So long, London 👋

Morning all. You’re forgiven if you confused the UK with the Siberian wilderness last week. While the cold snap had you holed up indoors, spare a thought for the good folks in Altnaharra (first time hearing of it for us too, but a fun one to type).

Altnaharra is in the Scottish highlands, and bagged the ice crown for the coldest January temperature in the UK for 15 years. -18.7 C! At least that’s over, we’re in for milder days for this week.

MARKETS

Data: Google Finance, 5-day Market Close

Notable UK earnings this week: Games Workshop (GAW), Safestore Holdings (SAFE), Gateley Holdings (GTLY).

Notable US earnings this week: JP Morgan (JPM), United Health Group (UNH), Bank of America (BAC).

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PROJECT WATCH

🚰 Strabag win £3bn Haweswater aqueduct pipeline contract Read more

🎓 Morgan Sindall win acoustic building contract for Salford University. Read more

🌊 KCA Deutag win £16m worth of contract extensions in North Sea. Read more

☢️ Hinkley Point C salt-marsh consultation delayed after backlash. Read more

ECONOMY & FINANCE

So long, London (Stock Exchange)
Last year, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) suffered its biggest corporate exodus since the global financial crisis. A whopping 88 companies—including heavy-hitters like Paddy Power owner Flutter, travel mogul Tui, and takeaway titan Just Eat, all packed their bags and swapped London for US or European markets.

Former LSE head honcho Xavier Rolet didn’t mince words when he recently warned about a “real threat” of more UK companies heading Stateside. And he’s got the receipts: the loss of 88 listings in 2024 was the worst since 2009. To rub salt in the wound, a mere 18 newcomers dared to go public in London last year.

The numbers paint a sobering picture. Back in the early 2000s, UK-listed stocks accounted for 11% of the global market. Today? A pitiful 4%. It’s not so much the City of London as it is the Hamlet of London. Fun fact - Apple’s market cap alone is worth more than the entire FTSE 100 combined!

House prices take a tumble
The UK housing market has finally hit the brakes, with average house prices falling for the first time in nine months, with an average drop from Nov-Dec of 0.2%. After nearly a year of jaw-droppingly relentless growth, homeowners may now need to reconsider their plans to cash in on their four-bed semi in the suburbs to fund that dream villa in Marbella. But don’t panic just yet, estate agents are still valiantly trying to flog you those properties with “potential” (spoiler: "potential" likely means a damp problem and a neighbour who plays techno at 3 a.m.).

This New Year's reality check aligns beautifully with the financial hangover we all feel in January. With mortgage rates still up in the clouds and household budgets obliterated by December’s mince pie and electricity splurge, it's hardly surprising that demand's hit a pothole.

POLITICS

Bore da or nos da? The battle for bilingual Wales
The Welsh government’s plan for every 16-year-old to leave school fluent in Welsh by 2050 has been greeted with cautious claps—but critics say it’s all iawn (fine) in theory and not much da iawn (very fine) in practice. The Welsh Language and Education Bill aims to create one million Welsh speakers, but the finer details are as elusive as the top of Snowdon on a foggy day.

Schools are expected to make 10% of their lessons Welsh-medium, but with fluent teachers thinner on the ground than sunbathers on Aberystwyth’s beach in January, many fear this target is a pipédream. Is singing Sospan Fach at lunchtime enough? Supporters say a bilingual Wales would be a cultural and economic win, but without clear answers, this policy could go from bore da (good morning) to nos da (goodnight) faster than you can pronounce Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

Tough love on tenants
In Westminster, MPs are locked in a political dust-up over antisocial behaviour in social housing. Reform UK’s Lee Anderson wants a “three strikes and you’re out” rule for disruptive tenants, while Labour’s Steve Yemm thinks even three strikes are two too many. Enter the Lib Dems with a curveball: what if councils and police had enough funding to use existing laws? Radical stuff.

Critics warn that evicting troublesome tenants could shift the chaos to the streets—like antisocial musical chairs. Meanwhile, Housing Minister Alex Norris called for a Goldilocks approach: tough on repeat offenders but compassionate toward struggling families. It’s a delicate balance between protecting communities from chaos and ensuring evictions don’t turn pavements into permanent addresses.

Elsewhere in politics:

• Liz Truss has sent a legal “cease and desist” letter to Keir Starmer, demanding he stop defaming her for crashing the economy.

• UK security officials are monitoring Elon Musk’s posts for potential risks, following comments that have stoked abuse toward government ministers.

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ACROSS THE POND

Zuckerpunch? Meta appoints UFC’s Dana White to the Board
Facebook parent, Meta, is ushering in the heavyweight champions of corporate power. Dana White, the main man behind America's Ultimate Fighting Championship, has just clinched a spot on their board. Just in time for the new season of political sparring, Zuckerberg's decided to buddy up with White, a known Trump ally. It's almost like a reality show crossover, but with slightly less punching.

On the horizon is a presidential inauguration, and Mark Zuckerberg appears to be tying up loose ends with the president-elect, who once suggested he'd toss Zuckerberg in the clink on election interference charges. Zuckerberg even had a sit down with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago lair, where one imagines cocktails were served with a dash of irony. Trump is set to re-take office from the 20th.

Donald doubles down on Danish owned Greenland
Initial questions were raised when Trump expressed his interest in buying Greenland from Denmark for the red-white-and-blue-land. His hopes won’t have dampened last week, with the Danish government ‘ready to talk’ with the incoming president - though it is expected the conversation will be a “feel free to visit” instead. Trump hasn’t ruled out military action to take Greenland.

Greenland has been a point of interest for past US presidents, with the area holding potential significant importance from a military perspective (the US already have the Thule Airbase there). What’s more, with continued melting ice, new potential trade shipping routes have the potential to open up, along with increased availability of Greenland’s natural resources.

TECH

Nvidia’s AI plan and TikTok ban
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dazzled at CES in Las Vegas, unveiling gaming chips that promise real-time, movie-quality visuals at jaw-dropping speed. At the heart of his presentation was Cosmos, a new AI model that can generate synthetic worlds to train robots and self-driving cars. Huang declared this the “ChatGPT moment for robotics”, predicting a wave of breakthroughs as machines learn to navigate virtual physics simulations. Nvidia’s next-gen chips, landing later this month, are set to shake up both gaming and robotics.

The timing couldn’t be better as the US braces for a TikTok ban on January 19th, cutting off 170 million users from their doom scrolling. But there’s a silver lining: Gen-Z could trade dance routines for designing the tech of tomorrow—robots that don’t just follow trends but out-dance them entirely. From mindless swipes to mastering AI and robotics, the shift from fleeting fads to future-shaping innovation might just be the upgrade we all need. Now that’s a move worth mastering.

Bitcoin bid dumped in landfill legal limbo
James Howells’ £600m Bitcoin dream has hit the skids. A High Court judge has thrown out his bid to excavate a Newport landfill for a hard drive he accidentally binned in 2013. Despite pinpointing its location to 100,000 tonnes of rubbish and offering the council a 10% cut of the haul, his case was dismissed due to environmental and legal concerns. Howells, who mined the Bitcoin in 2009 when it was practically worthless, now faces the agonising reality of a digital fortune buried under both garbage and red tape.

Newport City Council argued the hard drive became theirs the moment it hit the tip, and any attempt to dig it up would breach environmental permits. With Bitcoin’s value soaring—he estimates his haul could hit £1 billion by next year—the tech-savvy treasure hunter is left wondering if his crypto fortune is destined to remain landfill legend.

WORLD

A rogue Russian oil tanker drifted near Germany
A Russian tanker filled with 100,000 tonnes of crude oil broke down off Germany’s northern coast, sparking a high-stakes rescue mission. Battling stormy winds and Baltic waves, tugboats just about managed to drag the ship to safety, narrowly avoiding an oily outpour.

The vessel is part of Russia’s “shadow fleet”, an armada of vessels skirting sanctions. While calamity was narrowly escaped this time, these drifting perils are escalating, menacing Europe's coastlines and stretching the endurance of cleanup crews. For now, the Baltic can exhale in relief—but this is a high-stakes game of Russian roulette that's bound to backfire.

Earth hits 1.5°C for the first time
In 2024, our planet breached the critical 1.5°C warming threshold for the first time, and it wasn’t exactly subtle. Spain was swamped, Zambia dried up, and California’s wildfires made Dante’s Inferno look a dainty delight. Scientists say this fiery milestone might not stick, but it’s a neon warning sign: we’re pushing the planet to breaking point.

The Paris Agreement’s target is still within reach, but only just. With climate deniers like Trump staging comebacks and Russia’s “shadow fleet” of dodgy oil tankers sidestepping sanctions, the future feels like a game of environmental Jenga. Every degree counts, say scientists—but we need to stop pulling out the blocks before the whole tower collapses. Unless world leaders stop dithering, we’ll need more than a miracle—we’ll need an air-conditioned ark.

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🖼️🇵🇹 A Portuguese pavement mosaic, the first of its kind in the UK, is planned for Great Yarmouth's sculpture trail, celebrating Portugal and England's historical ties. Designed by Rui Ferreira, this £25,000 project will feature King John I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster.

🐢🏠 Elon the musk turtle has been rehomed by the RSPCA in Brighton after a record 1,579 days at the centre. Known for releasing a foul musky odour to deter predators, this 'stinkpot turtle' found a new home following a four-year search.

👓🎭 Eric Morecambe's iconic glasses sold for £20,000 at auction.

🎩🎭 Bradford kicks off its UK City of Culture 2025 year with a dazzling open-air show featuring magician Dynamo. Supported by £15m government funding, the celebration includes events like the Turner Prize and a national drawing project inspired by David Hockney.

🎹💎 Sir Elton John's greatest hits album "Diamonds" has finally reached number one in the UK, after 374 weeks on the charts. Boosted by a super deluxe edition release and the Disney+ documentary "Never Too Late," it now marks Elton's ninth number-one album.