Business

“It all begins with an NDA.” A former personal assistant of Harvey Weinstein sums it up quite nicely. What is going wrong in the workplace when it comes to widespread sexism, harassment, and bullying, particularly for women? The most serious consequence of which is sexual and physical violence as outlined, yet again, by the alleged

A trio of property giants has lodged a protest against a radical financial restructuring that will see Cineworld imposing steep rent cuts on its landlords. Sky News has learnt that British Land, Landsec and Legal & General Investment Management all voted against the cinema operator’s restructuring plan this week. Cineworld has confirmed plans to close

The Caucasus Mountain range in Georgia is one of the great sights in the south of Europe. Towering peaks, higher than any in the Alps, rise up from green meadows and grassy hills covered in wildflowers. Winding roads thread through deep valleys, overlooked by ornate Orthodox churches and monasteries. But when I visited recently, I

The UK’s public sector debt has hit 100% of the value of the country’s annual economic output for the first time since the 1960s, according to official figures released ahead of the chancellor’s maiden budget. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, in a preliminary estimate, that the figure had risen from the 99.3% figure

Post Office campaigner Sir Alan Bates has blamed government “flimflam artists” for dragging out financial redress for victims. In a newsletter, seen by Sky News, he criticises the GLO (Group Litigation Order) scheme for being a “gravy train” for government lawyers, He adds it is “seemingly to ensure maximum income for the lawyers and minimal

There has been no change to the UK interest rate despite the US and European central banks all moving to cut in the last week. The Bank of England has kept the interest rate at 5% as official figures this week showed some measures of price rises grew. It follows the first cut in more

The owner of the UK arm of the restaurant chain TGI Fridays (TGIF) has gone into administration, putting 4,500 jobs and 87 outlets at risk. Hostmore, which runs the UK franchise for TGIF, has appointed administrators and delisted its ordinary shares after struggling to find a “lasting solution” to save the business amid heavy losses

Post Office chief executive Nick Read is to step down, the company has announced. Mr Read had temporarily stepped back from the role in July to prepare for the next stage of the Horizon scandal inquiry. Neil Brocklehurst, the current interim chief operating officer, has been asked to replace Mr Read as acting CEO. “It

A medical technology company which produces tissue-healing surgical products has become the latest London-listed business to draw interest from buyout firms. Sky News has learnt that Inflexion, the private equity group, has been studying a takeover of Advanced Medical Solutions Group (AMS Group), which has a market capitalisation of over £500m. On Tuesday evening, it

Guardian Media Group (GMG) is in talks to sell The Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, to Tortoise Media, a start-up founded five years ago by a former BBC and Times executive. Sky News can exclusively reveal that GMG was in the process of informing staff on The Observer on Tuesday that it is in

A former Treasury official is leading the race to become the next chairman of Lloyd’s of London, one of the City’s most prestigious posts. Sky News has learnt that Sir Charles Roxburgh is the frontrunner to replace Bruce Carnegie-Brown in the role. City sources said a process in which other candidates were being considered was

The iconic Belfast company that built the Titanic is to collapse into administration. Harland & Wolff has announced it is insolvent and will appoint administrators. An administration order will likely be made this week, it added. Jobs are likely to be lost, the company said, but it did not detail how many. “Workers, their families

A momentous court battle over the fate of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire gets under way in Nevada today. At stake is the future of a string of newspapers and television channels consumed by millions of people around the world, as well as thousands of jobs – and billions of pounds. The media mogul, who turned

Legal & General, the FTSE-100 insurance and asset management giant, will this week pick a new home for Cala Group, its housebuilding subsidiary. Sky News has learnt that Sixth Street, the US-based investor, has emerged as the frontrunner to buy Cala, which ranks among Britain’s ten biggest housebuilders. Sixth Street has teamed up with Patron

Babcock International, the London-listed defence contractor, is weighing a possible bid for some of the assets of Harland and Wolff, the shipbuilder which is close to collapse. Sky News has learnt that Babcock, which has a market value of £2.4bn, has expressed an interest in Harland and Wolff’s Belfast shipyard which is famous for having

Two of Britain’s biggest newspaper publishers are taking the axe to their US workforces, slashing scores of jobs in the latest evidence of mounting financial pressures across the media sector. Sky News has learnt that News UK, the publisher of The Sun, and DMGT, owner of the Daily Mail, have this week announced sweeping internal

A London-listed automotive components supplier has become the latest British-based company to draw overseas takeover interest after receiving a series of offers from a Canadian rival. Sky News has learnt that TI Fluid Systems has received at least two bid proposals from ABC Technologies Holdings, a Canadian competitor. City sources said on Friday evening that

Tens of millions of mobile phone users could end up paying more if the merger between Vodafone and Three goes ahead, the competition watchdog has warned. The deal would create the UK’s biggest mobile network and could also improve network quality, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said. A better network? But claims of providing

The billionaire founder of Revolut has sold shares worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the banking and finance app as he climbs the ranks of Europe’s wealthiest people. Sky News has learnt that Nik Storonsky, the company’s chief executive, sold between 40% and 60% of the stock that was offloaded by employees in a

The gap between how much money the state takes in and its spending will triple in the next 50 years, according to independent forecasters. Public debt will rise due to an ageing and ill population as well as climate change, the fiscal watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has said. The ratio between debt