Business

With the cost of running household appliance set to rocket this winter, consumer watchdog Which? has come up with a list of ways to head off the price hikes. The energy price cap is due to rise 80% in October, after the regulator, Ofgem, said the average household’s yearly bill can be raised from £1,971

Liz Truss has said she is ready to take “tough decisions” and “immediate action” on energy bills during her first week in office, if she becomes prime minister. There have been ever-louder calls in recent weeks for the government to intervene to support the most vulnerable, with energy bills set to rise to around £3,500

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

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

BrewDog has announced it will close six of its pubs, blaming spiralling costs and a “clueless government”. The craft beer firm will shut the Hop and Anchor in Aberdeen, Smithfield Market Arms in London, Hop Hub in Motherwell and its BrewDog bars in Dalston, east London; Old Street, east London; and Peterhead, Scotland. James Watt,

The Co-op has sold its petrol station business to supermarket giant Asda for £600m, it announced on Wednesday, saying the deal would free up cash for the company and strengthen its financial position. The deal includes 129 petrol forecourt sites across the country, representing 5% of Co-op’s total retail portfolio of 2,564 stores. The company

Transport for London has secured around £1.2bn in funding from the government, but the city’s mayor has warned the agreement is “far from ideal”. The funding package replaces TfL’s last bailout, which was the fourth since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Andy Byford, Transport for London commissioner, said the agreement, which

British households borrowed on their credit cards last month at the fastest annual rate in over 17 years, a potential reflection of consumers struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living crisis intensifies. According to data from the Bank of England, the annual rate of credit card borrowing in July was 13% higher

Energy price increases of more than 300% are in danger of forcing pubs and brewers across the UK out of business in the coming months, industry leaders have said. Unlike domestic customers, who are facing an 80% increase in average bills in October, businesses operate without any sort of regulated price cap, with some pub

The worst airline for delays at UK airports last year was Wizz Air, an investigation has found. Its departures were an average 14 minutes and 24 seconds behind schedule in 2021, according to analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data. The Hungarian company operates from 10 UK airports including Gatwick, Luton and Cardiff. Tui was

Millions of people in the UK will not turn their heating on this winter because of rising energy bills, a survey suggests. The poll, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, showed 23% of adults plan to take this drastic move, rising to 27% for those with children at home. The results also showed 23% would be