Business

High street bank TSB has announced 250 job losses and the closure of 36 branches. The job cuts will be in the fraud operations department of the bank, central operations and staff who work at the branches earmarked for closure. Trade union Unite said the decision by the UK high street lender was a “grave

The Russian state has been making more money from its oil and gas industry in the past three months than in any comparable period since the early days of the Ukraine invasion, it has emerged. The figures underline that despite the imposition of various sanctions on fossil fuel exports from Russia since February 2022, the

One of Britain’s biggest carpet retailers is axing more than 25% of its head office staff as it grapples with a protracted downturn in trading. Sky News understands that Carpetright, which is privately owned, notified staff on Tuesday morning that roughly 70 jobs would be lost as part of a cost-cutting process. The redundancies will

The boss of P&O Ferries – known for its fire-and-rehire of nearly 800 workers – has said he could not live on the less than £5-per-hour some of his staff are paid. The ferry company is paying employees an average of £5.20 an hour, two years after making 786 people redundant, and rehiring cheaper workers,

An estate agency group backed by the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group is being put up for sale in the latest sign of corporate activity in the sector. Sky News understands that LDC has hired bankers from Clearwater International to oversee a sale of Lomond Group. A process is expected to kick off

Single-sex toilets are set to become a legal requirement for all new bars, restaurants, offices and shopping centres under new laws proposed by the government. Self-contained toilets for both sexes may be provided in addition to single-sex toilets, or if there isn’t enough space. Care homes, hotels, schools, cells in custodial facilities, and buildings used

The world’s second-largest steel company has warned the government that a planning verdict due this week could lead to a key division quitting the UK. Sky News has seen a letter sent by ArcelorMittal to Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, in which it says that a decision to allow the closure and redevelopment of part

Ordinary investors will be awarded ‘bonus’ shares in NatWest Group if they hold onto stock they acquire in the taxpayer-backed bank, under a plan expected to be finalised by ministers later this month. Sky News has learnt key details of the options being explored by the Treasury for a multibillion pound retail offer of NatWest shares,

Entain, the FTSE 100 gambling group, has been rebuffed by the former bosses of bookies Coral and Skybet in its hunt for a new chief executive. Sky News has learnt that Entain, which owns Ladbrokes, approached Andy Hornby, who now runs Wagamama’s parent company, and Richard Flint, who holds a portfolio of roles, about the

A former top Post Office lawyer has been accused of telling the Horizon IT inquiry a “big fat lie” over his knowledge of a bug in the system that could have stopped wrongful prosecutions of sub-postmasters in their tracks. Jarnail Singh was a senior in-house lawyer and subsequently head of criminal law at the Post

Official figures have raised fears of a deepening public sector drag on the the UK’s economic recovery from recession. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that productivity in the public sector, dominated by education and healthcare, deteriorated between the third and fourth quarters of 2023. It measured a 1.0% decline over the

Tech giant Apple has recorded the biggest drop in iPhone sales since the early months of the COVID pandemic. Sales for January to March were down 10% on the same period last year – something not seen since the 2020 iPhone model was delayed due to lockdown factory closures. Overall, Apple earned $90.8bn (£72.4bn) in

Goldman Sachs is removing a cap on bonuses for London-based staff, paving the way for it to resume making multimillion pound payouts to its best-performing traders and dealmakers. Sky News can exclusively reveal that the Wall Street banking giant notified its UK employees on Thursday that it had decided to abolish the existing pay ratio

One of the world’s leading economic authorities has warned the UK that borrowing should remain expensive until the rate of price rises eases further and stays there. Interest rates, which are at a post-2008-era high of 5.25%, should stay there, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Money latest:Tips for plane upgrades;

The US central bank, known as the Fed, has again kept interest rates high – at 5.25% to 5.5%. It comes despite the bank signaling in January that interest rate cuts were around the corner. Money latest: Bitcoin suffers nightmare month – and it’s just got worse Progress in bringing down rates and making borrowing

Shifting expectations for UK interest rate cuts have contributed to a dip in house price growth, according to a closely watched measure. Nationwide reported a 0.4% dip in average property costs last month compared with March, taking the annual rate of growth to 0.6% from 1.6%. The lender’s report said the easing reflected “ongoing affordability

A former boss of Camelot, the National Lottery operator, will be named this week as the next chairman of the Post Office as ministers seek to draw a line under the ugly row surrounding the exit of his predecessor. Sky News has learnt that the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has offered the chairmanship

Getir, the grocery delivery app, has abandoned a European expansion that is set to result in the loss of about 1,500 jobs in the UK. Sky News had previously revealed that the Turkey-based company, which means “to bring” in Turkish, had successfully raised money from investors to fund its withdrawals from the UK, Germany and

Premier Inn owner Whitbread is set to axe around 1,500 UK jobs as part of plans to build more hotel rooms and slash its chain of branded restaurants by more than 200. The company said, while announcing a 36% hike in annual profits to £561m, that it was to begin a consultation on cutting roles

The average price paid for comprehensive motor insurance rose 1% in the first quarter of the year, according to industry data indicating an easing in the steep rises seen last year. The latest tracker issued by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) showed a 1% increase on the previous three months to £635. That was