Business

Around three million UK households will see their mortgage repayments rise over the next two years as high interest rates continue to take effect, the Bank of England has said. As many as 400,000 homes are likely to experience “very large increases” of more than 50%, its financial policy committee said. Money latest: 27 areas

The chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group – the UK’s biggest lender – has warned whoever wins the general election that they will not be able to fuel growth by increasing government borrowing. Charlie Nunn said the UK’s national debt had been forced higher in the last decade and a half due to “massive shocks”

A key figure behind the flawed IT system that led to hundreds of sub-postmasters being wrongly jailed has told the Post Office inquiry he had “not remembered” legal advice he was given about his obligations as an expert witness. Former senior Fujitsu engineer Gareth Jenkins was crucial in the prosecutions process because he was one

New details have been unveiled for Universal’s first UK theme park – including plans for the attraction to be open 365 days a year. Universal Destinations & Experiences – which is owned by Sky’s parent company Comcast – has bought land near Bedford as it plans to build Europe’s largest theme park with more than

One of the architects of the Post Office Horizon accounting system has admitted there were “discreet” bugs but it generally “worked well”, dismissing suggestions he had knowledge of widespread flaws. Gareth Jenkins, who was a lead engineer at Horizon supplier Fujitsu, told the public inquiry into the IT scandal that while pilots for both Horizon

Prospective bidders for The Daily Telegraph have been told to submit indicative offers by July 19 if they want to take control of two of Britain’s most influential newspaper titles. Sky News has learnt that interested parties have been given the deadline, which comes barely two weeks after the general election, as they seek to

Weekly wages have increased by just £16 in 14 years when inflation is factored in, according to research from living-standards think tank the Resolution Foundation. Workers have experienced an “unprecedented” pay squeeze since 2010 with real weekly wage growth of £16 due to two crises and Brexit, the foundation said. The sum factors in price

Investors in Getir, the food delivery app which is abandoning its UK operations, have approved a break-up of the company that will trigger a fresh capital injection of up to $250m. Sky News has learnt that Getir, which is based in Turkey, held an extraordinary general meeting on Sunday at which shareholders backed plans to

A pack of trade and private equity suitors are circling Evri, one of Britain’s biggest parcel delivery companies. Sky News has learnt that Apollo Global Management and Platinum Equity are among the parties which have lodged initial offers for Evri, which is reportedly worth around £2bn. City sources said that a number of strategic bidders

Blackstone, one of the world’s biggest private equity firms, is in advanced talks to buy a stake in Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), the owner of some of the most famous playhouses in London’s West End. Sky News has learnt that Blackstone, which manages more than $1trn (£790bn) in assets, is close to snapping up a

Around 1,500 workers at Tata Steel are to hold an “all-out indefinite strike”, a union has announced. The industrial action at Port Talbot and Llanwern, Newport, will begin on 8 July and is expected to “severely impact” the company’s UK operations, Unite said. It comes in response to plans to close Tata Steel’s blast furnaces

The former head of a union for sub-postmasters has denied it became “too close” to the Post Office and was “flush with money”. George Thomson, formerly of the National Federation of SubPostmasters (NFSP), also denied lacking sympathy for those who were wrongfully convicted during the Post Office scandal, which occurred following faults in the organisation’s

Government borrowing was less than expected in May, new figures have revealed. Net borrowing – the difference between public sector spending and income – was £15bn, an increase of £0.8bn on the same time last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Friday. The amount is below the £15.7bn forecast by the Office

More than £232m has been paid out in compensation to people affected by the now-scrapped northern leg of HS2, Sky News can reveal. Responses to our Freedom of Information requests show just shy of £550m has been spent so far on a range of government compensation schemes for both residents and businesses impacted by the

The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) was never going to cut interest rates today. Not two weeks before a general election. Cutting the cost of borrowing would have been perceived as highly political, potentially offering support to the government, even though some Conservative politicians, such as the former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, sought

The Bank of England has held interest rates at 5.25% for the seventh time in a row. The decision to maintain the cost of borrowing comes despite official figures yesterday which revealed inflation had fallen to the Bank’s target of 2% for the first time in nearly three years. However, the move by its Monetary

A care home operator which once ranked among the largest in Britain is being put up for sale in a move expected to fetch about £300m. Sky News has learnt that Four Seasons Health Care Group has appointed CBRE, the property agent, to oversee an auction in the coming months. The process will be launched

Wall Street’s biggest bank is lifting Brussels’ bonus cap for its London-based staff, weeks after rival Goldman Sachs fired the starting gun on a post-Brexit era in industry pay. Sky News can reveal that JP Morgan Chase was in the process of notifying staff on Wednesday that it would preserve some elements of the remuneration

UK inflation has eased to 2% – increasing the prospect of an interest rate cut this summer. The consumer prices index (CPI) rate for the year to May was confirmed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday. The figure indicates that prices are still rising, but at the slowest pace since spring 2021.

There was “possibly a criminal conspiracy” at the Post Office, according to an independent forensic accountant drafted in to investigate the controversial Horizon accounting system. Ian Henderson, one of the two forensic accountants from Second Sight paid by Post Office (POL) to review sub-postmaster convictions involving Horizon in 2012, told the public inquiry into the