Business

Thousands of nurses, teachers, and doctors will find out today what pay rises they will receive as workers face a cost of living crisis and battle staff shortages. But unions have warned the government against giving pay rises that are well below the rate of inflation. There has been speculation that the offers will be

A Bank of England policymaker has said interest rates could reach 2% or higher in the next year in order to tackle inflation. Michael Saunders, a member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), said he did not think that such forecasts from financial markets were “implausible or unlikely”. “Rather than focus on a precise

Britain isn’t built for this heat. Our rail network is only engineered for temperatures up to 30C (86F). Only half our strategic roads are surfaced in heat-resistant material. And in the five years to 2021, 570,000 homes were constructed in England that are completely unsuited to the high temperatures baked into our future. Heatwaves are

The owner of one of Britain’s biggest providers of managed cloud services is to begin exploring a £500m-plus sale of the business. Sky News understands that Mayfair Equity Partners has hired investment bankers to prepare a review of strategic options for Nasstar. City sources said on Sunday that Raymond James had been appointed to oversee

Internet providers have a moral obligation to help customers through the cost of living crisis, the regulator has said. More and more families are struggling with their internet bills, which often are linked to inflation and have been going up this year. Along with everything else. Ofcom’s networks and communications group director, Lindsey Fussell, told

Nadhim Zahawi, the new chancellor, will next week throw the government’s support behind a new initiative designed to shore up London’s position as a global destination for major company flotations. Sky News has learnt that Mr Zahawi will use his speech at Tuesday’s Mansion House dinner to give his backing to the Capital Markets Industry

Virgin Media O2 has tabled an offer to buy TalkTalk that would value one of Britain’s biggest broadband providers at about £3bn. Sky News has learnt the mobile phone giant, which is jointly owned by Telefonica and Liberty Global, submitted an indicative bid for Salford-based TalkTalk in recent weeks. Discussions between the two sides are

China’s zero-COVID policy is being blamed for a return to the red for its economy, with experts warning that recovery will be hampered by the darkening outlook for output globally. The authorities said the world’s second-largest economy contracted by 2.6% between April and June compared to the previous three months. It meant that Chinese growth

Recruitment problems are at record levels as three out of four companies struggle to hire staff, according to the British Chambers of Commerce. The BCC said roughly 61% of firms were looking for staff in the second quarter, similar to 60% in the first quarter. But 76% were reporting difficulties. Some 5,700 businesses were surveyed

Train drivers at eight rail companies will strike on 30 July in a dispute over pay, their union Aslef has said. It comes a day after the RMT union said its members at rail operators and Network Rail would walk off the job for 24 hours on 27 July. Mick Whelan, Aslef general secretary, said:

Surveyors say they are seeing evidence that the housing market is starting to cool. In its monthly survey, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found that 27% of professionals reported a fall in interest from potential house buyers. It was the third consecutive month that interest from new buyers slipped. Despite this, 65% of

Workers at rail operators and Network Rail will strike for 24 hours on 27 July in a dispute over pay, the RMT union has announced. The news comes after the union rejected a pay offer from Network Rail, which it described as “paltry”, and after three rail strikes last month which crippled services across the

Spotify has bought the musical guessing game Heardle – but some fans are not happy about the takeover. The streaming giant has not disclosed what it paid, but its inspiration, a five-letter guessing game called Wordle, was sold to the New York Times for a seven-figure sum earlier this year. Heardle challenges players to identify

The widely-accepted narrative around consumer spending right now is that it is under pressure both in the United States and Europe. Retail sales figures have pointed – certainly in the UK – to a decline. The British Retail Consortium reported on Tuesday that retail sales volumes in June fell for a third consecutive month, although

The governor of the Bank of England has said he still thinks inflation will fall sharply next year. The Bank is due to start working on forecasts that will be released with its next interest rate decision on 4 August. Andrew Bailey told the treasury select committee on Monday afternoon that he expected inflation would

The pound has fallen to a two-year low as the political landscape adds to uncertainty in an economy already under strain. On Monday afternoon the pound was at US$1.1867 – its lowest level since March 2020. Just before 5pm, it had strengthened slightly to US$1.19. It comes days after Boris Johnson’s resignation as prime minister