Business

The owner of Boots the Chemist has abandoned the sale of Britain’s biggest high street pharmacy chain amid torrid conditions in global debt-financing markets. Walgreens Boots Alliance confirmed on Tuesday afternoon a Sky News report that it had decided to retain ownership of Boots after an auction process lasting for several months. In a statement,

Four Seasons Health Care, one of Britain’s biggest care home operators, is putting the bulk of its operations up for sale three years after its holding companies fell into insolvency amid an impasse over its massive debt pile. Sky News has learnt that administrators to Four Seasons have appointed the property agent Christie’s to oversee

Petrol retailers have been accused of forcing “rocket and feather” pricing after unleaded hit a new, and unexpected, record average high over the weekend. Motoring organisations had forecast a decline in wholesale costs to have been reflected at the pumps, but data from Experian Catalist revealed on Monday that petrol had reached 191.1p a litre

One of HSBC’s top UK executives is quitting in a surprise move to run the Skipton Building Society, one of Britain’s biggest financial mutuals. Sky News has learnt that Stuart Haire, group general manager and chief executive of the London-listed banking giant’s UK personal and private banking businesses, is to become the new CEO of

The father-and-son duo who have built Matchroom Sport into a global sports promotion empire are plotting a deal that will cement their status among Britain’s super-rich. Sky News can reveal that Barry and Eddie Hearn are in detailed talks with at least three private equity firms about the sale of a substantial minority stake in

A cheap festival should not be an oxymoron but many people at Glastonbury this year are in a very different place financially to where they were when they booked their tickets before the coronavirus pandemic. Festival goer Harriet Wheeler, 32, from Brighton, said people she usually goes to watch music with are not forking out

The global chairman of KPMG has taken a swipe at the $80bn break-up being hatched by rival EY, implying that such a radical restructuring would be akin to an act of corporate vandalism. Sky News has obtained part of a memo sent by Bill Thomas to partners at the firm, reiterating KPMG’s commitment to retaining

London Underground workers have voted to strike again, as they near the end of this week’s action which has seen tube services disrupted across the capital. Around 10,000 London Underground staff refused to work this week – with all tube lines affected. More than 90% of Rail, Maritime and Transport union members who voted decided

Cath Kidston, the modern vintage brand, has been put up for sale just two years after collapsing into administration with the loss of nearly 1,000 jobs. Sky News has learnt that Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) has instructed advisers at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to find a new owner for the now wholesale-led company. Cath Kidston, which

The British public is well-used to confrontations between workers in the public sector and the government of the day. Over the decades there have been strikes and work-to-rules involving miners, teachers, the railways, the civil service and health workers among others. In the last century, “the Winter of Discontent” in 1978-79 and the miners’ strikes

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).

Millions of people have been hit by severe travel disruption on the first day of the biggest rail strike for a generation – with passengers set to face more cancellations tomorrow. Although it is not officially a strike day on Wednesday, only 60% of trains are expected to run – mostly because of a delay

The rate of inflation has risen to a fresh 40-year high of 9.1% in May, according to the latest official figures. The update, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), represents a slight uptick on the 9% figure of the previous month – driven upwards by April’s unprecedented rise in the energy price cap. The

Boris Johnson will condemn unions for what is expected to be the biggest train strike in three decades. Around 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and 13 train operators will walk out from midnight for all of Tuesday, as well as Thursday and Saturday in a dispute over

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

Heathrow has asked airlines to cancel 10% of their flights today as the airport faces a baggage backlog. It comes after hundreds of passengers were left waiting for over three hours during the weekend to retrieve their luggage. Airlines have been given the option of consolidating their flights at Heathrow – meaning that instead 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

Britain is facing a summer of discontent with more workers set to be balloted on strike action, a union chief has warned, as a series of walkouts is set to cripple the rail network. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has predicted industrial action could spread to other services, arguing that “people can’t take it anymore”.

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

Britons cannot expect pay rises to keep up with the soaring cost of living, the government has warned. Treasury Chief Secretary Simon Clarke has said matching salaries to inflation risked causing prices in the shops to surge even higher. His intervention comes as more than 40,000 staff prepare for a three-day strike that will cripple