Business

Falling milk prices have helped drive grocery inflation lower for a second consecutive month, according to industry data. Kantar Worldpanel, which tracks supermarket sales and prices, measured the annual rate of grocery inflation at 17.2% over the four weeks to 14 May. That was down from 17.3% in the previous four-week period but still at

A growing number of skilled workers from Africa and Asia are moving to Britain to plug crippling staff shortages, according to new figures that reveal the changing picture of migration. Businesses are making use of the new post-Brexit migration system to bring in IT professionals, nurses and accountants. Since January 2021, the new system has

The government has sold £1.2bn of NatWest shares, reducing its ownership of the bailed out bank by nearly 3%. The state now holds a 38.6% stake in the lender, which was at its peak 84% owned by taxpayers following the global financial crisis of 2008. It has sold more than half its shareholding and completed

The government is to begin the hunt for a new boss of its flagship trade and cultural promotion campaign after the incumbent decided to step down after two years in charge. Sky News understands that Andy Pike OBE resigned as director of GREAT earlier this month, and will leave the post in September. Mr Pike

Executives including a former director of world motorsport’s governing body and the Nectar loyalty scheme founder Sir Keith Mills are in talks to raise $100m (£80m) to finance the rebirth of A1GP, the motor racing series contested by national teams from around the globe. Sky News has learnt that heavyweight names from the sporting and

Adidas has announced it will start selling some of the shoes from its defunct Yeezy partnership with Kanye West at the end of this month. The company said it will donate the proceeds to organisations fighting antisemitism and racism when it first outlined the plans last week. The German sportswear maker was left with Yeezy

The energy price cap is set to remain more than £1,000 higher than the average bill before the COVID pandemic, according to a closely-watched forecast. Ahead of the industry regulator’s determination on the price cap level due next week, energy research specialist Cornwall Insight said it saw the cap for a typical household at the

Tesco chair John Allan is to leave next month after the supermarket giant said allegations over his personal conduct “risk becoming a distraction” to the chain. The UK’s largest retailer said he would be “stepping down” from his role as chair of the board and as a director at the company’s AGM on 16 June.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife lost an average of £500,000 a day over the past year, according to The Sunday Times Rich List. The couple are estimated to be £201m poorer due a fall in the value of Akshata Murty’s stake in her father’s IT firm – but are still worth a reported

The government must act to prepare for artificial intelligence (AI) to hit the workplace “like a freight train”, the boss of one of Britain’s leading energy companies has told Sky News. Greg Jackson, founder of Octopus, says the adoption of AI across industry will ultimately improve the workplace and spawn new roles, but the startling

BT has revealed plans to significantly reduce the number of people working for the telecoms group as part of efforts to cut costs and bolster profitability. While outlining annual results, the company said it saw its “total labour resource” being reduced from 130,000 to between 75,000 and 90,000 by the end of the decade under

Britain has now missed its window of opportunity to build a battery industry, and the government, including Rishi Sunak, is largely to blame, the head of collapsed cell manufacturer Britishvolt has told Sky News. The company was feted as the jewel in Britain’s manufacturing crown – the first home-grown gigafactory, co-financed by the government and

Vauxhall’s parent company has called for the government to renegotiate its Brexit deal with the EU to correct elements that place the future of UK plants at risk. Stellantis, which also has Citroen, Fiat and Peugeot among its stable of brands, used a submission to a parliamentary committee’s inquiry on electric vehicle (EV) production to

The owner of the largest pipeline system in the North Sea has warned the future of domestic production is in doubt due to the severity of UK windfall taxes. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is Britain’s richest man and whose Ineos business owns the Forties oil and gas pipeline, said the tax rate applied to North

Vodafone has announced a massive programme of job losses, that will impact its UK operations, in a bid to recover its financial performance. The company’s new chief executive said the telecoms firm had become uncompetitive and 11,000 roles would go over the next three years. The group employs just over 100,000 people globally. Vodafone was

Royal Mail is again being investigated by the communications regulator over its missed delivery targets. Ofcom announced the inquiry after Royal Mail said on Monday it did not meet its 2022 to 2023 quality of service targets. The targets require Royal Mail to deliver 93% of first-class mail within one working day of collection; deliver

Britain is at risk of forgetting “how to do things for ourselves”, the home secretary will warn, as she increases pressure on Rishi Sunak to cut net migration. The home secretary will use a speech at the National Conservatism Conference today to call for the Conservatives to renew their 2019 manifesto commitment, which promised “fewer

A retirement savings platform which previously secured backing from Legal & General will this week unveil a $95m (£76m) fundraising led by a New York-based private equity investor. Sky News has learnt that Smart, which was founded in 2014, will announce the capital raise on Monday. It will be led by Aquiline Capital Partners, which

Lord Tyrie, the former chair of the competition watchdog and architect of many of Britain’s post-financial crisis banking reforms, is among the candidates vying to head Ofgem, the under-fire energy regulator. Sky News has learnt that Lord Tyrie has put his name forward to replace Professor Martin Cave, who is due to step down as

Striking rail workers have vowed to continue walking out until the government “unblocks” their pay dispute on the second day in a row of cancellations. There are 14 rail operators affected by strike action by the RMT union on Saturday – the day of the Eurovision finale in Liverpool – after a separate walkout by