Business

Airbus and Rolls-Royce have secured contracts to support a record order for new planes by Air India. The order, for 220 Boeing and 250 Airbus aircraft over several years, will benefit both Airbus and engine supplier Rolls-Royce in the UK, the government said. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said the wings, designed by

Ford has announced that 1,300 jobs, a fifth of the workforce, is being cut from its UK business as part of a Europe-wide overhaul. The majority of the UK losses will be at the Ford site in Dunton, Essex – its UK headquarters and technical centre. Up to 1,000 jobs are to be axed at

Lilt is being axed after nearly 50 years and will be rebranded as Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit. The drink is famous for offering a “totally tropical taste”, with one well-known 1988 advert showing the “Lilt man” delivering cans on a sun-kissed beach. “The Lilt ladies”, played by two Jamaican women, became the face of the

A union representing hundreds of workers at an Amazon warehouse has revealed plans for seven more strike days. The GMB union said its members in Coventry would now take further industrial action on 28 February, 2 March and between 13-17 March. It marked an escalation in their pay fight, which began with a 24-hour strike

The crisis engulfing MJ Hudson, the stricken asset management services provider, will deepen on Monday when it discloses that its auditor has resigned. Sky News has learnt that the London-listed company will announce that EY has quit less than 18 months after being appointed. The timing of EY’s resignation, coming so soon after its appointment,

Hunter Boot, the royal warrant-holding footwear brand, is close to landing a multimillion pound funding lifeline that could pave the way for an outright sale. Sky News has learnt that Hunter is nearing a deal that will see existing shareholders injecting £5m, with lenders contributing a further £2m. The financing, which is expected to be

Castore, the British sportswear brand backed by Sir Andy Murray, is in talks with investors about a $200m fundraising as it intensifies its battle with global rivals Adidas and Nike. Sky News has learnt that the Manchester-based business, which was founded by Liverpudlian brothers Phil and Tom Beahon, is working with bankers on plans to

Wilfred Frost stands in for Ian King this week and discusses the UK avoiding a recession by the thinnest of margins. He also talks to Auto Trader’s commercial director Ian Plummer about figures suggesting the current global economic difficulties are now hitting the used car market. And with The Brit Awards celebrating the best of

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has not ruled out increasing pay offers to public sector workers, but warned that giving more money to teachers and nurses could entrench high inflation. Speaking as it was revealed the UK economy narrowly avoided recession in 2022, Mr Hunt also indicated he would resist pressure to cancel a planned cut to

Takeaway delivery platform Deliveroo has announced it is to cut roughly 350 jobs, equivalent to about 9% of the company workforce. Roles across the global Deliveroo business will be impacted, founder and chief executive Will Shu told staff, but it is understood that UK employees will be worst hit by the losses. The majority of

The governor of the Bank of England has told MPs that its forecasts for inflation to more than halve this year are at risk from price and wage-setting as unions continue to demand large public sector settlements. Andrew Bailey was speaking after the Bank raised its base level of interest rates to 4% from 3.5%

Tens of thousands of rail workers may return to picket lines after their union rejected revised pay offers to avert more walkouts. The RMT union had been deliberating over a 5% pay rise, backdated to January last year, along with a 4% hike for 2023. Train operators and Network Rail called it their “best and

Fixating on the short-term damage caused by Brexit is a “fake conversation”, the new Business and Trade Secretary has said, adding that it will “take time” for the shape of Britain’s new economic arrangements to become clear. In her first broadcast interview since business was added to her job brief, Kemi Badenoch told Sky News

The UK’s competition watchdog has moved a step closer to potentially blocking Microsoft’s planned $69bn (£56bn) takeover of Call of Duty gaming firm Activision. In a provisional ruling, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the proposed tie-up could lead to higher prices, fewer choices and less innovation for UK gamers. Activision responded by claiming

So farewell, then, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). This pantomime horse of a government department was created by Theresa May in 2016 on the premise that it would deliver the industrial strategy the last prime minister-but-two declared the UK had been so lacking when she assumed office in 2016. However, when Mrs

A decision on whether to introduce a so-called ‘Britcoin’ digital pound is to be made by 2025, the Treasury has announced, as a consultation paper has found one is “likely to be needed in the future”. The creation of a digital form of the currency had been the subject of a consultation paper, published on

BP has revealed it is to miss a key climate goal while announcing record annual profits. The London-based firm said its main earnings measure, underlying replacement cost profit, came in at $27.7bn (£23bn) for 2022. That is more than double the previous year’s sum despite weaker oil and gas costs knocking its performance in the

Administrators have selected a rival battery start-up based in Australia as preferred bidder for collapsed Britishvolt. EY confirmed on Monday morning that its team had chosen Recharge Industries – owned by US investment firm Scale Facilitation Partners – to acquire the “majority of the business and assets” of Britishvolt following its demise last month. The

The German automotive giant BMW is in talks with the government about a £75m funding package that would secure production of electric Minis at its Oxfordshire plant. Sky News has learnt that BMW is negotiating with officials at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) over a grant from Whitehall’s Automotive Transformation Fund.

Netflix has said that updated measures to crack down on password sharing were posted by mistake. Following widespread disappointment on social media, with many threatening to cancel their memberships, the streaming giant claimed some new account rules being trialled in other countries had accidentally been added to its help pages elsewhere. While subscribers have been