Business

Household banks and asset managers have invested tens of billions of pounds financing businesses involved with deforestation, according to a new report. The research, undertaken by Global Witness and shared exclusively with Sky News, reveals the scale of investments being made in controversial and destructive agribusiness and, for the first time, calculates that financial institutions

Petrol retailers have been accused of “taking a bigger cut” by a motoring group after warning that record pump prices are expected within days. The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) – which shot to public prominence last month as the industry grappled delivery problems that sparked weeks of panic-buying in areas of England – blamed rising

Netflix has hailed the “mind-boggling” success of Korean hit Squid Game as it posted better than expected subscriber growth and pencilled in a further acceleration over coming months. The streaming giant revealed that 142 million households had watched the series – already the group’s biggest TV show – in the first four weeks since its

As we begin to hit the shops ahead of Christmas, retail sales are back to pre-pandemic levels for the first time since restrictions eased in April. We are now spending more on items like clothing and furnishings than we were in February 2020, according to real-time credit and debit card data from the Office for

The government’s net zero strategy will “support up to 440,000 jobs” by 2030, a business minister has said – as he announced a move towards the end of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. The new plan, published on Tuesday, has the intention of dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions to reach the government’s

Households will be able to apply for a £5,000 grant to swap their gas boiler for a low-carbon heat pump, as part of government plans to cut emissions. The government announced that the £450m Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which is part of the more than £3.9bn funding to cut carbon from heating and buildings, will be

A global shipping services firm has told Sky News it could be another “18 months” before the industry weathers the sea of challenges causing massive disruption to the supply chain. James Gundy, the chief executive of Braemar Shipping Services, warned that container bottlenecks around the world were only part of the problem and only going

Facebook plans to hire 10,000 people in the European Union over the next five years to help build its metaverse, the social media giant has announced. The social network announced in July that it was creating a product team to work on the metaverse, which would sit within Facebook Reality Labs, its augmented reality and

A former boss of Gucci is being lined up by Carlyle, the global buyout giant, to fashion a fresh growth spurt at End, the British online clothing business it bought this year. Sky News understands that Patrizio di Marco, who left Gucci in 2014 and subsequently had a spell with Dolce & Gabbana, another famed

The backlog of cargo ships at the busiest port complex in the US – images of which have come to define the global supply chain crisis – is unlikely to return to normal before next summer. The executive director of the Port of Long Beach in California says plans to switch to 24/7 operations, pushed

Matthew Moulding, the boss of the online beauty, nutrition and technology services group THG, is to surrender his golden share in the company in an attempt to restore the City’s confidence after a torrid fortnight. Sky News has learnt that the owner of The Hut Group, which floated just over a year ago, will announce

If the trainee truckers the haulage industry so desperately needs could change direction as fast and frequently as government ministers they would sail through the HGV test. The latest U-turn, executed to address the supply chain crisis, comes from the Department for Transport, and even by the standards of recent weeks it is a screecher.

Job adverts have soared by over 600,000 since late August to a new record high, according to the latest figures released. The number of vacancies in the UK is currently sky-high, a sign that the labour market is yet to fully recover following the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 4 and 10 October there

The government wants to change how frequently overseas HGV operators can deliver in the UK to help solve the current supply chain problems. A consultation on extending “cabotage” rights will be launched on Friday to try to shore up supply chains and prevent shops running out of goods or increasing prices due to an HGV

Britain should prioritise economic growth over environmental protections in trade deals, according to a leaked government document obtained by Sky News. Environmental safeguards should also not be treated as a red line when other countries demand they are broken in trade agreements, according to the paper drawn up by officials in the Department for International

The demise of two more energy companies has been confirmed as the surge in wholesale gas costs this year drives up bills for providers and households alike. Sky News had revealed on Tuesday that up to four suppliers were in talks with the regulator about entering its Supplier of Last Resort (SOLR) mechanism. Pure Planet

UK economic growth picked up in August as bars, restaurants and festivals benefited from a first full month without COVID restrictions in England, official figures show. Gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.4% month-on-month, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) – slightly below experts’ average forecast of 0.5% growth. However the report also

There are almost 10,000 fewer licensed premises across Britain since the start of the coronavirus pandemic – with a rush of closures taking place since the summer despite a reopening of the economy, according to a report. The latest market recovery monitor from industry consultants CGA and business advisory firm AlixPartners said the sector, including

The number of job vacancies hit a record high of 1.1 million in the three months to September, as the post-pandemic labour market continued to recover. The Office for National Statistics said the number of job vacancies increased by 318,000, with all industry sectors above or equal to the levels seen between January to March

Britain’s main carbon dioxide producer is to hike its prices under a government-brokered deal to keep supplies to key industries going without taxpayer subsidies. Ministers stepped in last month after a surge in natural gas prices prompted US-owned CF Industries to shut down fertiliser plants that also make 60% of Britain’s CO2 – a key