Business

The BBC licence fee will increase in line with inflation each year until 2027, the government has announced. It will mean bills will rise by £5, or an extra 42p a month, from April next year – bringing the total cost of a TV licence to £174.50. The hike comes after a £10.50 rise brought

HSBC Holdings, one of Britain’s biggest high street banks and Europe’s largest lender by market value, is preparing to kick off a hunt for its next chairman. Sky News has learnt that HSBC’s board has appointed headhunters to orchestrate the recruitment of a successor to Mark Tucker, who has held the post since 2017. City

Former Harry Potter star Rupert Grint has been ordered to pay £1.8m in tax. The Ron Weasley actor lost a legal battle with HM Revenue and Customs in 2019 and was ordered to pay the sum following an investigation into his tax return from the 2011-12 tax year. Grint had received a £4.5m sum from

A British insurance company which covers contractors when they undertake work in multiple countries has raised more than £3.5m in funding to help accelerate its expansion. Sky News understands that Jove Insurance has secured the backing in a seed round led by Explorer Investment, a Portuguese-based fund. Investors including Love Ventures, Portfolio Ventures, Start Ventures,

Qatar’s leading state-backed fund will on Friday confirm the purchase of a large minority stake in the Audi Formula One (F1) team, marking the latest major global sporting investment by a sovereign investor. Sky News has learnt that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has struck a deal to acquire roughly 30% of the F1 outfit,

Marks & Spencer (M&S) and the owner of B&Q have expressed an interest in taking over dozens of stores operated by Homebase, the DIY chain which fell into administration this month. Sky News has learnt M&S and Kingfisher are among the retailers which are circling the remaining Homebase estate of close to 50 outlets, ahead

A UK pension scheme has been branded “deeply irresponsible” after investing in Bitcoin. The unnamed defined-benefit scheme became the first in the UK to make the plunge, using 3% of its assets to buy into the cryptocurrency last month. Pension specialist Cartwright acted as an adviser to the scheme and said the allocation was a

Britain’s biggest airports are joining the growing private sector backlash against Rachel Reeves’s budget, warning that a £1bn business rates bill for the industry will trigger the cancellation of routes to and from the UK and higher costs for passengers. Sky News has obtained a draft letter from Airports UK, which represents more than 50

London’s Smithfield meat market is set to close after more than 800 years, with trading expected to cease for good after 2028. The City of London Corporation, which runs the site, said on Tuesday its council voted to stop operating Smithfield and Billingsgate fish market. The original plan had been to relocate the markets to

Donald Trump has threatened sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China on his first day in office. The president-elect, who takes office on 20 January next year, said he would introduce a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico. Posting on his Truth Social platform he also threatened an

There will be no more tax rises or borrowing for the duration of this government’s term, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said. She told business leaders there will not be another budget like her maiden announcement, which included a rise in employers’ national insurance contributions and the national minimum wage. “I’m not coming back with more

A fitness platform which uses a hologram video-enabled training mirror to deliver bespoke workouts is getting into shape with a $5m fundraising led by a prolific investor in UK SMEs. Sky News understands that Magic AI, which claims to have developed the world’s leading artificial intelligence-led fitness mirror, will announce this week that it has

The break-up of one of Europe’s biggest classified advertising groups will launch this week with the €500m-plus (£414m) sale of Distilled, a major player in the Irish online ad market. Sky News has learnt that Adevinta, which was previously listed in Oslo and was taken private by Blackstone and Permira, the private equity firms, a

Potential suitors have again begun circling ITV, Britain’s biggest terrestrial commercial broadcaster, after a prolonged period of share price weakness and renewed questions about its long-term strategic destiny. Sky News has learnt that a number of possible bidders for parts or all of the company, whose biggest shows include Love Island, have in recent weeks

The managing director of Jaguar has hit out at what he called “vile hatred and intolerance” after the car company released a new advert. A 30-second clip posted on the luxury car brand’s X account on Tuesday prompted online backlash after it featured a diverse group of models posing in bright clothes but no vehicles

The family which has owned Ann Summers, the lingerie and sex toy retailer, for more than half a century is to explore options for the business which could include a partial or majority sale. Sky News has learnt that the Gold family is close to hiring Interpath, the corporate advisory firm, to work on a