Business

The former head of accounting for the Post Office has been described as the “gatekeeper of the remote access secret”, the inquiry has heard. Rod Ismay authored the first report into faulty accounting system Horizon, in August 2010, which concluded the software was robust. Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongfully convicted between 1999 and 2015 as

A privately owned used-car platform is circling Cazoo Group, its stricken US-listed rival which is on the brink of administration. Sky News has learnt that Motors.co.uk is a leading contender to acquire Cazoo’s marketplace operation, which would include its brand and intellectual property assets. The process to auction the used-car platform’s constituent parts comes after

The owner of British Airways has reported a sharp rise in profits amid soaring demand for trips and a fall in the cost of fuel. International Airlines Group (IAG) said its operating profit for the first three months of the year was €68m (£58.5m) – above expectations and up from €9m (£7.7m) during the same

The UK economy is no longer in recession, according to official figures. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by a better-than-expected 0.6% between January and March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Economists in a Reuters poll had predicted the figure would be 0.4%. A recession, which is defined as two consecutive three-month periods where

A recommendation that a new body be appointed to handle financial claims by victims of the Post Office scandal, has been rejected by the government. A report by the Business and Trade Committee of MPs in March had called for an independent intermediary to handle every stage of the sub-postmasters’ claims amid anger over red

How soon is too soon? That’s the question exercising members of the Bank of England‘s monetary policy committee (MPC) at the moment. All nine members know that interest rates, currently at 5.25%, will have to be cut in the coming months. After all, high interest rates represent a brake on the economy and it’s becoming

High street bank TSB has announced 250 job losses and the closure of 36 branches. The job cuts will be in the fraud operations department of the bank, central operations and staff who work at the branches earmarked for closure. Trade union Unite said the decision by the UK high street lender was a “grave

The Russian state has been making more money from its oil and gas industry in the past three months than in any comparable period since the early days of the Ukraine invasion, it has emerged. The figures underline that despite the imposition of various sanctions on fossil fuel exports from Russia since February 2022, the

One of Britain’s biggest carpet retailers is axing more than 25% of its head office staff as it grapples with a protracted downturn in trading. Sky News understands that Carpetright, which is privately owned, notified staff on Tuesday morning that roughly 70 jobs would be lost as part of a cost-cutting process. The redundancies will

The boss of P&O Ferries – known for its fire-and-rehire of nearly 800 workers – has said he could not live on the less than £5-per-hour some of his staff are paid. The ferry company is paying employees an average of £5.20 an hour, two years after making 786 people redundant, and rehiring cheaper workers,

An estate agency group backed by the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group is being put up for sale in the latest sign of corporate activity in the sector. Sky News understands that LDC has hired bankers from Clearwater International to oversee a sale of Lomond Group. A process is expected to kick off

Heineken is investing £39m in more than 600 of its pubs in the UK – in a move it says will bring 62 back from the dead. The Dutch brewer said the cash injection into its Star Pubs operation will create more than 1,000 jobs. According to Star Pubs, 612 pubs are set to benefit,

The world’s second-largest steel company has warned the government that a planning verdict due this week could lead to a key division quitting the UK. Sky News has seen a letter sent by ArcelorMittal to Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, in which it says that a decision to allow the closure and redevelopment of part

Ordinary investors will be awarded ‘bonus’ shares in NatWest Group if they hold onto stock they acquire in the taxpayer-backed bank, under a plan expected to be finalised by ministers later this month. Sky News has learnt key details of the options being explored by the Treasury for a multibillion pound retail offer of NatWest shares,

Entain, the FTSE 100 gambling group, has been rebuffed by the former bosses of bookies Coral and Skybet in its hunt for a new chief executive. Sky News has learnt that Entain, which owns Ladbrokes, approached Andy Hornby, who now runs Wagamama’s parent company, and Richard Flint, who holds a portfolio of roles, about the

A former top Post Office lawyer has been accused of telling the Horizon IT inquiry a “big fat lie” over his knowledge of a bug in the system that could have stopped wrongful prosecutions of sub-postmasters in their tracks. Jarnail Singh was a senior in-house lawyer and subsequently head of criminal law at the Post