Business

This is starting to look a little… unnerving. This morning the Bank of England tweaked its emergency intervention into the government bond (gilts) market for a second successive day. The details are somewhat arcane: yesterday it doubled the amount it was offering to buy each day; today it said it would widen the stock of

The acquisition by Morrisons of McColl’s, one of Britain’s biggest convenience store chains, has edged closer to being given the go-ahead by the competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority has said it is “minded to accept” proposals from the retailers. A total of 28 McColl’s stores could be offloaded as part of the proposals

The Bank of England has announced it is doubling the value of UK government bonds it can buy up as it enters the final days of its emergency bond buying programme in an effort to support the pension market and allay fears of a cliff edge ending. The Bank said it was now ready to

A former boss of crisis-hit Wasps is spearheading a takeover bid for the Premiership Rugby club that could save it from the threat of relegation or extinction. Sky News has learnt that David Armstrong, who stepped down as Wasps’ chief executive in 2017, is working with Terminum Capital, an investment firm, on a bid to

Octopus Energy is close to clinching a takeover of stricken rival Bulb in a deal that will crystallise up to £4bn of losses for British taxpayers. Sky News has learnt that ministers at the Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have been told that a sale of Bulb’s 1.6m-strong customer

Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor, has ruled out tearing up the regime put in place to segregate high street lenders’ investment banking arms that was put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. Sky News has learnt that Mr Kwarteng told a gathering of industry chief executives this week that bank ring-fencing would not be scrapped

The interest rate on a typical two-year fixed-rate mortgage has broken 6% for the first time in 14 years. The sudden rise has left first-time buyers with few affordable mortgage options, and those looking to re-mortgage facing huge increases in their monthly repayments. On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson speaks to two people whose

The pound’s value ebbed and flowed on Friday – supported by a Bank of England deputy governor’s vow to persist in the fight against inflation but later hammered as stronger than expected US jobs data lifted the dollar. Remarks by Sir Dave Ramsden, a member of the monetary policy committee (MPC) which sets Bank rate,

The number of company insolvencies in England and Wales hit its highest level for 13 years in the second quarter of the year, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recorded a total of 5,629 business failures between April and June. It was the highest quarterly number since the third quarter of

September saw the slowest retail sales growth since shops reopened post-COVID restrictions due to a combination of inflation, economic crisis and an uexpected bank holiday, figures show. In-store and online sales increased by just 2.8% in September on last year, according to BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker (HSST). It comes after a similar poor set

The UK’s biggest mortgage lenders will urge the chancellor to extend a government home loans initiative which helps first-time buyers get onto the property ladder. Sky News understands that executives from major banks and Nationwide, Britain’s biggest building society, will ask Kwasi Kwarteng to commit to renewing the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, which is scheduled to

“Stealthy” freezes to tax and welfare thresholds will outweigh any benefits people will get from the government’s plan to cut taxes, according to economists. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a raft of measures in his mini-budget last month, including cutting the basic rate of income tax by 1p and reversing the increase to National Insurance, brought

Executives from Britain’s biggest high street banks have been summoned for talks with Kwasi Kwarteng amid concerns about the impact of recent financial turmoil on the mortgage market. Sky News has learnt that the Treasury has convened a meeting on Thursday at which the chancellor is expected to quiz lenders on their plans. City sources

Motorists are being denied a further 10p cut in petrol prices because retailers have hiked their profit margins, according to the RAC. The motoring organisation said a further oil price fall in September pushed down the average price at forecourts nearly 7p to 162.9p. It was the sixth biggest monthly drop since 2000, but the

There is a mounting risk that fuel prices could soon begin to rise again as major oil-producing countries ponder a big cut in output. The Opec+ cartel, which includes Saudi Arabia and Russia among its main members, is expected by markets to reveal this week a collective target to reduce delivery by more than one

Only 1 in 25 of CEOs in Britain’s largest publicly companies are women, according to a new report. Analysis of senior leadership in the FTSE 350 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange showed 96% of CEOs are men. This is despite the entry level recruitment often being close to 50:50, according to analysis

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has confirmed that the government is axing plans to give the wealthiest 1% a tax cut following a bitter backlash from Tory MPs. Mr Kwarteng said in a tweet that the measure had become a “distraction” from his objective to grow the economy. He said: “We get it, we have listened.” Politics

Leaves on the line disrupting train services promise to be a thing of the past for many more travellers with new technology being introduced by a major train operator. Northern, which runs nearly 2,000 daily services, is fitting a system to 16 passenger trains which will combat slippery rails by spraying water onto them. The

Elon Musk has unveiled a prototype of Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus, which the electric car maker aims to mass produce in the millions and sell for under £18,000. The billionaire tycoon said he expected the company would be ready to take orders in three to five years. Musk said the venture could outstrip that of

The owners of Britain’s second-biggest steel producer are seeking an urgent package of financial support from taxpayers amid renewed fears for thousands of industrial jobs in the north of England. Sky News has learnt that Jingye Group, which bought British Steel out of insolvency in 2020, has told ministers that the company’s two blast furnaces