Business

An influential Manchester United supporters’ group has demanded that the club’s owners revive plans for a fan share scheme, which remains on ice nearly three-and-a-half years after it was initially promised. Sky News has learnt that the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST) wrote to Joel Glazer, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Omar Berrada, the club’s new

Post Office campaigner Sir Alan Bates is yet to receive a reply from Sir Keir Starmer, despite writing to him over a month ago. Sir Alan said he had written to the prime minister to remind him the “clock is still ticking” on a financial redress deadline for victims. In his letter, he demanded a

A £15bn merger between two of the UK’s biggest mobile networks could get the green light – if they stick to their commitments to invest in the country’s infrastructure, the competition watchdog has said. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the merger of Vodafone and Three had “the potential to be pro-competitive for the

Business leaders expressed frustration with ministers on Monday amid a growing budget backlash that bosses said would trigger an “avalanche of costs” and leave them with no choice but to slash investment and increase prices. Sky News has learnt that bosses of large retail and hospitality companies and trade associations told Jonathan Reynolds, the business

Two of Britain’s biggest food retailers will this week face pressure to publicly disclose whether they expect a fresh spike in prices next year as the industry grapples with huge tax hikes imposed in last week’s budget. Sky News understands that Marks & Spencer (M&S), which will unveil half-year earnings on Wednesday, and J Sainsbury,

There’s fear in some quarters of another Donald Trump presidency but will the economics be that bad? Not a single vote has been counted but the policies of a possible second Trump presidency have already influenced financial markets. The cost of US and UK borrowing – measured through 10-year revenue-raising instruments called bonds – has

Navantia, the Spanish shipbuilder, is racing to finalise a takeover of the stricken shipyard-owner that built the Titanic amid urgent talks to reshape a major government contract. Sky News has learnt that Navantia is attempting to negotiate more favourable terms for a deal to build three Fleet Solid Support ships (FSS) for the Royal Navy

Restaurant chain TGI Fridays has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US. The bankruptcy protection filing was made by TGI Fridays Inc, a Dallas-based American arm of the casual dining brand, which operates 39 restaurants in the US. It comes after the company faced financial challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and after a deal

The joint owner of Chelsea Football Club has joined forces with one of his fellow board members to bid for the most valuable team in English cricket’s Hundred competition. Sky News has learnt that Todd Boehly is backing a bid spearheaded by Jonathan Goldstein, a British property entrepreneur, in an offer for a large stake

The business secretary will next week hold talks with dozens of private sector bosses as the government contends with a significant corporate backlash to Labour’s first fiscal event in nearly 15 years. Sky News has learnt that executives have been invited to join a conference call on Monday with Jonathan Reynolds, in what will represent

The cost of government borrowing has jumped, while UK stocks and the pound are up, as markets digest the news of billions in borrowing and tax rises announced in the budget. While there was no panic, there had been concern about the scale of borrowing and changes to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s fiscal rules. At the

First things first: don’t panic. What you need to know is this. The budget has not gone down well in financial markets. Indeed, it’s gone down about as badly as any budget in recent years, save for Liz Truss’s mini-budget. The pound is weaker. Government bond yields (essentially, the interest rate the exchequer pays on

The next five years will hurt disposable income and wages will stagnate further following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget, an influential thinktank has said. Household disposable income, or living standards, will be the worst under any Labour government since 1955 when inflation is factored in, the Resolution Foundation said. Politics latest: ‘Everything has to be paid

The 2024 Autumn Budget in one word? Big. What we got from Rachel Reeves today was, in economic terms, a major departure from economic policy as we’ve known it in this country for the past decade-and-a-half. We got the single biggest increase in taxes in any fiscal event since 1993. The tax burden itself is

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has finally unveiled the budget for 2024. Here are the key points: This page is being updated, refresh to see more as it’s announced. Follow live budget updates • The budget raises taxes by £40bn. • National Insurance contributions for employers (not employees) will increase by 1.2 percentage points to 15% from

The minimum wage for those aged 21 years and over will rise by 6.7% to £12.21 – with pay for those aged 18 to 20 set to go up by 16.3% to £10 an hour. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed the increases ahead of Wednesday’s budget, and they will take effect from April 2025. The