Business

A typical household will pay no more than £2,500 annually for its gas and electricity bills from the start of October, Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced. In the first major policy announcement of her premiership, Ms Truss said the new price guarantee will last for two years and save the average household in England,

An unprecedented intervention in the energy market will shield households, businesses and public sector organisations from the worst of the surge in wholesale gas prices. The Truss government’s “energy price guarantee” aims to keep the bill pain facing the public at less than half the amount predicted for the winter ahead, with firms also getting

Primark has ruled out further price increases “beyond those already actioned and planned”, in a bid to protect sales in the tough economy. The discount retailer’s parent firm Associated British Foods (ABF) made the announcement as it warned of lower group profits for its next financial year, which begins later this month. The company said

Apple has launched the iPhone 14 as its “most advanced” smartphone yet – with longer battery life and a series of camera upgrades. Its four new models are between 6.1 and 6.7 inches in length, meaning they have larger screens than the iPhone 13. They can also last all day on a single charge. However,

Royal Mail workers are to stage a further 48-hour strike starting at the end of this month in a dispute over pay and conditions. Some 115,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) were already preparing to walk out on Thursday and Friday this week. But they will now also strike for 48 hours on

The British pound has hit its lowest level against the US dollar in almost four decades. Just after 2pm on Wednesday, sterling fell to $1.1407, according to Refinitiv data – its lowest point since 1985. The pound has lost more than 15% against the dollar so far this year, hurt by both the dollar’s strength

The bosses of Britain’s biggest banks will hold talks with the new chancellor on Wednesday as he tries to exert a grip on the stalling UK economy. Sky News has learnt that Kwasi Kwarteng has convened a meeting with the chief executives of lenders including Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group just hours after

The co-founder of Lastminute.com and dozens of other leading British start-up founders are urging Liz Truss to host a new national competition for entrepreneurs as the incoming premier seeks ways to kickstart a faltering UK economy. Sky News has seen a letter signed by Brent Hoberman, co-founder of the online travel site, and Samir Desai,

Tackling the cost of living crisis, Liz Truss herself has said, is her number one priority once she gets the keys to Number 10. Her victory over Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership race followed a tense five-week debate, dominated by how each would approach getting bills down for households and businesses. After criticism that

With the cost of running household appliance set to rocket this winter, consumer watchdog Which? has come up with a list of ways to head off the price hikes. The energy price cap is due to rise 80% in October, after the regulator, Ofgem, said the average household’s yearly bill can be raised from £1,971

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

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

The government has extended a national security probe into the fire-sale of a leading British mobile phone technology provider whose owners include Roman Abramovich. Sky News has learnt that officials at a division of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) are to take up to 45 additional working days to scrutinise 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

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

The British adult subscription platform OnlyFans has had a huge jump in revenues this year, raking in more than £805m as users flocked to the site for its amateur pornographic content. Recording pre-tax profits of £374m, OnlyFans had its most significant yearly growth to date in 2021. The company’s revenues increased by 160% from £309m

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,

Annual house price growth in the UK slowed in August but remained in double digits for the tenth month in a row. House price growth fell to 10% last month, down from 11% in July, but actually increased when taking account of seasonal effects. Meanwhile, house prices have risen by almost £50,000 in two years.

US stocks have registered their weakest August performance since 2015. By Wednesday’s close, according to preliminary data, the Dow Jones industrial average had fallen just over 4%, the tech-rich Nasdaq was down 4.64%, and the S&P 500 had fallen 4.24% over the month. For the day, the Dow was down 0.88%, the Nasdaq was down

The Co-op has sold its petrol station business to supermarket giant Asda for £600m, it announced on Wednesday, saying the deal would free up cash for the company and strengthen its financial position. The deal includes 129 petrol forecourt sites across the country, representing 5% of Co-op’s total retail portfolio of 2,564 stores. The company