Business

The four contenders vying to buy Chelsea Football Club will submit final bids on April 11, paving the way for a prospective new owner to seek government permission to take over from Roman Abramovich by the end of next month. Sky News has learnt that the remaining contenders have been notified by Raine Group, the

Hundreds of people have demonstrated against P&O Ferries’ sacking of 800 staff at ports across the UK, with some chanting: “P&O, shame on you.” Protesters carrying banners and placards gathered in Dover, Liverpool, and Hull as part of what they called the “fight for justice” for the seafarers dismissed without notice earlier this month. The

A P&O ferry has been detained in Larne, Northern Ireland, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The agency said the ship, the European Causeway, was held “due to failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training”. In a statement it said: “The vessel will remain under detention until all these issues are resolved

The owners of the Chicago Cubs are drafting in a heavyweight investment bank as they attempt to salvage their bid to buy Chelsea Football Club. Sky News has learnt that the Ricketts family and Ken Griffin, the Citadel hedge fund billionaire, are in talks to appoint Lazard to advise on their offer for the Stamford

The US has inked a landmark deal with the European Union to deliver an additional 15 billion cubic meters (bcm) of liquified natural gas (LNG) this year, and increase its supplies over the coming years, in a bid to wean Europe off of its dependence on Russian energy. Working with international partners, the US will also work to

A string of bidders for Chelsea Football Club including the former US ambassador to the UK have been eliminated from the £3bn auction of last season’s Champions League winners as the hunt intensifies to find Roman Abramovich’s successor as owner. Sky News has learnt that a number of bidders including Woody Johnson, owner of the

The chief executive of P&O Ferries will face questions from MPs later after the controversial sacking of nearly 800 workers last week. Peter Hebblethwaite will appear before a joint hearing of the transport and business committees and is expected to be questioned about the legality of the dismissals. Mr Hebblethwaite has apologised for the impact

Budgets – and let’s make no bones about it, today’s Spring Statement was significant enough to qualify as a budget – tend to follow a time-honoured pattern. The chancellor unveils his measures, makes a big noise about them in the House of Commons, and then – sometimes over a few hours, sometimes over a few

A change in the law signed off by former Conservative minister Chris Grayling cleared the way for P&O Ferries to legally sack 800 staff last week without telling the government, a leading maritime lawyer has told Sky News. Legislation to protect employees in the UK was amended by Mr Grayling in 2018 so that the

One of these days, Rishi Sunak will produce a fiscal statement which lays out his vision for the nation. We will hear about his plans for skills, for productivity, dynamic enterprise and entrepreneurship. But this is not going to be one of those days. Ever since he took office, the chancellor has had to confront

The UK supply arm of Russia’s state-owned gas firm Gazprom is expected to be placed under taxpayer control within days as customers attempt to flee the firm in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine. Gazprom Energy supplies over a fifth of gas used by commercial and public sector customers in the UK including companies like

800 P&O Ferries workers fired suddenly last week are only being given redundancy pay on the condition they sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), according to the Transport Secretary. Grant Shapps told the House of Commons that the company is using the agreements to try and “keep the employees quiet” while behaving in a “shameful and unacceptable

The Indian-born businessman who owns the Sacramento Kings basketball team has joined forces with the former British Airways chairman Sir Martin Broughton in his effort to buy Chelsea Football Club. Sky News has learnt that Vivek Ranadive, who made a fortune from the technology industry, has agreed to make a minority investment in the Premier

Rishi Sunak is pledging a £5.5bn crackdown on Whitehall waste as he faces pressure to tackle the cost of living crisis in his mini-budget. Ahead of his spring statement on Wednesday, the chancellor claims the efficiency savings will both curb inflation and fund vital public services. “During these challenging times it’s vital that every single

One of the largest shareholders in Pendragon has been thwarted in a £400m takeover raid on the London-listed car dealership giant. Sky News can reveal that Hedin Group, which operates more than 200 vehicle showrooms in Belgium, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland through its subsidiary Hedin Bil, tabled a secret 28p-a-share offer for Pendragon several weeks

The 9pm deadline for bids to buy Chelsea has passed, with consortiums led by Nick Candy, the Ricketts family and Sir Martin Broughton and Lord Sebastian Coe among the bidders. The sale has come amid UK and EU sanctions on Roman Abramovich following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Chelsea also under a number of restrictions.

The London property entrepreneur Nick Candy is lining up backing from two South Korean groups as he prepares to lodge a takeover bid for Chelsea Football Club. Sky News has learnt that Hana Financial Group, a major Seoul-based lender, and C&P Sports, a sports management firm, were on Friday in discussions about joining Mr Candy’s

Two and a half million households with children will be in fuel poverty once the new energy price cap comes into effect on 1 April, according to estimates from the End Fuel Poverty Coalition. That’s equivalent to two in five households, and it rises to more than half if we look just at single-parent homes.

All remaining COVID travel measures, including the Passenger Locator Form and tests for unvaccinated arrivals, have now ended in the UK. A range of “contingency measures” will be kept in reserve so ministers can take “swift and proportionate action” if needed to tackle new variants, according to the Department for Transport. It is understood that

The Bank of England has hiked the interest rate by 0.25% to 0.75% as it forecast inflation surging to 8% next month – and even higher in the autumn. It is the third increase in a row in as many policy meetings by the bank’s rate-setters and restores the cost of borrowing to pre-pandemic levels.