Business

It is now even harder and more expensive for the UK’s biggest water provider to borrow money as leading credit ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded its debt to “junk” status. Thames Water’s parent company had already defaulted on some loan payments that make up its £16.5bn debt pile. More pressure will be put on its

Rishi Sunak’s decision to cancel HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester will lead to reduced capacity on passenger trains to the North West and could cut economic growth, the government spending watchdog has found. Mr Sunak controversially cancelled the high-speed line north of Birmingham at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester last October, describing the troubled

Efforts to secure access to cash for consumers and businesses are being stepped up through a series of new rules to be imposed by the City watchdog. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that from 18 September, banks and building societies would face greater obligations to weigh if local communities lack access to services, like

Almost half of private renters in England are living in homes that are cold, damp or mouldy, even in the summer, according to new figures. A survey by Citizens Advice found 45% of private renters are currently experiencing damp, mould or excessive cold in their home. And the research found 48% of these households have

Carpetright’s future is understood to have been secured but the vast majority of its 1,800 staff are set to lose their jobs under a limited rescue deal. It is believed that rival floorings retailer Tapi will confirm it is buying just 54 of 272 stores and two warehouses in a so-called pre-pack administration that allows

Utilita, one of Britain’s top ten energy suppliers, is plotting to raise tens of millions of pounds to fund projects aimed at meeting net zero targets. Sky News has learnt that Utilita, which last season sponsored the Premier League football club Luton Town, has hired Alexa Capital to advise on the equity injection. Sources close

Nail bars and car washes will be targeted by immigration officers as they step up enforcement action over the summer, the home secretary has announced. Yvette Cooper said 1,000 civil servants working on the now-abandoned Rwanda scheme will staff a new “returns and enforcement programme”. Writing in the Sun on Sunday, she said the programme

TalkTalk, the telecoms group founded by Sir Charles Dunstone, will meet bondholders next week to discuss proposals for a £200m-plus capital injection from its owners. Sky News understands that the company and a group of key lenders and their advisers, will hold talks on Tuesday about plans for Sir Charles and other shareholders to inject

The NHS has warned of “continued disruption” to GP services into next week following the global IT outage – as airline passengers reported lengthy delays and lost baggage this weekend. The outage spread globally on Friday morning after an update from global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike knocked many Microsoft Windows PCs offline with a “blue screen

After the chaos of Friday’s global IT outage – without doubt the worst the world has seen – questions are starting to be asked about who, if anyone, will pick up the bill. Somewhat surprisingly, particularly given its share price has doubled during the year and was trading on a stratospheric rating, shares of CrowdStrike,

CrowdStrike, the company at the heart of the IT outage being described as the worst the world has seen, has been a darling of Wall Street over the last year. So far in 2024, its share price has risen by 96%, making it one of the best-performing stocks on both the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the

The Bank of England has revealed disruption to some major financial transactions due to a “global payments issue”. In a statement, the Bank said its high value CHAPS service – which handles payments worth hundreds of billions of pounds each day – was affected and that had resulted in delays. They usually involve transactions between

A senior minister has told the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry that accountability for the scandal lies with the government, while the leader of the Liberal Democrats said he was lied to by senior executives at the company. Pat McFadden now serves as the most senior minister in the Cabinet Office, aside from the prime

The TV retail consultant known as ‘Mary Queen of Shops’ has called on the government to block a proposed London stock market listing by Shein. Mary Portas, who undertook a review of UK high streets for the coalition government led by David Cameron, was speaking as an online petition by the Say No to Shein

There has been no change to the rate of inflation which remained at 2%, the target rate for the Bank of England, according to official figures. It means prices in June rose at the same rate as in May, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Money latest: Number of people claiming non-dom status

Elon Musk has said California’s new gender identification law was the “final straw” and that he is moving the SpaceX and X headquarters to Texas. The billionaire posted on X on Tuesday that he plans to move SpaceX from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas, and X to Austin from San Francisco. The new law, signed