Business

Labour has finally confirmed it is ditching a flagship pledge to spend £28bn-a-year on green investments if it wins the next general election. The party says it will now spend just £23.7bn on environmental schemes over the course of its first term in office – equivalent to just under £5bn a year. However, Labour insists

There has been a jump in the number of properties falling behind with mortgage payments, according to industry figures that also show an 11% rise in repossessions of buy-to-let (BTL) properties. UK Finance said cost of living pressures and higher interest rates continued to take a toll on borrowers over the final three months of

The world’s largest offshore wind developer has scaled back development targets and announced hundreds of job cuts as the renewable industry struggles under the pressure of rising costs. Orsted, the company developing the Norfolk coast windfarm, Hornsea 3, also suspended shareholder payments in an effort to strengthen its balance sheet. In common with the industry

The culture secretary will hold talks this week with the Premier League and its 20 clubs amid the continuing impasse over a financial redistribution deal for English football. Sky News has learnt that Lucy Frazer will attend a dinner on Thursday evening with executives from the top-flight clubs, as well as Alison Brittain, the Premier

The annual cost of enjoying a moderate standard of living in retirement has risen by £8,000 in a year, according to the pensions industry body. The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) put the yearly price of a retirement income deemed “moderate” for a single person at £31,300 for 2023 to 2024 – up from

Retailers suffered a “lacklustre” January as bad weather and cost of living pressures discouraged shoppers from opening their wallets after Christmas, according to new research. Total retail sales across the UK increased by only 1.2% year-on-year in January – down sharply from growth of 4.2% during the same period last year, figures from the British

The company that owns Facebook and Instagram has said it is planning to label all images on its social media platforms that have been created using artificial intelligence (AI). Meta, which also owns the Threads social media site, has already been placing “Imagined with AI” labels on photorealistic images created using its own Meta AI

The fashion designer Sir Paul Smith has told Sky News that a campaign to overturn the so-called tourist tax is not just about “helping rich shoppers coming to buy cheap handbags”, but boosting the wider economy. In an interview with Business Live, he explained why he added his name to a letter to the chancellor

The owner of Tangle Teezer, the British hair-styling brand, has enlisted investment bankers to explore options for the company that could include an eventual sale. Sky News has learnt that Mayfair Equity Partners, the private equity backer of companies such as Ovo Energy, has hired Harris Williams to oversee a strategic review. The move comes

A manufacturer of sports supplements part-owned by JD Sports Fashion is beginning preparations for a £1bn flotation that could help breathe fresh life into London’s moribund market for new share offerings. Sky News has learnt that Applied Nutrition, which is based in Liverpool, has been interviewing investment bankers in recent weeks about a listing that

The founder of Superdry is in talks with the owner of Laura Ashley and an investor which previously backed Paperchase about a bid to take the London-listed fashion retailer private. Sky News has learnt that Julian Dunkerton has held initial discussions with Gordon Brothers and Rcapital, both of which specialise in investments in financially challenged

Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells will give evidence to the next phase of the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal. She served as chief executive from 2012 to 2019, and has faced questions about why hundreds of subpostmasters were wrongly convicted of fraud and false accounting under her watch. Scrutiny grew after she was

An arm of the giant Indian conglomerate Tata is in the frame to take over the running of Britain’s Faster Payments Service – even as one of its sister companies prepares to lay off thousands of Welsh-based steelworkers. Sky News has learnt that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is a leading contender to become the administrator

The average household water and sewerage bill in England and Wales is to go up by an average 6% from April to help unlock “record investment”, an industry group has announced. Water UK said the increases, equivalent to £27 a year, would leave households with an average annual bill of £473. The body said the

One of the members of the Bank of England’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee has voted for a cut in its base-level interest rate for the first time since the pandemic, as Britain’s central bank forecast that inflation could be down at its 2% target within a few months. The Bank opted to leave borrowing costs

Profits at oil and gas giant Shell have dipped below the record highs of 2022 but totalled $28.25bn (£22.32bn) in 2023 as energy prices remained high. The company traded more in liquified natural gas (LNG) and increased production. This offset the fact it earned less from refining and from oil trading, and faced higher operating

Jeremy Hunt has cast doubts over introducing big tax cuts at the next budget, saying he is unlikely to have the fiscal “room” he had in the autumn. Earlier this month, the chancellor hinted at further reductions come 6 March, saying the government’s plan of “prioritising tax cuts” was working, and that it would “stick

Facebook is 20 years old today. On 4 February 2004 Mark Zuckerberg launched ‘thefacebook.com’ from his Harvard dormitory. Two decades later, many users struggle to remember a time they weren’t scrolling through its news feed – or that of its social media sibling, Instagram. While allowing us to find long-lost friends and family, and supporting

The new chief executive of BT Group and the boss of Britain’s biggest high street lender are among a cohort of business leaders who will be unveiled by Downing Street on Wednesday as advisers to Rishi Sunak. Sky News has learnt that Allison Kirkby, who will replace Philip Jansen as BT CEO on Thursday, is

Food and fresh flower imports from the European Union are subject to new Brexit customs controls from today, adding more than £300m a year to the price of trading with the continent and forcing up the price of food for British consumers. Under the new Brexit red tape, imports of chilled and frozen meat and

HSBC has been fined more than £57m for failing to protect consumer deposits. The fine, totalling £57,417,500, has been levied by the the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) for failing to protect consumer deposits from 2015 to 2022. It’s the second highest fine ever applied by the regulator, reflecting the seriousness of the

Plans by Amazon and vacuum cleaner maker iRobot to merge have been abandoned following concerns that the move would harm competition. The $1.4bn (£1.1bn) deal, which was first announced in August 2022, had previously been approved by UK regulators. But in November the European Commission expressed concerns the online retailer might give iRobot’s products preferential

Ryanair has reported a slump in quarterly profits and narrowed its expectations for annual earnings after some online travel sites stopped selling its flights. The no-frills carrier said it made profit after tax of €15m (£12.8m) over the final three months of 2023, its third quarter, compared to the €211m it achieved in the same

Channel 4 will announce plans this week for deeper-than-expected job cuts amid a steep downturn in the broadcast advertising market. Sky News has learnt that the state-owned broadcaster will say on Monday that it is cutting nearly 250 roles, a figure equating to just over 15% of its full-time workforce of more than 1,300 people.

Superdry, the London-listed clothing retailer, is weighing a radical restructuring that could involve significant numbers of store closures and job cuts after reporting weak sales. Sky News has learnt that Superdry and its advisers at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) are initiating work on plans that could lead to a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) or restructuring plan, both

New Brexit border controls will leave British consumers and businesses facing more than £500m in increased costs and possible delays – as well as shortages of food and fresh flowers imported from the European Union. The new rules are intended to protect biosecurity by imposing controls on plant and animal products considered a “medium” risk.

The legislation being used to exonerate hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly convicted over the Horizon IT scandal should include measures to protect the specialist finance sector which helped Alan Bates to overturn Britain’s biggest miscarriage of justice, according to an influential trade body. Sky News understands that the International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) wants ministers to

A promise by the incoming National Lottery operator to slash the price of a ticket from £2 to £1 is under review. Allwyn has also said delayed plans for new draw-based games will impact sales and the amount of money it can give to good causes in the early part of its 10-year licence. The

A £650m fraud settlement agreed by former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone made him the second-biggest taxpayer in the UK last year, according to the Sunday Times Tax List. The 93-year billionaire businessman was spared jail last after admitting failing to declare more than £400m held in a trust in Singapore to the government. Money

Saga is exploring ways to release money from its ocean cruises operation which could involve selling its two flagship vessels or offloading the entire business under a licensing arrangement. Sky News has learnt that the heavily indebted company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, is working with advisers on a range of potential

US aviation regulators have overturned their grounding of Boeing 737-MAX 9 planes following a mid-air panel blowout aboard an aircraft earlier this month but imposed an unprecedented restriction on the company. In an update on its work following the incident on an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 on 5 January, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said

Drinks company Thatchers has lost a High Court trademark battle after it claimed supermarket chain Aldi “copycatted” one of its products. The Somerset-based cider maker sued the German discount chain for infringing the trademark of its Thatchers Cloudy Lemon Cider. It claimed that the supermarket had gained an “unfair advantage” by copying the drink in