Business

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

Unavoidable hidden charges for online consumers, a practice known as drip pricing, is to be banned under a wider transparency drive. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said additional fees, which are only revealed late in the checkout process and cost customers £2.2bn a year, must be included in the headline price under the

The UK’s largest building society is dropping its cheapest mortgage rate to an eight-month low and significantly under the Bank of England’s base interest rate. From Wednesday, Nationwide will offer new remortgaging customers a 3.84% rate on a five-year fixed deal. Existing mortgage holders can get the low rate on additional borrowing and switcher deals,

Millions will be cut off from gas and electricity services this winter, as new research from Citizens Advice details the extent to which households are affected by the inability to afford prepayment power top-ups. The independent, state-funded advice service has said its advisers are helping more people than ever who cannot pay for energy. This

A review of Royal Mail’s letter delivery obligations that could see Saturday post scrapped is “predetermined”, according to an industry union leader. Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) general secretary Dave Ward was reacting to a story by Sky News on Saturday that regulator Ofcom was to launch a consultation on options for reforming the Universal Service

So-called door plugs on another Boeing model are facing inspections under a “safety alert” issued by US air regulators. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recommended early on Monday that airlines operating Boeing 737-900ER jets ensure the parts are properly secured after some operators reported unspecified issues with bolts. The work was carried out in the

Compass Group, the FTSE-100 contract caterer, is in advanced talks to take over a rival business which provides hospitality services at landmark venues including Kew Gardens and the Royal Opera House. Sky News has learnt that Compass is this weekend putting the finishing touches to a deal worth more than £400m to acquire CH&Co, a

Ofcom will next week outline options for reforming Royal Mail’s service obligations that could pave the way for the abolition of Saturday postal deliveries amid warnings from the company’s boss that it may require a government subsidy to survive. Sky News has learnt that the regulator will on Wednesday publish a consultation paper on the

Mouthwash, teabags and sausages have all fallen victim to “shrinkflation” as manufacturers and retailers cut costs, a watchdog has found. Which? found that Listerine Fresh Burst mouthwash shrank from 600ml to 500ml but went up in price by 52p at Tesco, forcing shoppers to pay 21% more for 17% less – an increase to the

The Post Office board member responsible for overseeing the delivery of a controversial compensation scheme for sub-postmasters is to step down from its board. Sky News has learnt that Ben Tidswell, a former lawyer with the international law firm Ashurst who became a director of the Post Office in July 2021, is leaving after only

The boss of Fujitsu in Europe has admitted staff knew of bugs, errors and defects (BEDS) in the Horizon IT system as far back as 1999. Appearing before the inquiry into the Post Office scandal, Paul Patterson said it was “shameful and appalling” that the known glitches were not included in the witness statements used

There has been a shock fall in retail sales in the key December shopping period, sharpening the decline seen in recent months, official figures show. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said sales fell an unexpected 3.2%, despite Christmas and reported discounts offered by major chains and some positive reports by major high