Business

A fast-growing British semiconductor manufacturer is lining up a £200m funding injection from blue-chip backers including the asset management giant M&G. Sky News has learnt that Pragmatic Semiconductor, which produces low-cost microchips for use in products such as packaging and clothing, is close to finalising a substantial fundraising backed by Saudi Arabian money. City sources

Owning a classic car is a sensory experience. Purists say it’s the feel of the leather, the smell of the fuel, the growl of the engine that brings a classic car to life. But on an industrial estate in Newtown, mid-Wales, that growl is silenced. Three Ferrari Testa Rossas, a Maserati Ghibli and a Land

One of Britain’s biggest chains of car repair shops is gearing up for a sale that could value it at about £400m. Sky News has learnt that Steer Automotive Group has appointed City advisers to sound out prospective buyers. Sources said on Friday that a formal process was not yet underway although initial discussions were

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has warned of a crackdown on “public sector waste” and focus on tackling debt after official figures showed weaker than expected borrowing last month. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing stood at £14.3bn last month, £1.6bn less than a year earlier. The figure was well down on

The cost of UK state borrowing is close to a 15-year high – levels seen only twice since the global financial crash. The amount the UK government has to pay – the yield – to borrow money for 10 years via its benchmark 10-year bonds – known as gilts – rose to more than 4.7%

A closely-watched barometer of consumer confidence is warning of “concern” for retailers ahead of Christmas, as official figures for September show a steep fall in sales. GfK’s latest Consumer Confidence Index suggested that the willingness of shoppers to spend, particularly on big-ticket items, had plunged since the end of the summer. The authors reported that

Nokia has revealed plans to shed up to 14,000 jobs following a slump in sales. The Finland-based telecoms technology firm, which has 86,000 staff worldwide, said it was launching a cost-saving drive across the business in a bid to boost its margins. Nokia reported a 20% fall in sales during its third quarter. Comparable net

High levels of national debt will hurt the UK’s ability to fund public services and respond to economic crises, a think tank has said. Not in the last 300 years has there been as large a peace time increase in the amount of government borrowing, the Resolution Foundation said. In the last 15 years alone

The upmarket shoe retailer Kurt Geiger is being groomed for a £400m sale by its private equity backers. Sky News has learnt that Cinven is working with advisers at Bank of America on a prospective auction of the brand. City sources said on Tuesday that a sale process was expected to begin in the coming

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced it is investigating leading boiler manufacturer Worcester Bosch over whether it has been misleading consumers by marketing a range of gas boilers as “hydrogen-blend ready”. The regulator – which is responsible for enforcing consumer protection law – said its focus will be on whether “claims made about

The rate of inflation failed to nudge downwards as expected last month, remaining at an annual rate of 6.7% according to official figures. The headline consumer prices index (CPI) measure had been predicted to slow to 6.6% in September by a Reuters poll of economists. The higher than expected number – largely a consequence of

Rolls-Royce Holdings, the aircraft engine manufacturer, is to axe more than 2,000 jobs as part of a cost-cutting drive by its new chief executive. Sky News has learnt that the Derby-based company is expected to announce plans to lay off around 2,500 staff as soon as Tuesday. The cuts will be distributed across its global

The former owners of The Daily Telegraph have tabled a blockbuster £1bn bid that they believe will end rival suitors’ hopes of buying the broadsheet newspapers. Sky News has learnt that the Barclay family has lined up financing from Abu Dhabi investors to lodge a knockout offer that would repay the debt owed by their

Metro Bank has set a quickfire timetable for rivals to snap up a substantial chunk of its mortgage book. Sky News understands that Metro Bank wants bidders to submit offers at the beginning of next month, with Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group all having an indicated an interest. News of the timetable comes

Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani has withdrawn from the process to buy Manchester United, Sky News understands. His offer, which valued United at more than £5bn, was believed to be the only bid for 100% of the club – that the Glazers announced last November could be sold. He and Ineos billionaire

NatWest Group is preparing to cancel millions of pounds in bonuses and share awards earmarked for its former chief executive following a probe into the closure of the former UKIP leader Nigel Farage’s bank accounts. Sky News has learnt that NatWest, in which the government remains the single-largest shareholder, wants to resolve the issue of

Luton Airport has admitted it does not know whose vehicles were damaged by a massive fire which ripped through one of its car parks three days ago. Passengers who left their cars at Terminal Car Park 2 say they have been “left in limbo” since Tuesday night’s blaze. The airport apologised to customers in a

UK wholesale gas prices have risen again and are now at their highest level since mid-February. Prices rose to nearly 135 pence a therm (a unit of heat used to measure gas) on Friday afternoon. It comes after gas costs hit a six-month high of nearly 123p a therm on Tuesday afternoon – a level

The chancellor has warned the British public he is preparing “for the worst” as he draws up his autumn statement. Jeremy Hunt told Sky News the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) official economic forecasts would be considerably worse than at the budget – a signal there may be spending cuts or possibly even tax rises

It is a list that includes the former HBOS banker Peter Cummings, the former Co-op Bank finance director Barry Tootell and the former Credit Suisse First Boston trader James Archer, son of the author and Conservative peer Lord Archer – and now it includes Jes Staley, the former Barclays chief executive. Banning someone from working

The former CEO of Barclays has been fined £1.8m after misleading regulators and the bank’s board about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Jes Staley has also been banned from holding senior management positions in the financial services industry. According to the Financial Conduct Authority, he “recklessly approved” a letter sent by Barclays to the FCA

British Airways (BA) has suspended flights to Tel Aviv – after Hamas said it had attacked the Israeli airport. It came after a BA flight was on approach to the airport when the captain made the decision to divert back to Heathrow. A spokesperson for Israel’s airports authority said rockets were flying around Tel Aviv

Next is close to underlining its status as Britain’s most prolific buyer of rival high street fashion chains by snapping up FatFace in a deal worth more than £100m. Sky News has learnt the FTSE-100 clothing giant is putting the finishing touches to an acquisition of FatFace, just three years after it was taken over

Lush, the UK-based cosmetics retailer, is facing a backlash from customers after a “boycott Israel” message was displayed on the window of one of its stores. The company, which has in the past faced criticism from the Jewish community for openly supporting the Palestinian cause, suggested in a statement that a member of staff had

Worse financial pain is to come, as many people have not yet felt the full impact of the increased cost of borrowing, the Bank of England has said in one of its latest health checks of the UK’s financial system. Higher interest rates, currently at 5.25% after a run of 14 hikes, have not yet

There are a few ways one could report the latest economic growth forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The first way is to declare that Britain’s economy is heading for the buffers. Its economy will grow next year at the slowest rate in the G7 group of leading industrialised economies (0.6%). This is considerably

The rate of grocery inflation eased considerably over the past month, part-aided by a “jump in the amount of money spent on offers”, according to a closely-watched study. Kantar Worldpanel, which records supermarket sales and price data, said the annual rate of grocery inflation fell back to 11% over the four weeks to 1 October.

Santander UK has been approached to revive its financial crisis-era role as a white knight for failing British lenders as regulators seek to secure a quickfire private sector deal to shore up Metro Bank. Sky News has learnt that the Spanish-owned bank, NatWest Group and Lloyds Banking Group are among those approached by banking regulators

Wilko will shut the doors on its last remaining high street stores for the final time after the chain’s collapse. The 93-year-old retailer has been closing each of its 400 UK stores over the past month after collapsing into administration in August. Forty-one stores now remain but will close on Sunday. The shelves have already

The board of Metro Bank rejected a secret takeover approach last month from a rival British lender, just days before its share price crashed when it emerged that it was seeking hundreds of millions of pounds to shore up its finances. Sky News can exclusively reveal that Shawbrook has tabled several bid proposals to Metro

The UK is on course for the biggest tax rise in at least 50 years because of the freeze on personal thresholds and soaring inflation, according to new analysis. The Resolution Foundation said taxpayers are set to hand over about £40bn a year by 2028 – up from a forecast of £30bn at the time

One thing that quite often puzzles people who do not work in financial markets is their tendency to treat seemingly good news as bad. We got a classic example on Friday with news that US employers added 336,000 jobs in September. That was up from 227,000 in August (a figure itself revised higher from the

JD Wetherspoon has credited a surge in sales and reduction in costs for its first annual profit since the COVID pandemic. The value pub and hotel chain, which trades from 826 sites across the UK and Ireland, reported profit before tax for the year to the end of July of £42.6m. That compared to a