models that reach $100,000 or more.
Hyundai on Wednesday said it is planning more than 100 vehicle launches and refreshes across Hyundai and Genesis by 2030, including 58 in North America. It also will significantly increase its electrified vehicle offerings, including extended-range hybrids.
Genesis GV90 SUV EV
Advertisement
Courtesy Genesis
Genesis, which launched a decade ago in the U.S., has seen a particularly rapid growth, to become the fastest-selling luxury brand to 1 million sales globally, according to the company.
Executives described its newest GV90 flagship SUV, including a model with coach doors and rotating lounge seats, as a new chapter for the Genesis brand, reiterating that “anything is possible.”
“From the very beginning, the world took notice of Genesis,” Genesis North America Chief Operating Officer Tedros Mengiste said at the GV90 reveal as Muñoz nodded. “And tonight you will see mueos-ideun ganeunghada – anything is possible – come to life.”
In the long-term, the government and Ofgem wants to shift the country away from our reliance on gas, with its volatile international pricing.
Expect lots of fanfare over the sale, for the first time in the UK, of plug-in solar panels.
In the short-term ministers – and the new prime minister – say they are helping where they can, and promising that there is “more to do”.
VAT will be cut on electricity bills in October. It means the price of electricity will fall, but that’s been more than outstripped by an 8% rise in the price of gas.
Advertisement
In the last Budget, then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves cut some so-called policy costs and shifted some onto general taxation instead.
Ministers may be tempted to do more of that, but could face be criticised for simply shifting the burden off bills and onto taxes.
So, the options are limited. The new chancellor, John Healey, has choices to make – with lots of calls for help but with limited room for manoeuvre in the public finances.
All eyes will be on his first Budget, which comes soon after those higher autumn energy bills kick in.
This is sponsored content produced in partnership with Plus500. CFDs are complex, leveraged financial instruments and carry a high risk of losing money rapidly. Trading involves risk of loss.
How to Trade CFDs With Plus500’s Demo Account: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
Contract for Difference trading has grown into one of the more accessible ways for everyday investors to speculate on price movements across global markets, without needing to own the underlying asset itself. Plus500, a publicly listed, multi-regulated trading platform, has positioned itself as one of the more user-friendly platforms for people looking to get started with CFD trading. Here’s a breakdown of how the process actually works.
Visit Plus500 (CFD service. Your capital is at risk)
What a CFD Actually Is
A Contract for Difference is an agreement between a trader and a broker to exchange the difference in an asset’s price between when a position is opened and when it’s closed. Rather than buying a physical share, a barrel of oil, or an ounce of gold, a CFD trader is simply speculating on whether that asset’s price will rise or fall. This structure allows traders to potentially profit in both rising and falling markets, since a CFD position can be opened as either a “buy” (going long, thinking that the price will rise) or a “sell” (going short, thinking that the price will fall).
Advertisement
Because CFDs are leveraged products, traders can open a position by putting down only a fraction of its total value, known as margin. That leverage cuts both ways: it can amplify gains, but it can equally amplify losses up to the full balance of your trading account, which is why regulators in most markets, including Australia’s ASIC, require brokers to display prominent risk warnings and, in many cases, cap the maximum leverage available to retail clients.
Step 1: Open and Verify an Account
Getting started with Plus500 begins with creating an account through the company’s website or mobile app. New users are asked to provide standard identity verification documents, consistent with regulatory “know your customer” requirements that apply across the online trading industry. This typically includes a form of government-issued ID and proof of address, a process most platforms complete within a short window once documents are submitted.
Step 2: Explore the Free Demo Account
Advertisement
One feature Plus500 highlights for newcomers is its free, unlimited demo account, which allows users to practice trading with virtual funds before committing real money. This lets beginners get familiar with the platform’s interface, chart tools, and order types, including stop-loss and take-profit orders, in a risk-free environment before transitioning to live trading.
Once verified, users can deposit funds into their trading account through standard payment methods, which typically include bank transfer, credit or debit card, and various e-wallet options, depending on the user’s region. Minimum deposit requirements and available payment methods can vary by country, so checking the specifics for an Australian account is a useful first step before funding.
Step 4: Choose a Market to Trade
Plus500 offers CFDs across a wide range of asset classes, including individual shares, indices, commodities such as gold and oil, currency pairs, and cryptocurrencies. Each instrument is displayed with its current price alongside a chart showing recent price movement, letting traders research an asset before deciding whether to open a position.
Step 5: Set Trade Size and Leverage
Advertisement
Before opening a position, traders select the size of their trade and take note of the applicable leverage mandated by regulatory requirements in their jurisdiction. In Australia, ASIC has implemented leverage caps on CFDs specifically to limit the risk exposure of retail traders, meaning the maximum leverage available will be lower than what might be offered to professional or wholesale clients.
Step 6: Set Risk Management Tools
Before or immediately after opening a position, traders can attach risk management tools such as stop-loss orders, which automatically close a position if the price moves against the trader by a set amount, and take-profit orders, which close a position once a target gain is reached. Given the leveraged nature of CFDs, using these tools is widely considered a core part of responsible trading practice rather than an optional extra.
Step 7: Open, Monitor and Close the Position
Advertisement
Once a position is live, traders can monitor its performance in real time through the Plus500 platform or mobile app, which displays unrealized profit or loss as the underlying asset’s price moves. A position can be closed manually at any time, or it will close automatically if a stop-loss or take-profit level is triggered.
Regulatory Standing
Plus500 operates as a publicly traded company, listed on the London Stock Exchange, and regulated across multiple jurisdictions, including Australia through the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Regulatory oversight requires brokers to segregate client funds from company funds, provide negative balance protection, and adhere to specific disclosure and leverage rules designed to protect retail traders, though the specific protections available can vary depending on the regulatory jurisdiction under which an individual account is opened.
Why the Platform Appeals to Beginners
Advertisement
Industry commentary on retail trading platforms has generally pointed to a few consistent factors that make a CFD provider approachable for newer traders: a clean, intuitive interface; transparent fee and spread structures; a genuinely unlimited demo account rather than a time-limited trial; and responsive customer support. Plus500 has built its platform around those same priorities, offering a single, unified interface across web, desktop and mobile that mirrors the same charting tools and order types across every device.
A Note on Risk
CFD trading is not suited to every investor. Because of the leverage involved, CFD trading is considered higher risk than traditional share investing, though regulations by ASIC ensure retail client losses cannot exceed account deposits. Regulatory bodies including ASIC have published statistics in the past showing that a majority of retail CFD accounts lose money over time, a figure that brokers operating in Australia, including Plus500, are required to disclose to prospective clients. Anyone considering CFD trading should carefully review a platform’s risk disclosure statements and consider whether the product is appropriate for their financial situation before depositing funds.
Visit Plus500 (CFD service. Your capital is at risk)
Advertisement
Getting Started
For those looking to explore CFD trading, Plus500’s combination of a free demo account, straightforward account verification, and a wide range of tradable markets offers a practical way to learn the mechanics of leveraged trading before committing real capital. As with any financial product, prospective traders are encouraged to fully understand the risks involved and to only trade with funds they can afford to lose.
Plus500AU Pty Ltd (ACN 153301681), licenced by: ASIC in Australia AFSL #417727. Derivatives issuer licence (FSP No. 486026) in New Zealand for NZ clients, issued by the FMA, Authorised Financial Services Provider in South Africa FSP #47546. You do not own or have any rights to the underlying assets. Consider if you fall within Plus500’s Target Market Distribution. Please refer to the Disclosure documents available on the website.This article is sponsored content and should not be considered financial advice. Trading CFDs carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Yes. Corporate subscriptions are available for teams and organisations, with discounted rates as user numbers increase. Pricing starts from $1,625 + GST per user. Get in touch
to discuss the right option for your organisation.
Business News subscriptions are used by executives, investors, consultants and professionals who need to stay informed and make better decisions about the WA market. When you subscribe you’ll get
Unlimited access to WA’s most trusted business journalism
Data & Insights — detailed profiles of WA companies, people, projects and deals
MyBN — a personalised feed based on the companies, people and sectors you follow
Special publications and industry reports
Daily and weekly email newsletters
Data & Insights is a research tool built specifically for the WA market. It draws on more than 30 years of Business News reporting, updated regularly to reflect what’s happening now. Use it to:
Look up detailed profiles of WA companies, including financials, directors and ownership
Find decision-makers and track their career movements
Research live and completed projects across WA industries
Monitor deals, appointments and market activity
Access industry rankings and league tables
Data & Insights is updated daily by our dedicated research team, which uses the latest announcements, ASX filings and editorial coverage to keep our person, company, list and project records up to date.
Business News welcome all opportunities to make our dataset accurate, complete and current, so if you have an update request, please email the team at general@businessnews.com.au, and we’d be happy to assist.
Advertisement
MyBN
is part of every subscription. It’s your personalised view of Business News. You can follow the companies, people, sectors and projects that matter to you, and get a news feed and alerts tailored to your interests. You can save articles to read later and retain only what you need.
Only subscribers have full access to all content on the Business News website.
Advertisement
If staying informed about the WA economy is part of your job, and/or you’re looking for networking opportunities in WA, Business News is built for you.
Business News subscribers are:
Executives and directors tracking competitors, clients and market movements
Investors and advisers researching companies, deals and industry trends
Consultants and professionals staying across sectors relevant to their clients
Business owners looking for leads, context and market intelligence
Most Business News publications cover national or global markets. Business News is focused entirely on Western Australia, which means the journalism, the data and the intelligence are all built around WA companies, people and projects — not adapted from a national feed. Data & Insights, included with every subscription, combines more than 30 years of WA-specific editorial research with live business data. There’s no comparable product for the WA market.
Advertisement
The Morning Digest Email provides a comprehensive wrap of the major headlines, relevant to WA business, and includes with a snapshot of the overnight news covering oil, gold and ASX-listed companies.
The Afternoon Wrap Email focuses on the news covered by our team of journalists during the course of the working day, including exclusive stories and analysis, all of which relates to WA business and the local economy.
The BN Weekender Email contains a wrap of the Business News from the week that was, highlighting the top stories in each area of WA business. Sign up for free.
Advertisement
We’re happy to help. Get in touch
and our team will come back to you.
Florida Chamber of Commerce CEO Mark Wilson speaks exclusively to Fox News Digital about the reaction and surge in interest for moving more people and companies to the Sunshine State following the launch of its ‘Free Enterprise’ campaign.
EXCLUSIVE: Just two weeks after the Florida Chamber of Commerce launched a viral Times Square ad crowning New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as Florida’s “Economic Developer of the Year,” corporate decision-makers are answering the call.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Florida Chamber President and CEO Mark Wilson said inquiries from executives in blue states — including a Rochester technology firm looking to escape New York’s tax burden for the “land of opportunity” — are pouring in as companies look to leave progressive governance.
Advertisement
“This immediately went national,” Wilson said. “We had people literally texting us saying, ‘Hey, I’m seeing this. This is amazing. Our country needs to have this discussion, of course, about free enterprise versus socialism.’”
“The response has been from all over the country. We’ve had companies from Washington, California, Illinois, of course, New York. This has really been a national reaction,” he added. “We’ve had former governors and state senators in other states. We’ve had members of Congress who saw this… contact us and say, ‘Okay, this is the conversation our country needs to have.’”
After the billboard went live at the corner of Broadway and West 43rd Street, web traffic to the Chamber’s “Free Enterprise” campaign spiked by 500% to 600%, according to Wilson. He said inquiries from businesses, site selectors and public officials came at a rate of five to seven contacts per day, extending beyond New York.
Advertisement
The NYC mayor was named Florida’s “Economic Developer of the Year.” (FOXBusiness)
“I received a call from a company in Rochester, a technology company in Rochester, New York, who’s very interested about getting out of New York and actually moving here to what they call the land of opportunity,” Wilson said.
A City Hall spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital in response to the ad that “by any metric, New York City’s economy under Mayor Mamdani is as strong as it’s ever been,” and said working-class New Yorkers are benefiting. Wilson disputed that assessment, citing fiscal pressures and tax structures that he argued disproportionately strain middle-class workers, including welders, electricians and nurses.
“This isn’t personal, and it’s certainly not partisan. This is a conversation about which is better for the everyday American: free enterprise or bigger government and less freedom, of course, with this whole [socialist] idea,” Wilson said. “New York City’s losing people, the New York City budget is not balanced, which is why they’re looking for new taxes.”
The Florida Chamber’s digital billboard can be found at 1500 Broadway and W. 43rd St. in Times Square. (Nikolas Lanum/Fox News Digital / FOXBusiness)
New York City adopted a $125.8 billion budget for fiscal year 2027 in June, though financial watchdogs have warned of structural budget gaps in future years. Its population remains below its 2020 Census level, despite growth in the latest annual estimate.
Advertisement
The municipal budget exceeds Florida’s $117.6 billion state budget by more than $8 billion, despite Florida having more than 23 million residents compared with roughly 8.3 million in New York City.
“If we’re talking about nurses and electricians and welders, right, the skilled trades that are so vital to America, what’s happening in New York City is they’re actually increasing the costs and decreasing their freedom,” he continued.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., discusses GOP efforts to combat illegal immigration and a number of blue cities’ refusal to cooperate with I.C.E. on ‘Life, Liberty & Levin.’
Wilson also compared purchasing power, pushing back on arguments that rapid population growth in Florida strains local infrastructure and raises housing prices and that higher salaries make blue states more attractive.
Advertisement
“Let’s say there’s an $80,000 [salary] welder that’s working in Ocala, Florida, where the median home prices are under $300,000. That’s an incredible life. You get to live in Florida with no income tax, some of the best schools anywhere. You’re an hour from a beach, okay? That same person living in New York City might make more money, but they can’t afford to live in New York City,” he said.
“The price of making more money is housing that you can’t afford, and an economy that wants to tax you more. And nobody wants to be in that environment.”
The Florida Chamber’s chief confirmed plans for a national rollout of its “Free Enterprise” campaign, adding that part of the strategy is keeping the next billboard location “a surprise,” with “plenty [of locations] to choose from,” including New Jersey, California, and cities like Minneapolis and Seattle.
Florida Chamber of Commerce CEO Mark Wilson speaks with Fox News Digital about the intention behind a new Times Square ad targeting Zohran Mamdani as businesses and wealth flee New York for Florida.
“The whole idea is — what is tomorrow going to look like? What does the future look like? And so, that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to provide an innovation hotbed where we can see what the future of the country looks like,” Wilson said.
“And let me reiterate, we’re not looking to other states to fail. We want to learn from them if they get something right. And right now, Florida’s growing companies, we’re growing people, we’re growing taxable income. And really, that’s what we need to be competing for.”
Fenix International, the London company behind OnlyFans, paid its owner more than $700 million in dividends in and after its most recent financial year, according to its annual accounts.
Leonid Radvinsky, who owned the business, received $535 million in dividends in the 2025 financial year and a further $174 million after the year end. He was paid $497 million the year before. The payments were first reported by the Financial Times.
The company made a pre-tax profit of $715 million last year, a 5 per cent increase on 2024. Revenue for the year to 30 November 2025 rose 10 per cent to close to $1.6 billion.
Radvinsky, a Ukrainian-American entrepreneur who acquired OnlyFans from its British founder in 2018, died of cancer in March at the age of 43. His wife, Yekaterina Chudnovsky, took control of the company after his death.
The dividends were paid against the backdrop of a sale process that has yet to deliver a full exit. In January, Radvinsky tried to sell 60 per cent of the business for $8 billion but did not find a buyer. He was in talks with Architect Capital, an American firm, over a deal valuing the company at $3.5 billion when he died. In May, Architect agreed instead to buy a 16 per cent stake in a deal valuing the business at $3.15 billion. The revised terms and lower valuation reflected the fact that Architect would no longer take control.
Advertisement
The site says it is used by more than 2.5 million content creators to “connect with fans”, of whom 132 million have active accounts, and to make money from the material they upload. It is best known for its use by pornographers but is also used by musicians and comedians. The company takes a cut of the revenue generated.
Its biggest market is the United States, followed by the UK and continental Europe. The filing shows the company employed only 47 people on average, though it also works with about 1,500 outside content moderators. On those figures the business generated roughly $34 million of revenue for every employee on the payroll, a ratio that owes almost everything to a model in which the cost of making the product sits with the creators rather than the company, and the cost of policing it sits largely with contractors.
That structure has drawn regulatory attention in the UK. Ofcom, the communications regulator, opened an investigation in May 2024 into whether OnlyFans was allowing children to see pornography on its platform. The regulator closed the case in March last year without a finding on the underlying question, but fined Fenix £1.05 million for failing to provide accurate information in response to statutory requests about age checks on the platform. Fenix had told Ofcom that the challenge age on its facial age estimation technology was set at 23 when it had in fact been set at 20 since November 2021. The penalty included a 30 per cent reduction for settling and for self reporting the error.
The point for any company that answers to a regulator is that the fine was for the answer, not for the conduct being asked about. Ofcom still considers OnlyFans an adult site, despite its efforts to broaden its appeal beyond pornography to content posted by celebrities and sports stars.
Advertisement
There are also concerns that mainstream social media platforms are being used to funnel users towards explicit content on OnlyFans. TikTok, which is itself under Ofcom investigation over its age checks, said last month that it had taken action against accounts highlighted by The Times for violating guidelines banning certain types of body exposure or sexualised behaviour.
OnlyFans was founded by Tim Stokely in 2016 with a £10,000 loan from his father. His brother, Thomas Stokely, became chief operating officer and their father worked as head of finance. The site initially sought to attract musicians and social media influencers, then lifted its ban on pornography in 2017. Stokely stood down as chief executive in 2021.
Jamie Young
Jamie Young is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, covering SME finance, employment law and Westminster policy since 2016. He has reported on every Budget and Autumn Statement since 2018, helped make sense of the ‘covid era’ and the bounce-back loan scheme from launch through the fraud investigations, and broke the magazine’s coverage of the 2024 late-payment reforms. He joined Business Matters straight from completing his BA in Administration from Exeter University and is NCTJ-qualified. Reach him at jyoung@cbmeg.co.uk
You must be logged in to post a comment Login