Business

Ryanair has taken aim at three bases of operation in Germany after pilots based in the country rejected proposed pay cuts. The Ireland-based carrier, which has agreed new deals with UK-based pilots and cabin crew as it navigates the challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis, said it would shut its base at Frankfurt Hahn Airport

Just 51 of the top 1,097 workplace roles in the UK are held by black and minority ethnic (BAME) people, data shared exclusively with Sky News shows. That amounts to just 4.6%, despite the fact that BAME groups make up 14% of the population. The figures also show that ethnic minority women are particularly poorly

Government borrowing for April-June was more than double that for the whole of the previous fiscal year thanks to the “unprecedented impact” of the COVID-19 pandemic, official figures show. The deficit of £127.9bn for the three-month period compares with a £55.4bn shortfall for the year to the end of March, the Office for National Statistics

Hermes says it is creating more than 10,000 jobs through a £100m investment to bolster its UK delivery capacity as the coronavirus crisis drives up demand for online shopping. The company said 1,500 full-time positions were available – including head office, warehouse and delivery roles. It was seeking 9,000 further self-employed couriers across the UK.

Marks & Spencer is to cut 950 jobs in a retail management shake-up marking the first phase of a major transformation programme. It comes a day after Sky News first reported that M&S was to begin setting out redundancy plans this week – joining the likes of John Lewis and Boots in taking the axe

Marks & Spencer (M&S) will serve notice this week of imminent plans for hundreds of job cuts as it becomes the latest prominent retailer to restructure its workforce in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Sky News has learnt that M&S will begin announcing redundancy plans within days, joining the likes of the John Lewis

Thousands of seafarers from around the world are stuck on ships suffering from “depression and anxiety” because COVID-19 restrictions mean crew changes still can’t take place. The International Transport Workers Federation estimates there could be as many as 600,000 seafarers affected by lockdown measures, with half of them facing financial ruin. They traditionally work fixed-term

One of London’s leading private equity firms has approached the cash-strapped Football Association (FA) about buying a big stake in the Women’s Super League (WSL). Sky News has learnt that Bridgepoint, the long-standing owner of the rights to stage the global MotoGP series, has tabled a proposal that would see the WSL become the latest

Holidaymakers who have accepted refund credits note for cancelled package holidays will get their money back if travel firms goes bust, the government has said. Until now, there have been doubts as to whether consumers’ refund credit notes would be protected if the issuing travel company collapsed before they could be spent. But the government has now said

I took the London Underground today for the first time since February. At 8.30am, a carriage that would usually hold around 200 people squashed like sardines saw just seven of us leisurely spaced. Getting off at Bank station was almost beautiful in its eeriness. Image: London faces the risk of being redrawn if workers are

British Airways’ iconic 747 jumbo jet will no longer be operated by the airline after it decided to retire its entire fleet with immediate effect. BA has used the famous Boeing plane since 1989 and is currently the world’s biggest operator of the 747-400 model. Image: The Boeing plane is one of the air industry’s

Netflix has warned that its lockdown-driven surge in subscribers is starting to peter out – even as it reported another quarter of bumper growth. The streaming service added 10.1 million customers in the second quarter – beating expectations and meaning it has added 26 million so far this year, compared with 28 million for the

Official data suggests almost 650,000 UK workers have lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic amid fears an employment crisis exceeding that of the 1980s is looming. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed data showing that 649,000 people left company payrolls between March and June – covering the economy’s enforced hibernation to limit the

Talk of tax increases is in the air. Government borrowing has ballooned as ministers have sought to insulate the economy from COVID-19. The Office for Budget Responsibility, the independent fiscal watchdog that analyses the UK’s public finances, forecast this week that the government’s budget deficit this year will reach £372bn. Why the 2024 economy may

Apple and Ireland have won an appeal against an EU order that the tech giant pay the country €13bn (£11.6bn) in back taxes. In 2016, the European Commission ruled that Ireland had breached state aid rules by giving Apple unfair tax benefits, and ordered Ireland to recover the money plus interest. Both Ireland and Apple

A British-based cruise operator which has been at the centre of a repatriation row involving hundreds of crew is in eleventh-hour talks with potential investors in a desperate bid to stay afloat. Sky News has learnt that Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV), which employs about 4,000 people, is in talks with VGO Capital Management, a