Business

The timing could hardly be any more provocative. Barely 24 hours after the International Energy Agency (IEA) reiterated in a new piece of analysis that there was no need for new oil or gas projects if the world is to get to net zero, Britain has approved the biggest new oilfield in more than a

The UK’s largest untapped oil and gas field has been given the green light by the government’s North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), defying climate warnings about the damage from new fossil fuel projects. Norwegian state oil giant Equinor expects to pump 325 million barrels of oil from Rosebank, 80 miles off the Shetland coast in

David Montgomery, the former Mirror newspapers chief, is putting the finishing touches to a line-up of City advisers that he hopes will help him outgun rivals in an auction of The Daily Telegraph. Sky News has learnt that National World, Mr Montgomery’s London-listed vehicle, is close to appointing Cavendish Capital Markets and Peel Hunt to

Customers will receive £114m off their water bills next year as the regulator has said water companies fell short of standards. The majority of water and wastewater companies in England and Wales underperformed, Ofwat said as part of its water company performance report. As a result, all but five of the 17 utility providers will

Nissan has committed itself to the sale of only electric cars across Europe from 2030, the year when the UK was supposed to have banned new vehicles powered by petrol and diesel. The Japanese carmaker also confirmed that all new models to be launched on the continent from now on would be fully electric. Its

Aldi has reported record sales, with the company saying cost of living concerns had driven up shopper numbers. Annual sales topped £15.5bn in the year to December 2022, nearly a £2bn increase from a year earlier and a record in its 33-year history in the UK. The company said the cost of living crisis had

One of Britain’s most prominent university spinout ventures is backing a developer of therapies for neurological diseases as part of a capital-raising to fund it through to clinical trials. Sky News understands that Crucible Therapeutics, which was founded by University of Sheffield academics at its Department of Neuroscience, will announce this week that it has

Former Tory prime ministers have warned Rishi Sunak about “delivering a mutilated HS2” after his government refused to deny it was considering axing part of the project. Boris Johnson said suggestions the Birmingham to Manchester route could be cut over cost concerns were “desperate” and “Treasury-driven nonsense”. He went on to urge the prime minister

KPMG is in advanced talks with regulators about a record fine running into tens of millions of pounds for failings in its auditing of Carillion, the construction company which collapsed in 2018 with the loss of thousands of jobs. Sky News has learnt that discussions between the accountancy firm and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC)

Wilko will close the last of its remaining high street stores next month. The collapsed homeware retailer’s final 111 sites will shut on three dates in early October. Most sites have already closed, with the latest wave closing for good yesterday. More than 10,000 jobs are expected be lost as a result of Wilko’s collapse.

Amazon Prime customers will face a choice between watching adverts or paying more to remove them when updates to the firm’s streaming service kick in at the start of next year, The company also warned that live events, such as sports, will continue to include commercials even if people have upgraded to the new ad-free

The return of summer weather last month helped retail sales recover despite a hit from weaker demand for fuel, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a 0.4% rise – a figure that grew to 0.6% when the effects of fuel sales were excluded. It said stronger clothing sales drove the

Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chair of Fox and News Corp. His son Lachlan will become the sole chair of News Corp – and continue as executive chair and CEO of Fox Corporation. In an announcement, Lachlan congratulated his father on a “remarkable 70-year career” – and said the 92-year-old will continue to provide

The Bank of England’s interest rate decision is on a knife edge, with the regulator considered as likely to make borrowing more expensive today as it is to maintain the current rate. The odds of a hike versus holding rates are nearly 50-50 – with money markets betting on a 46% chance that the base

Amid the gale raging both literally and figuratively around Downing Street this morning over the government’s green policies, a ray of sunshine has arrived from an unexpected source – inflation. Experts had predicted the figure for August would tick up to 7.1% from 6.8% in July – but instead, the ONS revealed it had actually

The headline numbers don’t do justice to the significance of the inflation data. On the surface, this only looks like a small fall, with the consumer price index (CPI) dropping from 6.8% in July to 6.7% in August. So what, you might ask? After all, it’s a far smaller drop than the one we heard

Lenders to Cazoo, the British-based online car retailer, will take control of the company’s shares as part of a deep financial restructuring expected to be announced within days. Sky News has learnt that Cazoo was on Tuesday putting the finishing touches to a $630m debt-for-equity swap that will leave Viking Global Investors, a US-based fund,

The UK economy will have the highest inflation rate among the world’s richest nations this year, according to new forecasts. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in its interim economic outlook report that it expected the UK’s inflation rate to average 7.2% during 2023. That was a rise on its previous

The government has announced a new fixed sum payment for victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal in an effort to provide quicker compensation. An award of £600,000 is on offer to the 86 postmasters who have had their convictions over turned after faulty Horizon software made it appear they were stealing. Anyone who has

A “potent cocktail” of pressures has forced the trade body for manufacturers to cut its outlook for output this year amid a slump in new orders and hiring. Make UK’s quarterly survey said a slowdown in production since the early summer had forced it to trim its annual forecast to a fall of 0.5%. That