Business

An investigation into the accounting software the Post Office used before its controversial Horizon system has begun contacting sub-postmasters and is due to report its findings in the autumn, it has been announced. Risk advisory and financial solutions company Kroll has been appointed to conduct an independent, forensic investigation into the system called Capture which

The UK economy flatlined in April, according to early official figures that have been seized on by the government’s critics as evidence the Conservatives’ plan is not working. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said there was zero growth in April compared to the 0.4% figure recorded during March. A Reuters news agency poll of

Whether Conservatives judge the 2024 manifesto a success or not rather depends on their definition of success. For some, it will be enough that Rishi Sunak has not exploded his election campaign in quite the way Theresa May did with her pledge to impose extra taxes on people to pay for social care in her

Pro-Palestinian activists say they have attacked 20 Barclays bank branches across England and Scotland as part of a campaign aimed at damaging Israel’s war machine. The Palestine Action group, which has previously focused its campaign on Israel-based defence contractor Elbit’s UK operations, said its members were responsible for the vandalism. Images posted on X showed

The prospect of a pre-election interest rate cut by the Bank of England has been damaged by official figures showing no progress in bringing down the pace of wage growth. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed basic pay rising at an annual rate of 6% in the three months to April. That

Politicians should stop tying themselves in knots in promising not to raise taxes, the head of an influential thinktank told Sky News – warning it could lead to something worse. Speaking to Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show, Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, argued neither of the main parties

Administrators to Cazoo, the British online car retailer once valued at well over £5bn, are closing in on a deal to offload its marketplace division. Sky News has learnt that Motors.co.uk, a privately owned used-car platform, is now the frontrunner to buy Cazoo’s brand and marketplace business. Industry sources said the price was likely to

The time on your ticket is 7pm, but you already know it’s not going to start then. So, what time do you get to the cinema? If you’re arriving at 7.10pm, you’re almost certainly safe, but any later and you may cut it fine. Here, we’ve gathered information from the UK’s major cinema chains and

One of Britain’s biggest cinema chains is in secret talks about a sale as part of a strategic review that could lead to a wholesale restructuring of its business. Sky News has learnt that Cineworld, whose parent company went through a series of insolvency processes last year, is working with advisers on a potential disposal

It is impossible to overstate the significance of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch’s acquittal by a San Francisco jury. Dr Lynch, the founder and former chief executive of Autonomy, was cleared on Thursday night of criminal charges that he fraudulently inflated the FTSE-100 software company’s revenues prior to its $11bn takeover in 2011 by Hewlett-Packard.

Administrators to The Body Shop are aiming to clinch a sale of the stricken cosmetics retailer by the end of the month, even as its former owner veers away from making an offer for it. Sky News has learnt that FRP Advisory, which was appointed to handle the chain’s insolvency in January, has asked for

Labour will promise to get more young people on the housing ladder as it announces its “freedom to buy” scheme on Friday. The party will pledge to make the existing mortgage guarantee scheme – which sees the government act as a guarantor for people unable to save big deposits – into a permanent fixture if

UK entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been cleared of all charges by a US jury in the high-profile fraud case related to the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011. Dr Lynch, who was extradited to the United States to face trial just over a year ago, was acquitted alongside a former

A game-changing generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot used by hundreds of millions has now stopped answering questions on elections following Sky News reporting. ChatGPT will no longer answer users’ questions about election results and instead responds, “Sorry, I don’t have information about the results of that election.” Calling it for Labour and Joe Biden It

The next government is being urged to do more to help drive the transition to electric vehicles as private sales of new pure battery models go into reverse. According to data covering May released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), there was a 2% dip in UK sales of new battery electric

A former senior executive at the Post Office was told by auditors the Horizon IT system was “a real risk”, four years before sub-postmaster prosecutions stopped. Post Office’s auditors Ernst and Young (now called EY) warned Alice Perkins, the company chair in 2011, that the accountancy software “is a real risk” and asked, “does it