Business

The London Stock Exchange is hatching plans to create a £300m listed vehicle aimed at bolstering the survival chances of companies hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Sky News has learnt that David Schwimmer, the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) chief executive, has been spearheading talks with top City figures and the Treasury about establishing

Retail sales in 2020 saw the largest annual fall since records began in 1996, as retailers continued to suffer from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite a 0.3% rise in sales volumes during December, the figure for 2020 as a whole saw sales down 1.9%, with clothing sales slumping by more than a quarter.

French authorities have said they are ready to give financial support to the struggling Eurostar. The country’s junior transport minister, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, told a parliamentary hearing in Paris he was talking with the UK government about ensuring the cross-Channel train operator survives the coronavirus pandemic. He said the French state would be “at Eurostar’s side

Nissan has hailed the Brexit deal, saying the agreement will give it a “competitive advantage” as it committed to produce new electric vehicle batteries at its Sunderland plant. Chief operating officer Ashwani Gupta said the deal gives Nissan the chance to “redefine the industry” and described new customs procedures resulting from Brexit as “peanuts”. He

Freight traffic between Britain and the EU is down almost a third following the end of the Brexit transition, with new red tape and soaring transport costs prompting some small firms to suspend exports to the continent. Data seen by Sky News shows lorry freight passing between Britain and its major European trading partners since

A planned shake-up of further education and training in England will tie courses to the needs of employers in local communities, under government plans. The Department for Education (DfE) said the Skills for Jobs White Paper, broadly welcomed by business groups, aims to put an end to the misconception that a degree is the only

Inflation rose to 0.6% last month as clothing prices edged higher following extended Black Friday discounting the month before. The consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation was up from 0.3% in November and a little higher than the expected figure of 0.5%. Clothes prices increased fractionally during December over a period when they usually

Administrators for Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia empire are to close down its Outfit operation by the end of the month, with the loss of more than 700 jobs. Outfit, which brings all of the tycoon’s retail brands including Topshop under one roof, has 21 sites in mostly out-of-town shopping destinations. They employ 714 people –

HSBC has announced plans to shut 82 UK branches this year after a shift towards telephone and internet banking. The bank said it would “aim to redeploy all customer service colleagues who are impacted… into suitable nearby locations” but did not immediately say how many jobs were affected. HSBC said the decision reflected “local market

Joe Biden faces two economic challenges in taking office this week. The first and most immediate priority will be to get to grips with the COVID-19 pandemic and the damage it has inflicted on the US economy. The rollout of vaccines itself is way behind where those who run US health policy had hoped it

China has confirmed its bounce-back from the coronavirus crisis as official figures revealed its economy grew by 2.3% last year. The expansion was the weakest since 1976 after the pandemic sent GDP into reverse at the start of 2020. But the country where COVID-19 was first identified will be the only major global economy to

The travel industry is pleading for more support as the latest coronavirus restrictions left the UK’s airports at “near-complete shutdown”, with warnings they may have to close temporarily.  All travellers entering the UK from Monday will have to self-isolate for 10 days – or receive a negative COVID-19 test result at least five days after

Interactive Investor, Britain’s second-largest direct-to-consumer share trading platform, is on the verge of another strategically compelling takeover with a deal to buy the retail business formerly known as Selftrade. Sky News has learnt that II is close to announcing the purchase of EQi, a division of the FTSE-250 support services group Equiniti. City sources said

EDF, the French state-backed energy giant, is drawing up secret plans for a stock market flotation of one of Britain’s biggest providers of electric vehicle charging infrastructure amid soaring demand from motorists. Sky News has learnt that EDF, which bought a controlling stake in Pod Point less than a year ago, has instructed investment bankers

Local authorities are losing tens of millions of pounds supporting struggling business tenants through the pandemic which could have dire and long-lasting consequences for local services, Sky News has found. Freedom of Information requests reveal English councils have already written off at least £19.7m associated with measures to support local businesses, including rent relief, rent

WhatsApp is delaying the rollout of new business features following a user backlash over the company’s data sharing practices. The delay is a setback for its plan to generate revenue by facilitating commercial exchanges on the messaging app, which Facebook acquired for $19bn in 2014 but has been slow to monetise. WhatsApp has said users