Business

Royal Mail has been fined £10.5m for missing postal delivery targets. Regulator Ofcom said 74.7% of first class mail and 92.7% of second class was delivered on time in 2023/24. The targets were 93% and 98.5%. A “challenging financial position” was blamed by the company for its poor performance, the regulator said. There were also

The economy remained in a reverse gear during October, according to official figures covering the month ahead of the government’s first budget. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said output fell 0.1% following the 0.1% decline recorded for the previous month. The figures showed zero growth in the powerhouse services sector, with manufacturing and construction

The Daily Telegraph’s publisher is to hand hundreds of staff a £500 bonus this month as uncertainty over its ownership looks set to stretch into a third calendar year. Sky News has seen an email sent on Thursday by Anna Jones, Telegraph Media Group’s chief executive, in which she told employees that they would receive

Currys has warned of a drop in consumer sentiment over the past six months, with the chain plotting price rises to help offset the impact of the new Labour government’s first budget. Alex Baldock, the retailer’s chief executive, told reporters that progress in tackling financial pressures on households had “stalled in recent months”. He noted

Labour’s rural problem has reared its head once more. This time, the government is facing down fierce opposition over changes to inheritance tax. Unless a breakthrough is achieved, Labour’s rural problem risks becoming everyone’s problem. Protesters showed no sign of backing down on Tuesday. Farmers from across rural Britain got up in the middle of

A $10bn-plus takeover bid for one of America’s biggest pharmacy chains is set to trigger a fresh auction of Boots the Chemist after a string of aborted attempts to sell the British retail giant. Sky News understands that Sycamore Partners, the private equity firm, is expected to seek separate ownership for Boots if it succeeds

Baroness Hodge, former chair of one of Westminster’s most influential select committees, is being lined up to lead a review of Arts Council England’s use of public money amid a growing backlash in the cultural sector over the direction of its funding. Sky News has learnt that the Labour peer, who chaired the public accounts

Eliminating all pollution incidents in the Thames Water network will be “almost impossible” and a public debate is needed about the real cost of ending all sewage outflows, chief executive Chris Weston has said.  Speaking as the company’s interim results revealed pollution incidents were up 40%, Mr Weston said “rising expectations” from customers about water

Thames Water has revealed a 40% spike in sewage spills while warning that a looming decision on what it can charge customers is “fundamental to our future”. The UK’s biggest supplier, which has been battling to avert the prospect of a special administration amid a massive debt pile, has consistently argued that the regulator’s ruling

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she is “overwhelmed” by the response to the UK’s first attendance at an EU finance ministers’ meeting since Brexit. No negotiations nor demands were made at this point, Ms Reeves said, but they will start in the new year. UK government red lines on Brexit were reiterated – that there

A London-listed marketing specialist backed by Lord Ashcroft, the former Conservative Party treasurer, will this week announce the purchase of a key digital partner to sporting properties including the Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup. Sky News has learnt that Brave Bison, which trades on the junior AIM exchange and has a market capitalisation of just

Harland & Wolff (H&W), the shipyard-owner which built the Titanic, is closing on a government-backed rescue deal with a Spanish shipping industry group. Sky News can reveal that Navantia has won approval from Downing Street to acquire H&W’s four UK shipyards in a transaction which could be formally agreed as early as next week. If

TikTok has lost an appeal against plans to ban the video-sharing app in the US. The social media platform had argued the proposal was a breach of the US First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech. TikTok pushed to overturn a law that could lead to its ban in a few months. However, the petition

Fourteen new trains are to be built at a Hitachi plant in County Durham, securing hundreds of jobs. The plan safeguards 700 jobs with a £500m investment for the Newton Aycliffe site. The plant and its workers had faced an uncertain future with an upcoming gap in its order book before work begins on HS2

Dale Vince, the activist and entrepreneur, has accused the owners of The Guardian of telling “a complete untruth” about his interest in taking control of The Observer. Speaking to Sky News, Mr Vince, who has extensive interests in green energy and owns Forest Green Rovers Football Club, said his discussions with Guardian Media Group (GMG)

The owner of The Guardian is pressing ahead with the sale of the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper to a fledgling digital media company, just hours after scores of journalists went on strike in protest at the deal. Guardian Media Group (GMG) and its parent, the Scott Trust, confirmed on Friday that the sale of The

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 25% of new car registrations in November, an almost 60% increase year-on-year and well above a government target manufacturers have called on ministers to relax. BEVs were the only sector of the car market to see increased sales in November, which saw new registrations down almost 2%, the second

Thames Water’s largest creditor group has failed to secure a veto over whether a £3bn emergency funding injection is used to settle regulatory fines imposed for a string of environmental and performance failings. Sky News can reveal that a clause stipulating that the company’s A lenders – which account for well over £10bn of the

One of Britain’s biggest parcel carriers has been hit by a capacity crisis at the start of the crunch festive trading period, forcing it to urge key customers to divert business to rival delivery firms. Sky News has learnt that Yodel, which was due to recruit thousands of seasonal workers to help it deal with

The first three railway companies to be nationalised have been named as part of the new Labour government’s plan to bring rail into public ownership. In May the service from London’s Waterloo station to southwest London, South Western Railway, will become the first to be nationalised, the Department for Transport said. It will be followed