So as reported in a number of newspapers and magazines EDF has been sold to a consortium headed by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing. In Management Today it was reported:

“This is the UK’s biggest such network covering London, the South-East and East of England – so if someone decided to pull the plug, that’s a lot of people left without any lights. But we’re so used to foreign companies buying UK infrastructure like this that few people are likely to bat an eyelid about this crucial network passing into Chinese hands. Although it seems rather a shame that the solid reliable returns from these assets are draining out of the country…

Over in India this week, David Cameron and Vince Cable have been warning of the dangers of ‘economic nationalism’ and boasting about Britain’s ‘open and welcome’ economy, in the hope of attracting more business from the subcontinent. It’s certainly true that unlike many countries we could mention, the UK seems perfectly happy to sell assets like this to the highest bidder, whatever their nationality (whereas the French even consider yoghurt-makers to be crucial to the national interest). And while we think that this is a good thing in principle, it does seem a shame that someone else’s pensioners get to benefit from these reliable returns, rather than ours…”

So what would our Victorian forefathers have thought having considered the long term investment in energy and knowing how important it is not only to business but to the economy as a whole. To now see all that effort sold off to the highest bidder who now can sit on good returns for years to come must really irk some of those spirits.

Where also does it leave British business – who will be looking after their interests if the person controlling the purse strings is sat half way round the world! Again business has to fend for itself especially when it comes to business electricity and gas – how do they manage? By using sites like energyadviceline.org.uk is one answer where they can compare rates online and make that switch before they get trapped in any long term punitive contracts. Surely that’s something our fore fathers would have approved of – fair representation and a vision of a future where business had more choice…let’s hope there isn’t too much more to upset them.

Read full article here: Management Today