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Grangemouth closure 'nothing short of economic crisis', says Kate Forbes

Grangemouth closure 'nothing short of economic crisis', says Kate Forbes

Yahoo30-04-2025

THE closure of Grangemouth is 'nothing short of an economic crisis', Kate Forbes has said.
The Deputy First Minister made the comments in a ministerial statement in Holyrood on Wednesday, just a day after Grangemouth's owner Petroineos confirmed the refinery has ceased processing crude oil.
The industrial site in central Scotland was the last oil refinery operating north of the border.
'The decision by Petro Ineos is nothing short of an economic crisis,' Forbes told MSPs.
'And we need the UK Government to work with us to respond quickly, as we know that it can.'
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She added: 'It's a very sad day for Grangemouth and for Scotland, and we are deeply sorry for the workers and the wider community.'
In recent months, hundreds of workers have taken voluntary redundancy while a number of compulsory redundancies have also been made.
'The decision of last September [to close the refinery] was and is premature,' Forbes said.
'It jeopardises our transition to net zero, negatively impacts the Scottish economy and leaves us reliant on imported fuel. We have continually called on the UK Government to do more, to intervene and to stop this needless act of economic vandalism.
(Image: PA)'If they can intervene at Scunthorpe, then it is surely necessary in Grangemouth.'
She added: 'The UK Government could have chosen to underpin operations of the refinery to bridge the transition to new technologies, or as we've repeatedly called for, intervention to enable sustainable aviation fuel production at Grangemouth.'
Petroineos has said the refinery is loss-making and has rejected claims from unions that the site could easily transition into a hub for producing sustainable aviation fuel.
In London today to meet Michael Shanks and get an update from Scottish and UK agencies on the work of our joint investment task force for the Grangemouth Industrial Cluster. There's been a good deal of commercial interest in the opportunities published in the Project Willow study pic.twitter.com/apWhayeFs1
— Gillian Martin (@GillianMSP) April 30, 2025
On Wednesday, UK energy minister Michael Shanks and Scottish Energy Secretary Gillian Martin (above) met to discuss the joint work both administrations are undertaking.
'There's been a good deal of commercial interest in the opportunities published in the Project Willow study,' Martin claimed afterwards.
The significant report commissioned by the Scottish and UK governments, known as Project Willow, aims to chart a future for the site in low-carbon energy.
But the report said this would require around £3.5 billion of private investment.

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This Hair Care Entrepreneur Doubled Her Fortune, And Plans To Do It Again
This Hair Care Entrepreneur Doubled Her Fortune, And Plans To Do It Again

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This Hair Care Entrepreneur Doubled Her Fortune, And Plans To Do It Again

After selling her first company, John Frieda Professional Hair Care, in 2002, Gail Federici thought she was done with hair forever. She'd spent the prior 13 years growing John Frieda, a partnership with the legendary British hair stylist of the same name which she cofounded in 1989, and made an estimated $170 million fortune from its sale to Japanese giant Kao Corporation. 'I felt like we'd been there, done it,' the 76-year-old Federici tells Forbes in a phone call from her home in Wilton, Connecticut. 'I'm always interested in learning new things and I thought, 'I don't want to do the same thing all over again.'' For the next five years, Federici made a massive career pivot. 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Hedge fund titan Bill Ackman shares the secret that got him through his lowest moments
Hedge fund titan Bill Ackman shares the secret that got him through his lowest moments

Yahoo

time21 hours ago

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Hedge fund titan Bill Ackman shares the secret that got him through his lowest moments

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Hedge fund titan Bill Ackman shares the secret that got him through his lowest moments
Hedge fund titan Bill Ackman shares the secret that got him through his lowest moments

Yahoo

timea day ago

  • Yahoo

Hedge fund titan Bill Ackman shares the secret that got him through his lowest moments

At a financial conference, billionaire Bill Ackman shared the life advice that he says got him through a tumultuous time in his life. Applying the principle of compounding interest to his personal life, he said he tried not to look back, because that will depress you, but instead tried to improve a little bit every day. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is known for his activist approach to investments—and, lately, to politics. His personal life has been just as dramatic. In the mid-2010s, Ackman went through an expensive divorce, saw his firm Pershing Square Capital Management lose billions of dollars, and nearly lost control of the company—all within the span of a few years. Ackman shared the story on stage at the Forbes Iconoclast Summit in New York on Thursday. 'I was going through a divorce, which is great financial pressure. The fund was down 30-something percent,' he told Forbes Editor-in-Chief Steve Forbes. 'And then the industry, if you will, sort of ganged up on us,' he said, shorting stocks that Pershing Square owned and going long stocks the fund was shorting, most notably Herbalife. Ackman unwound a position in Valeant by dumping Pershing's stake, which ultimately lost the fund nearly $4 billion. But with the backing of a $300 million loan from JPMorgan Chase, he solidified control of his fund. It was a particular mindset that helped him make it through those years, Ackman recalled. Applying the principle of compounding interest to his personal life, he said, 'my method was just trying to make a little progress every day.' He quipped, 'If you make 0.1% progress every day, it doesn't sound like a lot—but annualized!' So that's what Ackman reminded himself every day, he told Forbes. 'I'm going to make progress. I'm not going to look back to where I was. If I look there, I'm going to get discouraged. I'm just going to focus on the next step, and then the next step, and the next step,' he said. 'You don't notice any meaningful change for the first few weeks,' he added. 'About 90 days in, you're like, 'Okay, I'm here … and I'm just going to keep compounding.'' The curve of progress doesn't look like much initially, Ackman said, but soon—thanks to compounding—it takes off. While Ackman's near-professional-death experience was particularly stark, he believes his approach to progress can benefit anyone. 'All of us are going to have a moment like this, unfortunately… It could be a health issue. It could be you're fired from your job, your startup fails,' he said. 'And it's even harder when you've fallen from a high place to a low place.' After several years in a low place, Ackman is today back on top. His net worth nearly doubled last year to an estimated $8 billion after a new valuation round for Pershing Square. And while his divorce from his first wife reportedly cost a nine-figure amount, Ackman is now happily remarried to designer Neri Oxman. This story was originally featured on

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