Business

Primark has revealed it suffered a “pingdemic” sales slump over the summer – and is now facing supply chain delays for its autumn and winter stock. The cut-price fashion retailer’s UK like-for-like sales were down by 24% compared to last year over a four-week period from mid-June though they have partly recovered since self-isolation rules

Boris Johnson is being urged to “level up” Britain by backing pay rises for workers, scrapping his proposed cut in Universal Credit and tackling child poverty. The challenge comes from TUC leader Frances O’Grady in a call to the government to protect workers from further pandemics, climate change and the tech revolution. In her TUC

One of Britain’s oldest bicycle manufacturers is being put up for sale amid a continuing surge in consumer interest in cycling. Sky News has learnt that the owners of Ribble, which was founded in 1897, have appointed advisers to prepare the company for an auction in the coming months. Stifel, the investment bank, has been

Up to 660,000 jobs – many in the UK’s industrial heartlands – are at risk unless Boris Johnson speeds up green investment and moving to “net zero” carbon dioxide emissions, according to a major study. Many of the areas where jobs are most under threat include the “red wall” constituencies won by the Conservatives from

The former auditor of Patisserie Valerie is facing a multimillion pound fine nearly three years after the cafe chain collapsed in one of Britain’s biggest recent accounting scandals. Sky News has learnt that Grant Thornton is in advanced discussions with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) about a settlement that could be finalised as soon as

Northern Ireland could see “instability, uncertainty and unpredictability” if there is an attempt to renegotiate the post-Brexit agreement, the European Commission’s vice president has warned. Maros Sefcovic said the Northern Ireland Protocol must be “properly implemented”, but admitted both sides would have to compromise. His warning came after DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his

HGV driving tests will be relaxed to allow 50,000 more to be taken in an attempt to tackle the shortage of lorry drivers ahead of Christmas, the transport secretary has announced. Grant Shapps said that following a consultation, three changes will happen to speed up the process after the suspension of tests during the pandemic

Tens of thousands of businesses across the UK have called on Parliament to tackle soaring card fees which amounted to £46 per household last year. The companies argue that British businesses and consumers should be protected from the mounting cost of anti-competitive practices in card payments, which are adding to the price of goods and

Morrisons has warned it expects “industry-wide” price rises ahead and revealed some product shortages while reporting half-year results showing a 43% slump in profits. The UK’s fourth-largest supermarket chain by market share said the price hikes were to be “driven by sustained recent commodity price increases and freight inflation, and the current shortage of HGV

Britain’s economic recovery is expected to slow over coming months thanks to staff shortages and supply chain disruption, according to a new forecast from a leading business group. Official figures show UK GDP grew by 4.8% in the second quarter but the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) predicts this will slow to 2.8% in the

The government is to streamline HGV driver testing in an attempt to prevent a supply chain crisis at Christmas. Changes to the testing regime are expected to be announced in the coming days, perhaps as soon as Thursday, amid dire warnings from the industry about the impact of ongoing shortages. Sources with knowledge of talks

Sir Martin Sorrell’s construction of a second global marketing services empire will take another step forward on Wednesday with the acquisition of a Los Angeles-based agency serving clients including Adidas, BMW and Google. Sky News understands that S4 Capital will announce to the London Stock Exchange that it has agreed a merger between Cashmere and

Business groups have criticised plans for a National Insurance hike as a drag on jobs growth just as firms seek to recover from the COVID-19 crisis. The 1.25 percentage point increase in NI contributions is intended to pay for reform of the social care system. But the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said it would

Restaurant spending edged higher for the first time since the start of the pandemic in August according data from Barclaycard pointing to a bumper month for the consumer economy. The figures showed overall consumer spending was ahead by 15.4% compared to the same period in 2019 before the coronavirus crisis – thanks to “socialising, shopping

A leading business lobby group has warned the government that the crisis resulting from the shortage of workers in key jobs could take up to two years to resolve, damaging the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The CBI said the impact was widespread – beyond the well-publicised 100,000 shortfall in HGV drivers which has

Luke Johnson, one of Britain’s best-known leisure entrepreneurs, is adding to his collection of e-commerce businesses by snapping up a leading online retailer of musical instruments. Sky News understands that Risk Capital Partners, Mr Johnson’s investment vehicle, has agreed to buy GAK, which trades from a flagship store in Brighton, West Sussex. The terms of