Business

The chancellor has ruled out mortgage bill support for fear it would increase inflation. Answering questions in the House of Commons, Jeremy Hunt told MPs that “schemes which involve injecting large amounts of cash into the economy, right now will be inflationary”. Despite expressing sympathy for people with higher mortgage costs he said, “we won’t

The pace of grocery inflation has eased to its slowest monthly rate this year, according to industry data that backs hopes the worst may be over. Kantar Worldpanel, which tracks supermarket sales and prices, reported a rate of 16.5% over the four weeks to 11 June. That was down from the 17.2% figure revealed a

It’s too early to talk about job losses, as part of a deal that would create the UK’s biggest mobile phone operator, the Vodafone UK chief executive exclusively told Sky’s Ian King Live programme. “Some roles” might be impacted by the merger with Three, Ahmed Essam said, in his first interview since the deal was

Thousands of jobs could be created in Scotland under a Labour proposal to create a publicly-owned clean energy company with its headquarters north of the border, the leader of the opposition has said. Sir Keir Starmer set out his proposal to launch Great British Energy (GBN) during his party conference speech in Liverpool last year

A robotics start-up in which the online grocer Ocado is a sizeable shareholder is this weekend on the brink of collapse. Sky News has learnt that Karakuri, which developed technology capable of assembling ready-meals for food industry clients, is on the brink of filing a notice of intention to appoint administrators. City sources said that

Britain is facing a deepening “mortgage crunch”, with households already wrestling with the cost of living crisis facing yet a further squeeze on their budgets. It has been warned that those renewing their property loans next year will end up paying out on average an extra £2,900 annually. Most expensive items in a summer BBQ

The bosses of Britain’s biggest banks have told Rishi Sunak that technology companies must contribute to the cost of an online fraud “pandemic” that is undermining international investor confidence in the UK economy. Sky News has obtained a letter to the prime minister signed by the chief executives of nine lenders, including Barclays, NatWest and

Annual mortgage repayments are set to rise by £2,900 for the average household remortgaging next year, according to a think tank. As the UK’s “mortgage crunch” deepens, total annual mortgage repayments could rise by £15.8bn by 2026, the Resolution Foundation said. Prolonged inflation has raised expectations that the Bank of England’s base rate-rising cycle, which

Tesco has reported “encouraging early signs” that grocery inflation is starting to ease while revealing a leap in sales. The UK’s largest retailer said there was a slowdown in price growth across the market and it was continuing to focus on value for its customers. The company updated on its performance as the food sector

Millions of people were left waiting too long for energy support due to a lack of government “bandwidth”, according to a report from the cross-party Public Accounts Committee. More than a million households became eligible for support too late, while a further two million homes using prepayment meters have yet to redeem their £400 voucher,

The operator of Britain’s electricity system says it is to keep a scheme that aims to help prevent blackouts for the coming winter. National Grid ESO said it was “prudent to maintain” the demand flexibility service (DFS), which was introduced in 2022 in the wake of Europe’s gas squeeze caused by the war in Ukraine.

English football’s biggest clubs have been asked to vote on a proposal to hand tens of millions of pounds in additional funding to the wider game. Sky News has learnt that the 20 top-flight clubs, including Treble-winners Manchester City, have been balloted on whether to make permanent an extra funding package that was set up

Premier League revenue growth has continued to outpace that of its main European rivals, according to an eagerly-awaited report that also warns Championship sides are “living beyond their means”. Deloitte’s annual review of football finances showed that combined club revenue in England’s top tier rose by 12% to a record £5.5bn during the 2021/22 season.

The UK economy shrugged off the impact of strikes to return to growth in April, according to official figures charting a pick-up in spending at the shops and in bars and restaurants. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) measured growth of 0.2% following a contraction of 0.3% in the previous month. It reported growth over

Cineworld’s London-listed holding company is preparing to file for administration as part of a comprehensive financial restructuring that will wipe out its shareholders. Sky News understands that the multinational cinema operator is lining up AlixPartners to act as administrator to help effect a transfer of ownership to its lenders. An announcement is expected to be

Next weekend’s security staff strikes at Heathrow have been postponed as Unite, the union, considers a pay offer. Last week security staff at the UK’s largest airport announced an escalation of strike action, with walkouts to take place nearly every weekend from mid-June to the end of August. Two thousand staff were due to strike

Basic wage increases picked up pace at a higher rate than expected in the 12 months to April, according to the latest official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said average earnings, excluding bonuses, grew at 7.2% over the 12 months – up from the 6.7% recorded in March and higher than the 6.9%

Some of Reddit’s most popular communities are going dark today in protest against “ludicrous” pricing changes. The platform’s main subreddits for gaming, which has more than 37 million members; music, which has 32.3 million; and r/todayilearned, a page dedicated to sharing facts with 31.8 million users are among those shutting down. Pages dedicated to specific

The prime minister is lining up a technology entrepreneur who co-founded the music industry business Songkick to spearhead a £100m government taskforce set up to forge Britain’s future artificial intelligence capability. Sky News has learnt that Ian Hogarth, who is now an investor in dozens of start-ups, is a leading candidate to chair the Foundation

Homeowners are being hit with a “Tory mortgage penalty” of £7,000, Labour has claimed, with interest rates triple what they were two years ago. Pat McFadden, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, blamed what he called the “reckless economic gamble” taken by Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng during their short stint in power. Labour’s analysis