Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald has questioned whether the secretary of state is “mischief making” after a social media exchange around energy payments.

The Sinn Féin MLA posted on X, external about a new one-off electricity bill reduction announced on Thursday, which Sir Chris Bryant, reposted, external saying: “I’m really glad that the UK government is funding this.”

Archibald said she was “bemused and surprised” at his “intervention on social media”.

A UK government spokesperson said the funding for the Household Electricity Discount Scheme was provided through the prime minister’s “commitment to remove VAT and some levies from electricity bills”.

“As I have set out, the British government initially didn’t intend that this support would apply here, we had to make the case for that, we then had to design a scheme,” Archibald told BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback programme.

She described what Sir Chris said as “a little bit condescending”.

“Frankly I’m not sure what the secretary of state was up to, mischief making? I don’t know. But I think that question would be better posed to him.”

The minister said she has not been in touch with the secretary of state personally since the online exchange, but said she will continue to focus on finding a way forward in budget negotiations.

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Latest successful bids for investment on hit BBC show

Two Northern firms won investment on BBC show Dragons’ Den – with Steven Bartlett backing a Manchester plant technology firm and a pioneering pasta maker securing the backing of two Dragons.

SmartyPlants founder Ben Beavers received offers from Steven Bartlett, Susie Ma and Touker Suleyman before accepting Steven’s £100,000 offer, double the £50,000 investment he originally asked for.

Meanwhile Northern Pasta Co won the support of Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones after a successful presentation from co-founders Imogen Royall and Matt Kenyon.

Ben Beavers founded SmartyPlants in 2023 and earlier this year secured £190,000 in funding for tech development, He went into the Den to bid for more funding to take his product to market.

In his presentation to the Dragons, Ben explained that “We help people understand how to look after their houseplants” through sensors linked to an app that can analyse light, temperature and humidity levels and so tell plant owners what their plant needs to thrive.

He said his mission is “to help turn a nation of serial plant killers into the green-fingered plant parents they were always meant to be.”

Ben faced a quizzing over the product’s price point, with a planned average price of around £30, but three of the Dragons still offered investment.

Steven Bartlett focused on the potential for a subscriptions model, and said he had experience in similar fields through his investments in nutrition specialist Zoe and in wearable tech firm Whoop. He said: “I love this kind of business”.

He offered £50k for 10% of the business – with another £50k on offer when the product goes into production.

After Ben accepted his offer, Steven said “I’m really excited to work with you”.

And after leaving the Den, Ben said: “Wow. That was a real experience. To have the opportunity to work with Steven is incredible and I am so excited for the journey that we’re going on with him on board.”

Northern Pasta Co’s double success

Northern Pasta Co makes pasta in Lancashire using British-grown spelt. Imogen Royall and Matt Kenyon are pasta lovers who got married and decided to make a business from it after they moved back to the UK during the pandemic.

On Dragons’ Den, they explained how they become frustrated with the quality of most available pasta in the UK, and vowed to make their own using all-British ingredients.

Asked how he was able to switch from being a plasterer to being a pasta maker, Matt said there was “a lot of trial and error. A lot of sleepless nights.”

The couple explained they had seen success, growing from farmers markets to selling their products through companies from Ocado to Whole Foods. But now, they said, major supermarkets are “knocking at our door” and they need investment to grow the firm into a “multi-million-pound business”.

Peter Jones loved the product – even though he suggested it would actually be called Southern Pasta, given the grain is grown in the Cotswolds.

He said: “I think this is so good. I think you’ve come up with something probably better than you even know yourselves.”

Deborah Meaden said she loved the product but also the story of how the company wants to support regenerative agriculture.

She said: “What I love most of all is you talking about the soil.” And she said that was vital in a market where consumers were becoming more and more focused on environmental issues.

She also praised the quality of the packaging, adding: “And much more important, that tastes delicious”.

The other three Dragons stepped back to allow Deborah and Peter to battle for the investment, as they both wanted to take 10% each. Steven Bartlett said the product was “absolutely delicious” and said the pair would be “tremendously successful”.

And after negotiating with Matt and Imogen, Peter and Deborah agreed to split the £50k investment between them, with each taking 5% of the business.

How retailers are responding

A new retail landscape

Parent company BrewDog PLC is still expected to pay its preferential creditor, HMRC, in full for £3.66m tax owed – mainly VAT and excise duty.

Brewdog’s biggest debt was to financial services group HSBC, which was owed more than £61m across various banking arms.

It has recovered tens of millions of pounds, but still faces an estimated shortfall of £16.8m.

The report noted that this could be reduced through asset sales in the United States.

Private equity backer TSG, which took a 22% stake in the brewer in 2017, is set to lose £27.6m.

Brewdog also owes around £190m to unsecured creditors. They are expected to receive less than a penny in the pound of what they are owed.