UK inflation hits 15-month high as utility bills soar


By AFP
May 21, 2025


UK regulators allowed private companies to hike household bills from April - Copyright AFP Frederic J. BROWN

Ben PERRY

Britain’s annual inflation rate surged more than expected in April as energy and water bills rose sharply, official data showed on Wednesday.

The Consumer Prices Index soared to 3.5 percent last month, up from 2.6 percent in March, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. Analysts’ consensus forecast had been for a jump to 3.3 percent.

At 3.5 percent, the headline rate was the highest since the beginning of 2024, the ONS noted.

“I am disappointed with these figures because I know cost of living pressures are still weighing down on working people,” finance minister Rachel Reeves said in a statement.

UK regulators allowed private companies to hike household bills from April, taking into account movements in oil and gas markets and indebted water providers.

“Significant increases in household bills caused inflation to climb steeply,” ONS acting director general, Grant Fitzner, said in a statement.

“Gas and electricity bills rose… compared with sharp falls at the same time last year.”

He noted that “water and sewerage bills also rose strongly… as did vehicle excise duty, which all pushed the headline rate up to its highest level since the beginning of last year”.

Energy bills are expected to drop from July, however, following recent heavy falls to oil prices in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs blitz, according to analysts.

Businesses were additionally hit in April by a tax hike and rise to the minimum wage, which both took effect last month having been introduced by the Labour government following its July election victory that ended 14 years of Conservative rule.

Tory spokesman on the economy, Mel Stride, blamed “Labour’s economic mismanagement” for the surge to inflation.

“Families are paying the price for the Labour… choices,” he added, as businesses pass on higher costs to consumers.



– Bank of England –



Analysts said the latest data could see the Bank of England ease the pace at which it has been cutting interest rates in recent months.

“The BoE’s next move is far from straightforward,” noted Richard Flax, chief investment officer at wealth manager Moneyfarm.

“The central bank is likely to remain cautious, potentially delaying rate cuts until there’s clearer evidence that inflationary momentum is genuinely easing.”

The BoE earlier this month cut its key interest rate by a quarter point to 4.25 percent as the threat of US tariffs starts to weigh on economic growth.

It followed three reductions spread over the previous eight months.

High-flying young electricians wire UK energy switch


By AFP
May 20, 2025


In the UK, National Grid recruitment is at full power as its electricity network adapts for renewables - Copyright AFP Darren Staples

Olivier DEVOS

Perched 45 metres (148 feet) high, young apprentice electricians replace a connection atop a pylon. In the UK, National Grid recruitment is at full power as its electricity network adapts for renewables.

As new production sites multiply, particularly for wind and solar power, the privately-run company that owns the high-voltage pylons and cables in England and Wales said it is implementing “the largest overhaul of the electricity grid in generations”.

“It’s quite fun and exciting really,” Becky Hodgson, an overhead lines trainee, enthused at the prospect of “connecting” the UK’s future energy needs.

At the National Grid training centre in Eakring, a village in central England, 25-year-old Hodgson unwinds rope from a winch at the foot of a large pylon.

To the sound of an engine and pulleys, a suspended walkway rises towards her classmates.

Hailing from near Newcastle in northeast England, a region famous for its coal mining heritage, Hodgson is delighted to be part of the nation’s new energy chapter.

“It’s ticking all the boxes for me,” said the apprentice whose grandfather mined coal, which up until recently was used to fire British power stations.

“From a young age I’ve always been really into climbing, and adventurous pursuits,” Hodgson, sporting a fluorescent orange vest and blue hard hat, told AFP.

– ‘Massive challenge’ –

With the UK one of the most advanced countries in Europe in terms of renewable energy, National Grid plans to invest £35 billion ($47 billion) by 2031 to transform its electricity network.

The installation of new pylons, often favoured over underground or submarine cables owing to their lower cost, is causing friction among local residents across the country.

Faced with growing demand for electricity and the need to source energy where it is produced, “we need more wires”, insisted Zac Richardson, chief engineer at National Grid.

The company has seen the number of training days surge 75 percent over three years, driven largely by growth in staff.

“Will we be able to train enough? It’s a massive challenge,” said Richardson.

“There’s advanced investment going in, not just here, but with our key contractors as well, to ensure that the workforce is ready.”

National Grid estimates that 55,000 new hires will be needed in the coming years, across various trades, both within its own ranks and among its partners and subcontractors.

– Explosion –

A siren suddenly sounds in a substation, close to large machines bristling with lightning arresters.

Then an explosion — signalling a test of a pyrotechnic circuit breaker, a device that can quickly cut a high-voltage circuit.

“You have to cover your ears automatically… when you work in a substation,” laughed Lara Eken, a graduate substation engineer.

The 23-year-old said she has come to learn about the workings of “a really in-depth technical system”, whose number is multiplying with the expansion of the network.

Cables extending from the large pylon are lost in the distance — but they lead nowhere. For safety reasons, the training facilities are disconnected from the network.

A power line apprenticeship lasts three years.

“Everything crunches around the safety aspect first, so it’s baby steps,” training instructor Tom Norris, easily identifiable by his red helmet, told AFP.

“You get them just climbing the tower first” before tackling more complicated tasks like hoisting equipment, he added.

Norris said finding recruits is not a problem.

“We’re taking on more apprentices than we ever have. We’ve always got lots of interest on the recruitment day so we’re picking from lots and lots of good candidates.”