Business

The closure of Vauxhall’s Luton van plant is a car crash for the 1,100 workers who could lose their jobs and threatens to trigger a pile-up for a government facing acute pressure from manufacturers over its plans to transition to an electric-only future. Stellantis, Vauxhall’s parent company which also owns Citroen, Fiat and Peugeot, has

Vauxhall will close its Luton plant in April, the parent company Stellantis announced. More than 1,100 jobs at the van-making factory are at risk, but Stellantis said it is hoping to transfer “hundreds” of jobs to the group’s Vauxhall site in Ellesmere Port. It is now in consultation with unions and employees over the proposals,

The trend of shop prices falling may be reversing as businesses face higher costs, according to industry data. The pace of price drops slowed this month, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). November was the first time in 17 months that the inflation rate was higher than a month earlier. While shop

Barclays has been fined £40m over capital raising that averted its need for taxpayer aid during the 2008 financial crisis. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that the bank should have disclosed more details to the stock market about the £11.8bn in funding, from Qatari and other sovereign investors, that it had previously described as

Tax rises announced during the recent budget will hit businesses rather than encourage growth, the head of one of the UK’s most prominent business groups will warn on Monday. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has joined a choir of voices opposing Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s fiscal measures, which the Labour Party claims are needed to

The break-up of one of Europe’s biggest classified advertising groups will continue this week with the €500m-plus (£414m) sale of Distilled, a major player in the Irish online ad market. Sky News has learnt that Adevinta, which was previously listed in Oslo and was taken private by Blackstone and Permira, the private equity firms, a

The managing director of Jaguar has hit out at what he called “vile hatred and intolerance” after the car company released a new advert. A 30-second clip posted on the luxury car brand’s X account on Tuesday prompted online backlash after it featured a diverse group of models posing in bright clothes but no vehicles

Potential suitors have again begun circling ITV, Britain’s biggest terrestrial commercial broadcaster, after a prolonged period of share price weakness and renewed questions about its long-term strategic destiny. Sky News has learnt that a number of possible bidders for parts or all of the company, whose biggest shows include Love Island, have in recent weeks

Bosch will cut up to 5,500 jobs as it struggles with slow electric vehicle sales and competition from Chinese imports. It is the latest blow to the European car industry after Volkswagen and Ford announced thousands of job cuts in the last month. Cheaper Chinese-made electric cars have made it trickier for European manufacturers to

Cambridge University’s wealthiest college is putting the long-term lease of London’s O2 arena up for sale. Sky News has learnt that Trinity College has instructed property advisers to begin sounding out prospective investors about a deal. Trinity, which ranks among Britain’s biggest landowners, acquired the site in 2009 for a reported £24m. The O2, which

Official accounts have revealed for the first time how much the King’s 2023 coronation cost UK taxpayers. According to the accounts, the government spent £72m on the coronation – the first in Britain since Queen Elizabeth II’s in 1953. The figure includes £50.3m of costs attributed to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS),

Nine water companies have been blocked from using customer money to fund “undeserved” bonuses by the industry’s regulator. Ofwat said it had stepped in to use its new powers over water firms that cannot show that bonuses are sufficiently linked to performance. The blocked payouts amount to 73% of the total executive awards proposed across

Nvidia, the chipmaker driving the boom in artificial intelligence (AI), has seen fresh falls in its share price following an earnings report amid continued supply chain constraints. Its third quarter trading update showed demand for its top generative AI chips would continue to outstrip supply for at least a year. Some would argue it is

Ford has announced plans to cut 4,000 jobs across Europe – including 800 in the UK. The car manufacturer said the cuts are needed as part of plans to bolster its competitiveness amid the stuttering drive to an all-electric vehicle (EV) future that has hit sales. Ford said the cuts would take place over the

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “absolutely” still confident in Chancellor Rachel Reeves after her financial plans sparked rows with pensioners, farmers and employers. The prime minister said his government needed to “stabilise the economy” when it came into power and has already “attracted investment that wasn’t coming in” during the Tories’ 14 years

The Bank of England governor has said industry lobby group the British Retail Consortium (BRC) was right to warn of job losses as a result of the budget. There is a “risk” of unemployment rising due to increases in employers’ national insurance contributions and minimum wage rises announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last month, Andrew

Dozens of retail bosses have signed a letter to the chancellor warning of dire consequences for the economy and jobs if she pushes ahead with budget plans which, they say, will raise their costs by £7bn next year alone. There were 79 signatories to the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC’s) response to Rachel Reeves’ first budget

Energy bills are to rise again next year, according to a respected forecaster. Costs from January to March are projected to rise another 1% to £1,736 a year for the average user, according to research firm Cornwall Insight. The energy price cap, which sets a limit on how much companies can charge per unit of

Cineworld’s hedge fund backers are drawing up plans to return the cinema operator to the public markets amid continuing uncertainty about the future of dozens of its British sites. Sky News has learnt that the company’s owners are at the early stages of considering a New York listing for the business, with the first half

A former Conservative cabinet minister has thrown his hat into the ring to become the inaugural chair of Britain’s new independent football regulator. Sky News has learnt that Chris Heaton-Harris, who stood down as an MP at July’s general election, is among those who applied for the role ahead of a deadline on Friday. Mr