The boss of NatWest Group’s high street branch network is to step down early next year as the company prepares for a return to full private sector ownership. Sky News has learnt that David Lindberg, who joined NatWest just over four years ago, will leave in the first quarter of 2025. He is said to
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Tube and rail fares in London will go up by 4.6% from next March, the capital’s mayor has said. The hike matches the rise in regulated train fares for England’s mainline railway. From 2 March, Transport for London’s (TfL) daily caps will increase by 40p-70p, depending on what zones are travelled through. Labour mayor Sadiq
UK-based partners at Grant Thornton, the accountancy firm, have voted to back the sale of a majority stake to Cinven, the private equity firm. Sky News has learnt that GTUK’s partnership voted unanimously to support the deal, in a move expected to be announced internally as early as Monday. Support for the deal had been
The private equity firm circling Boots the Chemist’s parent company is lining up financing from a syndicate of banks for a prospective $10bn-plus takeover deal. Sky News has learnt that Sycamore Partners is arranging debt funding for a deal to buy Walgreens Boots Alliance, with Bank of America, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo among those
NatWest Group is to hand its chief executive a potential multimillion pound pay boost as it returns to full private ownership after nearly 17 years in state hands. Sky News has learnt that the chair of the bank’s remuneration committee, Lena Wilson, is consulting leading institutional shareholders about an overhaul of its boardroom pay policy.
The prime minister and chancellor were in lockstep as they reacted to Friday morning’s GDP figures. “Disappointing”, the PM’s spokesperson said, echoing Rachel Reeves’s words two hours earlier. The UK economy shrunk for a second month, contracting 0.1% in October. Money blog: latest updates Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 2:10
A certified B Corporation company which repurposes electronic equipment to benefit schools and charities has landed more than £3m in funding from a leading start-up investment group. Sky News understands that Reconome, which partners with major companies including Netflix and O2, has secured the new money from IW Capital, which has backed a string of
The Daily Telegraph’s publisher is to hand hundreds of staff a £500 bonus this month as uncertainty over its ownership looks set to stretch into a third calendar year. Sky News has seen an email sent on Thursday by Anna Jones, Telegraph Media Group’s chief executive, in which she told employees that they would receive
Mark Zuckerberg’s firm Meta has donated $1m to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund as the Facebook founder tries to mend ties with the president-elect. In August, Mr Trump threatened to imprison the billionaire if he did “anything illegal” to influence the presidential election. But last month the pair dined together at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in
Tech stocks on display at the Nasdaq. Peter Kramer | CNBC Alphabet and Tesla climbed to fresh records on Wednesday, closing at all-time highs alongside Amazon and Meta as the tech megacaps lifted the Nasdaq past 20,000 for the first time. Tech’s seven trillion-dollar companies added roughly $416 billion in market cap for the day.
Two of Britain’s biggest high street banks have quit a body dedicated to enhancing industry lending practices, sparking a furious row and casting doubt over its future. Sky News has learnt that HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group have terminated their membership of the Lending Standards Board (LSB). Their resignations – alongside that of Santander UK
A $10bn-plus takeover bid for one of America’s biggest pharmacy chains is set to trigger a fresh auction of Boots the Chemist after a string of aborted attempts to sell the British retail giant. Sky News understands that Sycamore Partners, the private equity firm, is expected to seek separate ownership for Boots if it succeeds
One of Britain’s leading financial mutuals is in talks to buy Dalmore Capital, the infrastructure investor which owns a stake in the Thames ‘super sewer’. Sky News has learnt that Royal London is among the suitors circling Dalmore, which began exploring a sale earlier in the autumn. Royal London’s interest is serious but has yet
Bankers are to review state spending as part of a push to bring the private sector “into the heart of government”. External oversight is to be incorporated into the first line-by-line spending review of government departments in 17 years. Under plans announced by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves “every pound” of government spending will be interrogated
The former minister who was asked by the last chancellor to help turbocharge inward investment into the UK is being lined up as the next chairman of Britain’s most influential manufacturing industry trade body. Sky News has learnt that Lord Harrington, who also served in government as Boris Johnson’s minister for refugees after Russia’s invasion
Fourteen new trains are to be built at a Hitachi plant in County Durham, securing hundreds of jobs. The plan safeguards 700 jobs with a £500m investment for the Newton Aycliffe site. The plant and its workers had faced an uncertain future with an upcoming gap in its order book before work begins on HS2