Business

The World Health Organisation (WHO) wants government action over escalating baby formula prices that are “exploiting” UK families. In an interview with Sky News, WHO called out the “profit-driven” multinational manufacturers for “manipulating the price” of their baby formulas. The most recent research shows prices in the UK have risen 24% over the past two

Nigel Farage will next week begin a formal legal fight with NatWest Group and its former boss as he seeks millions of pounds in damages over the debanking scandal which escalated into a crisis for the state-backed lender. Sky News has learnt that Mr Farage, the former UKIP leader, has instructed London-based Grosvenor Law to

£7.6m is a lot of money to leave on the table by anyone’s standards. NatWest Group, the taxpayer-backed bank, hopes that headline-grabbing number will persuade stakeholders that it has taken a tough line on the severance package handed to Dame Alison Rose, its former chief executive. Indeed, Dame Alison herself might claim that she herself

Families “should feel optimistic” that the worst of the cost-of-living crisis is over, the chancellor has told Sky News. Acknowledging households have “suffered enormously” from energy, food and fuel inflation in the last 18 months, Jeremy Hunt said they should now feel some relief despite the UK economy slowing to a halt in the third

Former NatWest boss Dame Alison Rose is to lose £7.6m of her payout as the bank group seeks to draw a line under the debanking row sparked by the closure of Nigel Farage’s Coutts accounts. However, she will still receive around £1.7m. Dame Alison stepped down in late July after admitting she discussed the former

NatWest Group is to scrap the bulk of a possible £10m-plus payout to Dame Alison Rose, its former chief executive, as it tries to draw a line under the debanking row sparked by the closure of Nigel Farage’s Coutts accounts. Sky News has learnt that the board of NatWest, which is just under 40% owned

A regulator has outlined concerns about the “intensity of competition” between fuel retailers. In its first monitoring update since finding that drivers were overcharged by supermarkets last year, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was yet to receive crucial data on fuel margins covering September and October. It said that while margins –

US actors union Sag-Aftra has agreed a “tentative deal” with Hollywood studio bosses to end a historic 118-day strike. In an announcement on Wednesday, the union said the longest walkout in its history will end at 12.01am US Pacific time on Thursday following a “unanimous vote”. The union, which represents around 160,000 members of the

The Barclay family has renewed its efforts to persuade Britain’s biggest high street lender to regain control of the Telegraph newspapers after restating an offer to repay the bulk of the debt it owes to the bank. Sky News understands that the newspapers’ former owners wrote to Lloyds Banking Group again last week to repeat

The poorest half of UK families will have to wait until the end of 2026 for their real incomes to return to pre-COVID levels, according to independent analysis. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said low to middle income households face seven years of falling living standards due to the fallout from

After six months of falls house prices across the country are on the rise again, according to analysis from part of the UK’s biggest mortgage lender. Last month, for the first time since March, the cost of buying a house increased as the number of properties on the market shrunk, according to the Halifax house

The government will introduce a new law to parliament on Tuesday, which they say will ensure 40% of trains will still run on strike days. The new minimum service level regulations will also make sure “certain priority routes can remain open” – though it is not yet clear which journeys will be covered. Other rules

The UK information regulator has apologised to the former NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose, who resigned after discussing the banking affairs of Nigel Farage with a journalist. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said its comments last month – in which the regulator said a NatWest employee shared information when they should not have done,

More than 16 million people have missed payments on key household bills this year – two million of them for the first time. The government-backed Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) says 30% of British adults have fallen behind on at least one payment in 2023. Credit card repayments were the most common bill that went

The England footballer Ollie Watkins is among a group of investors ploughing new funds into a fast-growing British online sneaker and streetwear marketplace. Sky News understands that Mr Watkins, who played for Aston Villa on Sunday in the 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest, is backing The Edit LDN, which has operated concessions in department stores

Seafood allegedly produced using the forced labour of Uyghur people in China may have been sold at Iceland – and could be on sale now at other British supermarkets, according to an investigation. Iceland told Sky News it no longer had a relationship with the Chinese supplier in question. Since 2018, the Chinese government is

Klarna, the buy now, pay later (BNPL) finance giant, is setting up a new British holding company as it clears the path to a stock market flotation that could value it at more than $15bn (£12.1bn). Sky News has learnt that the Stockholm-based consumer credit provider has informed investors it has kicked off preparatory work

Ian King talks to Sky News’s city editor Mark Kleinman about the future of Manchester United. He also speaks to the founder and chief executive of Venrai, Jason Tucker-Feltham, about Sam Bankman-Fried – who’s been found guilty of crypto fraud. Mary Aiken, Professor of Cyberpsychology at Capitol Technology University in Washington, is also interviewed on

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is to commit $300m (£245m) from his multibillion pound fortune to Manchester United Football Club’s ageing infrastructure as part of a deal to acquire a 25% stake that will be unveiled this month. Sky News can exclusively reveal that Sir Jim, founder of the Ineos petrochemicals empire, will pledge the investment alongside

It took just four hours for a jury to find fallen “crypto king” Sam Bankman-Fried guilty of fraud. The 31-year-old has been convicted of stealing billions of dollars from customers of FTX, which was the world’s second-largest crypto exchange before its dramatic collapse last year. To this day, FTX users – at least 80,000 of

The British economy is going to be flatlining for the foreseeable future, with next to no economic growth all the way through til early 2025, according to a bleak set of forecasts from the Bank of England. The forecasts, published alongside the Bank’s latest decision to hold interest rates steady at 5.25%, imply that the

Elon Musk will head to Downing Street for talks with Rishi Sunak today following the prime minister’s AI safety summit. The billionaire owner of SpaceX and Tesla jetted in for the event at Bletchley Park, which began on Wednesday with attending countries backing an agreement on the need to manage risks posed by the technology.

Elon Musk has told Sky News that AI is a “risk”, as the billionaire joins world leaders and tech bosses at a UK safety summit. The SpaceX and Tesla owner has long been outspoken about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence, and earlier this year warned it could even lead to “civilisation destruction”. Asked by

A stake of up to 10% in the Premier League football club West Ham United has been put up for sale, providing the latest test of international investors’ appetite for a slice of one of England’s top-flight clubs. Sky News has learnt that Vanessa Gold, daughter of the late businessman David Gold and a joint-chair

There has been a “significant increase” in the number of people using Buy Now Pay Later options to purchase items, with those frequently using the service more likely to be in financial difficulty, the finance regulator has said. Roughly 14 million people, 27% of UK adults, used Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) to purchase something

Around 680 staff have been made redundant at window and door manufacturer and seller Safestyle. The business had gone into administration and the GMB union had expected up to 600 job losses. But on Monday, administrators Interpath Advisory were appointed and said the number was around 680 workers. Staff were unexpectedly texted to “down tools”

Rishi Sunak has been warned not to ignore the “here and now” threats to people’s jobs posed by artificial intelligence, as Elon Musk and the creator of ChatGPT jet in for a landmark UK summit. Bletchley Park is set to welcome more than 100 figures from politics and business from today, including the likes of

The private equity investor that owns Footasylum is in pole position to buy The Body Shop, the ethical cosmetics chain founded by Dame Anita Roddick and her husband Gordon nearly 50 years ago. Sky News has learnt that Aurelius Group is in exclusive negotiations to buy the British-based chain, which was put up for sale

A backbench Conservative MP is demanding a government probe into the Barclay family’s use of Middle East-based financing to regain control of The Daily Telegraph. Sky News has learnt that Danny Kruger, the MP for Devizes, urged the culture secretary Lucy Frazer to issue a Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN) into the funding behind the

ASOS, the London-listed online fashion retailer, is exploring a sale of the TopShop brand it bought from the wreckage of Sir Philip Green’s collapsed retail empire less than three years ago. Sky News has learnt that ASOS, which will publish its delayed full-year results next week, is at the early stages of a process that

Former crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried has admitted he made “mistakes” in how he ran his collapsed FTX exchange – but told a court he did not steal from its customers. The 31-year-old also acknowledged a “lot of people got hurt” when the company went bankrupt as he testified in open court in his fraud case

The high street empire founded by Mike Ashley is weighing an offer for Wiggle, the online bikes retailer which collapsed into administration this week. Sky News has learnt that London-listed Frasers Group, which is best known for its Sports Direct chain, is among the suitors circling WiggleCRC. The collapsed company, which includes Wiggle, Chain Reaction

An independent review into the closure of Nigel Farage’s Coutts account and the discussion of his banking with a journalist by the head of the bank has found “a number of shortcomings” in the closure process. But law firm Travers Smith, which was commissioned by the board of NatWest to conduct the review, said the