Business

Bosses at Thames Water, the UK’s largest water provider, say the company does not have the money to repay a £190m loan bill due next April. Regulator Ofwat has reiterated concerns over the amount of money the firm has borrowed, as it sits on a £14.7bn debt pile. But senior executives at the company blamed

The pace of wage growth has eased back by more than expected, according to official figures that will please interest rate-setters at the Bank of England. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported basic pay was 7.3% higher in the three months to October compared to the same period last year. That was down from

The fast-fashion giant Shein has held talks with the London Stock Exchange about the possibility of staging a blockbuster public listing in the UK, even after filing documents paving the way for a flotation in New York. Sky News has learnt Donald Tang, Shein’s executive chairman, met executives from the LSE and other stakeholders in

Millennials face being trapped for longer on surging rents, according to a report charting the impact of rising bills on various generations. Estate agency Hamptons estimates that Brits will have forked out a record £85.6bn on private rents by the end of the year – more than double the £40bn bill seen in 2010. The

Baroness Michelle Mone says she regrets denying her connection to a PPE firm awarded huge contracts during the pandemic – and which is now being investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA). Following a silence lasting almost two years, the Ultimo bra tycoon has taken part in a YouTube documentary funded by the same company,

The misuse of copyrighted music by artificial intelligence companies could exploit musicians, a former executive at a leading tech startup has warned. The technology is trained on a huge number of existing songs, which it uses to generate music based on a text prompt. Copyrighted work is already being used to train artificial intelligence models

New immigration rules could prevent universities from hiring the best international talent and send a message that the UK is “closing ranks”, higher education leaders have warned. Academics and University bodies have told Sky News an increase in the minimum salary for a skilled worker visa effectively prices out early career academics and researchers vital

Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI could face investigation by the UK’s competition regulator. The tech giant is a major investor and strengthened ties following the chatbot’s wildly successful launch in November 2022, committing another $10bn (£7.9bn) earlier this year. It is reported to own a 49% stake in the company, which is at

The UK’s average two-year mortgage rate has dipped below 6% for the first time in nearly six months. The rate now sits at 5.99%, falling from 6.01% the day before, according to Moneyfactscompare.co.uk. The last time the rate was below 6% was on 16 June 2023, when it dropped to 5.98%. The highest it has

Vodafone, EE, Three and O2 are facing a “£3bn-plus” class action claim that alleges they used their market dominance to overcharge on up to 28.2 million UK mobile phone contracts. The four largest network operators are accused of penalising loyal customers – meaning they paid more than new customers for the same services. Many contracts

Cash usage has grown for the first time in a decade as households look to balance their budgets amid the cost-of-living squeeze. Across the UK, coins and banknotes accounted for nearly a fifth (19%) of transactions in 2022, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) annual Payments Survey. Its report said: “This year’s Payments Survey

New family visa rules could leave British citizens with a foreign partner facing greater restrictions on who they can live with than migrant workers, according to leading immigration researchers. Under new rules announced by Home Secretary James Cleverly, the minimum income for British citizens who want to live with family members in the UK is

“The last thing I do before going to sleep at night is check the trains to see whether they’re running on time and then the first thing I do in the morning, before I reach for a cup of tea, is pick my phone up and check again. And then you can still get to

Adverts for three airlines have been banned by a regulator for giving consumers a misleading impression of their environmental credentials. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the Google ads seen in July for Air France, Lufthansa and Etihad must not be published again. The ad for Air France, the watchdog explained, had stated that it

One of Britain’s biggest tenpin bowling venue operators will this week disclose that it has become the latest London-listed companies to recommend a private equity-backed takeover. Sky News has learnt that Ten Entertainment, which trades from about 50 venues across the UK, is to recommend an offer from Trive Capital, a US-based buyout firm. A

The cost of a traditional Christmas dinner will rise on last year, according to a closely-watched report that is also forecasting record sales for supermarkets over the festive season. Kantar Worldpanel, which tracks sales and prices at supermarket chains, said its annual measure for the cost of the typical main meal stood at £31.71 for

Israeli authorities are investigating claims some investors may have known in advance about the Hamas plan to attack Israel on 7 October and used that information to make hundreds of millions of pounds. Research by US law professors Robert Jackson Jr and Joshua Mitts, from New York University and Columbia University respectively, found significant short-selling

Railways in northern England will get a £4bn boost to bring faster and more frequent journeys, the government has announced.  The government has pledged £3.9bn to accelerate the Transpennine Route Upgrade between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds, and York. It has already invested £3bn into the project, which is expected to deliver electrified tracks by the middle

The CBI faces a deadline next September to refinance millions of pounds of funding put in place to avert its collapse during the autumn. Sky News has learnt that a seven-figure facility put in place with banks will expire at the end of the third quarter next year. While the size of the facility is

An Abu Dhabi state-backed vehicle has moved closer to taking full control of The Daily Telegraph just hours after the launch of a regulatory probe that prevents it from removing key journalists from their posts. Sky News has learnt that RedBird IMI has given the newspaper’s board and the government notice of its intention to