Business

Union bosses have accused ministers of stonewalling requests for meaningful pay talks, as more sectors threaten to strike during the Christmas period. TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady and Unison General Secretary Christina McAnea have claimed ministers are refusing to negotiate in good faith. In a joint letter to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, they insisted that no

Motorists should not expect to see a return of supermarkets using cheap fuel to lure in shoppers, an industry source has told Sky News. They spoke out after weeks of criticism from motoring groups and fuel price campaigners that supermarket petrol stations are failing to reflect plunging wholesale fuel prices. Data supplied by the AA

The price of own-brand and budget products in supermarkets has been rising far faster than premium and branded items during the cost of living crisis, new figures suggest. Which? tracked tens of thousands of products across eight major supermarkets – and while budget ranges had surged by as much as 18%, the price of premium

A minister has urged the Rail, Maritime and Transport union not to “hold the country to ransom” after it announced days of extra strikes over Christmas in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. Calling on the union to cancel the strikes, Nick Gibb, the school minister, said the walkouts are “inconveniencing people up

A medical company set up by Elon Musk is under investigation for potential welfare violations – with a total of 1,500 animals dying in four years, according to a report. Staff at Neuralink have made internal complaints that animal testing is being rushed – causing needless suffering and deaths, Reuters says. Records seen by the

The UK is already in a recession which is expected to last into next year, according to the UK’s biggest business group.  The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) downgraded its economic growth outlook amid a stormy picture of declining business investment, higher price forecasts, continued high interest rates and worker shortages. The economy is to

The RMT union has rejected an offer from train operators aimed at preventing strikes over the Christmas period, the union has announced. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) said its proposed framework would have supported pay increases of up to 8%, covering 2022 and 2023 pay awards, while delivering much-needed reforms. But the RMT, led by

The Saudi-led OPEC oil cartel and allied producers including Russia have stuck to their output targets, despite uncertainty over the impact of fresh Western sanctions against Moscow. The decision to maintain the status quo at a meeting of oil ministers on Sunday came ahead of the planned start of two measures aimed at hitting Russia‘s

McLaren Group, the supercar manufacturer and Formula One team-owner, is in talks to raise hundreds of millions of pounds in new funding aimed at steering the British-based company into the electric vehicle era. Sky News has learnt that McLaren has opened talks with existing shareholders including the sovereign wealth funds of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia

The number of landlords selling up has risen by nearly 13% in four months, Sky News has learned. The statistics, given to us by the estate agents trade body Propertymark, show an increase from July to October. Why should we care what happens to landlords? In basic terms, if the landlord exodus continues we could

Travellers have been told to brace for more Christmas chaos after road workers announced 12 days of strikes to coincide with rail walkouts. National Highways employees, who operate and maintain roads in England, will take part in a series of staggered strikes from 16 December to 7 January, the PCS union said. “We know our

Ever since April, when HSBC’s biggest single shareholder, Ping An, began lobbying the lender to spin off its Asian operations into a separate business, there has been speculation over what has motivated the Chinese insurer to do so. Some, including a number of analysts covering the banking sector, have speculated that Ping An, which owns

Collapsed fashion retailer Joules will live on after Next agreed a £34m cash rescue deal that preserves most of its stores and jobs. Under the deal Next will pick up 100 of its 132 stores and only 133 of 1,600 staff will lose their jobs. Nineteen shops are to immediately close in: CarmarthenCheltenhamChichesterEdinburghExeterGatesheadLyme RegisNewburyNorthcote Road,

The total value of fraud in three COVID-19 schemes totalled £4.5bn, of which the taxpayer is only going to get £1.1bn back, the head of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has told MPs. Speaking at the Treasury Committee on Wednesday, HMRC chief executive Jim Harra said the £4.5bn was lost to fraud in the furlough,

HSBC has announced plans to shut a further 114 UK branches, or more than a quarter of its surviving sites. The UK-based but mainly Asia-focused bank said they would begin to shut from April next year. The decision, as the wider banking sector has consistently claimed over many years, is the result of the surge

More energy suppliers could go bust this winter potentially taking government payments intended for customers with them, the chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica has warned. Chris O’Shea told Sky News that the UK energy market, regulated by Ofgem, offers “wealthy individuals” behind some retail suppliers a “free bet” to speculate, with other bill

It was as long ago as 1982, back in the pre-privatisation days of the Central Electricity Generating Board, that the idea of building a new nuclear power plant in Suffolk – Sizewell C – was first mooted. At that time, construction had yet to begin on the neighbouring Sizewell B, which for now remains the

The union representing BT workers has reached an agreement with the company to permanently increase pay. The Communication Workers Union (CWU), whose executive negotiated the deal, is urging its BT members to accept the proposal, which is now being put before members to vote on. BT workers, including those taking 999 calls, engineers and call

An aircraft engine has successfully been powered with hydrogen fuel in what is thought to be a world first, Rolls-Royce has said, in an attempt to reduce the enormous carbon footprint of flying. The aerospace manufacturer and partner easyJet, the low-cost airline, say the ground test marks a “major step” towards proving that hydrogen could

Qatar is reviewing its investments in London after the organisation running the capital’s transport system banned the Middle East country’s advertisements on the Tube, buses and taxis. A source with knowledge of the review has told Sky News the decision by Transport for London (TfL) is “another blatant example of double standards and virtue signalling