Business

Ryanair has revealed a “sudden downturn” in Christmas bookings has prompted it to slash January flights and pencil in annual losses more than twice as large as previously expected. The Dublin-based airline disclosed the figures as it outlined the financial impact of the Omicron variant and recent government restrictions designed to tackle its spread. It

Britain’s slowing economic recovery was even weaker than previously thought over the summer, according to revised official data. The updated figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 1.1% in the third quarter, down from an earlier estimate of 1.3%. They add to more recent evidence that the

You can’t have Christmas without cardboard, or Boxing Day without a box for that matter. Corrugated board and the paper from which it’s made – fibre as it’s known in the industry – is a fundamental raw material during the festive season. Many parents will be familiar with a child enjoying the box more than

Nationwide customers are unable to send or receive money just days before Christmas. According to the building society, there is a “delay” to the transactions – but there is no need to resend them. However, Nationwide said that direct debits and standing orders are working as normal, and that people can continue to use their

New economic support for the hospitality sector “borders on insulting” and amounts to “far too little”, the Treasury has been told. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced an additional £1bn in financial support for the hospitality and leisure sectors, with every business able to claim a cash grant of £6,000 to help them survive the winter.

Manchester United Football Club is to unveil Richard Arnold as its new boss following a turbulent period that has seen the sacking of its manager and a backlash over its involvement in the abandoned European Super League (ESL). Sky News has learnt that the Premier League club could announce to the New York Stock Exchange

The UK’s tech sector has enjoyed a record year with start-ups attracting more capital than ever before, new data shows. During what was the tech sector’s best year since 2014, some £29.4bn was raised by start-ups and scale-ups, according to figures prepared for the government’s Digital Economy Council, which were released on Monday. That was

Additional funding to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland has been doubled – after the health secretary refused to rule out a two-week circuit-breaker lockdown. The devolved administrations can now spend an additional £860m, the Treasury said, after extra measures and guidance to tackle Omicron were announced by the first ministers

Sir Dave Lewis, the former Tesco chief, will this week be appointed to lead the £40bn separation of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) consumer healthcare arm. Sky News has learnt that Sir Dave, who became one of Britain’s most respected corporate figures during his six years running Britain’s biggest retailer, has agreed to become non-executive chairman of the

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has drafted in headhunters to shape a three-way internal contest to become its next chief executive – a process that could see the appointment of the first female boss in the chain’s 137-year history. Sky News has learnt that M&S’s nominations committee has hired MWM Consulting, a leading search firm, to

In Bristol, the last full working Friday before Christmas didn’t feel like it. A day informally reserved for sneaky shopping, long-lunches and perhaps a stagger home still wearing a party hat looked more like a Sunday. Restaurants and bars that have been banking on December trade found themselves wondering where the next customer was coming

Chancellor Rishi Sunak and his team has held meetings with business leaders as pressure mounts on the government to provide assistance to companies impacted by the Omicron variant. Mr Sunak cut short his trip to the US to hold more talks with business chiefs in response to the fresh COVID crisis on Friday. He and

The Bank of England’s interest rate hike will add to monthly mortgage payments for millions of borrowers. Industry body UK Finance estimates that 26% of home loans are on variable rates, translating to around two million. Of those, some 850,000 have tracker deals directly linked to the Bank rate, whose monthly repayments will typically rise

The Bank of England has announced a pre-Christmas interest rate hike from 0.1% to 0.25% despite fears over the economic impact of the Omicron variant. Officials have been under pressure to act with inflation at a ten-year high but many observers still thought the Bank would hold fire as the new wave of COVID-19 cases

The central bank of the United States has signalled it could raise interest rates three times next year. In an abrupt policy shift, the Federal Reserve has said will quicken the pace at which it withdraws support for the post-pandemic US economy as inflation surges. It announced on Wednesday it will shrink its monthly bond

Inflation surged to 5.1% last month, hitting a fresh decade high as the cost of living squeeze on households intensified. The consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation in November was up from 4.2% in October and well ahead of expectations that it would hit 4.7%. It has not been higher since September 2011. It

All 11 countries on the travel red list will be removed as the system is “less effective in slowing the incursion” of the Omicron variant, Sajid Javid has announced. The health secretary told the Commons the countries will be removed from 4am on Wednesday, so passengers from those nations will no longer have to isolate

Britain should be “ready to redeploy” furlough aid if it faces a virulent COVID-19 wave requiring widespread lockdowns, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. The IMF said fresh waves of the pandemic and the uncertainty they bring represented the “major risk” to the economic outlook. It pointed to a “mild slowdown” in growth in

Ministers are facing a backlash from business over fears of the UK sliding into “lockdown by stealth”. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and pub chain Wetherspoons both used the term as they warned over the indirect impact of Plan B restrictions and rhetoric being used by officials about the pandemic. Tony Danker, the CBI’s

Wetherspoons has warned of a profits hit as tightening COVID restrictions and calls for even tougher measures “affect customer sentiment and trade”. The pub chain said its six-month results “may be loss-making or marginally profitable”, criticising “arbitrary changes of direction” by the government. Wetherspoons had already warned last month that some cautious older drinkers were