Business

Railway engineering workers are set to take part in a series of 48-hour strikes next month due to a pay dispute. The action comes after the workers at infrastructure group Balfour Beatty overwhelmingly rejected the company’s offer of a 5.5% increase in pay. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will take strike

Tesco, Britain’s biggest supermarket chain, is to kick off a review of its presence in the UK banking sector – a move that could lead to a sale of the business. Sky News has learnt that the grocery giant is lining up Goldman Sachs to advise on the future of Tesco Bank, which launched in

Charging customers higher electricity prices has helped the UK wing of the French state-owned energy giant turn a profit. While an overall loss was recorded at EDF (Électricité de France) earnings rose at its UK operations, it said in its 2022 annual results. Core profits in the UK electricity-producing entity hit £1.12bn, up from a

Profits at NatWest have risen to their highest since the global financial crash. The bank recorded profits of £5.1bn before tax in its 2022 full-year results, a high not seen since 2007 and an increase from the £3.8bn booked a year earlier. The payment of a bonus to its chief executive, Dame Alison Rose, was

Rail workers and nurses will strike again next month, while frontline Royal Mail workers are also threatening a new wave of strikes. Tens of thousands of RMT members will strike again beginning on 16 March after the union received “no new offers” from employers involved in the national rail dispute. The RMT revealed the start

Retail sales rose in January, surprising economists after a two month fall, according to official figures. Sales were expected to fall 0.3% according to a Reuters poll of economist forecasts, but data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed the numbers were better than the loss in December. But there was an overall fall

Centrica, the company that owns British Gas, has reported record profits for the 2022 financial year. Operating profits of £3.3bn were recorded at the company, up from £948m in 2021, and surpassing the firm’s previous highest ever yearly profit of £2.7bn, posted in 2012. The oil and gas producer has been helped by high energy

Ofgem has revealed that the end of forced installation of controversial energy prepayment meters only extends until the end of March. The watchdog said the date, that household energy suppliers had agreed to, also included a temporary halt to remote transfers for customers currently on smart meters. The government had suggested last week that the

Inflation has eased slightly to 10.1% from 10.5% the previous month as fuel price rises slowed. Decreased transport costs were one of the main drivers of the lower inflation rate, along with restaurants and hotels, as prices dropped in cafés and restaurants from the December Christmas period to January. Cost of living – latest: Semi-skimmed

Airbus and Rolls-Royce have secured contracts to support a record order for new planes by Air India. The order, for 220 Boeing and 250 Airbus aircraft over several years, will benefit both Airbus and engine supplier Rolls-Royce in the UK, the government said. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said the wings, designed by

Ford has announced 1,300 jobs are being cut from its UK business as part of a Europe-wide overhaul of the carmaker. The majority of the UK losses will be at the Ford site in Dunton, Essex – its UK headquarters and technical centre. Up to 1,000 jobs are to be axed at the location with

A union representing hundreds of workers at an Amazon warehouse has revealed plans for seven more strike days. The GMB union said its members in Coventry would now take further industrial action on 28 February, 2 March and between 13-17 March. It marked an escalation in their pay fight, which began with a 24-hour strike

Europe’s biggest privately owned cinema operator has lined up financial backing from its new shareholders to help assemble a takeover tilt at Cineworld, its stricken rival. Sky News has learnt that funds managed by Barings and Farallon Capital Management have agreed to provide capital to Vue International to support strategic acquisitions. City sources said that

The crisis engulfing MJ Hudson, the stricken asset management services provider, will deepen on Monday when it discloses that its auditor has resigned. Sky News has learnt that the London-listed company will announce that EY has quit less than 18 months after being appointed. The timing of EY’s resignation, coming so soon after its appointment,

Castore, the British sportswear brand backed by Sir Andy Murray, is in talks with investors about a $200m fundraising as it intensifies its battle with global rivals Adidas and Nike. Sky News has learnt that the Manchester-based business, which was founded by Liverpudlian brothers Phil and Tom Beahon, is working with bankers on plans to

Wilfred Frost stands in for Ian King this week and discusses the UK avoiding a recession by the thinnest of margins. He also talks to Auto Trader’s commercial director Ian Plummer about figures suggesting the current global economic difficulties are now hitting the used car market. And with The Brit Awards celebrating the best of

The Premier League is closing in on a commercial deal with Electronic Arts (EA), the video-games maker, that would be worth close to £500m – one of the largest such agreements ever struck by English football’s top flight. Sky News has learnt that the 20 Premier League clubs were briefed at a meeting on Friday

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has not ruled out increasing pay offers to public sector workers, but warned that giving more money to teachers and nurses could entrench high inflation. Speaking as it was revealed the UK economy narrowly avoided recession in 2022, Mr Hunt also indicated he would resist pressure to cancel a planned cut to

Takeaway delivery platform Deliveroo has announced it is to cut roughly 350 jobs, equivalent to about 9% of the company workforce. Roles across the global Deliveroo business will be impacted, founder and chief executive Will Shu told staff, but it is understood that UK employees will be worst hit by the losses. The majority of

Tens of thousands of rail workers may return to picket lines after their union rejected revised pay offers to avert more walkouts. The RMT union had been deliberating over a 5% pay rise, backdated to January last year, along with a 4% hike for 2023. Train operators and Network Rail called it their “best and

The company behind many popular consumer brands including Marmite and Magnum ice creams has said it expects price growth to ease later this year but not find a reverse gear. As the cost of living crisis continues to harm household spending power, Unilever forecast a €1.5bn (£1.3bn) impact from inflation during the first half of

Fixating on the short-term damage caused by Brexit is a “fake conversation”, the new Business and Trade Secretary has said, adding that it will “take time” for the shape of Britain’s new economic arrangements to become clear. In her first broadcast interview since business was added to her job brief, Kemi Badenoch told Sky News

The boss of the UK’s largest gas supplier, Norway’s Equinor, has warned it will be difficult to further increase output after ramping up production last year to help fill the void in Europe’s stocks amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. Anders Opedal said that natural gas demand will have to be lower across the continent to

A major supplier to Britain’s third-biggest steel producer has been forced to call in administrators, deepening the financial gloom engulfing the industry. Sky News has learnt that Aartee Bright Bar, which is based in the West Midlands and employs 250 people, has this week drafted in Alvarez & Marsal to handle an insolvency process. Aartee

The bosses of Britain’s biggest housebuilders will hold talks with the chancellor this week as they face a multibillion-pound bill in the form of several new levies. Sky News has learnt that the executives from companies including Barratt Developments, Fairview and Persimmon will meet Jeremy Hunt on Tuesday. The Home Builders Federation (HBF), the leading

BP has revealed it is to miss a key climate goal while announcing record annual profits. The London-based firm said its main earnings measure, underlying replacement cost profit, came in at $27.7bn (£23bn) for 2022. That is more than double the previous year’s sum despite weaker oil and gas costs knocking its performance in the

Administrators have selected a rival battery start-up based in Australia as preferred bidder for collapsed Britishvolt. EY confirmed on Monday morning that its team had chosen Recharge Industries – owned by US investment firm Scale Facilitation Partners – to acquire the “majority of the business and assets” of Britishvolt following its demise last month. The

The German automotive giant BMW is in talks with the government about a £75m funding package that would secure production of electric Minis at its Oxfordshire plant. Sky News has learnt that BMW is negotiating with officials at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) over a grant from Whitehall’s Automotive Transformation Fund.

Netflix has said that updated measures to crack down on password sharing were posted by mistake. Following widespread disappointment on social media, with many threatening to cancel their memberships, the streaming giant claimed some new account rules being trialled in other countries had accidentally been added to its help pages elsewhere. While subscribers have been

Google looks set to unveil how it plans to rival the wildly successful ChatGPT AI, possibly within days. The technology giant has scheduled a 40-minute event for Wednesday 8 February, when it will reveal how it is “reimagining how people search for, explore and interact with information”. “Join us to learn how we’re opening up

Elon Musk did not deceive his investors when he tweeted in 2018 that he had the funding to take Tesla private, a jury has found. Investors had sought to sue the SpaceX owner for billions of dollars because his tweet caused Tesla’s shares to soar, only to crash 10 days later when it became clear

London’s FTSE 100 Index has reached an all-time high at 7905 earlier this afternoon. The Financial Times Stock Exchange index of the 100 most valuable companies on the London stock exchange beat the previous record of 7,903.5 set in May 2018. It comes as central banks – including the Bank of England and the US

The energy regulator Ofgem has asked suppliers to suspend the forced installation of prepayment meters and review their processes for dealing with customers who have fallen into arrears. Sky News understands the regulator made the request on Thursday after it was revealed that debt collectors working for British Gas had forced their way into the