Business

China may target the European Union’s pork producers in retaliation for EU tariffs on its electric cars. The world’s second largest economy revealed on Monday that it had launched an investigation into imports of pork for human consumption from the bloc. The Commerce ministry inquiry was in response to a complaint by Chinese pork producers

A party supplies retailer and distributor is teetering on the brink of administration after being hit by a downturn in consumer spending. Sky News understands that Wonder Group, which was previously known as Amscan, was on Monday preparing to file a notice of intention to appoint Interpath Advisory to handle an insolvency process. Sources said

One of London’s most prominent venture capital investors will this week change its name following the death and resignation of its two co-founders. Sky News understands that Hambro Perks, which counts a stake in What3Words, the location-mapping service, among its holdings, is to rebrand as Salica Investments. An announcement about the change of name will

The founders of Melrose Industries, one of Britain’s most prolific and lucrative investment groups, are preparing to list a new vehicle in London next month as they hunt a new wave of takeover targets. Sky News has learnt that Simon Peckham is spearheading the launch of Rosebank Industries, with talks under way to raise more

Alan Bates, the campaigner who highlighted the Post Office scandal, will be given a knighthood after being recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours list. Other famous faces on the list include artist Tracey Emin and cyclist Mark Cavendish, who will be given a damehood and knighthood, respectively. Former prime minister Gordon Brown has received the

Sandwich maker Greencore, a major supplier to UK supermarkets, has recalled some of its products because of the risk of E.coli, the Food Standards Agency said. The products were recalled as a precaution just a week after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced there had been an outbreak of E.coli which left some people

Latitude Festival has dropped its sponsor, Barclays, after a number of musicians and comedians dropped out in protest over the bank’s ties to the Israel-Hamas war. Latitude Festival told Sky News: “Following discussion with artists, we have agreed with Barclays that they will step back from sponsorship of Latitude Festival”. Comedians Joanne McNally, Sophie Duker,

Tesla shareholders have approved Elon Musk’s $56bn (£44bn) pay package. The proposal passed despite opposition from some large institutional investors and proxy firms. Onstage at the annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, the billionaire described himself as “pathologically optimistic”. “If I wasn’t optimistic this wouldn’t exist, this factory wouldn’t exist,” Musk said to resounding applause.

Demand in the housing market tailed off last month as hopes of a Bank of England rate cut faded, according to an industry report released just hours before a major housebuilder issued a profit warning. A monthly study by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) pointed to a drop in prices during May. At

Labour has promised its manifesto will have “wealth creation” at its heart, ahead of the document’s launch. Sir Keir Starmer will take to the stage in Manchester on Thursday in an effort to convince the public he has the right policies to earn the keys to Number 10. The Labour leader is expected to say

After a very strong start to 2024, during which the UK economy achieved its strongest growth for two years, things stalled again in April. That the economy flatlined during April was no surprise, though, given a couple of factors. One was the early timing of Easter, which will have led some consumer spending that would

Whether Conservatives judge the 2024 manifesto a success or not rather depends on their definition of success. For some, it will be enough that Rishi Sunak has not exploded his election campaign in quite the way Theresa May did with her pledge to impose extra taxes on people to pay for social care in her

Pro-Palestinian activists say they have attacked 20 Barclays bank branches across England and Scotland as part of a campaign aimed at damaging Israel’s war machine. The Palestine Action group, which has previously focused its campaign on Israel-based defence contractor Elbit’s UK operations, said its members were responsible for the vandalism. Images posted on X showed

Michael is fair haired and frail, with a face that tells a story. Until seven years ago his life was perhaps as he imagined it. He was married and working for a fancy food shop in his home town in north Yorkshire. Then something happened. He is reluctant to share the full details but his

The prospect of a pre-election interest rate cut by the Bank of England has been damaged by official figures showing no progress in bringing down the pace of wage growth. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed basic pay rising at an annual rate of 6% in the three months to April. That

Administrators to Cazoo, the British online car retailer once valued at well over £5bn, are closing in on a deal to offload its marketplace division. Sky News has learnt that Motors.co.uk, a privately owned used-car platform, is now the frontrunner to buy Cazoo’s brand and marketplace business. Industry sources said the price was likely to

The time on your ticket is 7pm, but you already know it’s not going to start then. So, what time do you get to the cinema? If you’re arriving at 7.10pm, you’re almost certainly safe, but any later and you may cut it fine. Here, we’ve gathered information from the UK’s major cinema chains and

One of Britain’s biggest cinema chains is in secret talks about a sale as part of a strategic review that could lead to a wholesale restructuring of its business. Sky News has learnt that Cineworld, whose parent company went through a series of insolvency processes last year, is working with advisers on a potential disposal

A key co-owner of Asda has sold his stake to a private equity company, making it the majority owner. Zuber Issa, the co-chief executive, sold his 22.5% share in Asda to private equity backer TDR Capital. Money blog: Victorian island forts – complete with helipads and nightclubs – up for sale Now TDR is the

It is impossible to overstate the significance of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch’s acquittal by a San Francisco jury. Dr Lynch, the founder and former chief executive of Autonomy, was cleared on Thursday night of criminal charges that he fraudulently inflated the FTSE-100 software company’s revenues prior to its $11bn takeover in 2011 by Hewlett-Packard.