Business

Food prices have dropped for the first month in more than two years, according to an industry lobby group that says food inflation is now in single digits. The British Retail Consortium (BRC)-NielsenIQ Shop Price Index found food inflation eased to an annual rate of 9.9% in September, which is down from 11.5% in August.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the petrochemicals billionaire, is contemplating buying a minority stake in Manchester United Football Club rather than seeking full control, in an effort to end a nearly 10 months-long process to resolve the club’s future ownership. Sky News has learnt Sir Jim’s Ineos Sports vehicle has proposed to the controlling Glazer family a

Water companies are making their case for a hike to annual household bills of up to £156 in the second half of the decade, to tackle challenges including shortages and sewage leaks. Industry body Water UK said the firms’ business plans, which have to be signed off by the regulator Ofwat, would see investment almost

The prominent financier Jonathan Rowland is to take the challenger bank he co-founded six years ago onto the London stock market through a reverse takeover of another business set up by his family. Sky News has learnt that Mr Rowland, who has floated a number of corporate vehicles in the City, has orchestrated a deal

Top Tories are setting out their policies as the Conservative Party conference kicks off in Manchester – with levelling up, immigration, Ukraine and the next general election on the agenda. Rishi Sunak has announced that more than 50 “overlooked” British towns will be given £20m each over the next 10 years to regenerate high streets,

The owner of Beds.co.uk and furniture retailer Cox & Cox has swooped to buy Victoria Plum, one of the UK’s best-known bathroom sellers. Sky News understands that AHK Designs acquired Victoria Plum late on Friday evening. The brand had been put up for sale by Endless, the investment firm which had owned it since 2019.

The German media giant which publishes Die Welt, one of Europe’s leading newspapers, has joined the race to buy The Daily Telegraph and its Sunday sister title. Sky News can exclusively reveal that Axel Springer has registered its interest in acquiring the British broadsheets. Insiders said the company, which also owns the Business Insider and

Energy bills in the first three months of 2024 are projected to increase before dropping later in the year, according to a closely-watched forecast. Consumers can expect more costly bills from January as energy regulator Ofgem will bring its price cap up to £1,898 for an annual average household bill – an increase of £64,

The UK is no longer lagging behind in the G7 group of wealthy countries as revised figures show economic growth was bigger than first thought. The economy grew more than previously thought in the first three months of the year, latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show. The data shows UK economic

Unsecured creditors in Wilko face recovering as little as 4p in the pound of the money they are owed, according to the first estimate published by the collapsed retailer’s administrator. Sky News has learnt that PricewaterhouseCoopers’ proposals, circulated on Thursday evening, informed unsecured creditors in Wilko Limited, the main trading company, that they were likely

The interest rate on the average five-year fixed mortgage has dropped below 6% for the first time in nearly three months. According to financial information firm, Moneyfacts, the last time the average five-year rate was below 6% was 3 July. Mortgage bills had been going up as the Bank of England has brought up base

The timing could hardly be any more provocative. Barely 24 hours after the International Energy Agency (IEA) reiterated in a new piece of analysis that there was no need for new oil or gas projects if the world is to get to net zero, Britain has approved the biggest new oilfield in more than a

The UK’s largest untapped oil and gas field has been given the green light by the government’s North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), defying climate warnings about the damage from new fossil fuel projects. Norwegian state oil giant Equinor expects to pump 325 million barrels of oil from Rosebank, 80 miles off the Shetland coast in

David Montgomery, the former Mirror newspapers chief, is putting the finishing touches to a line-up of City advisers that he hopes will help him outgun rivals in an auction of The Daily Telegraph. Sky News has learnt that National World, Mr Montgomery’s London-listed vehicle, is close to appointing Cavendish Capital Markets and Peel Hunt to

Customers will receive £114m off their water bills next year as the regulator has said water companies fell short of standards. The majority of water and wastewater companies in England and Wales underperformed, Ofwat said as part of its water company performance report. As a result, all but five of the 17 utility providers will

Nissan has committed itself to the sale of only electric cars across Europe from 2030, the year when the UK was supposed to have banned new vehicles powered by petrol and diesel. The Japanese carmaker also confirmed that all new models to be launched on the continent from now on would be fully electric. Its

Aldi has reported record sales, with the company saying cost of living concerns had driven up shopper numbers. Annual sales topped £15.5bn in the year to December 2022, nearly a £2bn increase from a year earlier and a record in its 33-year history in the UK. The company said the cost of living crisis had

One of Britain’s most prominent university spinout ventures is backing a developer of therapies for neurological diseases as part of a capital-raising to fund it through to clinical trials. Sky News understands that Crucible Therapeutics, which was founded by University of Sheffield academics at its Department of Neuroscience, will announce this week that it has

The northern section of the HS2 high speed rail line looks set to be scrapped by Rishi Sunak, Sky News understands. It comes as a number of Sunday newspapers reported that any decision would be announced before next weekend’s Conservative Party conference. Sky News political correspondent Tamara Cohen said: “The widespread view in Westminster is

KPMG is in advanced talks with regulators about a record fine running into tens of millions of pounds for failings in its auditing of Carillion, the construction company which collapsed in 2018 with the loss of thousands of jobs. Sky News has learnt that discussions between the accountancy firm and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC)