Business

Union leaders have rejected revised offers to end industrial action on the railways – and announced more strikes over Christmas. RMT members at Network Rail are being urged by union bosses to reject new pay proposals and proceed with walkouts on 13-14 and 16-17 December. The RMT has also announced further strike action from 6pm

The UK is already in a recession which is expected to last into next year, according to the UK’s biggest business group.  The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) downgraded its economic growth outlook amid a stormy picture of declining business investment, higher price forecasts, continued high interest rates and worker shortages. The economy is to

The RMT union has rejected an offer from train operators aimed at preventing strikes over the Christmas period, the union has announced. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) said its proposed framework would have supported pay increases of up to 8%, covering 2022 and 2023 pay awards, while delivering much-needed reforms. But the RMT, led by

The Saudi-led OPEC oil cartel and allied producers including Russia have stuck to their output targets, despite uncertainty over the impact of fresh Western sanctions against Moscow. The decision to maintain the status quo at a meeting of oil ministers on Sunday came ahead of the planned start of two measures aimed at hitting Russia‘s

Travellers have been told to brace for more Christmas chaos after road workers announced 12 days of strikes to coincide with rail walkouts. National Highways employees, who operate and maintain roads in England, will take part in a series of staggered strikes from 16 December to 7 January, the PCS union said. “We know our

The number of landlords selling up has risen by nearly 13% in four months, Sky News has learned. The statistics, given to us by the estate agents trade body Propertymark, show an increase from July to October. Why should we care what happens to landlords? In basic terms, if the landlord exodus continues we could

McLaren Group, the supercar manufacturer and Formula One team-owner, is in talks to raise hundreds of millions of pounds in new funding aimed at steering the British-based company into the electric vehicle era. Sky News has learnt that McLaren has opened talks with existing shareholders including the sovereign wealth funds of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia

The John Lewis Partnership has revealed plans to build 1,000 rental properties on its land as part of a drive to diversify its business. The employee-owned group, which is spearheaded by its eponymous department stores and Waitrose supermarkets, said a joint venture with investment firm abrdn aimed to achieve a tenth of its ambition to

Collapsed fashion retailer Joules will live on after Next agreed a £34m cash rescue deal that preserves most of its stores and jobs. Under the deal Next will pick up 100 of its 132 stores and only 133 of 1,600 staff will lose their jobs. The 100 stores now owned by Next are to remain

Buyers are increasingly struggling to afford homes despite prices falling faster, according to a closely watched report. Average prices fell by 1.4% last month, up from a 0.9% drop the month before, Nationwide Building Society found. The mortgage lender said it was the biggest monthly drop since June 2020. It took the annual pace of

HSBC has announced plans to shut a further 114 UK branches, or more than a quarter of its surviving sites. The UK-based but mainly Asia-focused bank said they would begin to shut from April next year. The decision, as the wider banking sector has consistently claimed over many years, is the result of the surge

The administrator to Joules, the collapsed fashion retailer, is on the brink of a rescue deal with the South African owner of Phase Eight. Sky News has learnt that the Foschini Group (TFG) is close to securing an agreement to buy the majority of Joules’ stores and assets. One source said a deal could be

More energy suppliers could go bust this winter potentially taking government payments intended for customers with them, the chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica has warned. Chris O’Shea told Sky News that the UK energy market, regulated by Ofgem, offers “wealthy individuals” behind some retail suppliers a “free bet” to speculate, with other bill

EasyJet says it is expecting to build on a strong summer, despite pressures on consumer budgets, after COVID and post-pandemic disruption pushed it to an annual loss. The no-frills carrier reported a headline loss before tax of £178m for the 12 months to 30 September. While that sum was well down on the previous financial

The National Grid will not implement its blackout prevention scheme tomorrrow evening after French energy suppliers said they were struggling to cope with demand. Earlier today it was announced that the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS), which is designed to avoid blackouts, may have been brought in for the first time on Tuesday evening to reduce

Stock markets in Asia have seen sharp falls while a recent easing in oil prices gained new momentum on Monday in reaction to growing COVID lockdowns and public protests against them in China. Brent crude futures were 3% down on the day at $81 a barrel as investors fretted over demand in the world’s second-largest