Business

NatWest Group, the taxpayer-backed lender, is to start a search for a successor to Sir Howard Davies, the City grandee who has chaired it for the last seven years. Sky News has learnt that NatWest’s board has kicked off internal discussions about the launch of a process to fill what was once one of the

The cost of a homemade G&T could become more expensive as the price of popular tonic waters soars. The price of mixers made by brands such as Schweppes and Fever-Tree has increased sharply over the last month, according to shop price data from the research firm Assosia. Quoting the report, The Guardian said the price

The government has been warned it is falling dangerously behind in its plans to build a British battery industry, with manufacturing capacity forecast to be barely half the needed level by the end of the decade, according to internal documents seen by Sky News. The dossier of figures submitted to the Department for Business, Energy

US inflation has surged to its highest level in four decades according to new figures that add to pressure for interest rate hikes in the world’s biggest economy. Consumer price inflation climbed to 7.5% in January according to America’s Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS), intensifying a squeeze on consumers and wiping out the value of

The economy grew at its best annual pace on record in 2021 despite a December hit from measures to control the spread of the Omicron COVID variant, early official estimates have revealed. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the pace of growth between October and December – the fourth quarter – was

Unilever, the consumer goods giant behind brands including Marmite and Magnum ice creams, has signalled that shoppers face further price increases as its own costs continue to rocket. The company, which said it was to cut 1,500 jobs in a global reorganisation just last month, used the publication of its annual results to estimate that

Workers seeking wage rises and firms trying to maintain profits in line with inflation could help sustain a spiral of prices and force further rate rise action, a top Bank of England official has warned. The Bank’s chief economist Huw Pill said officials expect these so-called “second round” effects to be contained but that if

Higher costs, more paperwork and border delays have been “the only detectable impact so far” of Brexit for British businesses, according to a new report by MPs. Trade volumes have been suppressed since the end of the transition period in December 2020 – though the COVID-19 pandemic and wider global issues were also key factors,

The energy regulator has told MPs that it estimated around £200m in household credit balances was lost through the failures of energy companies over the past year – with up to £10 set to be added to rocketing bills as a result. Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley made his remarks as the business, energy and

Oil giant BP has announced plans to “accelerate the greening” of the company while revealing its highest annual profits for eight years on the back of surging oil and gas costs. The firm said underlying profits came in at $12.8bn for 2021 on the back of $5.7bn loss over the previous 12 months. The performance

Asda said it had “taken on board” comments by food poverty campaigner Jack Monroe as it announced it would stock low-price ranges in all of its 581 stores. Ms Monroe had highlighted, in a series of recent tweets, the lack of availability of many of the supermarket chain’s “Smart Price” products. Asda currently stocks 150

Plans for a crackdown on “cowboy” parking firms will cap many fines at £50 and introduce a new code of conduct to better protect motorists, according to the government. Ministers said that millions would benefit from an overhaul following years of complaints over unfair and extortionate charges. The package of measures will see the majority

The business secretary has again ruled out the prospect of the government cutting VAT on energy bills to provide further support as the cost of living continues to rise. Kwasi Kwarteng told Sky News the move would be “quite regressive” because “rich people will benefit just as much as people on lower incomes”. “That’s not

Downing Street is in talks with Macquarie Group, the Australian lender, to secure a headline-grabbing £10bn investment in British infrastructure that would represent one of the largest-ever such commitments by an overseas company. Sky News has learnt that officials at Number 10 have been negotiating with executives at the bank about the plan – which

The power industry is concerned some companies could be making massive profits on the occasional days when renewable electricity generation slumps. Generators which step up to fill those gaps are charging record prices to “balance” the supply of electricity as our power grid rapidly shifts towards net-zero. The costs are paid by the industry, but

The boss of British Gas owner Centrica has warned that household bills could see a further increase in the autumn on top of the 54% hike set to take place in April. Chief executive Chris O’Shea told Sky News that “nobody really knows” where the wholesale costs of energy – which are running about four

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has suggested that workers should not ask for big pay rises as it battles surging inflation. The Bank has acted to combat accelerating price growth by hiking interest rates to 0.5%. But if employees ask for wage increases to match the cost of living its task could be made

Households will be left in “deep peril” and older people will be “badly shaken” by the rise in energy bills, charities have warned. On Thursday, energy regulator Ofgem announced prices are set to soar by 54% for 22 million households from the beginning of April, adding £693 to the annual costs of a typical household.

Millions of households will see their energy bills rise to a typical £1,971 a year after regulator Ofgem increased its price cap by 54%. The increase, which will on average see bills for 22 million customers on variable gas and electricity tariffs rise by £693, will take effect in April and follows a 12% rise

The energy regulator will reveal this morning the extent of the additional financial pain households face through its revision to the price cap. Ofgem is expected to confirm a rise from 1 April of up to 50% – about £700 – taking a typical annual bill for gas and electricity up towards the £2000 mark.

Millions of households will discover on Thursday how much their energy bills will rise this spring after the regulator brought forward its announcement of the new price cap. Ofgem will reveal what is expected to be an increase of up to 50% to the price cap for gas and electricity, adding around £700 to bills

Emergency traffic measures to control congestion at the Port of Dover have already been used as many times this year as in the first six months of 2021 combined, following the introduction of new Brexit border checks. Figures provided to Sky News by National Highways reveal the Dover Traffic Access Protocol (TAP), designed to prevent

A retail lobby group has warned it will be “impossible” for the sector to shield shoppers from rising costs in the months ahead as till prices hit their highest level for almost 10 years. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said there was no let-up in sight for the price pressures facing the industry which, it

Tesco said 1,600 jobs were at risk as it announced a further round of restructuring across its store network. Britain’s biggest supermarket said it was moving overnight re-stocking to the daytime in 36 large stores and 49 convenience stores. It is also converting 36 of its petrol stations to become pay-at-pump only sites during overnight

Tesco has revealed that its Jack’s discount store experiment is to end, with seven of the 13 stores to be closed down completely, and that it is to shut down deli counters at hundreds of other sites. The UK’s biggest supermarket chain launched the Jack’s brand – named after its founder Jack Cohen – in

Ryanair has warned of more COVID-19 turbulence ahead as it blamed “hysteria” over the Omicron variant for a collapse in bookings over Christmas and reported a quarterly loss of €96m. The airline said demand had improved since the recent lifting of travel restrictions but prices were having to be cut to fill up planes over

The owners of Virgin Media O2 have kicked off talks to raise hundreds of millions of pounds from investors to fund the rollout of fast fibre broadband to millions more British households. Sky News revealed on Sunday that initial discussions with infrastructure funds got underway in recent weeks, with the aim of selling a large

Plans to “breathe fresh life into disadvantaged communities” across England have been announced as part of the government’s Levelling Up White Paper. Wolverhampton and Sheffield will be the first of 20 areas picked to benefit from a “radical new regeneration programme” launched by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). The chosen locations

Downing Street will next week unveil a gender-balanced line-up of business advisers to Boris Johnson, which includes the bosses of some of Britain’s fastest-growing technology companies. Sky News has obtained the list of members of the prime minister’s new business council, which is expected to be published as early as Monday. Half of its 28

Home Secretary Priti Patel has approved the extradition of a British entrepreneur to the US to answer criminal fraud charges. But Mike Lynch’s lawyers say they will file an appeal at the High Court as they fight the order which was earlier signed by Ms Patel following a midnight deadline. It comes on the day

UK entrepreneur Mike Lynch has lost a multi-billion pound fraud action brought over the sale of software company Autonomy to Hewlett Packard (HP) in 2011. The High Court judge found that HP had “substantially” succeeded in its bitter civil case but indicated that the US firm would get considerably less than the $5bn it had

The City watchdog has urged insurance firms and brokers to work with it to ensure bills are fair after communities secretary Michael Gove said residents of almost all flats were facing “crippling” premiums in the wake of the Grenfell fire tragedy. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Friday that it wanted to establish that

Supply chain bottlenecks have taken a bite out of McDonald’s profits as it was forced to spend more money on chicken, beef and packaging material – and warned the pressure would intensify. Quarterly earnings reported by the fast-food giant fell short of Wall Street expectations as it said operating costs rose by 14% on a