Business

A cap on wholesale gas costs to freeze energy bills is being finalised by the government as it moves to shield households and businesses from soaring prices. It is set to be the first major policy initiative of Liz Truss’s premiership as she takes over from Boris Johnson. After months of criticism over a lack

Liz Truss will go “bigger than expected” on energy after becoming the new prime minister on Tuesday, Sky News understands. The foreign secretary has won the Conservative leadership contest over rival Rishi Sunak and will succeed Boris Johnson tomorrow. Having made tax cuts a key priority during her leadership campaign, she has remained tight-lipped about

Russia’s decision not to resume gas flows through the main Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany has prompted a surge in wholesale costs, intensifying concerns for supplies across Europe for the coming winter. State-owned Gazprom scrapped plans to restart pumping limited volumes on Saturday after a maintenance shutdown, blaming a turbine leak. The decision –

The chancellor is preparing a multibillion-pound package of tax cuts to help businesses struggling with soaring energy costs. Nadhim Zahawi is drawing up emergency plans to save companies on the brink of collapse for the incoming prime minister, who will be named on Monday. According to The Times, the chancellor believes the government can learn

Liz Truss has said she is ready to take “tough decisions” and “immediate action” on energy bills during her first week in office, if she becomes prime minister. There have been ever-louder calls in recent weeks for the government to intervene to support the most vulnerable, with energy bills set to rise to around £3,500

Britain’s biggest water utility is working on plans to raise additional funding just weeks after unveiling plans to tap shareholders for £1.5bn in new equity. Sky News has learnt that Thames Water has begun debating whether it needs to seek new capital to deliver the transformation plan it has set out under Sarah Bentley, its

Bus journeys in England will be capped at £2 between January and March next year to help people deal with the rising cost of living. The Department for Transport said the plan could see some passengers save more than £3 per single bus ticket. The average fare for a three-mile journey is around £2.80, the

Waitrose has admitted to blocking rivals from opening supermarkets in close locations for close to a decade, according to the market watchdog. During an investigation between 2010 and 2019 into supermarket practices, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that Waitrose had conspired with landlords to prevent competing companies from opening stores. The practice, which

House prices will stall next year due to inflation and rising mortgage rates, but there will be no relief for renters, according to estate agent Hamptons. Prices are expected to be unchanged in the fourth quarter of next year compared with the same period in 2022, amid pressure on household incomes. Fewer mortgaged buyers and

The UK will enter recession before the end of this year, with growth expected to be weak into 2024. That is the latest forecast from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), which said it expects the UK economy to record three consecutive quarters of contraction – the definition of a recession – this year. However,

The soaring US dollar has pushed the pound to its biggest monthly fall since October 2016. The pound shed 4.6% in August, having lost 14% so far this year, as concerns grow about the state of the British economy. On Thursday afternoon it hovered just above $1.15. The news was not much better against the

British households are on course for the deepest living standards squeeze in a century, with real household disposable incomes expected to fall by 10% this year and the next. The warning comes in a new report by the Resolution Foundation, which said that real earnings are falling at their fastest rate since 1997, meaning that

BrewDog has announced it will close six of its pubs, blaming spiralling costs and a “clueless government”. The craft beer firm will shut the Hop and Anchor in Aberdeen, Smithfield Market Arms in London, Hop Hub in Motherwell and its BrewDog bars in Dalston, east London; Old Street, east London; and Peterhead, Scotland. James Watt,

Food prices rose at their fastest rate since 2008 in August – up 9.3% after a 7% increase last month. The figure comes from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NielsenIQ index, which blamed the Ukraine war and its effect on the price of animal feed, fertiliser, wheat, and vegetable oils. Fresh food prices were

Transport for London has secured around £1.2bn in funding from the government, but the city’s mayor has warned the agreement is “far from ideal”. The funding package replaces TfL’s last bailout, which was the fourth since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Andy Byford, Transport for London commissioner, said the agreement, which