Business

British Gas owner Centrica is to sell off its US energy retail arm in a $3.6bn (£2.8 bn) deal as it seeks to revive its flagging fortunes and focus on its home markets in the UK and Ireland. Direct Energy, which was bought by the British company in 2000 and is one of North America’s

Overall retail sales have returned to a similar level to before the coronavirus pandemic after two months of increases, official figures show. However, latest data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals a mixed picture for different store types. In June, the volume of retail sales increased by 13.9% when compared with the

The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits has risen for the first time in nearly four months as a resurgent coronavirus took its toll on the US economy, official figures suggest. The US Labour department reported that 1.4 million people had filed claims last week – up from 1.3 million the previous week

The UK must “face the possibility” that it will not agree a deal on its future relationship with the EU by the end of the year. Chief negotiator David Frost said that with less than six months to go until the end of the Brexit transition period, the UK must “continue preparing for all possible

The UK pilots’ union says it is reluctantly recommending its members at British Airways (BA) accept a deal to avert more than 1,200 job losses. BALPA said an agreement, following almost three months of negotiations with the airline, was the best that could be achieved and still result in about 270 compulsory redundancies. Sky News

The boss of a drugs company that has agreed to deliver up to 100 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine to the UK has told Sky News there is a more than 50% chance of it reaching patients. Thomas Lingelbach, chief executive of France-based Valneva, also told Sky’s Ian King Live that he did

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