Business

The government’s Investment Summit has suffered a major blow after ports and logistics giant DP World pulled a scheduled announcement of a £1bn investment of its London Gateway container port, following criticism by a member of Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet. Sky News understands the Dubai-based company’s investment was due to be a centrepiece of Monday’s

The Post Office’s outgoing CEO today agreed the government is using the company as a “shield” over compensation schemes, while giving evidence at the inquiry. Nick Read, who resigned last month, was giving evidence at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry for the second day, with a focus on delays to victims’ financial redress. Edward

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, has axed government advisers including the founder of Anya Hindmarch, the boss of Universal Music Group and a former Lord Mayor of the City of London, it has emerged just days before Labour’s flagship investment summit. Sky News understands that Mr Reynolds wrote to members of the Board of Trade

The outgoing boss of the Post Office has said he does not need to clear his name following criticism of his leadership over the Horizon IT scandal. Nick Read made the comments as he arrived for the first of three days of evidence to the inquiry into the scandal, in which more than 900 sub-postmasters

US officials have confirmed they are considering breaking up Google’s “illegal monopoly” of internet searches. The tech giant could face restrictions on its own products – including its Chrome browser, Play Store and Android operating system, the US Justice Department said. It comes after a judge found in August the company had broken anti-trust laws

Investors managing more than £9trn in assets have backed a more “competitive” approach to British boardroom pay amid a growing debate about London’s attractiveness as a listing destination. Sky News has learnt that the Investment Association (IA), the influential industry trade body, will publish on Wednesday a revised set of remuneration principles aimed at the

Water firms in England and Wales have been ordered to return £157.6m to customers due to their poor performance. Ofwat said the rebate would come off bills for households and businesses in 2025-26. Last year, the water regulator ordered firms to repay £114m as part of a similar move. It comes as water bills in

A big four audit firm and one of Britain’s high street banks have resumed their membership of the CBI, delivering a boost to the scandal-hit lobbying group’s hopes that it can recover its long-standing influence in government. Sky News has learnt that KPMG and NatWest Group returned to being full members of the CBI this

A US Air Force Reserve brigadier-general will this week unveil a $5m funding boost for her British-based quantum computing start-up. Sky News understands that Mandy Birch, who is also an adviser to the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre, has secured the capital for TreQ, a manufacturing company focused on building and operating open-architecture quantum computers.

A rescue deal for the British operations of TGI Fridays which will salvage more than 2,000 jobs is on the verge of being finalised this weekend. Sky News has learnt that Breal Capital and Calveton, which jointly own the upmarket restaurants business D&D London, could agree a deal to acquire the majority of TGI Fridays

Before we get onto the budget and what Rachel Reeves might do to fiddle her fiscal rules and give herself a little more room to spend, I want you to ponder, for a moment, a recent report from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). This wasn’t one of those big OBR reports that get lots

Ministers are plotting a shake-up of Britain’s drive to attract inward investment days before a summit they will claim demonstrates the country is “open for business”. Sky News has learnt that officials are drawing up plans to merge the Office for Investment – a joint venture between the Department for Business and Trade and Number

The UK needs a strategy to meet growing demand for data centres or risk losing its advantage in the race to develop artificial intelligence (AI), one of the sector’s largest players has told Sky News. Data centres – warehouses housing processors that power cloud computing – are central to the digital economy. They provide the

The boss of the UK motor industry’s lobby group has blamed “criminal activity” for UK-made luxury cars finding their way into sanction-hit Russia. The chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Mike Hawes was speaking just over a week after Sky News uncovered a system of getting vehicles from the UK

The UK car industry has warned its efforts to support the transition to electric vehicles cannot be sustained indefinitely as it faces fines for missing climate-linked sales targets. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that a government mandate, which requires its members to sell a minimum percentage of zero-emission vehicles each year,

Financial markets are now pricing in a shock interest rate cut for the UK at the next Bank of England meeting following remarks by its governor. There was a huge shift in expectations after Andrew Bailey told the Guardian newspaper the bank could be “a bit more aggressive” in its approach. He talked about inflation

Compass Group, the FTSE-100 catering giant which counts the Wimbledon tennis championships among its most prestigious contracts, is in talks with its investors about increasing its boss’s potential pay package by millions of pounds a year. Sky News has learnt that Compass is consulting its biggest institutional shareholders about substantial hikes to the annual bonus

Israel is fighting on at least four fronts, threatening a war across the oil-rich Middle East, but there is no great sense of fear yet as far as financial markets are concerned. Israel’s actions against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and the ultimate sponsors of these groups, Iran, has proved

Saga, the London-listed financial services and travel provider for over-50s consumers, is in detailed talks with one of Europe’s biggest insurers about a deal that will allow it to repay a chunk of its huge debt pile. Sky News has learnt that Saga is in exclusive negotiations with Ageas, a Belgian insurer which tried to

Mulberry, the struggling UK luxury brand, has rejected a proposed takeover bid by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group. Frasers, which is majority owned by the tycoon and best-known for its Sports Direct brand, made an offer on Monday that valued Mulberry at £83m. The company is the second largest shareholder in Mulberry, with a 37% holding.