Business

The Premier League is drawing up plans to present its clubs with fresh proposals for a financial settlement with the English Football League (EFL) as soon as next month. Sky News has learnt that a meeting of the top flight’s shareholders on November 22 is expected to include a discussion on a range of new

The amount employers pay in national insurance is set to rise in next week’s budget to raise money for public services, Sky News understands. Reports have suggested it could be increased by up to two percentage points and will – in part – be used to help fund the NHS. A government source told Sky

Mitie Group, the London-listed outsourcer, has kicked off a search for a successor to Derek Mapp, its long-serving chairman. Sky News has learnt that the FTSE-250 company is working with the search firm MWM Consulting on a hunt for Mr Mapp’s replacement. Potential candidates have started being sounded out in the last few weeks, according

The chancellor will need to spend an extra £20bn by the end of the parliament to maintain public investment at its present levels. Rachel Reeves has promised to unveil a “budget for investment” next week, while reversing the “years of underinvestment” overseen by the previous Conservative government. However, this would involve taking on billions of

Frasers Group, the owner of Sports Direct, House of Fraser and Flannels, has written to Boohoo ordering it to sack its chief executive and appoint Frasers founder Mike Ashley instead. Boohoo, the online fast fashion retailer, had ignored a private Frasers request to install Mr Ashley, according to an open letter from Frasers Group to

The energy supplier which rescued rival Bulb after its collapse in 2021 has repaid the final tranche of government support provided to secure the deal, delivering what it will say this week amounted to an unexpected £1.5bn profit for taxpayers. Sky News has learnt that Octopus Energy will announce on Thursday that it has paid

Folkestone has been drawing in crowds in recent years with regeneration and private developments transforming parts of this port town on the Kent coast. But many residents will tell you that the fabric of this community is being torn apart. Local services are deteriorating and have been for some time. Leisure centres have shut down

One person has died and 10 have been hospitalised after an outbreak of E. coli linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said. Infections were reported between 27 September and 11 October across 10 US states; Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin and

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upgraded its projection for UK growth this year by 0.4% to 1.1% – the largest upward revision for any advanced economy. In a boost to Chancellor Rachel Reeves as she prepares to travel to Washington for the IMF’s annual meeting this week, its latest world economic outlook predicts strengthening

Bonuses to water company bosses rose this year to £9.1m – despite record sewage discharges and financial woes at some utilities. Executives from English and Welsh water firms received a total of £9,126,858 in the 2023/2024 financial year, up from £9,012,777 a year earlier, according to analysis of company filings done by the Liberal Democrats.

The prospects of a rescue deal being struck for a British hypersonic aviation pioneer appeared to recede this weekend when it emerged that talks with a Gulf-based state fund had stalled. Sky News has learnt that negotiations between Reaction Engines and the UAE’s Strategic Development Fund, the investment arm of the UAE’s Tawazun Council, about

Ministers will oversee the HS2 project as the cost of delivering the high-speed train line has been allowed to “spiral out of control”, the transport secretary has said. Louise Haigh announced on Sunday she has launched an independent review into how costs have been allowed to balloon “without sufficient explanation”. The transport secretary and her

Ministers are exploring plans to hand ownership of the Post Office to thousands of sub-postmasters across Britain in an historic shake-up at the 364 year-old institution. Sky News has learnt that the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has asked BCG, the management consultancy, to examine options for mutualising the Post Office. The work is

Tony Danker, the former director-general of the CBI, is to receive in the region of £500,000 from the business lobbying group in a settlement reached nearly a year after he was ousted in the midst of a wider sexual misconduct scandal. Sky News has learnt that Mr Danker, who left the organisation in April 2023,

The founder of BrewDog has claimed that entrepreneurs will abandon Britain if capital gains tax is increased. James Watt, the founder of the brewery and pub chain, told Sky News that a significant rise in the tax “will do far more damage to our economy” and deal a hammer blow to the prosperity of every

Overhauling workers’ rights could cost businesses around £5bn a year, the government has said. The Employment Rights Bill, which aims to tackle low pay and poor working conditions, is being debated by MPs today as it passes through its next stage in parliament. Within the bill are a series of reforms branded the biggest overhaul

Baillie Gifford, the Edinburgh-based fund manager, has told staff to return to full-time office working, the latest in a string of employers to cool on pandemic era remote working practices. Sky News understands that Baillie Gifford’s roughly-1,800 employees were notified in a video call several weeks ago that they were expected to attend its offices

A collection of bondholders in Thames Water are mobilising to protect their interests amid an intensifying battle to avert the company’s nationalisation. Sky News has learnt that Class B bondholders were notified on Thursday they would no longer be part of the same group as the Class A noteholders represented by Jefferies, the investment bank,

The owner of Wagamama has begun exploring a £300m refinancing as it seeks to reduce its borrowing costs by locking in lower interest rates. Sky News has learnt that The Restaurant Group (TRG), which delisted from the London Stock Exchange last year after being bought by Apollo Global Management, is in talks with banks about

Britain’s new National Wealth Fund has struck a £1bn deal with two of Britain’s biggest high street lenders to retrofit thousands of homes to upgrade their energy-efficiency. Sky News has learnt that the government-backed vehicle has agreed with Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group to provide partial guarantees on loans to housing associations across Britain. An