Business

How to sum up a year like 2023? Perhaps the best thing to say is that it was considerably less exciting – as far as the economics went – than 2022. And that’s probably no bad thing, because in 2022 much of what passed for excitement was extremely painful: the onset of a cost of

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has contacted fans directly for the first time since agreeing to buy a 25% stake in Manchester United, calling for “time and patience”. After more than a year of exploring so-called “strategic alternatives” – including investment or a sale – the club’s deeply unpopular owners, the Glazer family, reached a deal with

The Premier League has called a halt to talks about a landmark financial settlement with the rest of the professional football pyramid in a sign of deepening divisions about the scale and structure of the proposed deal. Sky News has learnt that Richard Masters notified the 20 top-flight clubs just before Christmas that the Premier

The UK’s second-richest person is committing £245m of his multibillion-pound fortune to Manchester United as part of a deal to acquire a 25% stake. Fans who are disillusioned by the club’s direction under the polarising Glazer family will be hoping Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a lifelong Manchester United fan, will help both on and off the

A $1bn stake in one of the world’s largest oil pricing data businesses is close to changing hands in a deal that will cap a stellar end to the year for its owner. Sky News has learnt that Hg Capital has agreed to offload its 24% shareholding in Argus Media in a transaction that is

A US-based investment firm is to inject hundreds of millions of pounds into the AA, the breakdown recovery service, nearly three years after it delisted from the London Stock Exchange. Sky News has learnt that Stonepeak, which specialises in infrastructure and related deals, is close to agreeing the details of a £450m into the company

The cost of train travel is set to rise by almost 5% next year, according to the government. In England, regulated rail fares will increase by up to 4.9% from 3 March 2024, the Department for Transport has said. The government says the new 4.9% cap is lower than the equivalent in Scotland, where prices

The calls grew louder from Manchester United fans: “Full sale now.” It was more than an aspiration. The Glazers fed the belief their ownership could be ending when announcing in November last year that “strategic alternatives” were being explored. Instead, control is only being diminished. Just 25% of the New York Stock Exchange-listed club is

The British economy increasingly resembles those sepia-toned clips of early American aeronauts trying and failing to get off the ground. Typically these hapless pioneers race along a harbour wall, strapped to a homemade contraption informed more by the spirit of optimism than a realistic grasp of physics. With hand-cranked mechanical wings clanking, they race towards

The UK economy has performed worse than previously thought and below the expectations of economists, new official figures show, meaning the country has taken the first step towards recession. There’s been a downward revision to a key measure of economic growth, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday morning. Rather than remaining stagnant,

The Home Office has rowed back on plans to increase the salary threshold for family members of migrants in the UK following a backlash Home Secretary James Cleverly told the Commons earlier this month that the threshold for a family visa would rise from £18,600 to £38,700 by “next spring” in a bid to reduce

Government borrowing and debt grew in November, official figures showed, casting doubt on the likelihood of one of the prime minister’s key pledges. In the financial year, from April up to last month, borrowing grew to £116.4bn. That’s the second highest since records began in 1993 and an increase of £24.4bn on the same period

The cost of shipping goods has increased by 45% in the past week as major companies paused activity in the Red Sea global supply artery and chose diversions that can add an extra two weeks to journey times. The most widely used measure of freight cost, the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI), rose by almost

Spring energy bills are projected to ease as energy markets stabilise, according to a closely-watched forecast. Energy bills in the three months from April to June are projected to fall 16% to £1,660 a year for the average user, according to research firm Cornwall Insight. It’s a £268 drop from the energy cap from next

The rate of price rises significantly slowed again in November to another two year low, official figures show. Inflation stood at 3.9% last month, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), a dramatic fall from the 4.6% recorded a month earlier as price increases slowed in transport, recreation and culture, and food. Economists polled

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund is gaining full ownership of McLaren Group, one of the most revered names in British premium manufacturing, as part of long-term plans to secure a partnership with a global industry giant. Sky News has learnt that Mumtalakat, the Gulf state’s investment fund, is on the brink of a deal with McLaren’s

Shipping companies have cautiously welcomed the announcement of a US-led multinational naval force to fend off Red Sea attacks, but are still re-routing vessels as the line of impacted crafts grows. The world’s second-largest shipping company, Maersk, said it’s “very positive” to have joint efforts on maritime security, but it needs to see more detail

Behind almost every purchase you make, from Christmas lights to a new car, there is a ship. Almost everything we buy, use, wear, and much of what we eat, spends at least some of its life in a container at sea. These giant craft are the lifeblood of the global economy, circumnavigating the globe to

Adobe says it has abandoned its $20bn (£15.8bn) merger with designer platform Figma amid opposition from European regulators. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had revealed earlier in the day that Adobe, best-known for its Photoshop editing software, would not propose remedies to resolve its concerns over the buyout. The watchdog’s European Union counterpart

The owners of Edinburgh Airport have picked bankers to launch an auction next year that could draw bids of £2.5bn. Sky News has learnt that Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) has hired HSBC and JP Morgan to orchestrate a sale of the Scottish capital’s aviation hub. The process, which is expected to get underway at some