Business

The digital lender Atom Bank is close to picking bankers to work on a stock market listing after calling off talks about a £700m merger with a vehicle set up by Donald Trump’s former commerce secretary. Sky News has learnt that Atom Bank is interviewing investment banks about roles on an initial public offering –

The European Central Bank (ECB) has hiked its key interest rates by an unprecedented 75 basis points, signalling that further rises are likely. On Thursday afternoon, the bank – which makes monetary policy for the eurozone and the European Union – lifted the deposit rate from zero to 0.75% and the main refinancing rate was

A typical household will pay no more than £2,500 annually for its gas and electricity bills from the start of October, Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced. In the first major policy announcement of her premiership, Ms Truss said the new price guarantee will last for two years and save the average household in England,

An unprecedented intervention in the energy market will shield households, businesses and public sector organisations from the worst of the surge in wholesale gas prices. The Truss government’s “energy price guarantee” aims to keep the bill pain facing the public at less than half the amount predicted for the winter ahead, with firms also getting

Primark has ruled out further price increases “beyond those already actioned and planned”, in a bid to protect sales in the tough economy. The discount retailer’s parent firm Associated British Foods (ABF) made the announcement as it warned of lower group profits for its next financial year, which begins later this month. The company said

Apple has launched the iPhone 14 as its “most advanced” smartphone yet – with longer battery life and a series of camera upgrades. Its four new models are between 6.1 and 6.7 inches in length, meaning they have larger screens than the iPhone 13. They can also last all day on a single charge. However,

The British pound has hit its lowest level against the US dollar in almost four decades. Just after 2pm on Wednesday, sterling fell to $1.1407, according to Refinitiv data – its lowest point since 1985. The pound has lost more than 15% against the dollar so far this year, hurt by both the dollar’s strength

The £100bn-plus energy relief package Liz Truss is expected to finalise this week is just one string in her economic bow. Here are five things you need to know about Trussonomics, the nickname some are giving to the new prime minister’s economic policy. 1. It’s a huge policy shift The first is that in one

The bosses of Britain’s biggest banks will hold talks with the new chancellor on Wednesday as he tries to exert a grip on the stalling UK economy. Sky News has learnt that Kwasi Kwarteng has convened a meeting with the chief executives of lenders including Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group just hours after

A cap on wholesale gas costs to freeze energy bills is being finalised by the government as it moves to shield households and businesses from soaring prices. It is set to be the first major policy initiative of Liz Truss’s premiership as she takes over from Boris Johnson. After months of criticism over a lack

Russia’s decision not to resume gas flows through the main Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany has prompted a surge in wholesale costs, intensifying concerns for supplies across Europe for the coming winter. State-owned Gazprom scrapped plans to restart pumping limited volumes on Saturday after a maintenance shutdown, blaming a turbine leak. The decision –

Liz Truss will go “bigger than expected” on energy after becoming the new prime minister on Tuesday, Sky News understands. The foreign secretary has won the Conservative leadership contest over rival Rishi Sunak and will succeed Boris Johnson tomorrow. Having made tax cuts a key priority during her leadership campaign, she has remained tight-lipped about

Britain’s biggest water utility is working on plans to raise additional funding just weeks after unveiling plans to tap shareholders for £1.5bn in new equity. Sky News has learnt that Thames Water has begun debating whether it needs to seek new capital to deliver the transformation plan it has set out under Sarah Bentley, its

Bus journeys in England will be capped at £2 between January and March next year to help people deal with the rising cost of living. The Department for Transport said the plan could see some passengers save more than £3 per single bus ticket. The average fare for a three-mile journey is around £2.80, the

The government has extended a national security probe into the fire-sale of a leading British mobile phone technology provider whose owners include Roman Abramovich. Sky News has learnt that officials at a division of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) are to take up to 45 additional working days to scrutinise the

Waitrose has admitted to blocking rivals from opening supermarkets in close locations for close to a decade, according to the market watchdog. During an investigation between 2010 and 2019 into supermarket practices, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that Waitrose had conspired with landlords to prevent competing companies from opening stores. The practice, which

The chancellor is preparing a multibillion-pound package of tax cuts to help businesses struggling with soaring energy costs. Nadhim Zahawi is drawing up emergency plans to save companies on the brink of collapse for the incoming prime minister, who will be named on Monday. According to The Times, the chancellor believes the government can learn

The UK will enter recession before the end of this year, with growth expected to be weak into 2024. That is the latest forecast from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), which said it expects the UK economy to record three consecutive quarters of contraction – the definition of a recession – this year. However,

The soaring US dollar has pushed the pound to its biggest monthly fall since October 2016. The pound shed 4.6% in August, having lost 14% so far this year, as concerns grow about the state of the British economy. On Thursday afternoon it hovered just above $1.15. The news was not much better against the

British households are on course for the deepest living standards squeeze in a century, with real household disposable incomes expected to fall by 10% this year and the next. The warning comes in a new report by the Resolution Foundation, which said that real earnings are falling at their fastest rate since 1997, meaning that