Business

The UK government made one of its largest interest payments on public debt ever last month, after inflation pushed borrowing costs to some of their highest levels on record.  Despite a cut in public sector borrowing, interest costs soared to £7.6bn in May, far above the £5.1bn predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

The only bidder to make a binding offer for Boots, Britain’s biggest high street chemist, is pinning its hopes on a quartet of lenders even as jitters grow in global debt markets about large-scale takeover deals. Sky News has learnt that a consortium comprising Apollo Global Management and the Indian behemoth Reliance Industries has lined

Imagine, if you can, you are in the chancellor’s shoes. Your instincts are to cut taxes and reduce public spending yet pretty much every decision you’ve taken in office has involved doing precisely the opposite. Worse: in recent months, even when you have forked out serious sums to support workers, much of that money seems

This week’s rail strike and the potential for further walkouts across the public sector has conjured the spirits of the Winter of Discontent, the dark days of the late 70s still considered the low point for British industrial relations, even if some of those in government and Fleet Street are too young to remember it.

Demand for supermarket value ranges has surged by 12% as grocery inflation hits its highest level in 13 years, according to closely-watched industry data. Kantar Worldpanel reported that like-for-like grocery prices rose by an annual rate of 8.3% over the four weeks to 12 June, up 1.3 percentage points on the previous period. It warned

EasyJet has apologised to customers for failing to “deliver the service they have come to expect from us”. The airline has blamed problems such as staff shortages in ground handling and at airports, as well as air traffic control delays for resulting in increased turnaround times, delays and cancellations. It is among a number of

A former top executive at Aviva and British Gas will this week be appointed to spearhead the latest takeover quest of Marwyn, one of the London market’s most prolific creators of listed acquisition vehicles. Sky News has learnt that Mark Hodges, who has run some of the biggest companies in the British insurance industry, will

Hundreds of UK-based executives at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) are to receive one-off six-figure windfalls from the sale of the global accountancy giant’s mobility services arm. Sky News has learnt that the firm’s 950 partners in Britain will be handed an average of just over £100,000 each following a $2.2bn deal with the private equity firm Clayton

Russia’s economy may take a decade to recover from the crushing sanctions placed on the country following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to one of Russia’s top businessmen. Returning to pre-sanctions levels could take nearly 10 years as the country remains cut off from half of its trade, said German Gref, the

Tesco said sales at the supermarket giant have fallen as “unprecedented increases in the cost of living” are felt across the country. Pointing to an “incredibly challenging” trading environment, the company saw sales in the UK fall by 1.5% between March and May when compared with the same period last year. As the Bank of

The Government is trying to do everything it can to tackle the cost of living “storm” but cannot solve every problem or save every business, a business minister has told Sky News. Paul Scully played down the immediate likelihood of tax cuts to help struggling households as he stressed the “tight” public finances and burgeoning

Passengers at Heathrow will not face major disruption this summer despite an industry-wide international labour crisis that could take 18 months to resolve, the airport’s chief executive has said. Travellers at airports across the UK faced significant disruption to flights during a chaotic half-term week culminating in the Jubilee weekend, sparking concern that summer holidays

The Bank of England has raised interest rates for the fifth time in a row to 1.25% and set the scene to act more “forcefully” ahead because of a mounting inflation threat. There had been speculation of a more aggressive tightening after the sharpest rate hike since 1994 of 0.75% was imposed by counterparts at

A food industry research body has warned that grocery inflation is due to accelerate over the summer, with higher prices expected to persist to mid 2023. The Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) saw a peak for food inflation of 15% in the coming months led by meat, cereal, dairy, fruit and vegetable products. The study

The UK is heading for a recession, Lord Hammond has warned, saying “all the data points that way”. The former chancellor told Sky News the country faces a “very, very difficult period ahead in the short term”. He said he thinks the UK economy will slow down quite sharply in the autumn. Lord Hammond said

Eight million households will start receiving cost-of-living payments from 14 July, the government has said. Low-income households on benefits will get £326 next month as part of a £21bn support package to help with soaring bills, which was announced last month. Another £324 will hit their accounts in the autumn, according to the Department for

A consumer rights expert has hit out at the aviation regulator while accusing airlines of presiding over a ‘blatant flouting of consumer rights’ following the recent flight chaos. Sue Davies, head of consumer rights at consumer group Which?, told the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee (BEIS) committee of MPs there were serious, historic, failures

The latest employment figures show inflation taking a bigger bite out of regular pay and an unexpected jump in the jobless rate as people seek to better shield themselves from the cost of living crisis. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the jobless rate rose to 3.8% in the three months to April

Concerns about inflation and slowing economic growth have triggered a sharp sell-off in financial markets. The FTSE 250 fell to its lowest level in three months on Monday after data showed the UK’s economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.3% in April. The domestically-focused mid-cap index was down 2.6%, while the FTSE 100, which is made up

There has been no let up in the pace of fuel price increases, with pump costs hitting new record levels over the weekend, according to the latest figures. Data from Experian Catalist showed the average cost of a litre of unleaded hit 185.04p on Sunday while diesel – the engine of the UK economy –