Business

NatWest has an increasingly confident air about it. The biggest lender to small and medium-sized businesses in the UK today posted another set of results that were better than expected – and raised its profit forecasts for the year. It also announced an eye-catching acquisition – agreeing to pay up to £2.4bn in cash for

Competition among fuel retailers is “failing consumers” because drivers are still paying too much to fill up, according to regulators. In an update on its monitoring of the fuel market, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the cost to all motorists from the previously identified increase in retail fuel margins since 2019 was over

The chief executive of AstraZeneca has criticised a public health body for refusing to make one of its breast cancer treatments available to NHS patients in England and Wales. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) decided in March this year that patients should be denied access to Enhertu because it said the

The private equity giant Apollo Global Management is on the brink of a deal to buy Evri, the British parcel delivery company, in a £2.7bn deal. Sky News has learnt that Apollo has seen off competition to acquire the company from rivals including JD.com, the Chinese internet group, and DHL. The deal could be announced

It is now even harder and more expensive for the UK’s biggest water provider to borrow money as leading credit ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded its debt to “junk” status. Thames Water’s parent company had already defaulted on some loan payments that make up its £16.5bn debt pile. More pressure will be put on its

Rachel Reeves is to hold talks with a group of Canadian retirement funds which have invested tens of billions of pounds into the British economy in a bid to convince them to back her “big bang” pension reforms. Sky News has learnt the chancellor will meet funds including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB),

Efforts to secure access to cash for consumers and businesses are being stepped up through a series of new rules to be imposed by the City watchdog. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that from 18 September, banks and building societies would face greater obligations to weigh if local communities lack access to services, like

A majority of England’s nine water and sewage companies are “failing to get the basics right”, according to annual rankings which labelled four operators as responsible for 90% of serious pollution incidents. The report by the Environment Agency (EA) covering 2023 showed there were 47 of the most serious pollution instances recorded – up from

Almost half of private renters in England are living in homes that are cold, damp or mouldy, even in the summer, according to new figures. A survey by Citizens Advice found 45% of private renters are currently experiencing damp, mould or excessive cold in their home. And the research found 48% of these households have

Carpetright’s future is understood to have been secured but the vast majority of its 1,800 staff are set to lose their jobs under a limited rescue deal. It is believed that rival floorings retailer Tapi will confirm it is buying just 54 of 272 stores and two warehouses in a so-called pre-pack administration that allows

Utilita, one of Britain’s top ten energy suppliers, is plotting to raise tens of millions of pounds to fund projects aimed at meeting net zero targets. Sky News has learnt that Utilita, which last season sponsored the Premier League football club Luton Town, has hired Alexa Capital to advise on the equity injection. Sources close

Nail bars and car washes will be targeted by immigration officers as they step up enforcement action over the summer, the home secretary has announced. Yvette Cooper said 1,000 civil servants working on the now-abandoned Rwanda scheme will staff a new “returns and enforcement programme”. Writing in the Sun on Sunday, she said the programme

Disruption caused by the global IT outage has continued this weekend as airline passengers reported long delays and lost baggage, while pharmacies tried to deal with a backlog in medicine deliveries. The outage spread globally on Friday morning after an update from global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike knocked many Microsoft Windows PCs offline with a “blue

The NHS has warned of “continued disruption” to GP services into next week following the global IT outage – as airline passengers reported lengthy delays and lost baggage this weekend. The outage spread globally on Friday morning after an update from global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike knocked many Microsoft Windows PCs offline with a “blue screen

After the chaos of Friday’s global IT outage – without doubt the worst the world has seen – questions are starting to be asked about who, if anyone, will pick up the bill. Somewhat surprisingly, particularly given its share price has doubled during the year and was trading on a stratospheric rating, shares of CrowdStrike,

With the London Stock Exchange Group impacted by the global outage, the usual market data is not available to bring a comprehensive update of what’s happening with companies. But the financial market reaction is clear: share prices are down across the board as the impact of system failures rips through businesses across the world. IT

The Bank of England has revealed disruption to some major financial transactions due to a “global payments issue”. In a statement, the Bank said its high value CHAPS service – which handles payments worth hundreds of billions of pounds each day – was affected and that had resulted in delays. They usually involve transactions between

The TV retail consultant known as ‘Mary Queen of Shops’ has called on the government to block a proposed London stock market listing by Shein. Mary Portas, who undertook a review of UK high streets for the coalition government led by David Cameron, was speaking as an online petition by the Say No to Shein

Wage rises have slowed, official figures show, potentially signalling good news for those hoping for a fall in the cost of borrowing. But pay has increased faster than the overall rate of price rises. Money latest – We tried the UK’s cheapest three-course dinner* – here’s what you get for £5 Earnings rose at an

There has been no change to the rate of inflation which remained at 2%, the target rate for the Bank of England, according to official figures. It means prices in June rose at the same rate as in May, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Money latest: Number of people claiming non-dom status