The TV chef, who originates from Malton and grew up on the Castle Howard estate, revealed that when visiting Whitby (one of Britain’s best coastal towns), “you have to” tuck into a portion of the classic seaside cuisine at none other than Magpie Cafe.

Within the last year, the popular foodie spot has been named one of the UK’s best seaside restaurants by The Good Food Guide as well as one of the country’s top places for fish and chips by Delicious magazine.

What did James Martin say about Magpie Cafe in Whitby?

When joining Jenni Falconer on the latest episode of Routes, the travel-focused podcast from LNER, James was asked to recommend his three top places for people to visit in Yorkshire.

Alongside Petergate and the Shambles, situated in York, the 53-year-old, who hosts his own Saturday Morning ITV cooking show, gave a shoutout to Whitby.

He revealed: “You have to have fish and chips, I think at the Magpie. You’ve got to have a large haddock, right?

“A large haddock, mushy peas, you have your lemon, your tartar sauce, you have your Sarson’s vinegar and you have your salt.”

James added: “…You sit there and the wind’s blowing and howling a gale, you sit there and you open up this pot of gold and there’s just this smell and as the steam comes up, it hits your nose.

“But as that steam hits your nose… then you’re in nirvana, heaven, you’re in the pinnacle of fish and chips.”

On its website, Magpie Cafe shares about its history: “The Magpie Cafe is housed in a distinctive black and white building overlooking the harbour in the historic port of Whitby.

“The dining room commands excellent views of the harbour, Abbey and St. Mary’s Church.

“The Magpie Cafe has a long association with fishing and the shipping industry.

“It was built in 1750 as a Merchant’s House and during its history was owned by a member of the Scoresby whaling family and was for a time the pilotage where the pilots would wait for orders to bring vessels into the harbour.”

Aside from the classic fish and chips, just some of the other main menu options currently available include: Magpie fishcake coated in crispy batter on mushy peas with tartare sauce and wedge of lemon, king prawn tails in garlic butter served with a warm ciabatta roll, and calamari, deep fried in crispy batter, served with a spicy dipping sauce.

Currently on Tripadvisor, the fish and chips restaurant has a staggering 6,520 “excellent” reviews.

A customer who visited in December commented: “What can I say. Fantastic fish and chips ……probably the best in the UK.

“Catered for a group of 13 of us would advise you book , we did and it was a seamless experience.

“Waitress was fun , engaging and helped with a couple of menu questions.

“But let’s talk the food. Wide range of tantalising fish dishes, so had the fish and chips regular , you’ll need an appetite of a Polar bear to tackle the large!. Mushy peas fab with tea and some buttered bread. Perfect on a cold Sunday afternoon.

“Great value, great food , fabulous vibrant environment with engaging staff.”

A second person wrote: “One of the best restaurants we have ever been to, the food was magnificent, huge menu and HUGE portions. Our server Val and all of her colleagues were magnificent. Cannot praise this restaurant highly enough.”

A third impressed guest put: “Quite simply The Best Fish, Chips and mushy peas I have ever had in my life. The staff were incredibly efficient and very pleasant. Absolutely exceptional.”

Have you been to Whitby for a chippy lately? Let us know your favourite foodie spots in the coastal town.

Fans of the beloved BBC sitcom are speculating about a potential return three years after the finale.

Advertisement

BBC Ghosts enthusiasts are certain that the cherished sitcom is set for a comeback following an enigmatic social media post.

The popular programme originally aired for five series between 2019 and 2023, chronicling a collection of spectres from various historical eras haunting a country estate whilst cohabiting with its new living residents – a married pair.

It swiftly became a viewer favourite and featured an outstanding ensemble including Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe.

Alongside Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond.

Despite supporters being heartbroken when it concluded three years ago, Matthew Baynton, who portrayed Thomas Thorne, has now sent devotees into a frenzy after taking to his social media to hint at the programme’s return, reports the Mirror.

READ MORE: Call The Midwife viewers in disbelief as BBC announce return 10 years after debutREAD MORE: Prue Leith’s new project revealed after Bake Off exit as star has ‘no regrets’

The actor shared a brief video of the iconic wooden entrance door swinging open entirely on its own. He chose to maintain the post’s mystery by leaving the cryptic footage without a caption.

Predictably, it wasn’t long before supporters shared their responses, with one devotee commenting: “Ohmagaaad what’s going on!”.

Whilst another exclaimed: “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS.” “Are we getting to return to Button House? ! ? !” a third questioned.

“Is it Ghosts the movie? Please say it’s Ghosts the movie,” one admirer begged. Meanwhile another enthusiast urged: “Please say you are making a Ghosts film/Christmas special/new series? Pleeeeeeease! !”

Jim Howick, known for his role as Pat Butcher, and Martha Howe-Douglas, who portrayed Lady Stephanie ‘Fanny’ Button, both shared the same video of a door on their Instagram accounts without any accompanying text.

Ghosts concluded with a festive special but made a resurgence in Australia. The green light for its revival was given last year, with broadcasts commencing in November.

The show’s popularity among fans is undeniable, though it remains uncertain whether a second season is on the cards.

Discussing the decision to bring the successful comedy to Australian audiences, Kylie Washington, the Creative Director for the BBC in Australia, expressed: “We’re excited to bring Ghosts to life with a unique cast of characters that reflect our very own history and culture.”

She added: “Western Australia will provide the perfect backdrop for all their comedic antics and we’re grateful to Screenwest for their support.”

Ghosts seasons 1-5 are streaming now on BBC iPlayer.

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new ** Everything Gossip ** website.

Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. ** Click here to activate** ** or add us as your Preferred Source in your Google search settings.**

Our winters are already getting warmer and wetter.

According to the Met Office, UK winters have already warmed by 1C (1.8F) since the 1950s due to human-induced global warming.

Six of the ten warmest winters on record have occurred since the year 2000, with only one 21st century winter (2009/2010) featuring in the top ten coldest.

This means we are seeing less snow and fewer frosts – in fact we now get around four weeks less ground frost than we did half a century ago.

However, one thing we are seeing more of is rain.

Out of nearly 260 years of records, six out of the ten wettest winter half-years – the period from October to March – have been since the year 2000.

These changes are predicted to continue as the world continues to warm.

In a situation where high levels of greenhouse gas emissions continue, the Met Office expects winters to be between 1 and 4.5C (1.8-8.1F) warmer than they were in 1990 – and up to 30% wetter.

That is because a warmer atmosphere is able to hold more moisture, so when rain comes it will be heavier and more intense.

Gorton and Denton by-election is taking place

The turnout for the Gorton and Denton has been announced. The polls opened at 7am on Thursday (February 26) and shut at 10pm.

The hotly-contested by-election comes following the resignation of the previous sitting MP, Andrew Gwynne, last month. Mr Gwynne had served as an MP for the constituency since 2005, when it was known as Denton and Reddish.

In the 2024 general election, Mr Gwynne won the seat with over 50 per cent of the vote. He officially resigned on January 22. In his statement, Mr Gwynne, who was sitting as an independent MP after being suspended from Labour, cited “significant ill health” and mental health challenges.

The by-election was seen as a battle between the Greens, Reform and Labour. It has been hit by a row over ‘family voting’, after independent election observers claimed there were ‘extremely high’ cases of illegal ‘family voting’ at polling stations. ‘Family voting’ is when family members enter a voting booth together and collude or direct voting intentions. It is a criminal offence in the UK under the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023.

In the early hours of Friday morning, the election officials revealed the turnout. The turnout was 47.62 per cent, with 36,903 votes cast.

In comparison, the turnout in 2024 was 46.8 per cent, with 36,560 votes cast.

Follow live Gorton and Denton coverage and by-election results here

During last night’s episode of Question Time on BBC One a debate on the monarchy fit for purpose and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor caused the crowd to erupt into laughter

A live TV debate had to be interupted as the audience erupted into laughter when discussing the latest accusations surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his time as trade envoy.

Fiona Bruce hosted this evening’s Question Time from Birmingham, with politicians, commentators and members of the public. On the panel, from the government, the culture secretary Lisa Nandy; the Conservatives’ shadow home office minister, Alicia Kearns; Jess Brown-Fuller MP from the Liberal Democrats; the chef and television presenter Tom Kerridge and the journalist Esther Krakue.

During the episode a debate on the royal family and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor caused the crowd to erupt into laughter. Audience member, Peter More, asked: “Given the latest accusations surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, is the monarchy fit for purpose in the 21st century?”

READ MORE: Andrew ‘would arrive late and only talk to young women’ when he was trade envoy

READ MORE: BBC Question Time sees heartbroken pub owner question his son’s future after catastrophic tax rise

Host Fiona Bruce explained that MPs are not generally freely able to scrutinise the royals in parliament, she said: “very little is known about how much money the royals actually have, estimates vary from £650 million to over £1 billion, no-one really knows and they are also exempt from all kinds of laws and taxes as well.

Jess Brown-Fuller MP from the Liberal Democrats said: “Before being elected I had no idea that politicians were unable to scrutinise members of the royal family in parliament.” She went on to say: “I think it is important for all victims in this country to know that nobody is above the law, regardless of birth right, position, friends, bank balance, nobody should be above scrutiny and nobody should be above the law.”

Journalist Esther Krakue didn’t hold back when she spoke about Andrew, saying: “I appreciate the anger around Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor; he is clearly an entitled, arrogant man with no judgement.” Interrupting Esther, host Fiona jumped in to say: “I have to say at this point he denies any wrongdoing, you may all laugh there but this is my duty and I have to say that.”

Advertisement

Esther continued: “This is not fair on the working royals who are looking to just do a good job for the country, and the question is how do we stop this from happening?”

Alicia Kearns chimed in saying: “I think the monarchy is incredibly important in this country, I think we’re incredibly proud of our monarchy in this country.” But she emphasised the bigger issue as: “Women said that they were being treated badly, women said they were being abused, we were not seen they were not heard and actually it’s not just Mountbatten and I think there’s a real risk we focus on him and allow other people to slip away into the dark.” She concluded: “But I’m not done until we get through the list of all those men.”

Next week on March 5 Question Time returns on BBC One live from Kettering.

Labour want a probe into claims of high levels of “family voting” in the Gorton and Denton by-election, with the party’s chairwoman describing the findings as “very concerning”.

Anna Turley was among the political leaders to react to a report by election observer group Democracy Volunteers that claimed to have witnessed the illegal practice in 68 per cent of 22 polling stations monitored.

“Family voting” – where two voters either confer, collude or direct each other on voting – was made illegal by the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023.

Speaking to Sky News, Ms Turley said: “It’s really concerning to hear. I hope the appropriate authorities will be looking at that, examining it and taking any reasonable steps.”

She added: “Obviously it is very early stages at the moment to assess the information but of course it’s deeply serious because every vote should be personal, secret. That’s the cornerstone of our democracy. So any evidence to the contrary is very concerning and I am sure the relevant authorities will be looking at this in the days and weeks ahead.”

open image in gallery

In a statement, Democracy Volunteers, which had four volunteers working at the by-election, said: “Today we have seen concerningly high levels of family voting in Gorton and Denton. Based on our assessment of today’s observations, we have seen the highest levels of family voting at any election in our 10 year history of observing elections in the UK.”

The organisation said it attended 22 of the 45 polling stations in the constituency, spending 30 to 45 minutes in each, and witnessed family voting in 15 of the 22 polling stations observed.

The group said they observed a sample of 545 individuals casting their vote and saw 32 cases of family voting in total, including nine cases in one polling station.

Manchester City Council, which is overseeing the by-election, was critical of the group for not raising concerns with them earlier, adding that no issues were reported from polling stations beforehand.

Leading pollster Robert Hayward, who authored the leglisation that outlawed “family voting”, told The Independent he may want to raise the matter with the Electoral Commission.

He said: “The report as prepared by Democracy Volunteers is concerning. The Ballot Secrecy Act which I introduced and steered through both Houses into law should have stopped such practices. I am very disappointed and will be discussing these details with Democracy Volunteers further.”

Green Party leader Zack Polanski suggested he would back a probe into family voting. He told BBC Newsnight: “I think it’s important that there’s full transparency about the democratic process, and if the recommendation is that there should be an inquiry or further steps then yes I’d support that.”

Reform UK’s Nigel Farage said it raised “questions about the integrity of the democratic process in predominantly Muslim areas”.

It comes as the Gorton and Denton by-election has gone down to the wire between Labour, the Greens and Reform UK all standing a chance of winning.

The Britain Elects polling aggregator suggested that all three parties could win, with Greens on 31 per cent, Reform 30 per cent and Labour 29 per cent. In the 2024 general election the seat was Labour’s seventh safest with a majority of 13,413 and a 51 per cent share of the vote.

Already, the fate of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership is being pinned to the outcome of the by-election and there have been other allegations of dirty tricks.

The practice of “family voting” was made illegal to prevent people watching family members while they were voting see how they cast their ballot and sometimes telling them how to vote.

open image in gallery

According to its report, Democracy Volunteers deployed four accredited election observers across the Gorton and Denton by-election. The team attended 22 of the 45 polling stations in the constituency, spending between 30 and 45 minutes in each.

John Ault, director of Democracy Volunteers, said: “We rarely issue a report on the night of an election, but the data we have collected today on family voting, when compared to other recent by-elections, is extremely high.

“In the other recent Westminster parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby we saw family voting in 12 per cent of polling stations, affecting 1 per cent of voters. In Gorton and Denton, we observed family voting in 68 per cent of polling stations, affecting 12 per cent of those voters observed.”

The elections bill came after an independent review looked into cases such as the 2014 Tower Hamlets mayoral election, which was declared void by corrupt and illegal practices.

A spokesperson for the acting returning officer at Manchester City Council, which is overseeing the by-election, said: “Polling station staff are trained to look out for any evidence of undue influence on voters. No such issues have been reported today.

“If Democracy Volunteers were so concerned about alleged issues, they could and should have raised them with us during polling hours so that immediate action could be taken.

“We have operated a central by-election hub which has been rapidly responding to reported issues during the day, in liaison with the police v who had a presence at every polling station – where necessary.

“It is extremely disappointing that Democracy Volunteers have waited until after polls have closed to make such claims.”

However, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “This is deeply concerning and raises serious questions about the integrity of the democratic process in predominantly Muslim areas.”

Donald Trump’s team of negotiators — reportedly armed with a laundry list of demands — was largely silent about the future of talks with Iran after emerging from a round of negotiations Thursday in Geneva.

A senior U.S. official described the outcome of Thursday’s talks as “positive” to Axios, while Iran’s foreign ministry described the two sides as making “significant progress”. But the extent to which the teams were able to overcome the real distance reported as the talks began was not known.

But they began with a report from The Wall Street Journal outlining a steep list of demands set forth by the Trump administration for a diplomatic resolution to the issue of Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

And the talks come just over a day after the president, in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, accused Iran of rebuilding the nuclear program that Trump’s own White House claimed was completely annihilated in the summer of last year. This week, his top negotiator, Steve Witkoff, claimed once again that the Iranian government could be just a week away from developing the enriched nuclear material required for making a bomb.

The demands cited by the Journal included the surrender of all Iranian enriched uranium to U.S. hands, zero enrichment capabilities for the foreseeable future, and the total destruction of the three Iranian nuclear development sites: Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow.

open image in gallery

In exchange, the U.S. is promising future sanctions relief if Iran remains compliant with the deal. Negotiations are occurring under the looming pressure of the U.S. seemingly viewing them the last chance to stop U.S. military strikes against the country.

Despite the Iranian team stressing that more talks would take place in Vienna next week, there’s some signs that talks could break down before then. In particular, the reported “disappointment” of Witkoff and Kushner upon being presented with the Iranian offer, and a comment made by an Iranian official to an Al Jazeera reporter rejecting several of the U.S. demands out of hand.

Trita Parsi, co-founder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, predicted to The Independent that while the Iranian official claimed that Tehran would not accept permanent restrictions on enrichment or giving up enriched uranium, the heart of the issue remained the prospect of sanctions relief and the unwillingness of the Iranian side to trust members of the Trump administration who promise that loosening sanctions will ever occur if not done immediately.

“The problem is, the administration is not offering any real sanctions relief, and the Iranians need deep sanctions relief. Their only leverage for getting it is their nuclear program, so they’re going to bargain very hard in order to make sure that they get the right level of sanctions relief for whatever parts of the program, they give up,” said Parsi.

open image in gallery

“If we’re offering them almost nothing, we’re saying that, you know, a lot of it will come much later and there’s zero trust between the two sides, then that’s just not going to work. The Iranians believe, frankly, that they are better off with a war than a deal like that,” said Parsi. “Why should they? There was a deal they were supposed to get sanctions relief and Trump himself, this President, not someone else, walked out of that deal.”

Trump could be inclined to give them that war.

Separately on Thursday, The New York Times reported that the administration is privately eyeing two strategies for armed conflict with Iran, in the event that talks do fail to satisfy the White House’s desire to put a permanent pin in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. One involves limited strikes, in the vein of the attacks last summer, aimed at further disruption of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Another is a much wider operation aimed at targeting key facilities and officials with the intention of forcing the Ayatollah Khamenei from power altogether.

But U.S. officials who spoke to the outlet on background said that despite the U.S.’s large military buildup in the Mediterranean and Arabian seas, American forces are not prepared currently for any sustained operations lasting longer than about 10 days.

Public support for U.S. military intervention in Iran is very low, which the administration recognizes. Even as nearly 50 percent of Americans in an AP-NORC poll published Thursday viewed Iran’s nuclear weapons program as a serious threat, a higher percentage thought it unlikely that the president would “make the right decision” on Iran in the days ahead. 49% of Americans opposed initiating strikes on Iran in another recent poll.

open image in gallery

Since the beginning of his second term the president has been torn between two prevailing schools of foreign policy thought in the GOP — the isolationism and non-interventionism of Steve Bannon and “America First” conservatives, and the more traditional neoconservative view that America’s might should be asserted at all times.

On the Hill, the latter view still finds much purchase among both establishment Republicans and some centrist Democrats. On the issue of support for Iranian protesters, targeting Iran’s nuclear weapons development and even potentially ousting the government, Trump has found support from centrist members of the opposition party.

Support for Iranians protesting the government and facing brutal crackdowns in return remains broadly popular in Congress. An advocacy group of Iranian-Americans called the Coalition of Young Iranians also wrote to the White House this week and urged the president to impose further consequences on Tehran for the most recent crackdowns, which they say included security forces raiding hospitals and clinics to detain wounded protesters and preventing other clinics from treating those injured, sometimes severely, in the deadly clashes between police and protesters.

“Mr. President, we urge you to direct the Departments of the Treasury and State to designate the officials and entities responsible for raiding hospitals and clinics, arresting patients and protesters from medical wards, intimidating or detaining clinicians for providing care, misusing ambulances for security operations, and coercing healthcare personnel to falsify medical records or disclose confidential patient data,” read the letter, which was signed by members of the CYI Medical Committee including Dr. Azadeh Sami, a Virginia-based pediatrician and public health specialist.

That bipartisan dynamic was evident this week as a handful of Democrats announced opposition to War Powers resolutions being sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine in the Senate and Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna in the House that aim to restrict the president’s ability to launch strikes on Iran.

open image in gallery

The White House did not respond to a request for comment Thursday on whether the president believed he had legal authority to carry out such a strike.

Parsi, in his interview, noted that one thing was clear as the White House made destruction of Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan its top priority on the list of demands: The White House’s claim of having “obliterated” the Iranian nuclear weapons program and setting it back by years came in direct contradiction to its importance.

“It’s admission that at the end of the day, the 60% [enriched] uranium that is there has not been verified as being destroyed. But if you destroy the sites, you essentially destroy or remove the 60% enriched uranium. And that is something that is an outstanding issue. It disproves the idea of obliteration, obviously,” he said.

“But they’re doing it in a way in which they don’t have to admit that.”

A council will support proposals for a “fully affordable” housing development in a coastal village – but only if it’s reserved for people who are “able to speak Welsh”.

Trefor and Llanaelhaearn Community Council wants a language requirement included before it grants full approval to an application by Grŵp Cynefin to build 15 affordable homes on land next to Llys yr Eifl, in the predominantly Welsh-speaking Gwynedd coastal village of Trefor. Gwynedd council is recommending that the scheme be approved, subject to completing a Section 106 agreement, or a unilateral agreement for an open spaces contribution, during its planning committee meeting on Monday, March 2.

The application has been submitted by Owain Williams (Williams Homes (Bala) Ltd. ) via the agent Jamie Bradshaw (AXIS PED Ltd). Make sure you never miss Wales’ biggest updates by getting our daily newsletter

The proposals state that housing provider Grŵp Cynefin’s aim was to deliver a range of “fully affordable” homes, including social rented, intermediate affordable rental, and part-ownership, reports NorthWalesLive.

They comprise a mixture of semi-detached one- and two-storey properties and one detached two-storey dwelling with gardens and parking provision.

The full application, situated on an exception site beyond the development boundary, incorporates associated works, new vehicular access, estate road, landscaping, and sustainable surface water drainage facilities. During the consultation the community council expressed it had “no objection to the application per se” on two conditions.

These included a Welsh language requirement for any residents and the proposal being managed under a local lettings policy, with specific letting stipulations, rather than the common housing allocation policy.

In its official response the community council stated: “This is a golden opportunity to be truly progressive and innovative by being the first planning authority in Wales to venture to impose a language condition on a new social housing estate in the heartland of the Welsh language.

“We understand that the Welsh Language Commissioner has received a legal opinion, which states unequivocally that it would not be illegal to make ‘able to speak Welsh’ a condition for the letting of social housing.

“We also understand that the commissioner has asked Cyngor Gwynedd, along with housing associations operating within the county, to consider this vital issue seriously.”

The community council revealed it had written to Gwynedd council’s chief executive Dafydd Gibbard and council leader Cllr Nia Jeffreys to ask whether that opinion had been discussed.

Local letting policies, according to the community council, are “usually developed where there is a desire to change the balance of a community or to achieve a balanced community at the time when new development is being let”.

They added: “Cyngor Gwynedd is often proud to announce, if not to boast at times, that it is a progressive council that leads the rest of Wales on the issue of the Welsh language.

“It is our duty to recognise that there is a great deal of truth in that and thank you for your efforts.

“It would be a credit and a precedent for the council itself and an enlightened and long-awaited lead for the rest of Wales.

“By now colleagues you have the legitimate right and this has beenconfirmed by an expert. This can give a decisive and solid start to the preservation of the soul of our nation and the few remaining fragile areas.

“We beg for your willingness to do so and to show our peoplethat Cyngor Gwynedd’s mission for our language is genuine, sincereand uncompromising”.

The group added it was “unanimous in the view that it will have no objection to the application if the conditions set out are given due regard and support”.

It also called for postponing the application decision until there was “a definite outcome” to the discussion regarding what had been submitted by the language commissioner to Cyngor Gwynedd and housing associations.

The language commissioner Efa Gruffudd Jones and the council were approached for comment.

Ensure our latest news and sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings.

The company says this was due to higher spending on technology from UK utilities aiming to maintain ageing infrastructure with less disruption and lower cost.

Synthotech, which develops robotic systems that operate inside live pipes and underground ducts, lifted turnover 33 per cent to £6.5m and doubled profit year on year.

Revenues are forecast to exceed £7m in 2026, with an EBITDA increase of 32%. Net debt fell sharply over the year by 62%.

RECOMMENDED READING:

To support this, Synthotech is adding 12 staff in Harrogate across engineering, management and commercial roles.

Growth has been driven largely by research and development, with new systems now moving into commercial use across water, gas and telecommunications networks. The breadth of those applications has reduced the company’s reliance on any single utility sector at a time when capital spending remains politically and regulatorily constrained.

In telecommunications, Synthotech is working with BT Group and Openreach on MicroBORE, a trenchless drilling system being trialled as part of the UK’s fibre broadband rollout. The technology allows fibre cables to be installed beneath pavements and driveways without traditional open trenching. The process is faster and cheaper than traditional methods and helps to reduce disruption in densely built or sensitive locations. The system was developed through a collaboration with BT and the University of Surrey.

The trenchless drilling system could also help transform the UK’s electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure by unlocking access to millions of homes. The compact drill can bore narrow, guided pathways beneath pavements and driveways without the need for disruptive, costly excavations.

In the gas sector, the group has developed a novel gas pumping system that enables essential gas pipeline replacement works to be completed without the release of methane into the atmosphere. The system has passed operational standards with Cadent Gas and is set to support methane reductions for the UK gas industry.

These technologies are now being introduced to overseas markets, including the US, where utilities face tightening integrity rules and pressure to cut methane emissions. Overseas income rose 28 per cent in 2025, driven primarily by Australia, and the company expects further growth in both Australia and the US as partnerships expand.

The company also works with academic partners, including the Pipebots team at the University of Sheffield, to accelerate the adoption of in-pipe inspection and repair technologies across water and gas networks.

Mark Tindley, managing director of Synthotech Group, said: “Our reinvestment in the business has increased the pace at which we can bring new systems into operational use.

“Working across water, gas and telecommunications has made the business more resilient and helped to accelerate our growth in key markets. Our robot technology is helping utility companies to reduce leaks, drive efficiency savings and remove the need for extensive roadworks.”

The shift from research to deployment underpinned last year’s expansion. The company aims for its increased diversification and growth in global markets to support continued growth.

A yellow disc with rays of white – an icon of childhood drawings and a flower with healing properties. We have picnics on it, play football on it and make daisy chains out of it.

The common or lawn daisy, Bellis perennis, is probably familiar to most people living in temperate climates. But there may be few things you do not know about this fascinating and perhaps under estimated flower.

A flower made of little flowers

Each daisy is actually an inflorescence – a multitude of tiny flowers called florets working together to set out a buffet for pollinators. There are two types of florets. The tube florets form the yellow centre of the inflorescence, about 100 in a typical daisy. You can see them open in sequence over several days from the outside inwards, revealing their treasures of nectar and pollen.

The ray florets have the long white petals. They are female, whereas each tiny tube floret has a set of male and female floral attributes. Every tube floret produces pollen and nectar as well as having an ovary which can make a tiny fruit at the bottom.

Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories.
This article is part of a series, Plant Curious, exploring scientific studies that challenge the way you view plantlife.

The white and yellow contrast between the two types of florets is probably attractive to pollinators. Watch a pollinating insect land on a daisy and it will probe each open floret for a sip of nectar. The florets all sit on a capitulum (a cone-shaped platform), which is surrounded by green phyllaries (or bracts). The capitulum also bears the miniature fruits called achenes which are one-seeded fruits.

Unlike some members of the same family, such as the dandelion, the little seeds have no hairy parachute or pappus to help them disperse. This means that most probably drop close to the parent plant, although they can also be dispersed on muddy paws or shoes, and by worms, ants and birds.

Intrepid explorers

The formal name of the daisy – Bellis perennis – was chosen in the 18th century by biologist Carl Linnaeus, who invented the system by which botanists still name species. Bellis is probably from the Latin for beautiful and perennis for perennial or long-lasting. The word daisy is thought to come from “day’s eye”, a reflection of the fact that the flowers close at night.

However, the word daisy is applied to many other species with similar inflorescences and is used to describe a whole family of plants, the Asteraceae. This is the largest family of flowering plants, incorporating species from thistles to sunflowers, almost all of which have the same inflorescence structure of smaller florets collected on a capitulum. There are over 32,000 species in this family, from tiny daisies to large tropical trees. They are found in most ecosystems on earth, except Antarctica.

This indicates they have a successful evolutionary strategy that has allowed them to adapt and spread. The little lawn daisy has travelled around the world from its native distribution in Europe to be ubiquitous in temperate climates from New Zealand to the US.

Circadian strategy

Most flowers stay open all the time but some, like daisies, open towards the sun in the morning to maximise warmth. This may make them more attractive to insect pollinators who need heat to regulate their body temperatures.

The ray florets do the opening and closing, covering the inner disc florets when closed. On cloudy cool days the daisies might not open at all. The movement of the petals is likely to be as a result of cell growth on either side of the long white ligule of the ray floret, with the cells on both sides of the petals growing at different rates.

Resourceful

Gardeners who want the perfect lawn may see daisies as a nuisance. But a 2021 study showed that lawn daisies provided up to 11% of the nectar available to pollinators in some urban environments, making them important food for our urban bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other pollinating insects. These insects are, in turn, food for so many other animals along the food chain.

Daisies can self-pollinate. They can also clone themselves – sending stolons (runners) sideways to colonise a patch of ground. Bellis perennis seems to be well adapted to human-made habitats, with its short sward or dense mat. Daisies with longer swards tend to get outcompeted as they only produce leaves in a rosette near the ground. Its natural habitats include areas of low or disturbed vegetation such as trampled ground, stream edges and lake margins.

Bellis perennis, in common with most flowering plants, forms associations with fungi in its roots. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have been co-evolving with plants for the last 400 million years, allowing the colonisation of land by early plants. The plant feeds the fungi with carbohydrates and in turn, the fungi reach out into the soil and supports the plant with nutrients. This ancient partnership between plants and soil fungi still mediates plant interactions with other soil microbes, and regulates plant-plant interactions.

Human connection

The Asteraceae is probably the most popular plant family in popular medicine containing a wide range of active plant chemicals or phytochemicals with antioxidant, anti-inflamatory, antimicrobial, diuretic and wound-healing properties. Bellis perennis itself has had many common names over the centuries including gardener’s friend, bruisewort and poor-man’s arnica.

It feels like daisies have always been part of our lives in the temperate parts of the world and always will be. Daisies have long featured in literature and poetry, mentioned by Chaucer (The Good Woman), Shakespeare (Ophelia’s flowers in Hamlet) and the 19th century poet John Clare.

But the species that are thriving today are not necessarily assured a future. For example, many once common species of birds, like swifts and skylarks, are in decline now in the UK. Arable weeds such as common corncockle (Agrostemma githago) or cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) that were once a nuisance in crops are now rare species that need intervention to prevent their extinction.

So, we must treasure and monitor these flowers, to ensure they are part of our future as well as our past.