One of the insurers embroiled in a battle with the City watchdog about the payment of claims from coronavirus-hit businesses has begun lining up a successor to its veteran chairman. Sky News has learnt that RSA Insurance Group is working with headhunters on a search to replace Martin Scicluna, who also chairs the supermarket chain
Business
Around two-and-a-half million coins celebrating the contributions ethnic minority communities have made to the UK will enter circulation on Monday. The coins will feature the words “Diversity built Britain”, along with a geodome representing connection and strength. The Treasury says that the new coins show the intent of the Royal Mint and Chancellor Rishi Sunak
A shareholder in Flybe when it collapsed this year with the loss of thousands of jobs is in talks with its administrators about a potentially controversial bid to resuscitate the regional airline. Sky News has learnt that Cyrus Capital, a hedge fund with offices in Mayfair, is behind a plot to reacquire some of Flybe’s
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned Rishi Sunak that “now is not yet the time to balance the books”. In an interview with Sky News, Kristalina Georgieva said the UK must stand ready to spend more to support businesses and households through the second surge of the pandemic. Her comments come
Pret A Manger plans to shut six more shops and cut around another 400 jobs in the face of the resurgent coronavirus pandemic. The recovery of the coffee and sandwich chain has been hampered by recently tightened COVID-19 restrictions and rising case numbers. In August, the company axed 2,800 roles as part of a shake-up
Outsourcing giant Serco has raised its revenue and profits forecasts for 2020 as a result of the growth in work with the global pandemic. Updating the London Stock Exchange in an unscheduled announcement, the company, which is leading the UK government’s test and trace scheme, said it had achieved strong revenue growth in the three
A quarter of a million hospitality jobs are at risk from additional coronavirus restrictions imposed on London from this weekend, the mayor of London has been warned by an industry chief. Sky News has seen a letter to Sadiq Khan from Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, in which she said that his request for
Pubs group Marston’s has warned that 2,150 jobs will be impacted after the government tightened coronavirus restrictions. Curfews and new rules on face masks table service, added to “three tier” guidance for operating in England as well as tough limitations in parts of Scotland had taken their toll on consumer confidence, the company said. Marston’s
The government is paying individual private sector consultants million-pound wages to work on its test and trace system, according to documents seen by Sky News. Some executives from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) helping the government set up and run its testing system are being paid day rates of around £7,000 – equivalent to an annual
The poultry tycoon who rescued Carluccio’s earlier this year is to swallow another of Britain’s leading restaurant chains by taking control of Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK). Sky News has learnt that Ranjit Boparan, who has built one of the country’s largest casual dining groups through a string of takeovers, is to buy GBK through a
More than 90 million people could be forced into “extreme deprivation” this year as developing and emerging economies are hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the world’s lender of last resort predicts the pandemic will undo decades of progress in reducing global
Unemployment rose to a three-year high over the summer and there were more redundancies than any time since 2009, official figures show. The jobless rate climbed to a higher than expected 4.5% in the three months to August, up from 4.1% a month before, as the coronavirus crisis took a further toll on livelihoods. That
Boris Johnson will this week seek to portray Britain as a welcoming destination for foreign investors by unveiling plans for a Downing Street operation aimed at securing backing for multibillion-pound infrastructure projects. Sky News has learnt that officials at Number 10 are coordinating the launch of a unit called the Office for Investment, which insiders
British Airways chief executive Alex Cruz is stepping down from the role with immediate effect, owner International Airlines Group (IAG) said. IAG boss Luis Gallego said the shake-up came as the company navigated “the worst crisis faced in our industry” – which has seen demand crushed by the coronavirus crisis and thousands of jobs axed.
The housing market is the most unequal it’s been in a decade, according to experts. Despite the UK entering a recession the market is booming, with house prices rising 5% on an annual basis in September, according to the Nationwide House Price Index. But the state of the economy has left lenders anxious and many
The expansion of the government’s job support scheme will put close to one million roles at risk and is like throwing whole sections of the economy on the “scrapheap”, Labour has said. The shadow business secretary, Ed Miliband, also said fewer than one in 15 jobs in shut-down businesses stand to benefit from the move.