Business

The UK’s exit from recession during the first three months of the year was stronger than initial figures suggested, according to official data. In an update on its first growth estimate, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.7% between January and March. It had originally said on 10

Around three million UK households will see their mortgage repayments rise over the next two years as high interest rates continue to take effect, the Bank of England has said. As many as 400,000 homes are likely to experience “very large increases” of more than 50%, its financial policy committee said. Money latest: 27 areas

The chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group – the UK’s biggest lender – has warned whoever wins the general election that they will not be able to fuel growth by increasing government borrowing. Charlie Nunn said the UK’s national debt had been forced higher in the last decade and a half due to “massive shocks”

A key figure behind the flawed IT system that led to hundreds of sub-postmasters being wrongly jailed has told the Post Office inquiry he had “not remembered” legal advice he was given about his obligations as an expert witness. Former senior Fujitsu engineer Gareth Jenkins was crucial in the prosecutions process because he was one

New details have been unveiled for Universal’s first UK theme park – including plans for the attraction to be open 365 days a year. Universal Destinations & Experiences – which is owned by Sky’s parent company Comcast – has bought land near Bedford as it plans to build Europe’s largest theme park with more than

One of the architects of the Post Office Horizon accounting system has admitted there were “discreet” bugs but it generally “worked well”, dismissing suggestions he had knowledge of widespread flaws. Gareth Jenkins, who was a lead engineer at Horizon supplier Fujitsu, told the public inquiry into the IT scandal that while pilots for both Horizon

Prospective bidders for The Daily Telegraph have been told to submit indicative offers by July 19 if they want to take control of two of Britain’s most influential newspaper titles. Sky News has learnt that interested parties have been given the deadline, which comes barely two weeks after the general election, as they seek to

Weekly wages have increased by just £16 in 14 years when inflation is factored in, according to research from living-standards think tank the Resolution Foundation. Workers have experienced an “unprecedented” pay squeeze since 2010 with real weekly wage growth of £16 due to two crises and Brexit, the foundation said. The sum factors in price

Voters have been left in the dark over how the major parties will be able to fund their spending commitments, a respected thinktank has said, offering just “thin gruel”. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) took further aim at what it described as a “conspiracy of silence” from both the Conservatives and Labour on how

A pack of trade and private equity suitors are circling Evri, one of Britain’s biggest parcel delivery companies. Sky News has learnt that Apollo Global Management and Platinum Equity are among the parties which have lodged initial offers for Evri, which is reportedly worth around £2bn. City sources said that a number of strategic bidders

Blackstone, one of the world’s biggest private equity firms, is in advanced talks to buy a stake in Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), the owner of some of the most famous playhouses in London’s West End. Sky News has learnt that Blackstone, which manages more than $1trn (£790bn) in assets, is close to snapping up a

Four members of Britain’s richest family have received jail sentences after being found guilty of exploiting their vulnerable domestic workers and providing unauthorised employment. Indian-born tycoon Prakash Hinduja and his wife Kamal, along with their son Ajay and his wife Namrata, were, however, cleared by a Swiss court of more serious charges of human trafficking

Around 1,500 workers at Tata Steel are to hold an “all-out indefinite strike”, a union has announced. The industrial action at Port Talbot and Llanwern, Newport, will begin on 8 July and is expected to “severely impact” the company’s UK operations, Unite said. It comes in response to plans to close Tata Steel’s blast furnaces

The former head of a union for sub-postmasters has denied it became “too close” to the Post Office and was “flush with money”. George Thomson, formerly of the National Federation of SubPostmasters (NFSP), also denied lacking sympathy for those who were wrongfully convicted during the Post Office scandal, which occurred following faults in the organisation’s

Government borrowing was less than expected in May, new figures have revealed. Net borrowing – the difference between public sector spending and income – was £15bn, an increase of £0.8bn on the same time last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Friday. The amount is below the £15.7bn forecast by the Office

TikTok has launched a long-awaited legal fight to stop its Chinese owner being forced to sell the short video platform’s US operations, arguing it violates Americans’ rights to free speech. TikTok and Chinese parent ByteDance were told in April they had until January next year to divest TikTok in the US or face the prospect

Sainsbury’s has struck a deal to sell its banking business to NatWest. The agreement could see NatWest take on around one million customer accounts, as well as £1.4bn of unsecured personal loans, £1.1bn of credit card balances and £2.6bn of customer deposits. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025.

Boeing should be fined almost $25bn and face criminal proceedings over two fatal 737 MAX 8 crashes, according to relatives of some of the 346 victims who argue the company is guilty of the “deadliest corporate crime in US history”. The plea was revealed in a letter to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), a

UK inflation has eased to 2% – increasing the prospect of an interest rate cut this summer. The consumer prices index (CPI) rate for the year to May was confirmed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday. The figure indicates that prices are still rising, but at the slowest pace since spring 2021.

There was “possibly a criminal conspiracy” at the Post Office, according to an independent forensic accountant drafted in to investigate the controversial Horizon accounting system. Ian Henderson, one of the two forensic accountants from Second Sight paid by Post Office (POL) to review sub-postmaster convictions involving Horizon in 2012, told the public inquiry into the