A leading private equity investor is among the suitors circling Nicotinell, the anti-smoking aid which has been earmarked for sale by its FTSE-100 owner. Sky News has learnt that Inflexion, which has backed companies such as Goals Soccer Centres and Mountain Warehouse, is on a list of bidders in talks with Haleon about buying the
Business
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has promised to investigate unlawful bank closures after the chancellor warned the practice could be “widespread”. Jeremy Hunt told the FCA that he wants to see banks “spell out to an affected customer why they are terminating their payment account”. In a letter to the regulator, he wrote this would
One of Britain’s biggest lenders to small businesses is hatching plans for a £3.5bn tie-up with the Co-operative Bank. Sky News has learnt that Shawbrook Group has approached the owners of the Co-operative Bank in recent weeks to outline plans for a stock-based combination of the two companies. Sources said this weekend that the preliminary
The construction industry has bucked recent trends and returned to growth in July, according to a closely watched survey. Just a month after UK housebuilding fell at the steepest rate in more than a decade – outside the pandemic years – commercial activity and civil engineering work grew, according to the S&P Global/CIPS construction purchasing
Tinder is testing a new tool that lets AI pick your best photos. The feature was detailed during an earnings call with investors by parent company Match, which also owns online dating platforms like OkCupid and Hinge. Chief executive Bernard Kim said it could “take out the stress” someone feels when picking pictures, and help
A final decision is in sight for Microsoft’s protracted bid to acquire the maker of Call Of Duty now that the UK’s competition regulator has closed its public consultation on the matter. The Competition and Markets Authority will consider comments from the public – which were submitted over the past week – and Microsoft’s amended
The new owner of Purplebricks, the online estate agent, is finalising plans to cut more than 100 jobs in a bid to improve its financial performance. Sky News understands that Strike, a rival operator, is close to rubber-stamping plans to axe roughly 15% of Purplebricks’ 695-strong workforce prior to the takeover. Sources close to the
Most of the work done by women around the world is unpaid, according to a new Oxfam report. The charity estimates around 65% of women’s working hours are not remunerated and said official statistics should be changed to recognise their contribution. Oxfam said its analysis of international labour data also found that 45% of weekly
A final set of threatened strikes at London Gatwick this week have been called off after workers voted to accept a 10.3% pay rise. There had previously been warnings of significant disruption at the airport this summer after around 1,000 employees, including those in baggage handling and check-in roles, announced eight days of walkouts. But
House prices will likely fall further in the coming months after a closely-watched index reported the biggest drop in 14 years, experts predict. It comes after Nationwide reported that annual property values declined by 3.8% in July – the sharpish fall since July 2009. The average home is now worth £260,828 – a fall of
BP has recorded a big drop in profits in the first half of its financial year, as energy prices fell from the highs seen after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The oil and gas giant reported net profits of just over $2.5bn (£2bn) for the three months to the end of June. It’s half the $5bn
The amount of money borrowed by consumers rose to a five-year high in June as inflation and interest rate pressure hit households, Bank of England figures show. Net consumer credit rose to the highest since April 2018 – £1.7bn was borrowed last month, following a £500m decrease in lending in May. The increase came as
BT, the FTSE 100 telecoms provider, has announced its new chief executive, the first woman to hold the post. It comes after Sky News reported earlier this month that a formal search had begun to replace current boss Philip Jansen as he weighed up a number of job opportunities in the US. The company said
Britain’s biggest mortgage lenders will this week launch a multimillion pound campaign aimed at illustrating the range of support they are providing to cash-strapped customers as the industry faces its most intense scrutiny in years. Sky News understands that a £5m advertising blitz paid for by participating banks will urge customers to ‘reach out’ if
Nigel Farage has launched a website to tackle de-banking following the fallout from the closure of his account with Coutts. The former UKIP and Brexit Party leader sparked a crisis at the prestigious bank’s parent company NatWest after complaining he had been excluded over his political views. It led to the chief executives of both
An activist fund manager has been building a stake in Dr Martens, the globally renowned bootmaker which has seen its valuation slump amid supply chain bottlenecks and a slowdown in US sales. Sky News has learnt that Sparta Capital has quietly accumulated stock worth tens of millions of pounds in London-listed Dr Martens, and has
Mortgage payers are now in the minority in the UK. Data from the census reveals that there are more people renting, and more people owning their homes outright, than there are people still paying off their mortgage. Within the EU just three countries – Germany, Austria and Denmark – have more renters as a share
There has been a surge in the number of people seeking breathing space from their debts while corporate insolvencies are running at levels not seen for 13 years, according to official figures. The Insolvency Service data covering England and Wales during the second quarter of the year showed 6,342 companies were registered as insolvent in
NatWest has reported a better-than-expected surge in half-year profits as the taxpayer-backed lender reels from the Nigel Farage de-banking debacle. At the end of a week in which its chief executive Dame Alison Rose was forced to quit for her own role in the row, the bank revealed £3.6bn in pre-tax profits – up from
Coutts chief executive Peter Flavel will stand down over his handling of Nigel Farage’s accounts. In a statement from the new NatWest chief executive, it was announced that Mr Flavel had stepped down by mutual consent and with immediate effect. “We have fallen below the bank’s high standards of personal service”, Mr Flavel said. “As
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