Business

Hundreds of Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport go on strike from the end of the month. The 650 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union will be on strike from August 31 to September 3, then working-to-rule and refusing to work overtime until September 22. The long-running dispute centres on enforced changes

The accounting giant PwC has been fined £15m by the financial conduct regulator in its first-ever financial penalty on an audit firm. One of the so-called big four accounting firms, PwC was said by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to have missed a number of audit red flags and failed to act immediately to report

British retailers saw sales rise last month after a boost from Euro 2024 and summer discounting, official figures show, in a further sign of a growing economy. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said retail sales grew 0.5% last month, after contracting 0.9% in June. Money blog: Fines for parents taking children out of school

The boss of mobile phone firm Three has hit out at the UK’s “abysmal” 5G speeds and availability. Chief executive Robert Finnegan made the comments as he urged regulators to approve the company’s planned merger with Vodafone – arguing the £15bn move would pave the way for better investment in network infrastructure. It came as

The UK economy grew 0.6% over three months, official figures show.  But there was no growth at all in June, the Office for National Statistics said, as businesses delayed purchases until after the general election. Gross domestic product (GDP) – the measure of everything produced in the UK – expanded from April to June. This

A “major breakthrough” which could signal the end of national rail strikes has been made in the long-running pay row involving drivers, according to the Department for Transport (DfT). The department says that, following a series of “positive” talks led by the government, the train drivers’ union ASLEF has agreed to recommend a new pay

The pace at which prices are rising has sped up, according to official figures. The rate of inflation grew to 2.2% in July, up from 2% a month earlier, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. It is the first time since December last year that the rate has increased, rather than fallen. But

While attention has inevitably been on the first rise in grocery price inflation since March last year, the latest till roll data from Kantar Worldpanel also contains valuable insights into the grocery market itself. The figures highlight in particular the continued success of the biggest two players in the market, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, in terms

Grocery inflation has risen for the first time since March 2023, according to closely watched industry data. Prices in food shops rose by 1.8% in the four weeks to 4 August, research by Kantar Worldpanel found. It follows 17 consecutive months of easing inflation in the sector, including during the previous month when the rate

The threat of more than 100 riots across the country led to a 10% drop in hospitality sales, an industry body has said. The expectation of further far-right violence last Wednesday, which failed to materialise after more than a week of rioting, meant many shops, pubs and restaurants closed early and town centres emptied. The

The heads of the UK’s most valuable companies are being paid more than ever before – with the average chief executive paid more than 100 times that of the average worker, according to analysis from the High Pay Centre thinktank. The CEOs of the most valuable firms listed on the London Stock Exchange – the

Coffee shop chain Pret A Manger has announced some staff members will wear body-worn cameras as a new safety measure.  The company confirmed to Sky News that six shops across London started trialling the new technology last month, which will only be worn by team leaders and managers. It said the cameras will only be

A music-streaming service whose shareholders include Simon Cowell, Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams is racing to raise millions of pounds within weeks. Sky News has learnt that ROXi has appointed Begbies Traynor Group, the professional services firm, to work alongside Rockefeller Capital Management on the hunt for new capital. Founded in 2014, ROXi described itself

Britain’s most influential small business group is urging the home secretary to ensure swift support for SMEs affected by the wave of rioting which has swept Britain in the last ten days. In a letter to Yvette Cooper, a copy of which has been seen by Sky News, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) called

The government has “no time to waste” in punishing “disgraced” water companies, the Liberal Democrats have said after obtaining new data on firms breaching permits for sewage spills. The nine water companies in England breached their environmental permits 695 times last year, often due to pumping raw sewage into waterways without permission, a Freedom of

Disney plans to spend $5bn (£3.9bn) on making blockbuster films and TV shows in regions including the UK over the next five years. The entertainment giant is said to have been buoyed by the success of its superhero comedy Deadpool & Wolverine, which was made at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. The recent release, starring Hugh

The UK’s competition regulator has launched an inquiry into Amazon’s investment of over £3bn into an artificial intelligence (AI) startup as regulators ramp up their scrutiny of mergers involving the fast-growing technology. The deal, which was announced by Amazon in March, included a $4bn (£3.16bn) investment into Anthropic and a commitment from the AI startup

Lord Saatchi, the former advertising mogul, has accused The Daily Telegraph’s would-be proprietors of overpaying for the right to own the title after his £350m offer for it was rejected. Sky News has learnt that an indicative bid from Lord Saatchi and Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a former director of The Economist Group, has

The boss of Fujitsu’s European arm has apologised in person to former sub-postmasters. Speaking following the meetings in London, Paul Patterson told Sky News he was “really grateful for their time”. He described “a really good conversation” held in private. “It’s not for me to get into that now – it was actually quite emotional

Mourning his mother’s death and celebrating her life at the Old Neighbourhood Inn was the obvious choice for Martin Leach, 72, from Chalford Hill, near Stroud.  The wood-beamed pub opposite his home had been woven into the fabric of the village for 150 years, so it made sense for 90 friends and family members to