Business

A financial services giant backed by an Abu Dhabi state investment fund is the latest suitor to emerge as a contender to swoop on parts of the stricken London-listed company MJ Hudson. Sky News has learnt that Apex Group, which is based in Bermuda and has around 12,000 employees, plans to table an offer next

The UK’s biggest retailers will next week warn Rishi Sunak that the government’s waste strategy risks forcing prices up for consumers even as continued inflationary pressures exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis. Sky News has obtained the draft of a letter from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) – expected to be sent to the prime minister next

In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western leaders heralded a sanctions regime that would cripple the country’s war machine. Joe Biden claimed Russia’s economy would be “cut in half”, while Boris Johnson spoke of squeezing it “piece by piece.” A year has passed, but that great promise has been slow to deliver. Please

British tomatoes will likely remain scarce until the end of April or even early May, the UK’s largest grower has warned. It comes after Tesco and Aldi became the latest supermarkets to place limits on some fruit and vegetables customers can buy due to supply shortages. The soaring cost of energy, and fertiliser also derived

Theft by employees has jumped by 19% amid warnings that the rising cost of living is triggering a wave of workplace crime, new data suggests. Almost 6,000 people were caught stealing from their employer in 2022 – up from 5,000 the year before. Incidents range from the petty pilfering of office supplies to theft of

British Steel has revealed it is to cut 260 jobs, almost 7% of its workforce, despite continuing government funding talks with its Chinese owners. It was announced that the losses would be felt at its Scunthorpe plant through the closure of its coking ovens – used to turn coal into the high-temperature product needed to

Government officials will this week fly to China in an effort to convince the owner of British Steel to finalise plans for a state funding package amid hundreds of job cuts at the company. Sky News has learnt that civil servants from the Department for Business and Trade are travelling to meet executives from Jingye

Public borrowing in the financial year to date is £30.6bn less than predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), according to the last set of official figures before next month’s budget. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a £5.4bn surplus for the chancellor in January – aided by the highest January figure for

The global payment giants Mastercard and Visa are facing the latest in a string of multibillion-pound competition lawsuits with the launch of a potentially vast class action claim on behalf of British companies. Sky News has learnt that Harcus Parker, a London-based commercial litigation law firm, is close to filing what it believes will be

Virgin Media O2 and its shareholders are exploring a takeover bid for Trooli, one of the UK’s army of ‘altnet’ fibre broadband companies. Sky News has learnt that the telecoms giant, which is jointly owned by Liberty Global and Spain’s Telefonica, is among a substantial number of parties examining offers for Trooli as part of

Planet Organic, the organic supermarket chain, has drafted in City advisers to explore a possible sale. Sky News has learnt that Planet Organic, which was founded in 1995 by Renee Elliot, is working with Interpath on a review of its strategic options. A source close to the process said this weekend that the company was

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