Business

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

An advert for the world’s first transatlantic flight to be 100% powered by so-called sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has been banned, as the advertising watchdog said it was misleading. The radio ad, which promoted the transatlantic flight, was misleading in its unqualified “100% sustainable aviation fuel” claim, said regulator the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA). Money

Three water companies are facing a combined record fine of £168m after a series of failings, including over sewage treatment. The proposals by regulator Ofwat include a penalty of £104m for Thames Water. Yorkshire Water faces a £47m fine, while Northumbrian Water will have to pay £17m. It comes after an Ofwar investigation found the

Markets in Asia have rallied after worldwide plunges on Monday amid fears the US may be in recession. Taiwan‘s stock exchange jumped following a record drop a day earlier, but shed some of the gains later in the morning amid lingering concerns over the outlook for the US economy and tech companies. Japan‘s benchmark Nikkei

English rugby chiefs have agreed to sell the naming rights to Twickenham Stadium, the home of the national rugby union side for the last century. Sky News can reveal that the Rugby Football Union (RFU) has struck a deal with Allianz, the German insurer, to add its brand to one of the world’s most famous

Stock markets in Asia have dropped sharply during trading on Monday amid fears the US economy may be heading for a recession. Japan’s Nikkei 225 share index fell by as much as 10% at one point, while the market’s broader TOPIX index also fell 8%. South Korea’s KOSPI index also dropped more than 8% on

The founder of Itsu and Pret A Manger is joining the board of Knoops, the fast-growing retailer of chocolate-based drinks. Sky News understands that Knoops, which is in the process of raising £5m to fund its expansion, will announce that Julian Metcalfe – a shareholder in the company – is to become a non-executive director.

The Post Office Horizon IT scandal may well be “the worst miscarriage of justice in recent British legal history”. Jason Beer KC, counsel to the inquiry which has been investigating the scandal, did not put it this way lightly. After four hard-fought years, senior executives reduced to tears, and countless heartbreaking stories of the damage

Wingstop, the quick-service chicken chain which is Britain’s fastest-growing restaurant operator, is hoisting a “for sale” sign over its UK business. Sky News has learnt that the company, which is majority-owned by the trio of entrepreneurs who brought it to Britain in 2018, has hired Goldman Sachs to find new owners. City sources said the

A very nasty summer sell-off has been under way now in stock markets around the world for the last 48 hours – and nervous investors got another reason to carry on selling on Friday. The US non-farm payroll figures – essentially a measure of how many jobs were added to the US economy last month

Labour has pulled £1.3bn of investment in tech and AI projects promised by the Tories. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said the funding committed by the previous Conservative administration was not allocated in its budget and so will not proceed. It included £800m for the creation of a next-generation exascale supercomputer at

The first interest rate cut since the start of the COVID pandemic is good news – but experts are warning of a hard slog back towards more comfortable borrowing cost levels. The Bank of England had raised Bank rate 14 consecutive times from December 2021 to try and keep a lid on a surge in