Business

A manufacturer of sustainable packaging backed by Diageo, the global spirits giant, will this week unveil a new round of funding to enable the delivery of a commercially scalable production line. Sky News has learnt that Pulpex, which produced the first Johnnie Walker whisky bottle made entirely from paper-based products in 2021, will announce on

A minister has ordered a local council to end its experiment with a four-day week “immediately” over concerns about the “value for money” for local taxpayers. South Cambridgeshire District Council, the first local authority in the UK to undertake such a trial, had announced plans to extend it until April. Local government minister Lee Rowley

One of Britain’s most senior boardroom figures is to replace John Allan at the helm of Tesco. Sky News can exclusively reveal that Gerry Murphy, the chairman of Burberry and Tate & Lyle, has been chosen to replace Mr Allan, whose recent departure was hastened by a series of personal misconduct allegations. Sources said Dr

Households will pay less for their gas and electricity from today but bills will still be almost double what they were before the energy crisis. The average household energy bill will fall by £426 a year from 1 July after Ofgem dropped its price cap following tumbling wholesale prices. People had been advised to submit

Apple has entered the history books as the first public company to be valued at $3trn. The 47-year-old technology juggernaut, co-founded by Silicon Valley legend, the late Steve Jobs in 1966, officially closed up 2.3% at $193.97 per share at the end of trading on Friday. This brought its market value to $3.04trn – equivalent

Rising mortgage rates have yet to hit the housing market but threaten to be a “significant drag” in the short-term, Nationwide has said. However, the high street lender said “a relatively soft landing is still possible” against a backdrop of income growth and modest falls in property prices. The building society also said while typical

The energy price cap is set to fall again, according to a closely-watched forecast, as the energy regulator has said the average home is using less energy. The average household will be paying roughly £200 less from autumn than they are from next month, but still “well above” historical levels, energy research specialist Cornwall Insight

UK households withdrew a record amount from their savings last month and were more cautious with credit card spending, according to Bank of England data highlighting the extent of the squeeze on consumers. The smallest net increase in monthly unsecured lending this year, at £1.1bn, was recorded by the bank in May. A figure closer

The governor of the Bank of England, which has raised interest rates to a 15-year high, has said the UK labour market and not Brexit is to blame for stubbornly high inflation. Andrew Bailey said the tight jobs market – with near-record low unemployment, more than a million jobs vacancies and wage growth of 7.2%

The government said it is prepared for a range of scenarios amid fears Britain’s biggest water company could collapse. Sky News has learnt that ministers and Ofwat, the industry regulator, have started to hold discussions about the possibility of placing indebted Thames Water into temporary public ownership. Contingency plans are being drawn up amid growing

The government has begun drawing up contingency plans for the collapse of Thames Water amid growing doubts in Whitehall about the ability of Britain’s biggest water company to service its £14bn debt-pile. Sky News has learnt that ministers and Ofwat, the industry regulator, have started to hold discussions about the possibility of placing Thames Water

The chancellor has told banks “in no uncertain terms” they must pass on higher interest rates to savers. Jeremy Hunt faced pressure from both Labour and his own Conservative backbenchers on the matter during a statement about support to mortgage holders agreed on Friday. Labour’s Dame Angela Eagle – a Treasury minister under Gordon Brown

Food inflation in the UK has continued to slow from April’s record-breaking rise – but is still up nearly 15% year on year, new retail figures show. It means prices are still increasing, just at a slower pace than previously. There was a 14.6% increase in food prices in the year up to June, research

A Treasury minister has refused to commit to public sector pay rises, arguing it would be “irresponsible” not to take into account the impact on persistently high inflation. Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, John Glen signalled the government could reject recommendations by the independent review bodies in the face of concerns

Braemar, the London-listed shipbroker, faces being plunged into crisis as a delay to the publication of its full-year accounts threatens to trigger the suspension of its shares. Sky News has learnt that Braemar, which has a market capitalisation of approximately £92m, is likely to tell investors within days that it will be unable to meet

A logistics technology business run by a 29-year-old entrepreneur has swooped on parts of Tuffnells Parcel Express, the prominent delivery company which collapsed this month with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs. Sky News has learnt that Shift, which was founded by Jacob Corlett, has struck a deal with administrators at Interpath Advisory to

Security staff at Heathrow Airport have called off all strikes having voted in favour of a pay deal. Members of the Unite union had been due to walk out nearly every weekend from mid-June until the end of August but paused their planned action on Saturday and Sunday to vote on a new proposal from

Mortgage lenders and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have agreed that people should be given a 12-month break before repossession proceedings start amid soaring interest rates. After the rise of the base rate to 5%, Mr Hunt met with leaders of financial institutions including Lloyds, NatWest, Barclays and Virgin Money. They agreed that the repossession break should

Average fixed mortgage rates are largely unchanged following the Bank of England’s shock announcement of a 5% base interest rate, according to a financial information company. There has been no change to the average mortgage rate for a two-year fixed deal, Moneyfacts data showed. The rate has remained at 6.19%, the same as the day