Business

“We hope you prove us wrong.” “We’re very focused on proving you wrong.” The exchange between Jeremy Hunt and IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva, captured by Sky News in Washington DC, tells you rather a lot about the Chancellor’s week here in Washington. This was Mr Hunt’s first International Monetary Fund meeting since taking on

The chancellor has told Sky News there is “no room for complacency” in tackling the UK’s economic problems after official figures revealed no GDP growth in February. But Jeremy Hunt said that while inflation was too high and growth too low, he was confident that his budget plans unveiled last month would help turn things

Jeremy Hunt struck an upbeat tone following the publication of the latest economic growth data for February. “The economic outlook is looking brighter than expected – GDP grew in the three months to February and we are set to avoid recession,” he said. In some respects he’s right. Even though the country was deep into

Andrew Bailey has called into question whether UK banks have large enough cash buffers to cope with crises similar to the recent run on Silicon Valley Bank. The Governor of the Bank of England (BoE) said last month’s turmoil, which led to the rapid takeovers of the bank’s US and UK arms, served as a warning

The UK economy flatlined in February, with no growth in GDP, according to official figures. Civil sector strikes and low energy consumption offset growth in areas such as construction, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showed. It followed growth of 0.4% in January and confirmation that the UK economy avoided recession in the second

The overall supply of candidates for jobs has increased for the first time in more than two years, a survey of recruiters suggests. While the rise in the availability of workers in March was “modest”, it marks the first such upturn in the UK since February 2021, a report from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation

The president of the CBI expressed doubts about the survival of Britain’s biggest business lobbying group if it had run a conventional process to recruit a new chief. Sky News has learnt that Brian McBride told a group of members on Tuesday afternoon that he was concerned that the CBI might not have withstood a

Thousands of UK Vodafone customers have complained after suffering from a broadband connection outage. Downdetector, a website where people can log outages, reported a peak of 2,820 people experiencing problems on Monday morning. Vodafone said in a post on Twitter: “We’re aware of and investigating an issue impacting some of our home broadband customers since

The BBC has objected to being labelled as “government-funded media” on Twitter. The corporation said it had contacted Twitter after the label was added to the main BBC account. Twitter owner Elon Musk responded to the complaint, asking: “Is the Twitter label accurate?” Musk later emailed the BBC, saying: “We are aiming for maximum transparency

Atom Bank, the app-based lender, has picked advisers to secure a further £100m in capital in what is expected to be its final fundraising before an attempt to list its shares publicly. Sky News understands the Durham-based company is working with bankers at Jefferies on a share sale that will take place in the coming

The FTSE-100 gambling giant behind Paddy Power is lining up a US-based businessman as its next chairman – a move that will further cement plans to abandon its presence on the London stock market. Sky News has learnt that Flutter Entertainment, which also owns SkyBet and Betfair, is in advanced talks to appoint John Bryant

Britain’s pensions lifeboat is to hoist a ‘for sale’ sign above Kodak Alaris, the photographic equipment group it took control of as part of a rescue of its retirement schemes. Sky News has learnt that the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has kicked off talks with bankers about an auction of the company behind the ‘Kodak

High interest rates, US bank failures and geopolitical divisions in Europe are reasons why the world economy is expected to grow less than 3% in 2023, the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. The growth is down from 3.4% last year, and even further below the average of 3.8%, increasing the risk

Illegal immigrants will have their bank accounts shut down in a new crackdown by the Home Office – who have been accused of “demonising” asylum seekers. The Home Office announced it began sharing data with the financial sector on Thursday so it can refuse to open new bank accounts and close existing accounts of people

EY, the big four accountancy firm, has ended the secondment of one of its employees to the CBI as the business lobbying group grapples with an unfolding crisis over allegations of sexual misconduct. Sky News has learnt that EY has opted not to renew the secondment of a staff member who was serving as an

Some of Britain’s leading entrepreneurs and financiers are facing significant financial losses from the implosion of Vashi, the upmarket jeweller. Sky News can reveal that Sinclair Beecham, the co-founder of Pret a Manger, Nick Wheeler, founder of the shirtmaker Charles Tyrwhitt, and William Jackson, chief executive of London-listed private equity firm Bridgepoint, are all shareholders

Some of the UK’s biggest and best-known businesses say they are closely watching the unfolding crisis at the CBI. Sky News contacted more than 30 FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies on Thursday and found that many of those who are CBI members are keeping their membership – for now. It comes after a number

Coach travellers will be asked to delay Channel crossings over Easter as ferry companies and the Port of Dover attempt to avoid a repeat of the shambolic delays that blighted the start of the school holidays last weekend. Thousands of holidaymakers, many of them children on school trips, faced delays of up to 18 hours

Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has postponed a meeting with the UK’s five leading business groups amid the unfolding crisis over sexual misconduct allegations at the CBI. Sky News understands that Ms Badenoch has called off her next scheduled talks with the so-called B5, which comprises the CBI, Institute of Directors, British Chambers of

Lying about how old you are is a childhood rite of passage, but in the social media era it comes around earlier than ever. The minimum age for most social media users is 13. But for younger children, registering an account on a smartphone is as simple as adjusting the year of birth and pressing