Business

A former chief executive of Aston Villa and Liverpool is a surprise contender to become the inaugural chairman of the government’s controversial football watchdog. Sky News can exclusively reveal that Christian Purslow, who left Villa Park in 2023, is on a three-person shortlist being considered by Whitehall officials to chair the Independent Football Regulator (IFR).

The chairman of Kick It Out, the football anti-racism charity, has been shortlisted to become the first head of Britain’s proposed new Independent Football Regulator (IFR). Sky News has learnt that Sanjay Bhandari is among three remaining candidates being considered by the government to chair the watchdog. A decision is expected in the coming weeks,

The banking sector is “investing heavily” in digital platforms, according to the body which represents the country’s lenders as many face a backlash over the latest payday glitch chaos to hit customers. Millions were exposed on Friday to varying challenges from slow app or online banking performance to being blocked out of their accounts altogether.

The disgraced former chair of the Co-op Bank, Paul Flowers, has been jailed for three years on fraud charges. The 74-year old, who was forced out of the lender in 2013 amid claims of inappropriate expenses and illegal drugs allegations, admitted 18 counts of fraud worth nearly £100,000. Flowers, also a former Methodist minister, committed

Nvidia has signalled no drop in demand for its flagship chips among big artificial intelligence (AI) spenders despite the low-cost challenge posed by Chinese rival DeepSeek. The leading AI chipmaker said it expected Blackwell sales to continue to grow after its latest earnings beat market expectations. Nvidia forecast revenue of around $43bn (£34bn) for its

Five years ago, BP’s chief executive did something very unusual for the boss of an oil and gas company – he pledged to produce less oil and gas.  Standing in front of the slogan “reimagine”, scrawled freehand and lowercase in a shade of green, Bernard Looney, the lean and charismatic then-leader of the British-based oil

Oil and gas giant BP has again slashed its renewable energy investment and announced more funding for greater fossil fuel production. In a further row back of climate targets the company has said renewable energy investment will fall by $5bn (£3.95bn) a year to just $1bn to $2bn (£790m to £1.58bn). Funding for further oil

The average annual energy bill will increase to £1,849 from April as the industry regulator Ofgem increases the price cap for the third time in a row. When compared to prices over the last three months, the new figure represents a 6.4% a year – or £9.25 per month – increase in the typical sum

Did you know there’s a critical product – one without which we’d all be dead – which Europe is actually importing more of from Russia now than before the invasion of Ukraine? It might feel a bit pointless, given how much chat there is right now about the end of the Ukraine war, to spend

The net zero sector has grown by 10% over the past year – adding £83bn to the UK economy, a new study suggests. Employment in green businesses and industry has also climbed 10%, supporting the equivalent of 951,000 full-time jobs (2.9% of total UK employment). Politics latest: PM warns of ‘crucial moment’ in Ukraine war

Russian oligarchs with links to the Kremlin can now be banned from the UK, the government has announced as part of a fresh sanctions package on the third anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The Home Office said “elites” linked to the Russian state can now be prevented from entering the UK under the

A data analytics company which has become one of Britain’s hottest technology businesses is closing in on a new round of funding expected to value it at billions of dollars. Sky News has learnt that Quantexa, which was founded in 2016, is in advanced talks with Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP), one of the world’s

Britain’s payments watchdog is expected to be abolished as part of a purge of regulators being thrashed out in Whitehall. Sky News has learnt that ministers and officials are examining whether to scrap the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and fold it into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). A decision is expected to be taken in

Heist highlights concerns over crypto industry security Anyone who owns crypto may well be feeling a little nauseous after the biggest ever theft of funds by hackers. Bybit is the second largest cryptocurrency exchange. It would have had careful security protocols. And yet somehow their systems were penetrated and an as-yet unidentified individual or group

Cliff Nicholls runs two trampoline parks and indoor play centres: one in Tamworth in the West Midlands, the other in Bolton, Greater Manchester. He’s already feeling the pressure from the government’s latest budget measures and has been forced to abandon further investment plans. “The national minimum wage increases coming in April, combined with the reduced

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 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 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 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