Business

The bosses of Britain’s biggest banks will hold talks with the new chancellor on Wednesday as he tries to exert a grip on the stalling UK economy. Sky News has learnt that Kwasi Kwarteng has convened a meeting with the chief executives of lenders including Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group just hours after

Tackling the cost of living crisis is the number one priority for Liz Truss. Her victory over Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership race followed a tense five-week debate, dominated by how each would approach getting bills down for households and businesses. After criticism that the government was rudderless in the face of soaring inflation

With the cost of running household appliance set to rocket this winter, consumer watchdog Which? has come up with a list of ways to head off the price hikes. The energy price cap is due to rise 80% in October, after the regulator, Ofgem, said the average household’s yearly bill can be raised from £1,971

Liz Truss will go “bigger than expected” on energy after becoming the new prime minister on Tuesday, Sky News understands. The foreign secretary has won the Conservative leadership contest over rival Rishi Sunak and will succeed Boris Johnson tomorrow. Having made tax cuts a key priority during her leadership campaign, she has remained tight-lipped about

Liz Truss has said she is ready to take “tough decisions” and “immediate action” on energy bills during her first week in office, if she becomes prime minister. There have been ever-louder calls in recent weeks for the government to intervene to support the most vulnerable, with energy bills set to rise to around £3,500

Britain’s biggest water utility is working on plans to raise additional funding just weeks after unveiling plans to tap shareholders for £1.5bn in new equity. Sky News has learnt that Thames Water has begun debating whether it needs to seek new capital to deliver the transformation plan it has set out under Sarah Bentley, its

Bus journeys in England will be capped at £2 between January and March next year to help people deal with the rising cost of living. The Department for Transport said the plan could see some passengers save more than £3 per single bus ticket. The average fare for a three-mile journey is around £2.80, the

Waitrose has admitted to blocking rivals from opening supermarkets in close locations for close to a decade, according to the market watchdog. During an investigation between 2010 and 2019 into supermarket practices, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that Waitrose had conspired with landlords to prevent competing companies from opening stores. The practice, which

The chancellor is preparing a multibillion-pound package of tax cuts to help businesses struggling with soaring energy costs. Nadhim Zahawi is drawing up emergency plans to save companies on the brink of collapse for the incoming prime minister, who will be named on Monday. According to The Times, the chancellor believes the government can learn

The UK will enter recession before the end of this year, with growth expected to be weak into 2024. That is the latest forecast from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), which said it expects the UK economy to record three consecutive quarters of contraction – the definition of a recession – this year. However,

The soaring US dollar has pushed the pound to its biggest monthly fall since October 2016. The pound shed 4.6% in August, having lost 14% so far this year, as concerns grow about the state of the British economy. On Thursday afternoon it hovered just above $1.15. The news was not much better against the

British households are on course for the deepest living standards squeeze in a century, with real household disposable incomes expected to fall by 10% this year and the next. The warning comes in a new report by the Resolution Foundation, which said that real earnings are falling at their fastest rate since 1997, meaning that

BrewDog has announced it will close six of its pubs, blaming spiralling costs and a “clueless government”. The craft beer firm will shut the Hop and Anchor in Aberdeen, Smithfield Market Arms in London, Hop Hub in Motherwell and its BrewDog bars in Dalston, east London; Old Street, east London; and Peterhead, Scotland. James Watt,

In Germany, coal is making something of a comeback. A power station once marked for closure in the town of Bexbach is being resurrected. For the last few years, the plant was in the “grid reserve”, meaning it was called upon to supplement shortages in the power network a few days a year. Now, it’s

Transport for London has secured around £1.2bn in funding from the government, but the city’s mayor has warned the agreement is “far from ideal”. The funding package replaces TfL’s last bailout, which was the fourth since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Transport for London commissioner Andy Byford said the agreement, which

Energy price increases of more than 300% are in danger of forcing pubs and brewers across the UK out of business in the coming months, industry leaders have said. Unlike domestic customers, who are facing an 80% increase in average bills in October, businesses operate without any sort of regulated price cap, with some pub

The worst airline for delays at UK airports last year was Wizz Air, an investigation has found. Its departures were an average 14 minutes and 24 seconds behind schedule in 2021, according to analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data. The Hungarian company operates from 10 UK airports including Gatwick, Luton and Cardiff. Tui was

Millions of people in the UK will not turn their heating on this winter because of rising energy bills, a survey suggests. The poll, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, showed 23% of adults plan to take this drastic move, rising to 27% for those with children at home. The results also showed 23% would be

The struggling fashion chain Joules’ hopes of securing a lifeline from the high street behemoth Next have hit a stumbling block days after it issued a fresh profits alert. Sky News has learnt that the two companies are not close to agreeing the terms of an investment from Next more than three weeks after confirming

Boris Johnson has admitted that energy bills will be “eye-watering” this winter – and the cost of heating is already “frightening” for some. Writing in The Mail on Sunday, the outgoing prime minister blamed Vladimir Putin for the worsening crisis – and claimed the Russian president “likes it”. And although Mr Johnson warned the months