Business

Executives from the country’s biggest supermarket chains have defended their grocery prices but backed the idea of greater fuel transparency over claims customers are paying over the odds for both. The business and trade committee of MPs heard representatives of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons deny any suggestion of food profiteering on their part as

The chancellor has told banks “in no uncertain terms” they must pass on higher interest rates to savers. Jeremy Hunt faced pressure from both Labour and his own Conservative backbenchers on the matter during a statement about support to mortgage holders agreed on Friday. Labour’s Dame Angela Eagle – a Treasury minister under Gordon Brown

The chancellor is urging a focus on rip-off charges ahead of a meeting with UK regulators this week, as stubborn inflation threatens the government’s target of halving inflation this year. Jeremy Hunt is to meet bodies with oversight of key industries such as food and energy in the week after the shock Bank of England

A Treasury minister has refused to commit to public sector pay rises, arguing it would be “irresponsible” not to take into account the impact on persistently high inflation. Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, John Glen signalled the government could reject recommendations by the independent review bodies in the face of concerns

Braemar, the London-listed shipbroker, faces being plunged into crisis as a delay to the publication of its full-year accounts threatens to trigger the suspension of its shares. Sky News has learnt that Braemar, which has a market capitalisation of approximately £92m, is likely to tell investors within days that it will be unable to meet

A logistics technology business run by a 29-year-old entrepreneur has swooped on parts of Tuffnells Parcel Express, the prominent delivery company which collapsed this month with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs. Sky News has learnt that Shift, which was founded by Jacob Corlett, has struck a deal with administrators at Interpath Advisory to

Security staff at Heathrow Airport have called off all strikes having voted in favour of a pay deal. Members of the Unite union had been due to walk out nearly every weekend from mid-June until the end of August but paused their planned action on Saturday and Sunday to vote on a new proposal from

Mortgage lenders and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have agreed that people should be given a 12-month break before repossession proceedings start amid soaring interest rates. After the rise of the base rate to 5%, Mr Hunt met with leaders of financial institutions including Lloyds, NatWest, Barclays and Virgin Money. They agreed that the repossession break should

Average fixed mortgage rates are largely unchanged following the Bank of England’s shock announcement of a 5% base interest rate, according to a financial information company. There has been no change to the average mortgage rate for a two-year fixed deal, Moneyfacts data showed. The rate has remained at 6.19%, the same as the day

A rail union has revealed three fresh strike dates in July as part of a continuing fight for better pay. The RMT said its 20,000 members working across 14 train operating companies would walk out on 20, 22 and 29 July. The Open Championship is taking place at Royal Liverpool from 16-23 July, while fans

Blimey. The Bank of England was always going to increase its Bank rate this month. But every economist had expected only a quarter percentage point increase. There was good reason for this. Although inflation data had been higher than expected this week, the bank had been slowing down the rate at which it was lifting

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is selling its stake in McLaren, the supercar maker and Formula One team-owner, in a deal that will reinforce Bahrain’s status as the company’s biggest shareholder. Sky News has learnt that Mumtalakat, Bahrain’s state investment fund, will announce on Thursday that it is buying the preference shares in McLaren Group

The rate of price rises has remained 8.7% despite expectations of a fall, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced the consumer price index measure of inflation stood at 8.7% in the year up to May, the same as the rate in April. A slight decrease, to 8.4%, had been expected

The chancellor has ruled out mortgage bill support for fear it would increase inflation. Answering questions in the House of Commons, Jeremy Hunt told MPs that “schemes which involve injecting large amounts of cash into the economy, right now will be inflationary”. Despite expressing sympathy for people with higher mortgage costs he said, “we won’t

The pace of grocery inflation has eased to its slowest monthly rate this year, according to industry data that backs hopes the worst may be over. Kantar Worldpanel, which tracks supermarket sales and prices, reported a rate of 16.5% over the four weeks to 11 June. That was down from the 17.2% figure revealed a

It’s too early to talk about job losses, as part of a deal that would create the UK’s biggest mobile phone operator, the Vodafone UK chief executive exclusively told Sky’s Ian King Live programme. “Some roles” might be impacted by the merger with Three, Ahmed Essam said, in his first interview since the deal was

Thousands of jobs could be created in Scotland under a Labour proposal to create a publicly-owned clean energy company with its headquarters north of the border, the leader of the opposition has said. Sir Keir Starmer set out his proposal to launch Great British Energy (GBN) during his party conference speech in Liverpool last year

A robotics start-up in which the online grocer Ocado is a sizeable shareholder is this weekend on the brink of collapse. Sky News has learnt that Karakuri, which developed technology capable of assembling ready-meals for food industry clients, is on the brink of filing a notice of intention to appoint administrators. City sources said that

Former Tesco chairman John Allan – who was forced to step down after misconduct allegations were made against him – has insisted he is “completely innocent”. In his first broadcast interview since the controversy erupted with Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, the 74-year-old said there was “absolutely no substance” in the claims about

The bosses of Britain’s biggest banks have told Rishi Sunak that technology companies must contribute to the cost of an online fraud “pandemic” that is undermining international investor confidence in the UK economy. Sky News has obtained a letter to the prime minister signed by the chief executives of nine lenders, including Barclays, NatWest and

Annual mortgage repayments are set to rise by £2,900 for the average household remortgaging next year, according to a think tank. As the UK’s “mortgage crunch” deepens, total annual mortgage repayments could rise by £15.8bn by 2026, the Resolution Foundation said. Prolonged inflation has raised expectations that the Bank of England’s base rate-rising cycle, which

Tesco has reported “encouraging early signs” that grocery inflation is starting to ease while revealing a leap in sales. The UK’s largest retailer said there was a slowdown in price growth across the market and it was continuing to focus on value for its customers. The company updated on its performance as the food sector

Millions of people were left waiting too long for energy support due to a lack of government “bandwidth”, according to a report from the cross-party Public Accounts Committee. More than a million households became eligible for support too late, while a further two million homes using prepayment meters have yet to redeem their £400 voucher,

The interest rate in the 20 Eurozone countries has been hiked to a more than 20-year high. The European Central Bank has increased its benchmark rate to 3.5%, up 0.25 percentage points, making borrowing more expensive. In new forecasts released by the regulator it said it will be two more years before inflation is brought

The operator of Britain’s electricity system says it is to keep a scheme that aims to help prevent blackouts for the coming winter. National Grid ESO said it was “prudent to maintain” the demand flexibility service (DFS), which was introduced in 2022 in the wake of Europe’s gas squeeze caused by the war in Ukraine.

The Federal Reserve, which is the US central bank, has held interest rates after 10 consecutive rises. The decision was announced a day after official figures showed US inflation was 4% – less than half the UK’s current level of 8.7%. Latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics said prices rose 4% in May,

The UK economy shrugged off the impact of strikes to return to growth in April, according to official figures charting a pick-up in spending at the shops and in bars and restaurants. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) measured growth of 0.2% following a contraction of 0.3% in the previous month. It reported growth over

Cineworld’s London-listed holding company is preparing to file for administration as part of a comprehensive financial restructuring that will wipe out its shareholders. Sky News understands that the multinational cinema operator is lining up AlixPartners to act as administrator to help effect a transfer of ownership to its lenders. An announcement is expected to be

Next weekend’s security staff strikes at Heathrow have been postponed as Unite, the union, considers a pay offer. Last week security staff at the UK’s largest airport announced an escalation of strike action, with walkouts to take place nearly every weekend from mid-June to the end of August. Two thousand staff were due to strike

Basic wage increases picked up pace at a higher rate than expected in the 12 months to April, according to the latest official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said average earnings, excluding bonuses, grew at 7.2% over the 12 months – up from the 6.7% recorded in March and higher than the 6.9%

Some military personnel and their families have been forced to use food banks as high inflation and rising costs tip members of the Armed Forces into crisis, Sky News can reveal. An unofficial food bank even exists at a large Royal Air Force base in Lincolnshire, a defence source said. The voluntary facility at RAF

The prime minister is lining up a technology entrepreneur who co-founded the music industry business Songkick to spearhead a £100m government taskforce set up to forge Britain’s future artificial intelligence capability. Sky News has learnt that Ian Hogarth, who is now an investor in dozens of start-ups, is a leading candidate to chair the Foundation