Business

Some families are up to £1,600 a year worse off because of the cost of living crisis – even after government help is taken into account. The poorest in society are suffering three major blows to their income in the year to October 2022, according to a report commissioned by former prime minister Gordon Brown.

The high street giant Next is in talks to take a big stake in Joules, the struggling fashion and lifestyle products chain. Sky News has learnt that Next has been negotiating for several weeks to acquire up to 25% of the smaller London-listed retailer. City sources said this weekend that the discussions were not certain

The US hiring boom continued last month, as employers added 528,000 jobs – more than double the number expected. The government data showed a labour market continuing to defy surging inflation and back-to-back quarters of contraction in GDP, which have raised fears of a recession. It marked the 19th consecutive month of payrolls expansion, and

Just a day after the Bank of England warned of a 15-month recession, there are signs in housing and recruitment that the slowdown is already well under way. Figures out on Friday showed that house prices fell in July (in monthly terms) for the first time in more than a year, with warnings that the

How does it feel running an energy intensive business in the age of soaring prices? “It’s like a train coming down the tracks and you know you can’t avoid it,” says Matthew Greene. He’s the managing director of Ercon Powder Coating, a second-generation family firm in Bilston in the West Midlands, one of hundreds of

The Bank of England has hiked interest rates by half a percentage point – the sixth rise since December and the biggest rise since 1995. This means the bank rate now stands at 1.75% – its highest level since late 2008 at the beginning of the global financial crisis. It will increase borrowing costs for

Hope of a meaningful drop in global oil prices have been dashed after a major group of oil-producing nations, including Russia, agreed to increase volumes by a much lower rate than requested. The United States had called on the OPEC+ cartel to raise output by at least 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) to help ease

The UK’s service sector has grown at its slowest rate since February last year – when much of the country was still under COVID-19 restrictions. The monthly S&P Global/CIPS UK services PMI survey hit 52.6 in July, from 54.3 a month earlier. Anything above 50 is positive so it means the sector – which accounts

The “big four” supermarkets and several other retailers are failing to reduce petrol prices in line with falling wholesale costs, the RAC has warned. The roadside recovery firm said the wholesale cost of petrol has fallen by 20p since early June. However, UK retailers continued to increase their prices in June and only dropped their

BP has reported a second-quarter profit of £6.9bn ($8.45bn) – its highest in 14 years – at a time when consumer fuel prices have been at record highs. BP’s underlying replacement cost profit, the company’s definition of net earnings, was the strongest since 2008 and far exceeded analysts’ expectations of £5.6bn ($6.8bn). That compares to

The UK’s largest sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion is to sell its Footasylum chain following a long battle with the country’s competition watchdog. The business will be sold to German asset management firm Aurelius for £37.5m – a substantial loss on the £90m JD Sports paid for it three years ago. The news confirms a

The Financial Conduct Authority has finalised tougher rules for the marketing of high-risk investments. Under the new rules, firms approving and issuing marketing must have the right expertise and those marketing some types of high-risk investments will have to do better checks to make sure those investments are well matched to consumers. Some incentives such

The UK’s competition watchdog is investigating Asos, Boohoo and George at Asda over claims about the sustainability of their products. The Competition and Markets Authority said it would examine the eco-friendly and sustainability claims made by the three businesses about items including clothing, footwear and accessories. In January the CMA started to look at sustainability

A London-based commodities broker controlled by a group of former Lehman Brothers executives will this week clinch a takeover of a major industry peer. Sky News has learnt that Marex Group will announce on Monday that it has reached an agreement to buy ED&F Man Capital Markets from ED&F Man Holdings. The purchase price is

British Airways owner IAG has returned to quarterly profitability for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, but blamed Heathrow for its current “operational challenges”. IAG chief executive Luis Gallego said the group’s best performing airlines were Iberia and Vueling, which were boosted by a recovery in the Spanish domestic market and routes to Latin

Octopus Energy has asked the government for a £1bn taxpayer funding package to seal a takeover of Bulb, its stricken rival. Sky News has learnt that privately owned Octopus is nearing a deal with ministers to acquire its smaller competitor, which collapsed late last year. City sources said this weekend that a deal would involve