Business

It is now even harder and more expensive for the UK’s biggest water provider to borrow money as leading credit ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded its debt to “junk” status. Thames Water’s parent company had already defaulted on some loan payments that make up its £16.5bn debt pile. More pressure will be put on its

Rachel Reeves is to hold talks with a group of Canadian retirement funds which have invested tens of billions of pounds into the British economy in a bid to convince them to back her “big bang” pension reforms. Sky News has learnt the chancellor will meet funds including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB),

Efforts to secure access to cash for consumers and businesses are being stepped up through a series of new rules to be imposed by the City watchdog. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that from 18 September, banks and building societies would face greater obligations to weigh if local communities lack access to services, like

A majority of England’s nine water and sewage companies are “failing to get the basics right”, according to annual rankings which labelled four operators as responsible for 90% of serious pollution incidents. The report by the Environment Agency (EA) covering 2023 showed there were 47 of the most serious pollution instances recorded – up from

Almost half of private renters in England are living in homes that are cold, damp or mouldy, even in the summer, according to new figures. A survey by Citizens Advice found 45% of private renters are currently experiencing damp, mould or excessive cold in their home. And the research found 48% of these households have

Carpetright’s future is understood to have been secured but the vast majority of its 1,800 staff are set to lose their jobs under a limited rescue deal. It is believed that rival floorings retailer Tapi will confirm it is buying just 54 of 272 stores and two warehouses in a so-called pre-pack administration that allows

Utilita, one of Britain’s top ten energy suppliers, is plotting to raise tens of millions of pounds to fund projects aimed at meeting net zero targets. Sky News has learnt that Utilita, which last season sponsored the Premier League football club Luton Town, has hired Alexa Capital to advise on the equity injection. Sources close

Nail bars and car washes will be targeted by immigration officers as they step up enforcement action over the summer, the home secretary has announced. Yvette Cooper said 1,000 civil servants working on the now-abandoned Rwanda scheme will staff a new “returns and enforcement programme”. Writing in the Sun on Sunday, she said the programme

Travellers around the world are facing a second day of chaos in the aftermath of Friday’s global IT outage.  Here, Sky News looks at what you can do if you’re affected by the disruption. Air passengers Friday was meant to be one of the busiest days of the summer as families jetted off on holidays

TalkTalk, the telecoms group founded by Sir Charles Dunstone, will meet bondholders next week to discuss proposals for a £200m-plus capital injection from its owners. Sky News understands that the company and a group of key lenders and their advisers, will hold talks on Tuesday about plans for Sir Charles and other shareholders to inject

After the chaos of Friday’s global IT outage – without doubt the worst the world has seen – questions are starting to be asked about who, if anyone, will pick up the bill. Somewhat surprisingly, particularly given its share price has doubled during the year and was trading on a stratospheric rating, shares of CrowdStrike,

With the London Stock Exchange Group impacted by the global outage, the usual market data is not available to bring a comprehensive update of what’s happening with companies. But the financial market reaction is clear: share prices are down across the board as the impact of system failures rips through businesses across the world. IT

The Bank of England has revealed disruption to some major financial transactions due to a “global payments issue”. In a statement, the Bank said its high value CHAPS service – which handles payments worth hundreds of billions of pounds each day – was affected and that had resulted in delays. They usually involve transactions between

The TV retail consultant known as ‘Mary Queen of Shops’ has called on the government to block a proposed London stock market listing by Shein. Mary Portas, who undertook a review of UK high streets for the coalition government led by David Cameron, was speaking as an online petition by the Say No to Shein

Wage rises have slowed, official figures show, potentially signalling good news for those hoping for a fall in the cost of borrowing. But pay has increased faster than the overall rate of price rises. Money latest – We tried the UK’s cheapest three-course dinner* – here’s what you get for £5 Earnings rose at an

There has been no change to the rate of inflation which remained at 2%, the target rate for the Bank of England, according to official figures. It means prices in June rose at the same rate as in May, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Money latest: Number of people claiming non-dom status

The International Monetary Fund has confirmed that it is expecting the UK economy to grow faster than previously expected this year. The Washington-based fund, which was predicting only last October the UK would be the slowest of all the G7 nations this year, now expects it to be firmly in the middle of the pack.

The water regulator is now investigating every wastewater company in England and Wales over fears that some may not be meeting their obligation to minimise pollution. Ofwat announced it has opened enforcement cases into four more firms as part of its investigation into utilities’ management of wastewater treatment works. The investigations have been opened following

Shares in the company behind Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform have surged by a third amid a wider bounce on investor hopes he returns to the oval office. The Trump Media & Technology Group was one of the most actively traded stocks on Wall Street during Monday’s session. It was the first chance investors had

It’s no secret that companies in the luxury goods sector have been going through a rough patch. After a boom for the sector following the end of the pandemic, during which consumers engaged in ‘revenge shopping’ as they spent the enforced savings built up during the lockdowns, the last year or so has seen a