Business

Octopus Energy is close to clinching a takeover of stricken rival Bulb in a deal that will crystallise up to £4bn of losses for British taxpayers. Sky News has learnt that ministers at the Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have been told that a sale of Bulb’s 1.6m-strong customer

Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor, has ruled out tearing up the regime put in place to segregate high street lenders’ investment banking arms that was put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. Sky News has learnt that Mr Kwarteng told a gathering of industry chief executives this week that bank ring-fencing would not be scrapped

The pound’s value ebbed and flowed on Friday – supported by a Bank of England deputy governor’s vow to persist in the fight against inflation but later hammered as stronger than expected US jobs data lifted the dollar. Remarks by Sir Dave Ramsden, a member of the monetary policy committee (MPC) which sets Bank rate,

The number of company insolvencies in England and Wales hit its highest level for 13 years in the second quarter of the year, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recorded a total of 5,629 business failures between April and June. It was the highest quarterly number since the third quarter of

September saw the slowest retail sales growth since shops reopened post-COVID restrictions due to a combination of inflation, economic crisis and an uexpected bank holiday, figures show. In-store and online sales increased by just 2.8% in September on last year, according to BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker (HSST). It comes after a similar poor set

The UK’s biggest mortgage lenders will urge the chancellor to extend a government home loans initiative which helps first-time buyers get onto the property ladder. Sky News understands that executives from major banks and Nationwide, Britain’s biggest building society, will ask Kwasi Kwarteng to commit to renewing the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, which is scheduled to

“Stealthy” freezes to tax and welfare thresholds will outweigh any benefits people will get from the government’s plan to cut taxes, according to economists. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a raft of measures in his mini-budget last month, including cutting the basic rate of income tax by 1p and reversing the increase to National Insurance, brought

Executives from Britain’s biggest high street banks have been summoned for talks with Kwasi Kwarteng amid concerns about the impact of recent financial turmoil on the mortgage market. Sky News has learnt that the Treasury has convened a meeting on Thursday at which the chancellor is expected to quiz lenders on their plans. City sources

Motorists are being denied a further 10p cut in petrol prices because retailers have hiked their profit margins, according to the RAC. The motoring organisation said a further oil price fall in September pushed down the average price at forecourts nearly 7p to 162.9p. It was the sixth biggest monthly drop since 2000, but the

There is a mounting risk that fuel prices could soon begin to rise again as major oil-producing countries ponder a big cut in output. The Opec+ cartel, which includes Saudi Arabia and Russia among its main members, is expected by markets to reveal this week a collective target to reduce delivery by more than one

Only 1 in 25 of CEOs in Britain’s largest publicly listed companies are women, according to a new report. Analysis of senior leadership in the FTSE 350 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange showed 96% of CEOs are men. This is despite the entry level recruitment often being close to 50:50, according to

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has confirmed that the government is axing plans to give the wealthiest 1% a tax cut following a bitter backlash from Tory MPs. Mr Kwarteng said in a tweet that the measure had become a “distraction” from his objective to grow the economy. He said: “We get it, we have listened.” Politics

The price of groceries could surge by £1.7bn due to the cost of carbon dioxide rising by as much as 3000%, new analysis has shown. The UK’s food and drink sector could end up footing the mammoth extra bill for liquid CO2 if gas prices remain high, according to research by the Energy and Climate

Leaves on the line disrupting train services promise to be a thing of the past for many more travellers with new technology being introduced by a major train operator. Northern, which runs nearly 2,000 daily services, is fitting a system to 16 passenger trains which will combat slippery rails by spraying water onto them. The

The owners of Britain’s second-biggest steel producer are seeking an urgent package of financial support from taxpayers amid renewed fears for thousands of industrial jobs in the north of England. Sky News has learnt that Jingye Group, which bought British Steel out of insolvency in 2020, has told ministers that the company’s two blast furnaces

Rail passengers have been urged to only travel if “absolutely necessary” today as members of four trade unions stage a 24-hour walkout. The latest strike by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), Aslef, Unite and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) is expected to cause the worst rail disruption of the year

Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have met the head of the UK’s independent fiscal watchdog amid the fallout from the government’s mini-budget. The government confirmed that publication of the forecast would not be brought forward from 23 November – more than seven weeks away. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) confirmed it would deliver an

Gas and electricity bills are going up as the new energy price cap takes effect. You may have read that from 1 October the price cap will mean average energy bills will increase by 27% from £1,971 a year to £2,500. But it isn’t as simple as that. House prices warning as growth slows to

Liz Truss will meet the head of the UK’s independent fiscal watchdog today after a powerful group of cross-party MPs demanded the chancellor release a full economic forecast by the end of October – a month earlier than planned. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will join the prime minister as they meet the Office for Budget Responsibility’s

Shares in companies that depend on consumer spending have plunged after Next, the fashion to homewares retailer, cut its sales forecast for the second half of its financial year and annual profit guidance. The company used the publication of its half-year results to the end of July to say that there were too many variables