Business

A minister has admitted that the government’s desire to scrap national insurance could take “several parliaments” to achieve as confusion over the policy mounts. In his budget earlier this week, Jeremy Hunt slashed national insurance by 2p and said the government intended to scrap payments entirely, branding them “unfair” and a “double taxation” on work.

An influential committee of MPs has called on the government to legally mandate the inclusion of pay scales in job adverts and ban hirers from asking for employment history as efforts to tackle sexism in the City of London “are moving at a snail’s pace”. A litany of failings, including the “shocking” extent of misogyny,

Nationwide Building Society has agreed terms for a takeover of Virgin Money in a £2.9bn deal that would create a larger rival to the UK’s major lenders. While nothing has been finalised, the offer on the table would see the two brands continue to be run as separate entities, with the Virgin Money brand retained

The Post Office should be removed from involvement in the Horizon scandal compensation processes, a committee of MPs has demanded while piling further pressure on its chief executive. The Business and Trade Committee published recommendations for delivering faster and fuller payments to the hundreds of victims, describing efforts to deliver redress to date as an

The chancellor is unveiling the budget for 2024. Here are the key points so far: Budget 2024: Live updates Money blog: What budget means for you This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. You can receive Breaking News alerts on

Young drivers with automatic-only licences face paying £760 more for car insurance than those who can also drive a manual vehicle, according to new figures. In what is described as a “concerning” rise, figures from comparison site Compare the Market show motorists under 25 with automatic licences now pay £2,803 on average. That is a

Rachel Reeves is winning a sizeable minority of former Conservative backers despite nagging worries about Labour overspending if they get into power, Sky News Voters Panel has revealed. The Voters Panel, a two-week online community run by YouGov, who backed Boris Johnson’s Conservatives in 2019, has been asked to explain their preference for either Tory

The chief executive of Marks & Spencer (M&S) has described operating under the current government as “like running up a downwards escalator with a rucksack on your back”. Writing on his LinkedIn account, Stuart Machin appealed to the chancellor to take three steps to help the retail sector in Wednesday’s budget, describing planned increases to

The independent directors appointed to oversee the sale of The Daily Telegraph have been warned that the removal of the newspaper’s two most senior executives breached a government order – and that any subsequent transgression could result in a multimillion pound fine. Sky News has learnt that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

British Land, Microsoft and Vodafone are among the backers of a new business coalition that will launch this week with the aim of tackling the UK’s perennially weak productivity. Sky News understands that the trio, along with Churchill Retirement Living, NHBC and Pension Insurance Corporation, are among the founding members of the Building Back Britain

Britain’s biggest banks have been placed on alert over hundreds of ‘rogue’ filings which appear to have been lodged at Companies House, the UK’s central corporate register. Sky News has obtained a note issued by UK Finance, the banking trade association, which warned its members that approximately 800 forms relating to the discharging of financial

The Post Office should be “handed over” to postmasters, its former chairman has said, accusing the government of using it as a “fig leaf” for stalling and evasion. In a letter seen exclusively by Sky News, Henry Staunton told the business and trade committee the government has “consistently hidden behind the Post Office’s skirts, spinning

The long-standing owner of the Moto GP global motor-racing series is in advanced talks to sell the business for more than £3bn. Sky News has learnt that Bridgepoint, which is the biggest shareholder in Moto GP’s parent company, Dorna Sports, is seeking a valuation of up to €4bn (£3.4bn) in its negotiations with prospective buyers.

Elon Musk, the multi-billionaire owner of Tesla and X, is suing artificial intelligence company OpenAI, accusing the firm of prioritising profit over developing AI for the public good. Mr Musk is bringing the suit against OpenAI, which he co-founded, and its chief executive, Sam Altman, for breaching a contract by reneging on its pledge to

The UK car industry has pleaded with the chancellor to help get the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) back on track when he delivers his budget next week, accusing the government of creating an own goal. The Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said it was clear that the decision to delay the ban

Post Office Limited (POL) “intended to pervert the course of justice” by relying on knowingly flawed cash accounts, an inquiry submission filed today alleged. Sir Edward Henry KC, who represents former sub-postmasters Lee Castleton and Seema Misra, among others, in the Post Office scandal, made the remarks in a closing statement for the Horizon inquiry.

The Home Office immigration system statistics for 2023 tell a different story to the one that dominates the political discourse. While government commentary and policy has focused on illegal migration via small boats, the largest driver of rising immigration is people coming to work, primarily in a health and care sector that would not function

Vape ads across social media platforms “need to stop” and advertisers pleading ignorance is not an excuse, the advertising regulator has warned. The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) – which regulates non-broadcast adverts – launched a crackdown on e-cigarette advertisers, warning the law prohibits them from marketing vapes containing nicotine that are not licensed as

Labour will inherit the worst economic situation of any incoming government since the Second World War, Rachel Reeves warned today, accusing the Conservative Party of “burning the house down” during its time in government. Talking in the run-up to next week’s budget, the shadow chancellor said that while George Osborne had promised to “fix the

You might not trust the Post Office with your parcels but one thing it seems the disgraced organisation can still deliver is drama. After ITV’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office did what a decade of investigative journalism could not – and made the public and politicians give a damn about wrongly convicted postmasters –

MPs have raised concerns over the treatment of small businesses by major banks after figures showed more than 140,000 accounts were shut down by lenders over the past year. As part of an inquiry into access to finance, the Treasury Committee gathered information from eight banks, including the so-called big four, on how many business

The government has announced it will significantly increase the interim payment given to Post Office workers who have their convictions overturned, from £163,000 to £450,000. More than 900 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015, after faulty accounting software called Horizon, made by Fujitsu, made it seem like money was missing from their

The UK will “miss out” on economic growth unless it finally comes up with an industrial strategy to green the economy, the leading business group has warned. As the UK economy has stagnated in recent years, the value of green industries like renewables, eco-friendly heating and energy storage is growing and will help unlock further

The prime minister has revealed how some of the money from abandoning the HS2 northern leg will be reallocated. Northern England will get £2.5bn and the Midlands £2.2bn after plans to run the high-speed line to the North were scrapped last year. The cash will go to a “local transport fund” to help towns, rural

A former private secretary to Prince Andrew is playing a key role in the deliberations of a Chinese online retail giant over a possible bid for Currys, the high street electrical goods chain. Sky News has learnt that Amanda Thirsk, who quit as the Duke of York’s private secretary nearly four years ago, is working

Next has approached administrators to The Body Shop about a potential deal to purchase parts of the stricken cosmetics chain. Sky News has learnt that executives from the UK fashion retailing giant have contacted FRP Advisory to express an interest in acquiring assets as part of any sale process it decides to launch. There were

The worst airlines for customer satisfaction have been revealed The UK’s flag carrier airline, British Airways, ranked among the worst airlines in the survey. BA’s customer score for long-haul flights was the joint third lowest out of 17 carriers analysed by Which?, at 59%. The airline received just two stars out of five for boarding

Paula Vennells, the former chief executive of the Post Office, has had her CBE formally stripped from her by the King for “bringing the honours system into disrepute”. Ms Vennells received the honour in 2019 but was widely criticised amid the fallout from the Post Office scandal. She had previously said she would give up

The energy price cap is to fall by £20 a month, the industry regulator has announced, but households are to face an additional “temporary” charge to help suppliers support struggling customers with record levels of debt. Ofgem confirmed a 12% price cap reduction will take effect from 1 April, taking the annual energy bill for

Details of legislation to exonerate sub-postmasters who were wronged in the Horizon scandal have been set out by the government. Between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 Post Office managers were prosecuted after faulty accounting software provided by Fujitsu made it seem like money was missing from their branches in the UK. Prime Minister Rishi

Overturning the convictions of guilty sub-postmasters to exonerate all those unfairly prosecuted due to the Horizon scandal is a “price worth paying”, according to the government. Under new legislation, the government says it will “quash all convictions which are identified as being in scope”. The Post Office minister says that possibly exonerating people guilty of

The owner of Brentford, the Premier League football club, has engaged advisers to canvas offers of investment that could value one of the sport’s biggest recent success stories at more than £400m. Sky News has learnt that Matthew Benham, who initially invested in the Bees in 2007, has hired Rothschild to oversee a process that

The iconic BT Tower in London is set to become a hotel, if its new owner gets its way. BT Group revealed on Wednesday that it had agreed to sell the 177 metre-tall (581-ft) tower in the West End to MCR Hotels for £275m. The grade II listed communications tower, the telecoms firm explained, had