Business

Premier Inn owner Whitbread has slumped to a £1bn annual loss – but hopes to benefit from a “staycation” boom over the summer. Revenues for the year to 25 February fell 71% to £589m with the group’s hotels and restaurants closed for much of the period while 27,000 workers were furloughed and about one in

HSBC’s profits have surged by a better than expected 79% to $5.8bn (£4.2bn) in the first quarter, largely thanks to an improved economic outlook in the UK. The upturn allowed the banking giant to release $435m (£313m) that had been set aside to cover bad debt, boosting its bottom line despite a squeeze on revenues

Elon Musk is eligible for two options payouts worth a combined $11bn (£7.9bn) after Tesla hit quarterly performance targets. The electric carmaker posted a record number of deliveries during the three-month period ending 31 March, despite a global shortage of chips that restricted rivals. Mr Musk said the period saw “some of the most difficult

The UK is on course for its strongest annual growth since the Second World War after a resilient performance through latest lockdowns, according to a respected economic forecaster. Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to expand by 6.8% this year, according to the EY ITEM Club – which would be the fastest pace since 1941.

Paula Vennells, the ex-Post Office chief executive, is quitting the boards of two major retailers days after her former employer was found culpable over one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British legal history. Sky News has learnt that Ms Vennells’ departure as a director of Wm Morrison, the supermarket chain, and home furnishings

A top travel boss has told Sky News he is “confident” Britons will be allowed to holiday abroad again from 17 May – while most of the Mediterranean hotspots “will be open” when schools break up for summer. Under prime minister Boris Johnson’s roadmap for lifting lockdown restrictions, international travel without one of the current

Thirty nine sub-postmasters who were wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office have had their criminal convictions overturned. The appellants, some of whom were imprisoned for crimes they never committed, had been accused of theft and false accounting because of a faulty computer system. In court, Sam Stein QC, the barrister representing several sub-postmasters, said the

Football bosses are kicking off talks about the future of the Women’s Super League (WSL) that could trigger a bidding war between private equity investors. Sky News has learnt that the Football Association (FA) has appointed Rothschild, the investment bank, to advise it on financing options for the WSL. Sources said the process, which is

Investment bank J P Morgan has admitted it “clearly misjudged” the backlash from football fans over the proposed new European Super League. The financial giant had committed just over £2.8bn of start-up financing to the ill-fated scheme, although no money has yet changed hands. But on Friday, a statement from JP Morgan said: “We clearly

Two of the City figures who led an attempt to prise Manchester United from the Glazer family’s control a decade ago have urged them to loosen their grip in the wake of this week’s European Super League debacle. Sky News can reveal that Lord O’Neill – the architect of the Red Knights campaign in 2010

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has revealed that production at two of its UK manufacturing plants is to be suspended due to a shortage of parts. The company said that operations at the Castle Bromwich and Halewood sites would be affected through a “limited period” of non-production from next Monday. It blamed a COVID-19 crisis-related issue

Britain’s economic reopening has helped create the strongest pick-up in optimism among manufacturers for nearly half a century, according to new figures. A balance of 38% of firms surveyed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said their outlook on the business situation had improved in the past three months. It was the first positive

Nearly 60% of adults say they intend to fly less after being vaccinated against COVID-19 – with fears over spreading new variants of the virus among the top concerns. Research by the University of Bristol, seen exclusively by Sky News, investigated the long term impact on the aviation sector, which has been hit significantly by

The chairman of one of the founding clubs of the breakaway European Super League has said the project can no longer go ahead. Andrea Agnelli, chairman of Juventus, said that the league was no longer viable following the withdrawal of the six English clubs involved on Tuesday evening. Shortly after Agnelli’s statement, another club has

All English clubs have now pulled out of the European Super League. Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed they will follow Manchester City and Chelsea in withdrawing from the planned tournament. United said: “We will not be participating in the European Super League”. Chelsea, faced with an angry protest from their fans,