Simon Millson

🇬🇧 New factories, new jobs, major investments and huge contract wins - March's UK manufacturing highlights: 🔹 Leonardo was awarded a £1 billion contract to build 23 new medium helicopters (NMH) for the MoD at its Yeovil factory, securing the site's future and more than 3,000 jobs. 🔹 Rolls-Royce announced plans to invest £21.3m to double the capacity of its Advanced Blade Casting Facility in Rotherham where some of the world’s most advanced turbine blades are manufactured. 🔹 Expected to create 500 jobs, Denmark's Vestas announced plans to build a new £216m nacelle and hub manufacturing plant in Scotland. 🔹 Lockheed Martin is set to build a new £85m satellite manufacturing plant in the UK. The US aerospace giant is in contention for a major UK contract that is due to be awarded later this year, and if successful, plans to build the assembly plant at County Durham's NETPark site, creating at least 500 jobs. 🔹 HMS Active, the second of class, entered the water at Rosyth - the first time in the Type 31 programme that the entire float-off operation was completed at Babcock International Group's own facility. The £1.25 billion contract to build five Type 31 frigates for the Royal Navy supports more than 2,500 jobs across the UK. 🔹 Rotherham-based Castings Technology, the UK’s only structural titanium foundry (and Europe’s largest), secured defence contracts worth more than £9 million from a leading UK manufacturer. 🔹 GE Aerospace announced plans to invest more than €110m, and create over 1,000 new jobs, across its UK and mainland European manufacturing sites this year. 🔹 Airbus and Rolls-Royce secured a multi-billion pound order from US carrier Atlas Air for 20 A350F freighter aircraft, powered by 40 Derby-built Trent XWB-97 engines. 🔹 British Steel is ramping up production at its Scunthorpe plant after securing one of its largest ever export orders – a £70m contract for port redevelopments in Nigeria. 🔹 Stellantis announced plans to invest an additional £50m at its Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire. The extra investment will fund a new assembly line to build battery-electric variants of the Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro and related models from next year.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧 Chapter One. The Beginning of the End. This is the story of how ordinary British people ended slavery. It starts here. In 1086. William the Conqueror had just seized England by force. His first act was to count everyone in it. What the 'Domesday Book' revealed was extraordinary. More than seventy percent of the people on this island belonged to someone else. Not slaves. But not free. Serfs. Bound to the land from birth. Unable to leave. Unable to own property. Their children inherited their chains automatically. Then in 1348, the Black Death arrived. Within two years it had killed nearly half the population of England. Villages emptied overnight. And the survivors realised something the lords had hoped they never would. They had power. They demanded wages. They walked off the land. They refused to return on the old terms. Parliament passed a law in 1351 to force them back. The people ignored it. In 1381, sixty thousand ordinary people marched on London. They burned the records that proved their bondage. They demanded to be treated as human beings. The king rode out, made promises, then broke every one of them. The leaders were hunted down and executed. But serfdom never recovered. Without a single law. Without a king declaring it so. Over the next hundred years it quietly collapsed. The English simply stopped accepting it. By 1500 it was dead. Three hundred years before France. Nearly four hundred before Russia. This was the character being forged. On this soil. By ordinary people who refused to stay down. And they were just getting started. 🇬🇧 Their individual stories are on our page. Our book is coming soon. Help us make this possible. proudofus.co.uk/support Be Part Of Us. Be Proud Of Us. 🇬🇧

We're transforming London. Our network of Cycleways has grown from 90km to over 430km today. And with a network of safe cycleways, cycling is booming - with an average of 1.5m trips a day. And there's much more to come 🚲🚲🚲 #LondonLovesCycling

Coal power has effectively died in the United Kingdom— (This Data Insight was written by @_HannahRitchie, with data work by @parriagadap.) The United Kingdom was the birthplace of coal. It has now, effectively, died there. As shown in the chart, in the late 1980s, around two-thirds of the UK’s electricity came from coal. By the time I was born in the 1990s, this had dropped to just over half. The use of coal has plummeted in my lifetime. It now makes up around 0.1% of the UK’s electricity. Coal was first replaced by gas, but is now being pushed out by wind, solar, and biomass.

The UK is officially the biggest Deep Tech hub of Europe. It attracted $5.2bn in funding in 2025 - more than any other country in Europe. Last year a BUNCH of great UK Deep Tech companies raised cash: > Nscale > Synthesia > ElevenLabs > Isomorphic Labs > CuspAI > Nothing Interestingly Paris is the biggest Deep Tech city in Europe, but the UK has Oxford, Cambridge and London which all contribute. 2026 is only going to be even bigger for Deep Tech with rounds like Ineffable, Olix, ElevenLabs and Synthesia already accounting for nearly $2bn of investment. LETS GO Great stuff from @yoramdw, @sabben and the @dealroomco team. Check out the full report here: dealroom.co/reports/the-eu…

Loving all the great London stories from the last few weeks 👇🏽 London’s been ranked a top place in the world to raise children. Tech and AI companies are thriving in the capital. Oxford Street will be pedestrianised. A new open water swimming spot has been planned for the Thames. The list goes on. London is the greatest city in the world.

Went to first West End musical in years with my two youngest today… The centre of London was heaving with visitors, in a way unrecognisable from the image percolated on this site… The stats underline this… West End has fully recovered and more from pandemic and now has overtaken Broadway on tickets sold - millions more, and more tickets sold than the Premier League… This isn’t mirrored in all visitor attractions but seems an interesting and resounding success. Industry reports interesting new trends such as very last minute ticket purchases. Ticket prices do seem extortionate/ dynamically priced… but the stats suggest they are down a bit in real terms. British Museum visitors at a 10 year high of 6.5 million… Visitors generally fully recovered from pandemic, interestingly driven by domestic tourists and North Americans… seemed pretty clear that summer 2025 for example, London was world capital of live music. Comes day after the Mayor of London wrote to Anthropic to come to London after their troubles with the Trump Administration and a marked change in the vibe around the investment in AI and tech… While there’s obvious some challenges in any modern day mega city, and in Britain right now, strikes me that the stats show taking your cues from the mildly bizarre cultivated campaign against Britain and our capital on this site is likely to lead to erroneous perceptions. Interested in any insights as to how the west end has overtaken the premier league and Broadway… and how other parts of UK have fared - as I’ve written before visitor numbers to places like Manchester are also booming re football, unis and now the music at the once laughed at Coop Live… PS yes it was Wicked. And it was good.👍🏽 🧙

Officially Europe’s No.1 city 🏆👏🏾 London is thriving: dynamic, diverse and safer than many of its US rivals, while continuing to top global rankings. Our capital remains a global business hub and cultural powerhouse ⬇️ worldsbestcities.com/rankings/europ…

Calling all LGBTQ+ theatre makers! 🏳️‍🌈 Our regular scratch programme ENGINE ROOM is getting a Queer takeover this June, and we’re looking for LGBTQ+ theatre makers with plays in development to join us. Submit your play by 27 March: omnibus-clapham.org/engine-room-ne…

THE COMFORT WOMAN is getting some incredible, "unflinching" reviews -@BroadwayWorld & @theatre_weekly Catch Minjeong Kim’s powerhouse debut before it ends this Sat, 7th March. It’s an affecting performance you really shouldn’t miss. 🎟️ Selling fast: omnibus-clapham.org/thecomfortwoma…

The UK is seeding a new frontier AI lab, a home for the world’s very best researchers having the deepest impact. Come join us 🇬🇧🚀 ft.com/content/41f522…

This weekend at Omnibus Theatre, we’re keeping things eclectic: our cabaret-style night, a dynamic improvised musical, a five-star hip hop theatre piece, and an experimental musical performance - last chance to catch the final two! 🎟️ Book here: omnibus-clapham.org/whats-on/

The forgotten story of Nannerl Mozart, the genius sister of Amadeus, takes the stage this April. Following a ★★★★★ triumph at last year’s @edfringe and newly nominated for an Offies, THE OTHER MOZART makes its London debut on our stage. 🎟️ ON SALE: omnibus-clapham.org/other-mozart/

THE SOUND OF ABSENCE rehearsal shots are here! A new experimental musical theatre piece, exploring the intricate bond between father and daughter, and the unspoken reasons behind the choices our parents make. 🗓️ Opens next week | 24 - 28 FEB: omnibus-clapham.org/sound-of-absen…

This March, we're handing the stage to extraordinary women. From writers to directors, producers to performers, we've put together an International Women's Day season of bold, brilliant work from women around the world. Book before they sell out: omnibus-clapham.org/whats-on/

Critics' choice. ★★★★★ Inspired by the true story of black woman Tyisha Miller, who was shot dead by the California police, DREAMSCAPE re-imagines her final living moments through hip-hop theatre. 🎟️ Closes 28 FEB: omnibus-clapham.org/dreamscape/

Powerful video showing the Ukrainian athletes depicted on Vladyslav Heraskevych’s helmet who were killed by russia.

Only 2 countries have competed in every Olympics: 1. 🇬🇧 Great Britain 2. 🇨🇭 Switzerland Countries that have only missed 1: 1. 🇮🇹 Italy: missed 1904 Summer Olympics (note 1) 2. 🇫🇷 France: missed 1904 Summer Olympics (note 2) 3. 🇸🇪 Sweden: missed 1904 Summer Olympics 4. 🇦🇹 Austria: missed 1920 Summer Olympics 5. 🇬🇷 Greece: missed 1960 Winter Olympics 6. 🇺🇸 USA: missed 1980 Summer Olympics Note 1: Controversial: it is disputed whether cyclist Frank Bizzoni competed for Italy or the US, but the IOC considers him to have competed for the US Note 2: Controversial: it is disputed whether long-distance runner Albert Corey competed for France or the US. Interestingly, he won two medals at the 1904 Olympics and the IOC considers his solo silver in the marathon to be on behalf of France, but his team silver in the 4 mile to be on behalf of the US

World’s Top 100 Best Cities in 2026 1. 🇬🇧 London 2. 🇺🇸 New York 3. 🇫🇷 Paris 4. 🇯🇵 Tokyo 5. 🇪🇸 Madrid 6. 🇸🇬 Singapore 7. 🇮🇹 Rome 8. 🇦🇪 Dubai 9. 🇩🇪 Berlin 10. 🇪🇸 Barcelona 11. 🇦🇺 Sydney 12. 🇺🇸 Los Angeles 13. 🇰🇷 Seoul 14. 🇳🇱 Amsterdam 15. 🇨🇳 Beijing 16. 🇨🇳 Shanghai 17. 🇨🇦 Toronto 18. 🇧🇷 São Paulo 19. 🇭🇰 Hong Kong 20. 🇹🇷 Istanbul 21. 🇦🇺 Melbourne 22. 🇹🇭 Bangkok 23. 🇯🇵 Osaka 24. 🇳🇴 Oslo 25. 🇸🇪 Stockholm 26. 🇺🇸 Miami 27. 🇦🇹 Vienna 28. 🇺🇸 San Francisco 29. 🇮🇳 Bengaluru 30. 🇲🇽 Mexico City 31. 🇩🇪 Munich 32. 🇮🇪 Dublin 33. 🇩🇰 Copenhagen 34. 🇨🇭 Zurich 35. 🇺🇸 Chicago 36. 🇮🇹 Milan 37. 🇵🇹 Lisbon 38. 🇨🇿 Prague 39. 🇦🇷 Buenos Aires 40. 🇮🇳 Mumbai 41. 🇨🇦 Vancouver 42. 🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro 43. 🇵🇱 Warsaw 44. 🇩🇪 Hamburg 45. 🇨🇳 Shenzhen 46. 🇨🇦 Montreal 47. 🇭🇺 Budapest 48. 🇧🇪 Brussels 49. 🇸🇦 Riyadh 50. 🇲🇾 Kuala Lumpur 51. 🇨🇴 Bogotá 52. 🇨🇳 Guangzhou 53. 🇮🇩 Jakarta 54. 🇮🇳 Delhi 55. 🇺🇸 Las Vegas 56. 🇺🇸 Boston 57. 🇺🇸 Washington D.C. 58. 🇺🇸 Houston 59. 🇳🇿 Auckland 60. 🇺🇸 San Jose 61. 🇫🇮 Helsinki 62. 🇺🇸 Orlando 63. 🇹🇼 Taipei 64. 🇩🇪 Frankfurt 65. 🇵🇪 Lima 66. 🇺🇸 Atlanta 67. 🇺🇸 Seattle 68. 🇦🇺 Perth 69. 🇬🇧 Manchester 70. 🇿🇦 Cape Town 71. 🇵🇱 Kraków 72. 🇪🇸 Valencia 73. 🇨🇦 Ottawa 74. 🇬🇷 Athens 75. 🇨🇱 Santiago 76. 🇨🇴 Medellín 77. 🇩🇪 Cologne 78. 🇺🇸 Dallas 79. 🇦🇺 Brisbane 80. 🇨🇳 Hangzhou 81. 🇺🇸 San Diego 82. 🇮🇳 Hyderabad 83. 🇨🇳 Chengdu 84. 🇺🇸 Denver 85. 🇨🇦 Calgary 86. 🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi 87. 🇺🇸 Austin 88. 🇺🇸 Philadelphia 89. 🇺🇸 Baltimore 90. 🇩🇪 Stuttgart 91. 🇳🇱 Rotterdam 92. 🇫🇷 Lyon 93. 🇩🇪 The Ruhr 94. 🇰🇷 Busan 95. 🇩🇪 Düsseldorf 96. 🇸🇦 Mecca 97. 🇵🇹 Porto 98. 🇷🇴 Bucharest 99. 🇬🇧 Birmingham 100. 🇶🇦 Doha Note: This ranking based on most influential and opportunity-rich cities for living, visiting, and investing. It reflects overall performance, not just popularity. Source: World’s Best Cities

London gets a bad rap. It’s often portrayed online as a crime-ridden wasteland overrun by migrants. In reality it’s one of the safest major cities in the world: econ.st/4tu3koT