Business

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

A former governor of the Bank of England has launched a scathing attack on Liz Truss – accusing her government of turning Britain into “Argentina on the Channel”. Mark Carney also said Brexiteers such as the former Conservative leader – who became the shortest-serving prime minister in history when she resigned last year – had

Mike Ashley, the high street billionaire, is in talks to sell the online clothing label Missguided to Shein, the giant Chinese online fashion player. Sky News has learnt that the two sides are in detailed negotiations about a deal, which would represent Shein’s first acquisition of a British fashion brand. City sources said that Shein

At the main roundabout outside Port Talbot steelworks, union reps and those on their lunch break gathered holding a banner: “British Steel – Back It or Lose It!” Some 4,000 are employed by Tata Steel here, more than 12% of the town’s entire population. One of them is Greg Coggins, who has worked for Tata

Business secretary Kemi Badenoch has had a busy week. It started on Monday with a £75m cheque to BMW to secure 4,000 jobs tied to future production of electric Minis at its Oxford plant. It ends with a £500m subsidy to sweeten the decarbonisation, by Indian industrial giant Tata, of its Port Talbot steel plant

Thousands of jobs are expected to be lost at Britain’s largest steelworks despite a £500m rescue package. The government will make the offer to assist Tata Steel employees who may face redundancy at its site in Port Talbot, as it moves from blast furnaces to greener steel production. Tata is expected to contribute £700m towards

Customer loyalty schemes at Sainsbury’s and Tesco are “not all they’re cracked up to be” with regular prices being inflated so promotions look better than they really are, according to a consumer champion. Which? says the supermarket giants are using “potentially dodgy tactics” and has shared the findings of its investigation with the Competition and

The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) has revealed its transformation plan will take two more years to complete than expected, while revealing a fall in losses over the first half of its financial year. The employee-owned company, in which staff are known as partners, said that a combination of higher costs due to inflation and a

Shares in UK-based chip designer Arm Holdings have soared after the firm made its Nasdaq debut on Thursday. The firm’s stock opened at $56.1 (£45.2) per share – 10% above the initial public offering (IPO) price of $51 (£41). Arm, which is still 90.6% owned by Japan’s SoftBank Group, had earlier secured a valuation of

Deloitte is planning to cut more than 800 jobs in the UK, sources say. The company, one of the ‘big four’ accountancy firms, is considering the move as part of a cost-cutting restructuring. In a statement to Sky News, Deloitte confirmed some roles were potentially at risk of redundancy, but did not go into specifics.

The UK economy contracted by 0.5% in July – with early official figures suggesting that strikes and the summer washout had an impact. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the decline – which was worse than many economists had expected – followed an unrevised 0.5% increase in gross domestic product (GDP) over the previous

A deal has been struck for the owners of Poundland to take over the leases of 71 Wilko stores. The Pepco Group will rebrand the branches under the Poundland name. It is unclear if Wilko staff at the outlets will be kept on or rehired, but administrators PwC said it was hoped the deal would

A boost in household spending power has been revealed as basic wage growth in July outstripped the rate of inflation for the first time in more than 18 months, according to official figures. The latest employment data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that wages, excluding the effects of bonuses, were up 7.8%

A further 9,100 Wilko employees will be made redundant by early October, administrators have said. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) failed to reach a deal to save any significant part of the retailer after it went into administration. “It is anticipated that all stores will be closed by early October, resulting in the redundancies of a further 9,100

Fears intensified on Monday morning over thousands of high street job losses at Wilko, the stricken value retailer, when a rescue deal involving the owner of HMV collapsed. Sky News has learnt that Doug Putman has ended talks with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) over a slimmed-down deal to acquire about 100 Wilko sites. The transaction is understood

A British-based sleep technology business is being put up for sale by its London-listed owner in a deal that could fetch tens of millions of pounds. Sky News has learnt that Cambridge Sleep Sciences (CSS), which develops and licenses sound technology to help users get better sleep, is to gauge interest from prospective buyers. City

Insolvency firms face being formally regulated for the first time under reforms to be announced next week that will nevertheless fall short of a pledge to establish a new watchdog. Sky News has learnt that the Insolvency Service, which is part of the Department for Business and Trade, will unveil plans that will mean firms

The owner of Cafe Rouge is in talks to buy Chiquito’s and Frankie and Benny’s, two of Britain’s best-known restaurant chains. Sky News has learnt that The Big Table, which is backed by the private equity firm Epiris, is negotiating the acquisition of the two brands from The Restaurant Group (TRG), the London-listed owner of

The supermarket chain Wm Morrison is in talks about a £2bn deal to offload one of Britain’s biggest petrol forecourts empires. Sky News has learnt that the grocer has opened discussions with Motor Fuel Group (MFG) about a deal, with an agreement possible during the autumn. Both Morrisons and MFG are controlled by the private equity