Business

The government is poised to shelve plans to crack down on Britain’s fast-growing ‘buy now pay later’ (BNPL) industry amid Whitehall concerns that it could curb the availability of low-interest products. Sky News has learnt that Treasury officials have been told during recent talks with the industry that a number of its biggest players could

Etsy, the global online marketplace used by millions, is facing claims from sellers it has been withholding thousands of pounds from small businesses by imposing reserves on accounts that take 75% of sellers’ income for 45 days with no warning. Sellers say the company is retaining their income with little care for how it will

Young adults and renters are some of the groups of people worst hit by rising prices as official figures show around 1 in 20 said they’d run out of food in the past 2 weeks and couldn’t afford more. Those aged 25 to 34 were at greater risk of financial vulnerability than those over the

Almost 1,000 workers at Gatwick Airport, including baggage handlers and check-in staff, will stage eight days of strikes from later this month. Staff will strike in a dispute over pay, the union Unite announced, at the start of the school summer holidays. Significant disruption, delays and cancellations are “inevitable”, the union said. The workers will

The UK’s national debt could hit 300% of GDP by the 2070s because of the string of major challenges still facing national governments after a “rapid succession of shocks”, according to a report for the Treasury. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility laid out how climate change, defence and the fact people were living longer

The economy contracted in May as the additional public holiday for the King’s coronation weighed on output, according to official figures. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed negative growth of 0.1% during the month, better than economists had predicted but continuing the yo-yo pattern seen throughout the last year that has left

Billions of pounds allocated to tackle Britain’s housing crisis has been returned to the Treasury because the housing department was unable to find projects to fund. Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) was unable to find projects for the £1.9bn of funding budgeted

The Bank of England says it expects the proportion of income UK households spend on mortgage payments to remain below levels seen during the financial crisis. Its latest Financial Stability Report declared that squeezed households were proving resilient in the face of challenges posed by rising living costs and interest rate hikes to tackle high

A new economic organisation, set up by Liz Truss, will launch on Wednesday, with a report claiming the average British person is £10,000 worse off than people in the US. The Growth Commission, made up of economists brought together by the former prime minister, said its work would focus on highlighting the issue of low

The pace of wage growth, already described as “unsustainable” by the governor of the Bank of England, has ticked up further, according to shock official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported average weekly earnings excluding bonuses hit an annual rate of 7.3% during the three months to May. That matched the highest level

The Bank of England is reiterating its forecast that inflation will fall over the rest of the year, with governor Andrew Bailey saying it will fall “markedly”. The rate of price increases will come down due to lower energy costs, which should result in falling food bills for shoppers, Mr Bailey’s Mansion House speech is

EasyJet has revealed the cancellation of 1,700 flights during the peak summer holiday season. The low cost airline indicated that, like many rivals, it had been forced to act in response to the impact of air traffic control (ATC) strikes in Europe and knock-on effects of the closure of airspace due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

The escalating row between Boohoo and Revolution Beauty, the AIM-listed retailer, is poised to intensify with a complaint to the junior stock market regulator. Sky News has learnt that Boohoo is drafting a letter to the AIM regulatory authorities demanding that Revolution clarifies an earlier stock exchange announcement that the online clothing retailer had obstructed

Britain’s biggest water company is this weekend corralling its shareholders to support a major capital injection as it prepares to publish delayed annual accounts. Sky News has learnt that Thames Water has secured backing from investors including Omers, the Canadian pension fund, and the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) for a commitment to provide new equity. Further

Heads of the UK’s biggest banks have been summoned by the UK’s financial watchdog over concerns interest rates on savings are too low. Higher Bank of England interest rates have led banks to put up mortgage costs, but savings rates are not rising as fast – a situation Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said “needs resolving”.