Business

The father of a two-year-old boy who died after exposure to mould at his housing association flat has backed proposals to bring in a strict time frame for landlords to fix problems. The new requirements are part of a consultation on measures under legislation named after Awaab Ishak. Awaab died in December 2020 from a

Barclays is in the process of removing 5,000 roles from its global workforce in recent months as part of a renewed push by executives to slash costs and improve the bank’s profitability. Sky News has learnt that a total of roughly 5,000 jobs were shed from the British bank’s 84,000-strong ranks during 2023, with about

A petition calling for former Post Office boss Paula Vennells to lose her CBE over the Horizon scandal has attracted more than one million signatures. Demands to remove Ms Vennells CBE emerged again after ITV aired a new drama into the scandal, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which tells how former subpostmasters and subpostmistresses

The owners of SoundCloud, one of the world’s largest music streaming services, are preparing for a sale that could fetch in excess of $1bn. Sky News has learnt that Raine Group and Temasek Holdings, the Singaporean state investment fund, have begun interviewing investment banks about a prospective auction of the company. Founded in 2007, SoundCloud

Rishi Sunak has vowed to cut taxes before and after the general election – but has warned they will be funded by curbing benefits and government spending. Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, the prime minister sought to create a clear contrast between the Conservatives and Labour as campaigning begins. While Mr Sunak insisted his priority

Some of BP’s largest shareholders have urged it to approach Charles Woodburn, the BAE Systems chief executive, about becoming the FTSE-100 oil behemoth’s next boss. Sky News has learnt that several large investors believe that BP should target the appointment of an external candidate as its CEO for the first time in its 114-year history.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is unsure if the government can afford further tax cuts – as a National Insurance (NI) reduction comes into force today. The pre-election cut to NI, from 12% to 10%, will impact around 27 million payroll employees across the UK. A person earning the UK’s average salary of £35,000 will save £450

The chairman of NatWest bank has come under fire after he claimed it is not “that difficult” for people to get on the property ladder in the UK. Sir Howard Davies said that while some found it hard to “start the process”, aspiring homeowners “have to save and that is the way it always used

Here’s a sentence which might sound a little odd: higher interest rates have been good news for the UK economy. For the first time in many decades, the pain faced by borrowers from higher interest rates has been more than balanced out by the benefit experienced by savers from those interest rates. If this sounds

Mortgage approvals hit their highest level in six months near the end of last year, official data has revealed – as more lenders announce rate cuts. New figures from the Bank of England (BoE), published on Thursday, show that more than 50,000 loans for home purchases were rubber-stamped in November – the highest number since

Imported foods may be labelled when they do not meet welfare standards, as the government considers measures to help shoppers “buy British”. Environment Secretary Steve Barclay is set to announce plans to change labelling on goods to clarify if it is produced to the highest standards, as part of sweeping reform to support farmers. Mr

A string of banks and building societies are likely to follow the UK’s largest lender in cutting mortgage rates in the coming weeks, experts have said. It comes after Halifax reduced its rates by up to 0.83% on Tuesday, including a two-year deal of 4.68% with a £999 fee. Lloyds Banking Group, which owns Halifax,

Two of the world’s largest container ship operators have extended diversions from the Red Sea following an attack on a vessel at the weekend that has been blamed for a renewed oil price volatility. Maersk had suspended, on Sunday, sailings near or via the Suez Canal after one of its giant carriers, the Maersk Hangzou,

The number of new first-time buyers with a mortgage fell last year to the UK’s lowest level in a decade, according to a new report. Yorkshire Building Society said around 290,000 first-time property owners entered the mortgage market in 2023 – a decline of more than a fifth on 2022’s total of 370,287. It comes

Philip Jansen, the outgoing BT Group boss, has been approached about becoming the next chairman of WPP, the FTSE-100 marketing services giant. Sky News has learnt that Mr Jansen, who is to step down from the telecoms company in the spring, is one of a number of prospective candidates to have been sounded out in

A British buyout firm is hoping to triumph in a two-way battle for Princes Foods, one of Britain’s biggest tinned produce manufacturers. Sky News understands that Epiris wants to secure a deal to buy Princes within days. Epiris has been bidding against Italy’s Newlat in recent weeks, with both said to remain in the running.

It was advertised as “the best job in the world” – beer tasting for a brewery in Northern Ireland – but the prospective employers did not anticipate 2,500 applicants. The offer of free beer, chips and a taxi home attracted global interest, but only a tiny proportion of the population has the genetic ability to

If you crack open a bottle of something – be it wine, water or soft drinks – over the festive season, there’s a good chance the glass came from the Encirc factory in Cheshire. Here, on the banks of the River Mersey, you will find one of the world’s largest glass factories. They take sand

Campaigners say hundreds of neglected historic buildings across the UK should be put to new uses to help meet the country’s net zero emissions targets. Eighteen buildings in Greater Manchester have been added to the Buildings at Risk register run by the campaign group SAVE Britain’s Heritage. They join more than 1,000 buildings nationwide which

The finance chief of The Daily Telegraph’s parent company is to leave amid a government-commissioned probe into the newspaper’s takeover by a state-backed Abu Dhabi investment vehicle. Sky News has learnt that Cormac O’Shea, who has been Telegraph Media Group’s (TMG) chief financial officer since the autumn of 2021, is likely to step down in

The cost of shipping goods has again grown significantly as freight giants continue to avoid the key Red Sea route and unions expand protections for mariners. Freight prices rose 80% in the past week, having already gone up nearly 50% the week before. The most widely used measure of freight cost, the Shanghai Containerised Freight

House prices are expected to remain static or fall again next year after a drop of 1.8% since the end of 2022, according to one of the UK’s largest mortgage lenders. Nationwide building society has said a rapid rebound in prices is “unlikely” in 2024 after the fall recorded from December 2022 to 2023. “It

House prices in Huddersfield grew at the fastest rate in the UK in the last year – despite a nationwide downturn – according to a report. MIt was one of the locations bucking the national trend, according to the Halifax House Price Trends report, as homes in the West Yorkshire town went for 8.7% more

Almost a third of people in the UK are living in mouldy or damp homes, according to new research by a campaign group. A survey by Warm This Winter, a coalition of 50 charities, has found 29% of people experience mould frequently or occasionally. That statistic includes an estimated 3.4 million people who are pregnant

Apple has won the right to import two of its most popular smartwatches into the United States, after the appeals court paused a previous ban on imports. The tech giant was ordered in October to stop importing and selling Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches, following a complaint from medical-monitoring technology company Masimo that it

Rishi Sunak has been accused of a “desperate” briefing on inheritance tax (IHT) after reports suggested it would be slashed ahead of the next election. It comes as the government confirmed the date of the next spring budget, which will be delivered on 6 March. With a general election looming next year, Mr Sunak will

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has contacted fans directly for the first time since agreeing to buy a 25% stake in Manchester United, calling for “time and patience”. After more than a year of exploring so-called “strategic alternatives” – including investment or a sale – the club’s deeply unpopular owners, the Glazer family, reached a deal with

The Premier League has called a halt to talks about a landmark financial settlement with the rest of the professional football pyramid in a sign of deepening divisions about the scale and structure of the proposed deal. Sky News has learnt that Richard Masters notified the 20 top-flight clubs just before Christmas that the Premier

The UK’s second-richest person is committing £245m of his multibillion-pound fortune to Manchester United as part of a deal to acquire a 25% stake. Fans who are disillusioned by the club’s direction under the polarising Glazer family will be hoping Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a lifelong Manchester United fan, will help both on and off the

A $1bn stake in one of the world’s largest oil pricing data businesses is close to changing hands in a deal that will cap a stellar end to the year for its owner. Sky News has learnt that Hg Capital has agreed to offload its 24% shareholding in Argus Media in a transaction that is

A US-based investment firm is to inject hundreds of millions of pounds into the AA, the breakdown recovery service, nearly three years after it delisted from the London Stock Exchange. Sky News has learnt that Stonepeak, which specialises in infrastructure and related deals, is close to agreeing the details of a £450m into the company

The calls grew louder from Manchester United fans: “Full sale now.” It was more than an aspiration. The Glazers fed the belief their ownership could be ending when announcing in November last year that “strategic alternatives” were being explored. Instead, control is only being diminished. Just 25% of the New York Stock Exchange-listed club is

The British economy increasingly resembles those sepia-toned clips of early American aeronauts trying and failing to get off the ground. Typically these hapless pioneers race along a harbour wall, strapped to a homemade contraption informed more by the spirit of optimism than a realistic grasp of physics. With hand-cranked mechanical wings clanking, they race towards