Business

The boss of Fujitsu’s European arm has apologised in person to former sub-postmasters. Speaking following the meetings in London, Paul Patterson told Sky News he was “really grateful for their time”. He described “a really good conversation” held in private. “It’s not for me to get into that now – it was actually quite emotional

Shops have been urged to close early in areas where far-right gatherings are planned following vandalism, arson and looting in parts of the country. The Association Of Convenience Stores, which represents around 50,000 small retailers in the UK, said it was advising its members to “err on the side of caution” following riots in recent

An advert for the world’s first transatlantic flight to be 100% powered by so-called sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has been banned, as the advertising watchdog said it was misleading. The radio ad, which promoted the transatlantic flight, was misleading in its unqualified “100% sustainable aviation fuel” claim, said regulator the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA). Money

Three water companies are facing a combined record fine of £168m after a series of failings, including over sewage treatment. The proposals by regulator Ofwat include a penalty of £104m for Thames Water. Yorkshire Water faces a £47m fine, while Northumbrian Water will have to pay £17m. It comes after an Ofwar investigation found the

Markets in Asia have rallied after worldwide plunges on Monday amid fears the US may be in recession. Taiwan‘s stock exchange jumped following a record drop a day earlier, but shed some of the gains later in the morning amid lingering concerns over the outlook for the US economy and tech companies. Japan‘s benchmark Nikkei

Stock markets in Asia have dropped sharply during trading on Monday amid fears the US economy may be heading for a recession. Japan’s Nikkei 225 share index fell by as much as 10% at one point, while the market’s broader TOPIX index also fell 8%. South Korea’s KOSPI index also dropped more than 8% on

The founder of Itsu and Pret A Manger is joining the board of Knoops, the fast-growing retailer of chocolate-based drinks. Sky News understands that Knoops, which is in the process of raising £5m to fund its expansion, will announce that Julian Metcalfe – a shareholder in the company – is to become a non-executive director.

The Post Office Horizon IT scandal may well be “the worst miscarriage of justice in recent British legal history”. Jason Beer KC, counsel to the inquiry which has been investigating the scandal, did not put it this way lightly. After four hard-fought years, senior executives reduced to tears, and countless heartbreaking stories of the damage

Wingstop, the quick-service chicken chain which is Britain’s fastest-growing restaurant operator, is hoisting a “for sale” sign over its UK business. Sky News has learnt that the company, which is majority-owned by the trio of entrepreneurs who brought it to Britain in 2018, has hired Goldman Sachs to find new owners. City sources said the

A very nasty summer sell-off has been under way now in stock markets around the world for the last 48 hours – and nervous investors got another reason to carry on selling on Friday. The US non-farm payroll figures – essentially a measure of how many jobs were added to the US economy last month

At the end of a mixed fortnight’s worth of trading updates from the US tech giants, it was down to the biggest of them – Apple – to lift investor spirits. The $3.35trn (£2.63trn) giant, established again in June as the world’s biggest company after five months during which Microsoft was bigger, reported sales of

Labour has pulled £1.3bn of investment in tech and AI projects promised by the Tories. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said the funding committed by the previous Conservative administration was not allocated in its budget and so will not proceed. It included £800m for the creation of a next-generation exascale supercomputer at

The first interest rate cut since the start of the COVID pandemic is good news – but experts are warning of a hard slog back towards more comfortable borrowing cost levels. The Bank of England had raised Bank rate 14 consecutive times from December 2021 to try and keep a lid on a surge in

The Bank of England has cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point to 5%. The Bank’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted five to four to bring borrowing costs down, bringing to an end the joint-longest plateau for rates since the Bank was granted independence in 1997. Lower interest rates will instantly be reflected

The Bank of England will implement its first interest rate cut since 2020 at midday on Thursday, if financial markets and many economists are right, hours after the US central bank signalled it could act next month. The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate in the 5.25%-5.50% range on Wednesday evening but downgraded its view

Wizz Air has been named the worst performing airline for customer service by a leading consumer group. Which? said the low-cost carrier ranked the lowest “by far” in a poll of around 1,000 adults. Those surveyed were quizzed on how well airlines performed across eight areas of customer service, including how easy it was to

This year’s budget to support the next wave of renewable energy schemes has been raised to a “record” £1.5bn, the government has announced, following a failed funding process in 2023. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the additional £500m for the looming renewable energy auction represented a commitment towards Labour’s goal of delivering clean, cheap, low-carbon

A new scheme offering settlements of £600,000 to victims of the Post Office scandal has been unveiled by the government. Ministers said it would help sub-postmasters traumatised by the scandal, in which faulty IT software called Horizon led hundreds of staff to be falsely accused of stealing from branches, receive financial support without “unnecessary bureaucracy”.

Rachel Reeves has accused her predecessor of hiding a “£22bn funding gap” for the current financial year, announcing a series of “tough decisions” to compensate. The chancellor told MPs that the investigation she ordered into the spending plans Labour inherited following the election found a Conservative “cover-up” that “put party ahead of country”. Her statement,

Rachel Reeves has scrapped some winter fuel payments, along with a raft of other government programmes and policies to plug a projected government overspend of £22bn. The chancellor said those not in receipt of pension credit will no longer receive the extra money as she repeatedly told MPs: “If we cannot afford it, we cannot