Subprime credit firm Provident Financial is to axe its doorstep lending arm putting 2,100 jobs at risk, blaming “changing industry and regulatory” dynamics. The lender has faced growing customer complaints and an investigation by the City regulator, and earlier this year offered to set up a £50m fund to try to resolve compensation claims. It
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In a factory somewhere on the outskirts of Birmingham sits a machine which tells you rather a lot about the UK economy and where it’s heading. This machine, made by Japanese company Yamada, is cutting and pressing tiny pieces of metal from a sheet of copper alloy being fed into it. Brandauer, the company whose
An “unbelievable” surge in post-lockdown demand for cask beer is offering “a glimmer of hope” for the struggling UK pub industry. Production has been ramped up at breweries after some underestimated just how many pints would be sold in pubs after they reopened in last month. The demand meant that the Timothy Taylor’s brewery in
Hospitality chiefs have urged the chancellor to prepare a new financial support package for the industry even as remaining restrictions on their operations are lifted in the coming weeks. Sky News has seen a letter sent this weekend sent by Kate Nicholls, the UK Hospitality chief executive, to Rishi Sunak in which she calls on
Britain’s biggest high street lender is in advanced talks about its biggest corporate acquisition since it was returned to full private ownership four years ago. Sky News has learnt that Lloyds Banking Group is close to finalising a £400m takeover of Embark Group, a privately owned provider of savings and retirement products. City sources said
The parent firm of British Airways has demanded government action in “four key areas” to help facilitate the restart of foreign travel while revealing a reduction in first quarter losses. International Airlines Group (IAG) argued that the authorities globally needed to assist airlines begin the process of economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis through measures
It is a striking number, a historic one. The strongest economic growth since 1941. The Bank of England’s decision to upgrade its growth forecast for this year from 5% to 7.25% is not exactly a surprise. Everyone was expecting a big number, and indeed up until the third lockdown over the opening months of 2020
The Bank of England has upgraded its growth forecast for the coronavirus-hit UK economy and signalled it will not raise the interest rate in the near term – despite seeing a looming spike in inflation ahead. The latest meeting of the central bank’s interest rate-setting committee left policy unchanged, with rates remaining at their COVID-19
Sales of consumer cannabis products have undergone an “accidental” boom during the pandemic that will see the popularity of cannabinoids exceed the market for Vitamins B and C combined, according to industry groups. The industry estimates the market for products containing cannabis extracts will reach £690m this year, more than double the £314m of sales
The UK is set to relax restrictions for visiting a handful of countries under a new traffic light system. Those returning to the UK from countries on the green list will not need to self-isolate for 10 days, while visitors to countries on the amber list will have to quarantine and get tested on their
Liberty Steel has appointed four new directors to “accelerate the restructuring and refinancing” of the troubled business. The shake-up could involve selling off poorly performing parts of the company, whose employees have been facing uncertainty after the collapse of its main lender Greensill in March. Sanjeev Gupta, whose GFG Alliance business empire controls Liberty, last
Tinder’s parent company Match Group has set its sights on a “summer of love” surge for its global dating platforms as coronavirus vaccinations increase and economies reopen. Match forecast revenue for the April-June quarter of up to $690m, 24% up on the same period last year and ahead of estimates pencilled in by analysts. That
There is growing evidence the economy is finding a new gear following more than a year of coronavirus disruption, with two readings of activity showing record rates of growth for this century. First, data from the Bank of England showed the biggest net increase in mortgage lending on record during March – driven by tax
A former member of Ed Miliband’s shadow cabinet is joining the board of Cazoo, the second-hand car retailer which is preparing to drive onto the US stock market in a $7bn deal. Sky News has learnt that Luciana Berger, who spent nearly a decade representing Labour and then the Liberal Democrats as MP for Liverpool
David Ross, the billionaire co-founder of The Carphone Warehouse and prominent Conservative Party donor, is to step down as chairman of the Royal Opera House (ROH) just months into a four-year tenure. Sky News has learnt that trustees of the globally renowned institution in London’s Covent Garden have begun preparing to find another long-term chairman
Today’s quarterly results from AstraZeneca are a very timely reminder that, for all the debate about the drug-maker’s involvement in the Oxford COVID vaccine, it is of very little importance to the financial fortunes of what is currently the fifth-largest company in the FTSE 100. In fact, AZ is actually losing money on its involvement