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The zones in York, Scarborough and Selby are built around job creation, housing and regeneration

Three mayoral development zones are to be created across York and North Yorkshire in a bid to boost jobs, housing and regeneration.

The development zones in Scarborough, Selby and the centre of York allow the area’s elected mayor to take a lead in bringing together developers, landowners and the local authority to attract private sector investment and align public sector funding.

An initial £10m MDZ regeneration fund has been proposed to accelerate the next phases of development and to unlock further Government and private investment.

The Selby Growth Zone will bring together major employment sites across the south of the are in a bid to create more than 7,000 new jobs in the Selby area. The York Central zone will aim to speed up the delivery of 2,500 homes and a central business district while in Scarborough, there will be measures to improve the town centre, bring forward leisure and tourism development and develop thousands of new homes.

Mayor David Skaith said: “This is about using the full powers available to the mayor through devolution to making a real difference to people’s everyday lives; good jobs, affordable homes, and thriving communities.

“The three areas that will become MDZs have the ability to deliver thousands of new homes, unlock thousands of new and better jobs, and attract billions of pounds of investment into our region. Some of the sites are ready to go and just need that final push, others need the final pieces of investment to get them going. Each MDZ will tailored to get development going and delivered quicker.”

North Yorkshire Council’s leader, Coun Carl Les, said: “We are committed to bringing the best possible opportunities for our communities in North Yorkshire, whether that be better career prospects, the chance to own their own home or regenerating our towns and villages.

“The proposed Mayoral Development Zones are due to offer the opportunity to build on the work we have been undertaking to support all areas of the economy in places such as Scarborough, from the leisure and tourism sectors to the harbour, fishing and other marine activities such as the off-shore windfarm industry.

“Whether that is the prospect of bringing 7,000 new jobs to the Selby area or creating thousands of new homes and new leisure and tourism opportunities to regenerate Scarborough, this will be so important to help build on our ambitions.

“We will continue to work closely within the combined authority to make sure that these plans do bring real benefits to our residents and businesses in both the Scarborough and Selby areas, as well as ensuring the positive impact can be felt elsewhere in the county.”

Coun Claire Douglas, leader of City of York Council, said: “York Central is one of the country’s most exciting regeneration projects. With new affordable homes and well-paid jobs, lots of new commercial and retail space, new parks and much more, it presents a transformational opportunity for York and the wider region.

“We want to ensure everyone in the city feels the benefits of this major investment. It must offer opportunity and must work for everyone, and this latest announcement from the mayor is welcome support for that vision.”

The report will be discussed at the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority Cabinet meeting next week.

Shares of Caterpillar fell sharply Friday, sliding 4.79%, or $50.66, to $1,006.35 in midday trading, as investors locked in gains from one of the most remarkable stock rallies of the year following the heavy equipment maker’s unlikely transformation into a beneficiary of the artificial intelligence boom.

The decline marks a notable pullback for a stock that just days earlier had crossed a milestone few would have predicted for a century-old maker of bulldozers and mining equipment.

An extraordinary year by any measure

Caterpillar’s run over the past 12 months has been staggering by historical standards for an industrial company. The stock surged approximately 172% over the past year, closing Thursday at $1,057 — a level that made Caterpillar one of just two companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average trading above $1,000 per share, and the best-performing stock in the index this year.

That climb culminated earlier this week in a milestone that underscored just how far the stock has come. Following a recent market rally, Caterpillar pushed past $1,000 for the first time on June 22, 2026, marking its seventh consecutive winning session at the time.

The AI connection behind the rally

The driving force behind Caterpillar’s transformation has little to do with its traditional construction and mining equipment business and everything to do with the company’s role in powering the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom. Caterpillar’s strong demand for its power generation equipment has been particularly linked to AI infrastructure projects, with the company building a record $63 billion order backlog and projecting future revenue of $93.8 billion by 2028.

The numbers behind that shift have been dramatic. Caterpillar’s Power & Energy segment saw revenue increase 41% year-over-year to $2.82 billion, attributed primarily to strong data center sales, as the company benefits from surging demand for reciprocating engines and generator sets used to power AI computing facilities. Management has responded by announcing plans to expand large reciprocating engine capacity to nearly three times 2024 levels.

That shift has fundamentally changed how Wall Street views the company. Caterpillar is increasingly being viewed less as a traditional machinery company and more as a long-term beneficiary of global infrastructure, energy, and data center investment, according to market commentary tracking the stock’s reclassification among investors.

Why the stock is pulling back now

Friday’s decline comes amid a broader reassessment of technology and AI-linked stocks across the market, as investors grow more selective about which companies can justify the valuations assigned to them after a powerful, sustained rally. That dynamic has hit Caterpillar particularly hard given how much of its recent gains have been tied directly to AI infrastructure enthusiasm rather than its traditional industrial business.

The stock’s valuation has stretched considerably during its run higher. Following the rally that pushed shares past $1,000, Caterpillar was trading at a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of roughly 49 to 51 times earnings — a striking premium for an industrial equipment manufacturer, and one that some analysts have flagged as vulnerable to a sharp correction if sentiment shifts.

Cracks beneath the surface

Beyond the broader market jitters, Caterpillar has also faced company-specific pressures that complicate the bullish AI narrative. Despite the strong order books driving headline enthusiasm, core operating margins have been showing signs of strain in parts of the business. The mining-focused Resource Industries segment experienced a 39% year-over-year profit drop and 7 percentage points of margin compression, while the Power & Energy segment’s operating margin contracted sequentially by 170 basis points to 20.6%, driven by manufacturing cost inflation.

Tariffs have added another layer of pressure to the company’s bottom line. Management has projected a full-year tariff impact of $2.2 billion to $2.4 billion for fiscal year 2026, costs expected to keep full-year adjusted operating margins constrained near the lower end of Caterpillar’s long-term targets.

Notable insider selling

Adding to investor unease, Caterpillar executives have been selling significant amounts of stock even as shares climbed toward record territory. Company insiders have executed more than 50 sales transactions totaling over $87.6 million in shares in recent months, a pattern some market watchers view as a note of caution even amid otherwise bullish technical and fundamental signals.

A divided view among analysts

Despite the recent pullback, Wall Street’s overall view of Caterpillar remains largely positive, even as some firms have grown more cautious about how much further the rally can run. According to 28 analysts tracking the stock, the average rating remains “Buy,” though the average 12-month price target of $949.68 actually sits below Thursday’s closing price — implying analysts, on average, see the stock as having outrun its near-term fundamentals following this year’s surge.

Not every analyst has pumped the brakes, however. Evercore ISI analyst David Raso raised his price target on Caterpillar to $1,103 from $878 while maintaining an Outperform rating, while UBS analyst Steven Fisher lifted his target to $900 from $677, even while keeping a more cautious Neutral rating on the shares.

A dividend hike underscores confidence

Even amid the valuation debate, Caterpillar’s board has continued signaling confidence in the company’s underlying business. Earlier this month, Caterpillar’s board voted to raise the quarterly dividend by 12 cents, an 8% increase, to $1.63 per share — marking the company’s 32nd consecutive annual dividend increase, a streak that places it among an elite group of long-term dividend growers regardless of near-term stock volatility.

For now, Friday’s pullback appears to reflect broader profit-taking and valuation concerns rather than any fundamental change in Caterpillar’s underlying AI-driven growth story. The company’s record order backlog, expanding power generation capacity, and direct exposure to data center buildouts give it a secular demand driver that few traditional industrial companies can claim. Whether Friday’s decline marks the start of a deeper correction or simply a pause within an extraordinary yearlong rally will likely depend on how investors continue to weigh Caterpillar’s AI-linked growth potential against its stretched valuation, margin pressures, and the broader market’s evolving appetite for AI infrastructure plays heading into the second half of the year.

£25m funding package agreed

Plans for a major redevelopment of Bury Interchange are moving forward with a £25m cash injection.

The money will go towards phase one of the works, which includes building a new footbridge, access improvements, and upgrades to facilities.

This part of the overhaul was granted planning permission in July last year.

The new bridge will allow continued access to the trams when the anticipated demolition of the current interchange and building of the new one happens.

It’s expected that the interchange will close for redevelopment in either late 2027 or early 2028.

A Bee Network Committee meeting on June 25 confirmed the funding for phase one of the works.

The changes at the interchange are aimed at ‘transforming the passenger experience and bringing the standard of Bury’s transport offer in line with that of the wider city region.’

Detailed designs and a full business case review for phase one of the works have been completed, with a contract to be awarded this summer.

The money will also be used to help create a blueprint for future works included in phase two of the redevelopment, which will include new housing.

A report stated: ‘Agreement has been reached with Bury Council and GMCA [Greater Manchester Combined Authority] colleagues to the adoption of an ‘affordable rental’ tenure for the residential development, and steps are currently being taken to procure a development partner/registered provider for this element of the scheme.’

The report added: ‘The Bury town centre masterplan and local transport strategy identify the redevelopment of Bury Interchange as a priority project, recognising the scheme as a catalyst for wider town centre regeneration.’

Bury Interchange opened in 1980, but according to planning reports parts of the facility have ‘reached and surpassed their intended lifespan.’

Chris Barnes, infrastructure delivery director at Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “The redevelopment of Bury Interchange is a major step forward in transforming the passenger experience, creating a modern, high-quality transport hub at the heart of the town.

“The inclusion of new residential apartments will further enhance the scheme, helping to create a thriving, mixed-use destination.

“We are particularly pleased that this will deliver much-needed affordable rental homes, supporting Bury’s wider regeneration ambitions and making it easier for people to live alongside excellent public transport. We are now progressing plans to procure a partner to help bring this exciting element of the scheme forward.”

The funding is being drawn from a government scheme called the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement. Bury council was approached for comment.

To find all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your community, visit the Public Notices Portal.

Apple on Thursday announced that it raised prices on its iPad and MacBook devices because of rising memory and chip costs amid the rapid buildout of the AI industry.

The tech giant excluded its primary cash cow, the iPhone, from the price hikes but will raise prices on the other devices as Apple said it couldn’t afford to continue insulating consumers from the mounting cost of memory and storage chips.

“We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” Apple said in a statement. “We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today’s increases for the iPad and Mac.”

The price hikes show that even the world’s most valuable consumer electronics company and its strong supply chain relationships are not immune to the surge in prices for memory chips that has dampened the outlook for smartphone and PC sales.

APPLE TO WORK WITH INTEL ON US CHIP DESIGN AND PRODUCTION, TRUMP SAYS

Apple is raising prices on MacBooks and iPads, as well as other devices, amid mounting memory chip costs. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Memory chipmakers such as Micron have moved to prioritize orders from AI chipmakers like Nvidia in recent months, which has helped them earn record profits but has constrained supplies available for the makers of electronic devices and prompted them to raise prices.

Apple’s Neo, the company’s lowest priced laptop that aims to compete with affordable versions of Windows and Chromebook laptops, is one of the products that will be subject to the price hikes and will go from $599 to $699 months after launch.

The company also raised the price of the MacBook Air with 512 gigabytes of storage from $1,099 to $1,299; while the MacBook Pro with 1 terabyte of storage price rose from $1,699 to $1,999; and the price of the iPad Air with 128 gigabytes of storage rose from $599 to $749.

APPLE CHIEF TIM COOK SAYS IT WAS THE ‘RIGHT TIME’ TO STEP DOWN AS CEO

Apple also hiked prices for both versions of its HomePod smart speaker and Apple TV set-top box.

The announcement comes after Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal in an interview earlier this month that “price increases are unavoidable.”

“We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable,” Cook said in the interview.

APPLE CEO SAYS PRICE HIKES ARE ‘UNAVOIDABLE’ AS RISING CHIP COSTS SQUEEZE TECH GIANT: REPORT

Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down on September 1. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Cook also said on a late April conference call with analysts that, “Where we don’t give color beyond June, I can tell you that beyond the June quarter, we believe memory costs will drive an increasing impact on our business.”

Rival device makers may be forced to raise prices even more sharply than Apple, whose deep supplier ties have cushioned it from the full hit, several analysts said.

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“The memory environment is tough and remains structurally tough for the foreseeable future,” said Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consulting firm Creative Strategies.

Reuters contributed to this report.