Bitcoin has surged to a new all-time high – with prices breaking £44,000 for the first time. Saturday’s spike came exactly one year after the volatile cryptocurrency lost 50% of its value in the space of two days and fell to £2,873. It has risen 1,431% in the past 12 months. Bitcoin now finds itself
Business
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airways is in talks with shareholders and creditors about a further £160m support package just six months after securing a £1.2bn rescue deal. Sky News has learnt that the billionaire tycoon’s flagship company is this weekend close to finalising the new funding, which will include a £100m loan from his
Nearly 50,000 businesses have signed up for the government’s free workplace COVID tests, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced. The government claims this is a vital step towards restoring normal life after the pandemic. Tests can give a result within 30 minutes – and NHS Test and Trace analysis suggests they have a specificity of
The owner of All Bar One is facing a shareholder revolt over plans to bolster the guaranteed pay awards of its top executives amid a broader firestorm over corporate governance at the company. Sky News understands that several major institutional investors are planning to oppose Mitchells & Butlers’ (M&B) remuneration policy because it plans to
The UK economy rediscovered a reverse gear in January as renewed coronavirus lockdowns and Brexit hit activity, according to official figures. The initial estimate of a 2.9% contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the previous month, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), was better than the figure of nearer 5% expected by
Netflix is testing a feature to clamp down on people sharing passwords with other households. Some users have started to get notifications which ask them to verify they live with the account holder. The message states: “If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching.” Users
The John Lewis Partnership has revealed it does not expect to reopen all its department stores as coronavirus lockdowns are eased. The company, which also includes the Waitrose supermarket chain in its stable, announced last year that it would not pay a bonus to its staff – known as partners – for the first time
A ban on evicting businesses has been extended to the end of June – but a property industry body said it was a “scandal” that some are not paying rent even though they can afford it. The government said a moratorium on landlords kicking firms out of their premises, due to expire at the end
Just Eat Takeaway has reported a deeper annual loss despite a surge in revenue, driven by high demand for food deliveries during the coronavirus pandemic. The company reported a bottom line loss of €151m (£129.5m) for 2020 compared to €115m (£98.5m) over the previous 12 months. It said the figure reflected its investments including growing
Tesla has led a bounce-back for US tech stocks as its shares surged by as much as 20% partly thanks to figures showing higher sales in China. The electric car company, led by Elon Musk, was also boosted by an analyst upgrade and a wider upturn in investor sentiment which saw the tech-heavy Nasdaq index
The “vaccine effect” is boosting Britain’s economic prospects faster than other European countries, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. EMBARGOED TO 1000 TUESDAY The OECD, a club of developed economies, said it expected the UK’s national output to expand by 5.1% in 2021, some 0.9 percentage points higher than it expected in
Some 5,000 jobs in the steel industry are in the balance after Greensill Capital, one of the UK’s largest speciality finance companies, went into administration today. Greensill, whose advisers include the former prime minister David Cameron, is a major provider of finance to Liberty Steel – the UK’s third largest steel company. Liberty, which is
The Bank of England governor has sounded a relatively optimistic note on the economy, predicting that the coronavirus shock would cause less long-term damage than most recessions. Andrew Bailey also told a Resolution Foundation event that he expected to cut the Bank’s unemployment forecast following last week’s budget and that the Bank’s forecasts suggested the
Starling Bank will on Monday unveil the biggest fundraising in its seven-year history when it announces that it has secured more than £270m from investors including one of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds. Sky News has learnt that the digital challenger bank will confirm that its latest share sale will exceed expectations, bringing in
Deliveroo customers will be offered up to £50m of shares in the company’s blockbuster floatation, with the offer branded “Great food with a side of shares”. The restaurant and grocery delivery app will list its shares in London on Monday with a potential value of £7.5bn, making it the biggest market debut in Britain for
Ralph & Russo, the British couture fashion brand which has secured the backing of some of Britain’s wealthiest investors, has deferred salary payments to employees, raising doubts about the state of its finances. Sky News understands that Ralph & Russo informed some staff last month that it could not pay them after seeing sales slump