Business

A multimillion-pound payout to Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, is in jeopardy amid faltering talks about a sale of the asset management business he cofounded. Sky News has learnt that negotiations between Somerset Capital Management, in which Mr Rees-Mogg is a substantial shareholder, and prospective buyer Emso Asset Management have stalled in recent weeks.

Banksy has accused US fashion retailer Guess of stealing his work, encouraging shoplifters to head to their flagship Regent Street store in central London and “help themselves” to the clothes. The anonymous graffiti artist shared an image of the shop’s front window with his 11.6 million Instagram followers, showing items of the capsule collection inspired

Brexit, slashing investment and Liz Truss’s mini-budget are among the “own goals” that have led to the UK’s dire financial straits, according to a top economist. Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), has been speaking about what left the UK in a position where yesterday’s autumn statement – that will

Civil servants at several government departments will take part in a month of sustained industrial action from mid-December. Members of the PCS union who work for the Home Office, Border Force, Department for Transport and Defra are seeking better pay and conditions. Ports, borders, and all areas of transport, including driving licences, will be affected,

Why energy shares didn’t suffer in response to windfall tax expansion Ian King Business presenter @iankingsky During recent days there have been suggestions in the stock market that investors were being too pessimistic about the windfall taxes likely to be lumped on electricity generators. Happily, for shareholders of those companies, that has proved to be

Millions more Britons will pay more tax as Jeremy Hunt cut the top-rate of tax threshold and announced freezes on several other taxes in his autumn statement. The total amount of savings from the autumn statement has been costed at £55bn, through tax rises and cutting government spending. However, in real-term costs, UK households’ disposable

A Chinese-owned tech company has been told to sell the majority of its stake in a UK silicon chip factory due to security concerns. The government has said Nexperia must reduce its stake in Newport Wafer Fab by 86%, back to its previous holding of just 14% when it took over the firm in 2021,

The former Barclays chief Bob Diamond’s investment vehicle is in talks about a roughly-£37m takeover of finnCap, its rival City broker. Sky News has learnt that Panmure Gordon, which Mr Diamond’s Atlas Merchant Capital has controlled since 2017, has proposed an all-cash deal worth just over 20p-per-share. The two companies have been locked in discussions

The Chinese owner of Thomas Cook is exploring the sale of a stake in the famous British holiday brand three years after its ignominious collapse. Sky News has learned that Fosun Tourism Group is examining options including raising capital from an outside investor in the coming months. Industry sources said on Tuesday that Fosun was

Wage growth picked up by more than expected over the three months to September, according to official figures also showing a rise in the jobless rate. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said average weekly earnings, excluding bonus payments, rose at an annual rate of 5.7% during the three months to September as more workers

The Bank of England Governor has denied having any part in the downfall of Liz Truss. In an interview with Sky News, Andrew Bailey said that he “vehemently disagrees” with allegations that the Bank‘s actions precipitated the departure of the former prime minister. It followed claims from Narayana Kocherlakota, the former president of America’s Federal

The parent firm of fashion retailer Joules and The Garden Trading Company is on the brink of collapse after a failure to secure new investment, it has been announced. Joules Group, which has around 1,600 staff, revealed it was to file a notice of intention to appoint administrators and had requested the suspension of trading

The high street empire founded by Mike Ashley is close to agreeing a deal to buy the stricken Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes. Sky News understands that Frasers Group is in advanced talks to buy the brand, which was put up for sale earlier this year after its Hong Kong-based owner collapsed into liquidation.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has warned there will be no rabbits in the upcoming budget, describing himself as “Scrooge who is going to do things that make sure Christmas is never cancelled”. Mr Hunt spoke to The Sunday Times ahead of Thursday’s autumn statement, which is likely to see a number of tough measures taken to

Ofgem’s failure to effectively regulate energy suppliers since 2018 has “come at a considerable cost” to British households, a watchdog report has found. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the energy regulator did not tighten requirements for new suppliers until 2019, or for existing suppliers until 2021, despite issues with the financial resilience of energy

The sale of collapsed energy company Bulb has been delayed by a High Court judge after concerns were raised by rival firms. The business is set to be bought by Octopus Energy, who announced it would be taking on Bulb’s 1.5 million customers after the company was placed into special administration last year. The deal

Byron, one of the UK’s best-known burger restaurant chains, is to be flipped to a new owner two-and-a-half years after a brush with insolvency. Sky News has learned that the company, which was one of numerous hospitality sector victims of the COVID pandemic, is working with advisers on a potential transaction. Sources said that the

FTX, one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, is commencing bankruptcy proceedings in the US. Chief executive officer Sam Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old who once graced the cover of Forbes, is also resigning, days after larger rival Binance walked away from a proposed acquisition. His replacement, John J Ray III, said in a statement: “The FTX Group has

A union representing more than 100,000 civil servants has voted to strike in a dispute over pay, pensions and jobs. The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), one of the largest unions in the UK, said the legal threshold for industrial action had been reached in 126 separate areas, covering workers including driving test examiners,

Bitcoin hovered just above a two-year low overnight and other cryptocurrencies suffered heavy losses as FTX teetered on the brink of collapse. It had emerged on Wednesday that the Binance exchange had walked away from a non-binding bailout offer of smaller rival FTX – once the sector’s fourth-largest exchange. Binance said: “As a result of