Business

The Aston Martin Formula One team is to set a new valuation benchmark by selling a large stake to two of the world’s most prominent investment funds. Sky News can exclusively reveal that HPS Investment Partners, a US-based firm which manages roughly $115bn in assets, and Accel, one of the giants of the Silicon Valley

A stronger performance for job creation in the United States appears to have eased financial market fears of a US recession. Closely-watched employment data showed that 142,000 net new jobs were created in the world’s largest economy last month. While that was below forecasts of 160,00, it represented a significant recovery on a downwardly revised

The UK economy would need investment of £1trn pounds over a decade for an annual growth rate of 3% to be achieved, according to a business lobby group. The Capital Markets Industry Taskforce (CMIT), which represents leaders in the financial services sphere, said £100bn a year must be found to help the country catch up

The new owners of The Body Shop are lining up tens of millions of pounds in new financing as they finalise a deal to buy the chain out of administration. Sky News has learnt that Aurea, an investment company led by Mike Jatania, a cosmetics entrepreneur, is in advanced talks to secure more than £30m

Royal Mail may not be obligated to deliver second class letters on a Saturday in future, under plans being considered by the industry regulator. Ofcom, which launched a consultation on the company’s universal service obligation (USO) earlier this year, said such a shift would protect priority deliveries, including first class mail, and help loss-making Royal

An American investment firm has joined forces with one of the remaining bidders for Cala Group, the privately owned housebuilder which has been put on the market. Sky News understands that Sixth Street has teamed up with Patron Capital Partners – Cala’s former owner – in an effort to trump a rival offer from Persimmon,

The government was “well aware” of the deadly risks posed by combustible cladding and insulation a year before the Grenfell Tower fire, but “failed to act on what it knew”, a landmark report has found. The report also said “systemic dishonesty” from cladding and insulation companies and a “toxic” relationship between the tower’s residents and

Senior business leaders have welcomed discussions with Angela Rayner over proposals to improve workers’ rights as “positive”, but warned the “devil will be in the detail” of legislation due to be put before Parliament next month. The deputy prime minister and business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, met the bosses of major employers including John Lewis, Octopus,

American tech giant Hewlett Packard has said it is to continue with legal proceedings “through to their conclusion” to seek up to £3bn in damages from late British billionaire Mike Lynch’s estate in the UK. The company had been seeking compensation over its acquisition of British tech firm Autonomy amid claims of fraud masterminded by

Legal powers introduced since the Grenfell Tower fire to force building owners to fix serious fire safety issues are being ignored, Sky News can reveal. One of the UK’s first Building Remediation Orders, issued by a judge last year, gave the owners of a block of flats in Bristol six months to fix serious fire

Labour is facing a drop off in confidence among business leaders amid plans for tax rises and improvements to workers’ rights, according to a survey. The Institute of Directors (IoD) had noted a leap in optimism in July among its membership as the new government came to power. But its latest economic confidence index showed

A full-fibre broadband builder is accelerating its search for merger partners amid growing financial strains on some of the industry’s smaller players. Sky News understands that Zzoomm, which is backed by the giant US-based investor Oaktree Capital Management, has drafted in Acuity Advisors, a specialist technology firm, to identify prospective deals. Zzoomm operates in nearly

A British hypersonic aviation campaign which has been hailed as a successor to Concorde is this weekend racing to avert collapse. Sky News has learnt that Reaction Engines has lined up PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the accountancy firm, to act as administrator if its quest to secure new funding is unsuccessful. The company is understood to be

GE, one of the world’s best-known conglomerates has swooped to buy a British climate technology start-up in its quest to reduce the aviation industry’s environmental impact. Sky News has learnt that GE Aerospace has struck a deal to buy Satavia, a Cambridge-based company which helps to mitigate the warming effect of aircraft contrail clouds. Founded

The government’s plan to ban smoking in pub gardens and other outdoor venues is a “sensible approach” to help people stop, a minister has said. Sir Keir Starmer confirmed leaked reports on Thursday his government is considering the smoking ban, which would also include outdoor restaurants and outside sports venues, hospitals, nightclubs, and in some

The number of mortgages approved reached a near two-year high, according to Bank of England figures, as hopes of cheaper borrowing encouraged would-be buyers. Mortgage approvals increased to 62,000 in July, a level not seen since September 2022, a sign that buyers were waiting for hopes of reduced interest rates and the associated lower mortgage

House prices are now growing at the fastest annual rate in nearly two years, the UK’s largest building society has said, with rises expected to continue. In the year up to August, houses became 2.4% more valuable with the average property costing £265,375, according to Nationwide. But prices are still below the all-time highs recorded

Older people are having to fill out a 243-question form to access pension credit and winter fuel payments – a task that will be “daunting” for some, charities have said. The government has launched a campaign urging eligible people to apply for pension credit after Rachel Reeves announced last month that the winter payments would

The government will not defend the legal challenges brought against plans to develop the UK’s largest untapped oil and gas field and a second North Sea site. Rosebank, 80 miles west of Shetland, contains around 300 million barrels of oil and is the UK’s last major undeveloped oil site. It is twice the size of

US tech stocks are falling despite Nvidia, the chipmaker driving the artificial intelligence (AI) led stock market boom, reporting stronger than expected earnings. The company, which has been the darling of US markets with shares up 150% this year alone, reported second quarter revenue of just over $30bn – more than double the sum achieved