Business

A final decision is in sight for Microsoft’s protracted bid to acquire the maker of Call Of Duty now that the UK’s competition regulator has closed its public consultation on the matter. The Competition and Markets Authority will consider comments from the public – which were submitted over the past week – and Microsoft’s amended

The new owner of Purplebricks, the online estate agent, is finalising plans to cut more than 100 jobs in a bid to improve its financial performance. Sky News understands that Strike, a rival operator, is close to rubber-stamping plans to axe roughly 15% of Purplebricks’ 695-strong workforce prior to the takeover. Sources close to the

Higher for longer. The Bank of England may have lifted interest rates by less than a lot of people had been expecting up until recently – up by a quarter percentage point rather than a half – but for those with mortgages, the most striking thing from the trove of analysis they’ve published today isn’t

A final set of threatened strikes at London Gatwick this week have been called off after workers voted to accept a 10.3% pay rise. There had previously been warnings of significant disruption at the airport this summer after around 1,000 employees, including those in baggage handling and check-in roles, announced eight days of walkouts. But

The US’s credit rating has been downgraded after the months long debate over raising the debt limit that brought the country to the brink of default. Fitch has brought down the rating from AAA – the highest possible – to AA+ over debt and governance concerns. Lower credit ratings can increase the cost of government

House prices will likely fall further in the coming months after a closely-watched index reported the biggest drop in 14 years, experts predict. It comes after Nationwide reported that annual property values declined by 3.8% in July – the sharpish fall since July 2009. The average home is now worth £260,828 – a fall of

BP has recorded a big drop in profits in the first half of its financial year, as energy prices fell from the highs seen after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The oil and gas giant reported net profits of just over $2.5bn (£2bn) for the three months to the end of June. It’s half the $5bn

Let’s start with something important. Even if we hit net zero carbon emissions by 2050, we in this country and others around the world are still set to be burning oil and gas in large quantities. That’s not a failure by the way; that, it turns out, is part of the plan. Even the most

The amount of money borrowed by consumers rose to a five-year high in June as inflation and interest rate pressure hit households, Bank of England figures show. Net consumer credit rose to the highest since April 2018 – £1.7bn was borrowed last month, following a £500m decrease in lending in May. The increase came as

Britain’s biggest mortgage lenders will this week launch a multimillion pound campaign aimed at illustrating the range of support they are providing to cash-strapped customers as the industry faces its most intense scrutiny in years. Sky News understands that a £5m advertising blitz paid for by participating banks will urge customers to ‘reach out’ if

Nigel Farage has launched a website to tackle de-banking following the fallout from the closure of his account with Coutts. The former UKIP and Brexit Party leader sparked a crisis at the prestigious bank’s parent company NatWest after complaining he had been excluded over his political views. It led to the chief executives of both

An activist fund manager has been building a stake in Dr Martens, the globally renowned bootmaker which has seen its valuation slump amid supply chain bottlenecks and a slowdown in US sales. Sky News has learnt that Sparta Capital has quietly accumulated stock worth tens of millions of pounds in London-listed Dr Martens, and has

Train passengers are facing more disruption on Saturday as workers strike once again over pay, jobs and conditions. Thousands of staff from the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will walk out and travellers have been told to check the latest information before travelling. Wide variations in service are predicted around the country, with some

There has been a surge in the number of people seeking breathing space from their debts while corporate insolvencies are running at levels not seen for 13 years, according to official figures. The Insolvency Service data covering England and Wales during the second quarter of the year showed 6,342 companies were registered as insolvent in

NatWest has reported a better-than-expected surge in half-year profits as the taxpayer-backed lender reels from the Nigel Farage de-banking debacle. At the end of a week in which its chief executive Dame Alison Rose was forced to quit for her own role in the row, the bank revealed £3.6bn in pre-tax profits – up from

Coutts chief executive Peter Flavel will stand down over his handling of Nigel Farage’s accounts. In a statement from the new NatWest chief executive, it was announced that Mr Flavel had stepped down by mutual consent and with immediate effect. “We have fallen below the bank’s high standards of personal service”, Mr Flavel said. “As