Business

Tesco chair John Allan is to leave next month after the supermarket giant said allegations over his personal conduct “risk becoming a distraction” to the chain. The UK’s largest retailer said he would be “stepping down” from his role as chair of the board and as a director at the company’s AGM on 16 June.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife lost an average of £500,000 a day over the past year, according to The Sunday Times Rich List. The couple are estimated to be £201m poorer due a fall in the value of Akshata Murty’s stake in her father’s IT firm – but are still worth a reported

The government must act to prepare for artificial intelligence (AI) to hit the workplace “like a freight train”, the boss of one of Britain’s leading energy companies has told Sky News. Greg Jackson, founder of Octopus, says the adoption of AI across industry will ultimately improve the workplace and spawn new roles, but the startling

Royal Mail’s parent firm has reported £748m in annual operating losses, driven by the crisis within the UK business that was dogged by strikes and poor performance. International Distributions Services (IDS) laid the blame squarely at the foot of Royal Mail, which was in the red to the tune of just over £1bn during the

Britain has now missed its window of opportunity to build a battery industry, and the government, including Rishi Sunak, is largely to blame, the head of collapsed cell manufacturer Britishvolt has told Sky News. The company was feted as the jewel in Britain’s manufacturing crown – the first home-grown gigafactory, co-financed by the government and

Plans to scrap “no-fault” evictions will be unveiled by the government today. The Renters’ (Reform) Bill will be published later – three-and-a-half years after the government was elected with a manifesto promise to stop the practice. No-fault – or Section 21 – evictions allow landlords to take back possession from tenants without giving a reason.

The owner of the largest pipeline system in the North Sea has warned the future of domestic production is in doubt due to the severity of UK windfall taxes. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is Britain’s richest man and whose Ineos business owns the Forties oil and gas pipeline, said the tax rate applied to North

Vodafone has announced a massive programme of job losses, that will impact its UK operations, in a bid to recover its financial performance. The company’s new chief executive said the telecoms firm had become uncompetitive and 11,000 roles would go over the next three years. The group employs just over 100,000 people globally. Vodafone was

Supermarket fuel prices were roughly 5p more expensive per litre in 2022 than pre-pandemic levels, an investigation by the competition watchdog has found. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said that factors beyond the invasion of Ukraine have impacted the price customers are paying at the pumps and weak competition has helped drive increases.

Britain is at risk of forgetting “how to do things for ourselves”, the home secretary will warn, as she increases pressure on Rishi Sunak to cut net migration. The home secretary will use a speech at the National Conservatism Conference today to call for the Conservatives to renew their 2019 manifesto commitment, which promised “fewer

A retirement savings platform which previously secured backing from Legal & General will this week unveil a $95m (£76m) fundraising led by a New York-based private equity investor. Sky News has learnt that Smart, which was founded in 2014, will announce the capital raise on Monday. It will be led by Aquiline Capital Partners, which

Lord Tyrie, the former chair of the competition watchdog and architect of many of Britain’s post-financial crisis banking reforms, is among the candidates vying to head Ofgem, the under-fire energy regulator. Sky News has learnt that Lord Tyrie has put his name forward to replace Professor Martin Cave, who is due to step down as

Striking rail workers have vowed to continue walking out until the government “unblocks” their pay dispute on the second day in a row of cancellations. There are 14 rail operators affected by strike action by the RMT union on Saturday – the day of the Eurovision finale in Liverpool – after a separate walkout by

For all its seaside delights, Margate in Kent is one of the most deprived parts of the UK. Amid the cost of living crisis, many families are struggling to make ends meet. Falling ill can become a headlong plunge into poverty – as Kyra Lloyd, a 25-year-old shop assistant, discovered when she began experiencing agonising

Virgin Orbit has pushed back the deadline for rescue bids as the commercial satellite venture founded by Sir Richard Branson scrambles to avert bankruptcy. Sky News has learnt that the company and its advisers have told would-be buyers of the company that they must now submit final offers by May 19, several days later than

The Bank of England has raised interest rates for a record-breaking 12th successive meeting, lifting the cost of borrowing to 4.5% and warning that inflation would be higher this year than it previously anticipated. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee said that there would be no recession this year, upgrading its economic growth forecasts by more