Business

The Premier League’s long-awaited hearing into Manchester City’s alleged breaches of financial rules will begin later. City, the reigning Premier League champions, face 115 charges under Premier League rules, which they allegedly breached by failing to provide accurate financial information over a nine-year period starting in 2009 until 2018. During that period the club won

Legal & General, the FTSE-100 insurance and asset management giant, will this week pick a new home for Cala Group, its housebuilding subsidiary. Sky News has learnt that Sixth Street, the US-based investor, has emerged as the frontrunner to buy Cala, which ranks among Britain’s ten biggest housebuilders. Sixth Street has teamed up with Patron

Babcock International, the London-listed defence contractor, is weighing a possible bid for some of the assets of Harland and Wolff, the shipbuilder which is close to collapse. Sky News has learnt that Babcock, which has a market value of £2.4bn, has expressed an interest in Harland and Wolff’s Belfast shipyard which is famous for having

Two of Britain’s biggest newspaper publishers are taking the axe to their US workforces, slashing scores of jobs in the latest evidence of mounting financial pressures across the media sector. Sky News has learnt that News UK, the publisher of The Sun, and DMGT, owner of the Daily Mail, have this week announced sweeping internal

A London-listed automotive components supplier has become the latest British-based company to draw overseas takeover interest after receiving a series of offers from a Canadian rival. Sky News has learnt that TI Fluid Systems has received at least two bid proposals from ABC Technologies Holdings, a Canadian competitor. City sources said on Friday evening that

The lawyer for those affected by Capture software predating the faulty Horizon system says his “belief” is that the “report is going to be positive”. Neil Hudgell, a solicitor at Hudgell Solicitors, is representing over 40 former sub-postmasters who used Capture in the 1990s. Dozens who used it claim they were wrongfully accused of stealing

Tesco says it will accept a Supreme Court ruling in a so-called ‘fire and rehire’ case amid government efforts to bolster workers’ rights. The Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw), along with three of its members at Tesco who also represent the union, took legal action over proposals in 2021 to fire staff

The gap between how much money the state takes in and its spending will triple in the next 50 years, according to independent forecasters. Public debt will rise due to an ageing and ill population as well as climate change, the fiscal watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has said. The ratio between debt

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has signalled her first budget as chancellor could be a painful mix of spending cuts, tax rises and increased borrowing. Speaking to Sky News after official figures showed the economy flatlined in July with GDP growth of 0.0%, she refused to rule out increasing business and wealth taxes, or further cuts to

The chancellor has defended the government’s £500m steel industry subsidy, with thousands of jobs set to be lost at Britain’s biggest steelworks. When asked why the government is spending money on jobs that are going to be scrapped, Rachel Reeves said the steel industry was “incredibly important” to the UK economy. The government, Ms Reeves

A slump in oil prices could lead to further reductions at the fuel pumps but any benefit risks being stripped away next month as the chancellor seeks ways to bolster the public finances. A barrel of Brent crude, the international benchmark, slipped below $70 for the first time since December 2021 on Tuesday afternoon. The

Oasis and Ticketmaster should refund fans who were charged over-inflated prices for tickets, the consumer group Which? has said. Liam and Noel Gallagher announced the band would reunite for a tour in 2025, but fans suffered various problems when trying to get tickets, including some ending up paying as much as £355 for tickets originally

The state pension is due to rise by 4% in April, giving an extra £460 a year to recipients. The payment increases by the highest of total average weekly earnings, inflation for September or 2.5%. Figures on Tuesday showed average weekly earnings rose by 4% in the three months to July. Inflation data for September

Ministers are racing to finalise a £1.25bn deal with Tata Steel, the owner of Britain’s biggest steelworks, amid fading hopes of a similarly consensual agreement with the industry’s second-largest player. Sky News understands that Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, wants to make a statement to parliament on Wednesday about the Tata Steel deal after Prime

The remaining bidders for The Daily Telegraph have been given a deadline for revised bids for the right-leaning newspaper as its stablemate, The Spectator magazine, clinches a £100m sale to the hedge fund tycoon Sir Paul Marshall. Sky News understands that RedBird IMI, the Abu Dhabi-backed entity which was thwarted in its efforts to buy

A clearing bank launched just three years ago is raising tens of millions of pounds of fresh funding just days after it was served with a winding-up petition by the UK tax authorities. Sky News understands that The Bank of London, which attempted to rescue Silicon Valley Bank UK last year, is progressing plans for

More than 100 Body Shop stores have been saved from closure after a deal was struck to rescue one of Britain’s best known high street chains. The well-known retailer was bought out of administration by a consortium led by “Cosmetics King” Mike Jatania. The millionaire tycoon’s investment firm Aurea announced the completion of the acquisition

The Aston Martin Formula One team is to set a new valuation benchmark by selling a large stake to two of the world’s most prominent investment funds. Sky News can exclusively reveal that HPS Investment Partners, a US-based firm which manages roughly $115bn in assets, and Accel, one of the giants of the Silicon Valley

Three out of four parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have been forced to give up work, or cut their hours, Sky News has learned. In a survey of more than 500 people, two out of five (40%) had to leave their jobs, and more than one in three (33%) reduced

The UK economy would need investment of £1trn pounds over a decade for an annual growth rate of 3% to be achieved, according to a business lobby group. The Capital Markets Industry Taskforce (CMIT), which represents leaders in the financial services sphere, said £100bn a year must be found to help the country catch up

The new owners of The Body Shop are lining up tens of millions of pounds in new financing as they finalise a deal to buy the chain out of administration. Sky News has learnt that Aurea, an investment company led by Mike Jatania, a cosmetics entrepreneur, is in advanced talks to secure more than £30m

Royal Mail may not be obligated to deliver second class letters on a Saturday in future, under plans being considered by the industry regulator. Ofcom, which launched a consultation on the company’s universal service obligation (USO) earlier this year, said such a shift would protect priority deliveries, including first class mail, and help loss-making Royal

An American investment firm has joined forces with one of the remaining bidders for Cala Group, the privately owned housebuilder which has been put on the market. Sky News understands that Sixth Street has teamed up with Patron Capital Partners – Cala’s former owner – in an effort to trump a rival offer from Persimmon,

Water company bosses could face up to two years in prison and be banned from taking bonuses under the new government’s first major proposals to crack down on England’s sewage, chemical and manure infested waterways. The new Water (Special Measures) Bill is designed to beef up feeble regulators so they can take on water companies

Senior business leaders have welcomed discussions with Angela Rayner over proposals to improve workers’ rights as “positive”, but warned the “devil will be in the detail” of legislation due to be put before Parliament next month. The deputy prime minister and business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, met the bosses of major employers including John Lewis, Octopus,

Bidders for The Daily Telegraph and its Sunday sister title are this week holding their first direct talks with the newspaper group’s bosses ahead of a deadline for formal bids later this month. Sky News has learnt that the remaining bidders for the right-leaning newspapers are participating in management presentations as they seek to finalise

American tech giant Hewlett Packard has said it is to continue with legal proceedings “through to their conclusion” to seek up to £3bn in damages from late British billionaire Mike Lynch’s estate in the UK. The company had been seeking compensation over its acquisition of British tech firm Autonomy amid claims of fraud masterminded by

The Reform Party leader Nigel Farage will this week embark on a renewed drive to raise millions of pounds to “professionalise” its operations two months after it won five seats at the general election. Sky News understands that Mr Farage will attend a fundraising event hosted by Holly Candy, the former Neighbours actress, on Wednesday

Shares in Rightmove, the online property portal, have risen sharply on confirmation of bid interest from an Australian rival majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. REA Group said early on Monday that it was considering a takeover proposal to create a globally-focused real estate company. Any bid would likely comprise a cash and shares offer.

Labour is facing a drop off in confidence among business leaders amid plans for tax rises and improvements to workers’ rights, according to a survey. The Institute of Directors (IoD) had noted a leap in optimism in July among its membership as the new government came to power. But its latest economic confidence index showed

The government has promised to look into dynamic ticket pricing, after the cost of tickets for the Oasis reunion tour more than doubled while on sale. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy described the selling of inflated Oasis tickets as “incredibly depressing” as she said surge pricing would be included in a government review of the secondary

A full-fibre broadband builder is accelerating its search for merger partners amid growing financial strains on some of the industry’s smaller players. Sky News understands that Zzoomm, which is backed by the giant US-based investor Oaktree Capital Management, has drafted in Acuity Advisors, a specialist technology firm, to identify prospective deals. Zzoomm operates in nearly

The economy could have crashed had the government not found savings by cutting winter fuel payments for pensioners, a minister has said. Lucy Powell told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that the loss of the benefit, which will now be means tested, was necessary because of a “£22bn blackhole” left behind by the Conservatives. Politics