Business

Sir Keir Starmer has revealed one of his top team has apologised after describing business as “the enemy”. Shadow tourism minister, Alex Sobel, was “wrong” in his comments, according to the Labour leader, who added that under him, the party was “very clearly pro-business”. Image: Sir Keir Starmer stressed Labour was ‘pro-business’ under his leadership

Liberty Steel UK says it is to restart production next week as its parent firm continues to seek new funding to fill the hole left by the collapse of Greensill Capital earlier this month. Sky News reported on Friday how GFG Alliance, owned by Sanjeev Gupta, had gone cap in hand to the government for

Deliveroo has blamed “volatile” market conditions as it knocked nearly £1bn off the top end of its expected stock market valuation. The takeaway delivery firm is lining up a much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) in London, which it had said would see it valued at between £7.6bn and £8.8bn. But it disclosed on Monday that

Uber says it will let London customers request a fully electric car so they can “play their part in cleaning up urban transport”. The ride-hailing app said its Uber Green option in central London will mean passenger fares will match those made in petrol, diesel and hybrid Uber vehicles, while drivers will be charged a

Tough new rules aimed at regulating the CBD food supplement market in the UK will come into force nationwide this week. Applications for “novel food” status must be submitted to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) by Wednesday 31 March in a bid to crack down on mislabelling and deal with concerns about the contents of

Spain is planning to use €50m (£43m) in EU funds to cut its working week to four days in a bid to prevent further coronavirus outbreaks. The experiment is set to last for three years and will be funded by money from the European Union’s massive COVID-19 recovery fund. The money will compensate some 200

Britain’s two fastest-growing online used-car marketplaces are racing to raise staggering sums of capital as they seek to reshape an industry boasting €400bn (£343bn) in annual sales across Europe. Sky News can reveal that Cinch, which is part of the private equity-backed Constellation Automotive Group, is in talks with a syndicate of global blue-chip institutions

Britain’s third-biggest steel producer has asked ministers to approve an emergency bailout of as much as £170m as it teeters on the brink of collapse. Sky News has learnt that GFG Alliance, the conglomerate headed by Sanjeev Gupta, wrote to the government late this week to request the emergency funding with thousands of jobs hanging

More than 44,000 Asda workers have won the latest leg of their equal pay claim with bosses through a Supreme Court ruling, paving the way for a legal battle that could last years. The UK’s highest court backed a Court of Appeal judgment that store staff are entitled to compare themselves to distribution staff for

Rishi Sunak is calling on Britain’s employers to end working from home and allow staff back in the office – or risk them voting with their feet and quitting.  Looking beyond the pandemic, the chancellor says working in an office is crucial for young people to get to know colleagues and seek out mentors to

Thousands of firms are to be refused business rates discounts claimed due to the pandemic in what has been described as a “catastrophic blow”. The Treasury said that it would legislate to throw out the claims – which it has been estimated could have cost it £5bn – and will instead set up a £1.5bn

Boris Johnson is facing a Tory rebellion on lockdown rules in the Commons, 24 hours after telling drinkers they may need a COVID vaccine or negative test to go to the pub. MPs are due to vote on extending emergency COVID legislation for six months until 25 September and current lockdown rules into July, but

The John Lewis Partnership has revealed plans to close a further eight stores, leaving 1,465 jobs under threat. The company, which includes the Waitrose supermarket brand, had warned earlier this month while revealing annual losses of £517m that it did not expect to reopen all its John Lewis sites when COVID-19 restrictions are due to

The government has been accused of sending mixed messages on climate change after refusing to halt new exploration licences for North Sea oil and gas. Campaigners had urged the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial strategy to follow the lead of Denmark and rule out new licences as part of a review launched last September.

Cineworld has revealed plans to reopen screens in its biggest markets, including the UK, but said nothing about how it will staff cinemas after effectively axing up to 45,000 workers six months ago. The world’s second-largest cinema operator temporarily laid off staff – almost 6,000 of them in the UK – last October as movie

McDonald’s have vowed to crackdown on “speed of service” competitions after workers told Sky News the contests were making it impossible to follow the chain’s COVID safety rules. Pre-pandemic restaurants regularly competed with each other and could see live data and leader boards on screens in their kitchens. However, McDonald’s UK had said the competitions