Business

Families “should feel optimistic” that the worst of the cost-of-living crisis is over, the chancellor has told Sky News. Acknowledging households have “suffered enormously” from energy, food and fuel inflation in the last 18 months, Jeremy Hunt said they should now feel some relief despite the UK economy slowing to a halt in the third

A regulator has outlined concerns about the “intensity of competition” between fuel retailers. In its first monitoring update since finding that drivers were overcharged by supermarkets last year, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was yet to receive crucial data on fuel margins covering September and October. It said that while margins –

Greenpeace has hit out at Shell, accusing the company of trying to silence its activists’ campaigning at sea or in port in return for lawsuits worth £7m being dropped. The environmental campaign group says the action, being brought by the oil major and a contractor, is among the biggest legal threats it has faced in

The Barclay family has renewed its efforts to persuade Britain’s biggest high street lender to regain control of the Telegraph newspapers after restating an offer to repay the bulk of the debt it owes to the bank. Sky News understands that the newspapers’ former owners wrote to Lloyds Banking Group again last week to repeat

The battle against inflation could receive a boost – if a big fall in global oil costs is sustained. Brent crude futures fell by 4% on Tuesday to levels not seen since July on the back of data that suggested demand would continue to slide in China – the world’s second biggest economy. Brent was

The pace of grocery inflation has eased back to single digits for the first time since July last year, according to closely-watched industry data. Kantar Worldpanel, which records supermarket sales and price data, put the annual rate at 9.7% during the four weeks to 29 October. It said the decline, from the 11% recorded over

The government will introduce a new law to parliament on Tuesday, which they say will ensure 40% of trains will still run on strike days. The new minimum service level regulations will also make sure “certain priority routes can remain open” – though it is not yet clear which journeys will be covered. Other rules

White people are 36% more likely to receive a positive response when applying to rent a home than black people, Sky News has learned. Exclusive figures provided by Generation Rent show apparent racism currently in the rental market. The campaign organisation used artificial intelligence to set up two fake profiles, a black and a white

Ryanair has reported a surge in fares – as a record number of passengers flew with the airline over the summer. Compared to a year ago, the average fare rose by 24% to €58 (£50.27), Ryanair reported in its results for the first half of the 2023/24 financial year. Michael O’Leary, the low-cost airline’s chief

The England footballer Ollie Watkins is among a group of investors ploughing new funds into a fast-growing British online sneaker and streetwear marketplace. Sky News understands that Mr Watkins, who played for Aston Villa on Sunday in the 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest, is backing The Edit LDN, which has operated concessions in department stores

Seafood allegedly produced using the forced labour of Uyghur people in China may have been sold at Iceland – and could be on sale now at other British supermarkets, according to an investigation. Iceland told Sky News it no longer had a relationship with the Chinese supplier in question. Since 2018, the Chinese government is

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is to commit $300m (£245m) from his multibillion pound fortune to Manchester United Football Club’s ageing infrastructure as part of a deal to acquire a 25% stake that will be unveiled this month. Sky News can exclusively reveal that Sir Jim, founder of the Ineos petrochemicals empire, will pledge the investment alongside

It took just four hours for a jury to find fallen “crypto king” Sam Bankman-Fried guilty of fraud. The 31-year-old has been convicted of stealing billions of dollars from customers of FTX, which was the world’s second-largest crypto exchange before its dramatic collapse last year. To this day, FTX users – at least 80,000 of

The British economy is going to be flatlining for the foreseeable future, with next to no economic growth all the way through til early 2025, according to a bleak set of forecasts from the Bank of England. The forecasts, published alongside the Bank’s latest decision to hold interest rates steady at 5.25%, imply that the

Shell has attracted a backlash after revealing an increase in shareholder rewards on the back of a rise in quarterly profits. The oil and gas major, which is currently the most valuable constituent of the FTSE 100 share index, said adjusted profits came in at $6.2bn (£5.1bn) during the three months to the end of

Elon Musk has told Sky News that AI is a “risk”, as the billionaire joins world leaders and tech bosses at a UK safety summit. The SpaceX and Tesla owner has long been outspoken about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence, and earlier this year warned it could even lead to “civilisation destruction”. Asked by