Business

Microsoft is preparing to axe thousands of jobs in the latest move by one of the world’s biggest technology companies to reduce its workforce in the face of a slowing global economy. Sky News has learnt that the US software giant could announce plans to cull a significant number of posts around the world within

The governor of the Bank of England has told MPs there is still “something of a hangover effect” in the wake of the mini-budget market chaos last year but declared that the hit to mortgages was over. Andrew Bailey used remarks to the Treasury committee to declare that market conditions had returned to normal after

Davos, the World Economic Forum (WEF) and its founder, Klaus Schwab, have become more famous than ever before in the past couple of years – albeit not for the reasons they might have wanted. As COVID-19 spread and the world battled the pandemic, Mr Schwab and the WEF, not to mention regular delegates such as

A stricken financial services group that has had its shares suspended amid apparent accounting irregularities will this week disclose that it has received takeover approaches for parts of its business. Sky News has learnt that MJ Hudson, which floated on London’s junior stock market on the day of the 2019 general election, will announce on

The energy watchdog must step in to penalise price-gouging behaviour by energy suppliers, according to the head of the lobbying group representing thousands of pubs, restaurants, hotels and gyms across Britain. In a letter to the chief executive of Ofgem from Kate Nicholls, the boss of UK Hospitality, which has been seen by Sky News,

Land Securities Group, the FTSE-100 property owner, is lining up one of Britain’s most prominent boardroom figures as its next chairman. Sky News has learnt that Sir Ian Cheshire, the chairman of Channel 4 and Spire, the private hospital operator, has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Cressida Hogg as Landsec’s chairman. People close

Attempts to settle public sector pay disputes have been undermined by “spiteful” anti-strike legislation tabled by the government this week, the UK’s senior union official has told Sky News. Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), vowed to fight the proposed laws “tooth and nail”, and questioned whether ministers negotiating with public

Good news has been in such rare supply in economics recently that it’s worth dwelling on it when it arrives. This morning, on Friday 13th of all days, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced that the economy had grown by 0.1% in November. This is hardly especially strong gross domestic product growth, but it’s

The economy grew by 0.1% in November, partly aided by the football World Cup, according to official figures which call into question predictions the UK is already in recession. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed pressure on demand from the effects of high inflation, but a boost from people packing pubs and

The Treasury is set to make £3.8bn in profit from the intervention the Bank of England made in markets last year. The Bank bought £19.3bn worth of government debt – or gilts – in the wake of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng‘s mini-budget in September. Soaring interest rates put some pension funds at risk of

The RMT union has announced it is working with train operators “towards a revised offer” following more talks to end strike action. After today’s negotiations with the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), the RMT said: “We have had detailed discussions and we are working jointly towards a revised offer. “Both parties have agreed to continue discussions

Three million people across Britain ran out of credit on their prepayment energy meter last year, the equivalent of one every 10 seconds, Citizens Advice has said. The service said it has seen more people unable to afford to top up their energy accounts in 2022 than in the entire last 10 years combined. This

The Transport Select Committee heard from two sides in the national rail dispute, but the most important voice – the third rail – was not even in the room. Mick Whelan, of drivers’ unions Aslef, put the chances of resolution at zero (on a scale of one to 10) while Mick Lynch, of the RMT,

Up to 3,200 jobs are to go at Goldman Sachs as part of the biggest restructuring efforts at the company since the global financial crash. The US-based multinational financial services company and investment bank is embarking on a series of cost-saving measures after the deal making and market boom of the COVID-19 pandemic dried up

Amazon has revealed plans to shut three UK warehouses, a decision that will affect 1,200 jobs, but open two new major fulfilment centres. Sites in Hemel Hempstead, Doncaster and Gourock, in the west of Scotland, have been proposed for closure. A spokesman said all the workers would be offered roles at other existing Amazon locations.

Businesses are set to secure £5.5bn in scaled back government support to help them with their energy bills from the start of April, after the current scheme ends. The new Energy Bill Discount Scheme will reduce rather than cap energy costs for businesses and will last for 12 months. The latest measure replaces the Energy

More than 1.4 million fixed rate mortgage customers are facing the prospect of significant hikes to their monthly payments when their deals end this year, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said 57% of those coming up for renewal in 2023 were fixed at interest rates below 2%. It added that

A leisure entrepreneur whose dealmaking prowess earned her the nickname ‘the pub superwoman’ is in talks to join the board of Whitbread, the FTSE-100 hospitality group. Sky News has learnt that Dame Karen Jones, who has been a prominent industry figure for decades, is in advanced negotiations about becoming a non-executive director of the company

Richard Branson has revealed a bizarre story about finding Elon Musk in the kitchen of his New Mexico house in the middle of the night before his first space flight. In an interview this weekend, Mr Branson said the Twitter and Tesla owner was completely barefoot, holding his fast-asleep baby X Æ A-12, and had

The UK’s flag carrier airline has rolled out its first uniform change in 20 years, offering its 30,000 workers a choice of jumpsuits, hijabs, three-piece suits, and tunics. From spring this year, engineers and ground handling agents will be dressed in the designs of fashion designer, Ozwald Boateng, with cabin crew, pilots and check-in agents

Rail minister Huw Merriman will meet union leaders including Mick Lynch of the RMT on Monday after three weeks of unseasonal disruption left the two sides apparently as far apart as ever. While both say they are ready to talk, unions remain committed to further strikes if required and the government is legislating to limit

Windfall tax payments are to hit Shell by around $2bn (£1.7bn), the oil and gas company has estimated. The cost of the UK’s energy profits levy and the EU’s recently announced solidarity contribution will reach $2bn (£1.7bn) in tax liabilities in the final three months of its financial year, the firm said in a fourth

House prices have dropped for the fourth month in a row as cost of living pressures and higher borrowing costs dampen demand. The average house price fell to £281,272 in December, according to data from Halifax. It was a 1.5% decrease from November prices, which had already fallen more than 2%, representing the fastest decrease

Hauliers exporting goods to the European Union have faced fresh disruption since the turn of the year as a glitch in the UK’s digital customs system and new demands from French authorities threaten delays. Drivers heading to ports in the first few days of January found they were unable to enter details of shipments in

The government is bringing forward new strike laws to “maintain a basic function and deliver minimum safety levels” in the public sector during industrial action, the business department has confirmed. In a statement, it said the government would “always protect the ability to strike”, but added: “It must be balanced with the public’s right to

Amazon has announced that it is cutting 18,000 jobs – the biggest round of layoffs in the company’s history. In a note to employees, chief executive Andy Jassy confirmed that the e-commerce giant’s brick-and-mortar stores – including Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go – will be especially impacted by the cuts. Those working in human resources

Mortgage approvals were at the lowest since the early months of the pandemic and credit card debt was up more than £1bn in November, according to data from the Bank of England. The number of mortgages approved fell by more than 10,000, down from 57,900 in October to 46,100 in November. It’s a further drop

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to stealing billions of dollars of customer money in his first court appearance since he was released on a record $250m pretrial bail. Bankman-Fried, 30, entered his plea before US district judge Lewis Kaplan at a court in Manhattan, after spending the Christmas period under house

Crisis-hit Cineworld has denied claims by the owner of rival Odeon that they have held talks over the sale of cinemas, saying it intends to sell the group as a whole and is yet to begin the process. AMC Entertainment said last month that it had backed out of negotiations with Cineworld on the purchase

Close to 50 shops shut down every day in 2022, more than at any other point for at least five years. In a bruising year for retail, 17,145 shops closed last year – up by nearly 50% on 2021, when 11,449 shops shut. Analysis by the Centre for Retail Research found about 47 sites shut up

A group of financial investors which have lent hundreds of millions of pounds to Matalan are close to finalising a deal to take control of one of Britain’s biggest homewares retailers. Sky News understands that the senior lenders, which include prominent City names such as Invesco and Man GLG, could strike a deal within the

Ministers are urging the chancellor to provide £300m of taxpayers’ money to avert the closure of British Steel’s two blast furnaces – a move that would trigger the loss of thousands of industrial jobs in northern England. Sky News has learnt that Grant Shapps, the business secretary, and Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, wrote to

In response to the release of thousands of pages of his tax returns, former US president Donald Trump warned “horrible things” were to come, taking aim at “radical left Democrats”. The former US president was unable to stop Democrats in Congress divulging the information, covering 2015 to 2020. In a statement responding to the release,