Business

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is coming under increased pressure to raise taxes or cut public spending as official figures show government borrowing was more expensive than expected, and tax revenue fell below expectations. The greatest budget surplus since records began in 1993 was reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in January. It means the

Shops were given a surprisingly big boost in January as retail sales rose by 1.7% – much more than the 0.3% rise forecast by economists. It’s the first growth since August and follows a fall of 0.6% in the key shopping month of December, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures. There has not

Nigel Farage has given up sole control of Reform UK, with the party’s members now being “handed over ownership” following a vote last year, according to its chairman. The party, led by Mr Farage, was previously controlled by the Clacton MP as he held a majority of shares in the company. According to the party’s

What happens when you put a boyhood fan in charge of their club? They discover it’s not so simple to run after all. And the fans you sat with many years ago are as impatient as ever. Anger reverberates exactly a year since Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS organisation gained day-to-day control of football

Hundreds more high street jobs will be lost this week after Quiz Clothing, the troubled fashion retailer, called in administrators. Sky News understands that the company, which was listed until recently on the London Stock Exchange, will see the closure of 23 of its shops, with about 200 employees expected to be made redundant. Quiz,

Inflation has risen a surprising amount to the highest in nearly a year, official figures show. This means prices are rising even more than at any time since last March, according to data from the Office for National Statistics for January. The consumer price index (CPI) ticked up steeply to 3% from 2.5% a month

Thames Water, which was due to run out of money, has been given a lifeline after a £3bn loan was approved by the High Court. It will receive an initial tranche of £1.5bn to fund it until September 2025. The loan could ward off nationalisation, giving the UK’s biggest water provider time to sort out

Wages have risen while unemployment unexpectedly saw no change, official figures show. Average weekly earnings rose 6% in the three months to December, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed, while wages – excluding bonuses – grew 5.9%, despite economists expecting a 5.8% rise. Money blog: Your parking disputes resolved by expert Even

The business secretary will this week hold a fresh round of talks with British Steel’s Chinese owner amid protracted talks about a state bailout of the Scunthorpe-based company. Sky News has learnt that Jonathan Reynolds will discuss the future of the industrial group with Jingye Group’s boss, Li Huiming, in the latest chapter of a

The private equity backer of Motor Fuel Group (MFG), one of Britain’s biggest petrol forecourt empires, is exploring the sale of a stake in a deal that could value it at about £7bn. Sky News has learnt that Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CDR), which has built MFG from a mid-sized industry player over the course

Crisis-hit Thames Water has launched a bid to charge its customers more over the next five years than the industry regulator will allow, arguing it has been unfairly treated. Britain’s biggest household supplier, which is in a battle for survival as it grapples a £19bn debt pile, had sought a 53% hike to bills from

Regulators have proposed sweeping changes for the baby formula industry, saying high prices and branding are leading to “poor outcomes” for parents. In its final report on surging prices in recent years, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said parents could be saving £300 annually by switching to lower-priced brands that offered the same nutritional

TikTok is back on Apple and Google’s US app stories after President Trump said the tech giants would not be fined if they reactivated it. They removed the hugely popular video-sharing app after a law came into effect on 19 January – the day before Mr Trump was inaugurated – requiring its Chinese owner ByteDance

Deep under the Bank of England, in a network of vaults into which cameras are rarely admitted, sits the world’s second biggest known trove of gold. Once upon a time the Bank’s vaults stored bullion owned by the Crown but these days they serve mostly as a repository for other central banks and private banks

The number of first-time buyers rose by almost a fifth last year, according to data from Halifax. The bank said 2024 saw 341,068 people buy their first properties, up by 19% from 2023. While the figures are a rebound from 2023’s 22% drop, they are not as high as they were in 2022. That year

The Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is exploring launching private criminal proceedings against NatWest Group over the debanking scandal which resulted in the lender’s former chief losing her job. Sky News has learnt that Mr Farage has instructed Chris Daw KC of Lincoln House Chambers to examine whether there are grounds for bringing a criminal

The government is continuing to put Post Office victims through “hell” in their fight for redress, Sir Alan Bates has told Sky News. More than 240 former sub-postmasters are still waiting for financial compensation years after they won their High Court battle. Sir Alan’s comments come after another former sub-postmaster, Terry Walters from Wilmslow in

The boss of Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) has said she is “appalled and disgusted” by the sex trafficking claims against her predecessor Mike Jeffries. Fran Horowitz, who has led the US-based company since the departure of Mr Jeffries, signalled in an interview with Sky News that A&F had examined and transformed its culture. She told

Heathrow is set to announce a multibillion-pound expansion plan to create extra capacity at the airport – as it prepares its proposal for a third runway. The UK’s biggest airport has announced a “once-in-a-generation investment” beginning this year to improve existing buildings and boost passenger numbers. The development is separate from a new runway –

The entrepreneur who masterminded Deliveroo’s evolution into one of Britain’s biggest consumer technology businesses is preparing to hand over the reins to a new chief executive. Sky News has learnt that Will Shu, who set the company up in 2013 and participated in its delivery service himself, is contemplating stepping back as CEO as soon

Donald Trump has signed two proclamations imposing 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports to the US. A proclamation is a form of presidential directive to government officials, but they do not carry the force of law, as an executive order would. However the White House has said the tariffs will take effect from

Few materials matter quite as much as steel and aluminium. Steel, an alloy of iron and carbon, is the main metallic ingredient in the structures we live in and the bridges we build. If it’s not made of steel it’s made with steel. Aluminium, on the other hand, is a wonder material we use with

Companies are slowing investment until they see more momentum in the economy, according to a closely-watched report on employment conditions which warns that budget measures are “acting as brakes” on hiring. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG’s latest snapshot on recruitment found permanent staff vacancies declined at the steepest rate since August 2020

Valentine’s Day might be a gift-giving occasion your wallet could do without, but it’s thousands of pounds cheaper than being alone. Being single costs £2,533 more a year, Sky News can reveal. Suddenly, that box of chocolates doesn’t seem so expensive. Single people are forced to spend 22% more on rent or mortgages, council tax

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has called in the bosses of Britain’s biggest high street lenders for a fresh round of talks on the government’s economic growth agenda. Sky News has learnt that executives from companies including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest and Nationwide have been asked to attend a meeting with Ms Reeves on

Legal & General (L&G), the FTSE-100 insurance and asset management group, is preparing to kick off a search for a successor to chairman Sir John Kingman. Sky News has learnt that the company, which this week announced a major corporate deal in the US, is close to appointing headhunters to oversee the appointment process. City

Apple has reportedly been ordered by the UK government to allow it access to encrypted data stored by the company’s users worldwide in its cloud service. At the moment, only the Apple account holder can access such data – not even the US technology giant can see it. Apple, which makes iPhones, iPads and iMacs,

The private equity backer of one of Britain’s oldest industrial manufacturing groups is in talks to sell an advanced defence technology business that will bring its parent’s dismantling close to completion. Sky News has learnt that Advent International, the buyout firm which bought Cobham for £4bn in 2020 and then swooped on London-listed Ultra Electronics

The government is spending £22bn on “unproven” technologies which will have a “very significant effect” on energy bills, according to an influential committee of MPs. There has been no assessment of whether the programme to capture and store carbon from the atmosphere is affordable for billpayers, said a report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)

Sir Keir Starmer has reinforced his commitment to reducing household energy bills by £300 a year by 2030. The prime minister told Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby that the figure is “what we are driving towards” and his plan to build more nuclear reactors will help. Politics live: Chancellor reacts to grim growth figures

The Bank of England has cut interest rates by another quarter percentage point, bringing down the cost of borrowing to 4.5%. And in a sign that households can expect more cuts in the months to come, two members of the Bank‘s Monetary Policy Committee said they would have preferred to reduce rates even more, by

Planning rules will be ripped up to make it easier to build new nuclear reactors and create thousands of highly skilled jobs, the government has announced. The reforms are the latest in a series of proposals designed to “get Britain building” to help grow the economy, after powers for environmental quangos to delay infrastructure projects

Tesco has expressed interest in acquiring more than 100 Crown Post Offices whose future has been placed under review as the state-owned company explores shifting them to a franchise model. Sky News has learnt that Nigel Railton, the Post Office chairman, told a group of MPs this week that Britain’s biggest retailer had informed it