Eyewitness: Remembering a job done By James Matthews, Scotland correspondent Hunterston is a human story too. It showed in the gathering of around a dozen former employees who lined the approach road to watch this nuclear power station, their station, breathe its last. The 40-second rapid release of steam into the cold January air was
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The US jobs recovery stalled at the end of last year even as official figures confirmed annual record growth in employment numbers. Closely-watched data from America’s bureau of labour statistics (BLS) showed the world’s biggest economy added 199,000 jobs in December – well short of the 400,000 figure pencilled in by forecasters. Experts said a
Unions and fair pay campaigners are demanding a recognition of UK workers’ contribution to the UK during the coronavirus pandemic as the annual ‘high pay day’ arrives – albeit a day later than usual. The High Pay Centre said 9am on Friday would mark the time when the median FTSE 100 chief executive (CEO) would
Fashion retailer Next has set out plans to hike its prices by as much as 6% over coming months as costs soar partly thanks to labour shortages pushing up wages. The group, which published a trading update showing better than expected revenues over the Christmas period, also cited higher shipping and manufacturing costs. A hike
Boris Johnson’s government is set to announce new measures to help with rising energy bills within the next month. Ministers across government have now concluded that “something needs to be done” on energy bills ahead of a 1 April rise, although they have not yet determined what form this assistance will take. This means the
A local authority-backed energy supplier with 170,000 customers faces collapsing within weeks as a last-ditch search for new funding nears its end. Sky News has learnt that Together Energy, which is 50%-owned by Warrington Borough Council, is likely to run out of money later in January without an emergency capital injection. A source close to
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will hold further talks with energy suppliers on Wednesday as the government continues to explore ways of softening the blow of a forecast 50% increase to household energy bills. A third round of talks between industry and ministers in the week since the Christmas break comes after Boris Johnson said he
John Pasquale, long time real estate guru and legendary SoHo royalty, is the prestigious co-owner of PEP Real Estate, a full-service real estate management company with offices at 51 Wooster Street in SoHo, NYC. With a career challenging the longevity of the Queen of England, Pasquale offers services including sales and leasing of retail stores, offices,
A Serbian-born cable television tycoon has become the latest entrant to the Premier League’s eclectic roster of club-owners after striking a £100m deal to buy Southampton. Sky News has learnt that Dragan Solak, founder of United Group, has invested a chunk of his fortune in a controlling stake in the Saints, who sit 14th in
David Bowie’s back catalogue has been sold to Warner Music Group in a deal reported to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The deal covers songs from the 26 studio albums released within the star’s life as well as the posthumous album Toy, and two he made with the band Tin Machine. It spans
Britain’s biggest high street bank is finalising plans to buy a stake in Bink, a fintech business which allows customers to ditch their plastic loyalty cards. Sky News understands that Lloyds Banking Group is close to investing millions of pounds in return for a minority stake in Bink, which was set up in 2015. Bink
One of Britain’s most acquisitive insurance companies has struck a £400m deal to snap up the group which distributes policies for the likes of Marks & Spencer and the RAC. Sky News has learnt that Markerstudy has agreed to buy BGL Insurance, which is owned by the group behind the Comparethemarket price comparison platform in
Twenty Conservative politicians have urged Boris Johnson to scrap energy taxes as bills continue to rocket. The MPs and peers have written a letter in the Sunday Telegraph to ask the prime minister and Chancellor Rishi Sunak to help consumers facing “fuel poverty”. Energy prices in the UK are being forced up faster than any
Microsoft says it is aware of a programming flaw which saw some customers’ Exchange servers stop processing emails just as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve. System administrators, who are sharing workarounds on social media, have dubbed the bug Y2K22 – in the style of the Y2K bug which affected some computers at
Guy Hands, the billionaire financier, is plotting the sale of the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) biggest landlord in what could be one of Britain’s biggest private equity deals of 2022. Sky News has learnt that Mr Hands’ Terra Firma Capital Partners has begun talks with investment banks about overseeing an auction of Annington Homes. City
New rules banning a loyalty penalty for car and home insurance customers take effect from 1 January. The rules mean customers renewing their policy will have to be offered a price no higher than if they were a new customer. They are designed to tackle the practice of “price walking”, where firms offer below-cost deals