Business

Markets around the world were rattled on Monday morning as they digested news that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent, dealing a blow to investors already nervous about rising inflation. European indexes, including the UK’s FTSE 100, Germany’s Dax and France’s CAC 40, all fell several percentage points at the start of the

Boris Johnson is love-bombing Scots on Valentine’s Day with a pledge to boost trade and business by creating two “green freeports” north of the border. The prime minister is visiting Scotland on day one of a “levelling-up” tour of the UK which will also take him to England’s North West and North East regions this

Jack Monroe has praised Asda for cutting the cost of products in its Smartprice range – and making them more widely available. The poverty campaigner had gone viral last month after writing a Twitter thread to warn official inflation figures “grossly underestimated” the impact that the cost-of-living crisis was having on Britons with low incomes.

NatWest Group, the taxpayer-backed lender, is to start a search for a successor to Sir Howard Davies, the City grandee who has chaired it for the last seven years. Sky News has learnt that NatWest’s board has kicked off internal discussions about the launch of a process to fill what was once one of the

The cost of a homemade G&T could become more expensive as the price of popular tonic waters soars. The price of mixers made by brands such as Schweppes and Fever-Tree has increased sharply over the last month, according to shop price data from the research firm Assosia. Quoting the report, The Guardian said the price

The government has been warned it is falling dangerously behind in its plans to build a British battery industry, with manufacturing capacity forecast to be barely half the needed level by the end of the decade, according to internal documents seen by Sky News. The dossier of figures submitted to the Department for Business, Energy

US inflation has surged to its highest level in four decades according to new figures that add to pressure for interest rate hikes in the world’s biggest economy. Consumer price inflation climbed to 7.5% in January according to America’s Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS), intensifying a squeeze on consumers and wiping out the value of

Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is trying to force an arm of the tycoon Sanjeev Gupta’s UK steel empire into insolvency, casting renewed doubt on the future of a business employing close to 2000 people. Sky News has learnt that a winding-up petition against the speciality steels division of Mr Gupta’s Liberty Steel was

The economy grew at its best annual pace on record in 2021 despite a December hit from measures to control the spread of the Omicron COVID variant, early official estimates have revealed. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the pace of growth between October and December – the fourth quarter – was

Around three quarters of firms say they are putting up prices in response to surging costs such as wages, energy and raw materials, according to a new survey. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), which conducted the poll, said it highlighted the intense pressure creating a “cost of doing business crisis” for firms across the

Higher costs, more paperwork and border delays have been “the only detectable impact so far” of Brexit for British businesses, according to a new report by MPs. Trade volumes have been suppressed since the end of the transition period in December 2020 – though the COVID-19 pandemic and wider global issues were also key factors,

The energy regulator has told MPs that it estimated around £200m in household credit balances was lost through the failures of energy companies over the past year – with up to £10 set to be added to rocketing bills as a result. Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley made his remarks as the business, energy and

The $40bn deal for US tech giant Nvidia to buy UK computer chip designer Arm has collapsed after the takeover attracted regulatory hurdles on both sides of the Atlantic. Arm’s owner, the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, and the US firm said the plug had been pulled on the deal, which was first agreed two years ago,

Asda said it had “taken on board” comments by food poverty campaigner Jack Monroe as it announced it would stock low-price ranges in all of its 581 stores. Ms Monroe had highlighted, in a series of recent tweets, the lack of availability of many of the supermarket chain’s “Smart Price” products. Asda currently stocks 150

Plans for a crackdown on “cowboy” parking firms will cap many fines at £50 and introduce a new code of conduct to better protect motorists, according to the government. Ministers said that millions would benefit from an overhaul following years of complaints over unfair and extortionate charges. The package of measures will see the majority

The business secretary has again ruled out the prospect of the government cutting VAT on energy bills to provide further support as the cost of living continues to rise. Kwasi Kwarteng told Sky News the move would be “quite regressive” because “rich people will benefit just as much as people on lower incomes”. “That’s not