Business

A cross party group of MPs has called on the government to create a workers rights watchdog after finding labour protections are poorly enforced. The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee heard evidence firms were only inspected by the national minimum wage team, on average, once every 500 years. Following evidence gathering sessions with

The scandal-hit CBI, Britain’s biggest employers’ group, says it has passed fresh information to the police relating to a report of a “serious criminal offence”. The body said it was “liaising closely” with officers as it remains mired by allegations of historic workplace misconduct. They culminated in chief executive Tony Danker being sacked earlier this

About 1,400 security officers at Heathrow Airport will strike for eight days next month. Unite said the staff will walk out from 4 to 6 May, 9 to 10 May and 25 to 27 May in a dispute over pay – causing “inevitable disruption and delays” to passengers arriving for the King’s coronation. The union’s

The government has made it its primary aim to halve inflation by the end of the year but things aren’t quite going to plan. Britain has shot up the leader board and now has western Europe’s highest rate of consumer price inflation. Economists were expecting the headline rate to fall from 10.4% to 9.8% in

Netflix has announced its long-threatened crack down on password sharing is to begin imminently. The streaming giant, which announced fewer than expected subscribers for the first three months of the year, is launching a series of initiatives to boost revenue and retain subscribers. The password sharing crackdown has been trialled by the company but has

The number of companies entering insolvency hit its highest level for more than three years in March, according to official figures. Commentators blamed a combination of higher interest rates and wider inflation for the 16% increase recorded last month across England and Wales. The Insolvency Service reported 2,457 corporate insolvencies – up from 1,784 in

Party Pieces, the online party goods supplier founded by the Princess of Wales’s parents, is considering handing a six-figure sum to a buyer as part of efforts to offload the business. Sky News has learnt that a dowry deal is one of the options being considered by Carole and Michael Middleton as they seek new

Air France and Airbus have been found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter over the crash of Flight 447 in 2009 that killed 228 people. The Airbus A330 was travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean during a thunderstorm in June 2009, killing people from 33 countries. Both Air

Barclays is joining the ranks of global investment banks taking the axe to jobs amid a slowdown in dealmaking and stock market flotations. Sky News has learnt that the British lender will this week cut more than 100 roles in its investment bank, with sources saying the layoffs would not be confined to a single

Spotify has announced it is dropping Heardle – the name-that-tune game inspired by Wordle. The streaming giant had acquired the game last July, five months after it took the world by storm. Heardle played small snippets of music and challenged gamers to guess the song as quickly as possible. But in a new statement, Spotify

Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have reached an agreement in principle amid a long-running dispute over pay and employment terms. In a joint statement with Royal Mail, CWU confirmed the agreement will now be considered by the executive of the union before it goes before the membership. The details of the proposed

The giant American financial investor Carlyle is in talks about a major investment in Manchester United Football Club as the auction of the Premier League side nears its concluding stages. Sky News has learnt that Carlyle is among a handful of parties which have pitched proposals to acquire a minority stake in the Old Trafford

Montana has passed a bill banning TikTok in the state. The state House voted 54-43 to pass the bill – which goes further than prohibitions in place in nearly half the states and the US federal government that prohibit the video-sharing app on government devices. The measure now goes to Republican Governor Greg Gianforte for

Britain has become the first country in Europe to approve hands-free driving technology. The Department for Transport has granted Ford permission to use driver assistance technology in some of its Ford Mustang Mach-E cars along the 2,300 miles (3,700 km) of motorways in England, Scotland and Wales. The car still requires motorists to pay attention

The chancellor has told Sky News there is “no room for complacency” in tackling the UK’s economic problems after official figures revealed no GDP growth in February. But Jeremy Hunt said that while inflation was too high and growth too low, he was confident that his budget plans unveiled last month would help turn things

Andrew Bailey has called into question whether UK banks have large enough cash buffers to cope with crises similar to the recent run on Silicon Valley Bank. The Governor of the Bank of England (BoE) said last month’s turmoil, which led to the rapid takeovers of the bank’s US and UK arms, served as a warning

The UK economy flatlined in February, with no growth in GDP, according to official figures. Civil sector strikes and low energy consumption offset growth in areas such as construction, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showed. It followed growth of 0.4% in January and confirmation that the UK economy avoided recession in the second

Demand for banknotes is at its lowest since central banks stockpiled cash for fear of the millennium bug, the Bank of England’s sole currency printer said. The British banknote maker De La Rue has said demand for notes is at the lowest levels for more than 20 years. Demand dropped to a 20-year low, as

Police are now investigating alleged sexual misconduct at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The City of London Police said its inquiries were “at a very early stage”. Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Waight said: “The City of London police takes all acts of sexual misconduct and violence against women and girls extremely seriously. “We approached

The director-general of the Confederation of British Industry Tony Danker has been sacked following an independent investigation into complaints of workplace misconduct against him. Three other CBI employees have also been suspended pending further investigation into a number of ongoing allegations. “It is already clear to all of us that there have been serious failings