Business

Rail minister Huw Merriman will meet union leaders including Mick Lynch of the RMT on Monday after three weeks of unseasonal disruption left the two sides apparently as far apart as ever. While both say they are ready to talk, unions remain committed to further strikes if required and the government is legislating to limit

Windfall tax payments are to cost Shell around $2bn (£1.7bn), the oil and gas company has revealed. The cost of the UK’s energy profits levy and the EU’s recently announced solidarity contribution will reach $2bn (£1.7bn) in the final three months of its financial year, the firm said in a fourth quarter 2022 update. It

House prices have dropped for the fourth month in a row as cost of living pressures and higher borrowing costs dampen demand. The average house price fell to £281,272 in December, according to data from Halifax. It was a 1.5% decrease from November prices, which had already fallen more than 2%, representing the fastest decrease

Hauliers exporting goods to the European Union have faced fresh disruption since the turn of the year as a glitch in the UK’s digital customs system and new demands from French authorities threaten delays. Drivers heading to ports in the first few days of January found they were unable to enter details of shipments in

Amazon has announced that it is cutting 18,000 jobs – the biggest round of layoffs in the company’s history with the UK understood to be affected. In a note to employees, chief executive Andy Jassy confirmed that the e-commerce giant’s brick-and-mortar stores – including Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go – will be especially impacted by

Government support for business energy bills will be cut in April as the chancellor moves to reduce taxpayer exposure to the soaring cost of gas and electricity in 2023. Jeremy Hunt told business leaders and trade groups they should expect state support to be reduced when the current support package ends in the spring, having

Food inflation hit a record annual rate in December as cash-strapped households prepared for Christmas, according to a retail sector report. The latest British Retail Consortium-NielsenIQ shop price index showed typical food grocery costs up 13.3% last month compared with December 2021. The rate had stood at 12.4% in November. The data showed fresh food

Crisis-hit Cineworld has denied claims by the owner of rival Odeon that they have held talks over the sale of cinemas, saying it intends to sell the group as a whole and is yet to begin the process. AMC Entertainment said last month that it had backed out of negotiations with Cineworld on the purchase

Strikes by rail and road staff are set to cause extensive disruption to commuters returning to work after the Christmas break – amid fears that continued walkouts could cause a years-long slump in demand for train travel. About 40,000 members of the RMT union from Network Rail and 14 train operators are taking industrial action

Close to 50 shops shut down every day in 2022, more than at any other point for at least five years. In a bruising year for retail, 17,145 shops closed last year – up by nearly 50% on 2021, when 11,449 shops shut. Analysis by the Centre for Retail Research found about 47 sites shut up

A group of financial investors which have lent hundreds of millions of pounds to Matalan are close to finalising a deal to take control of one of Britain’s biggest homewares retailers. Sky News understands that the senior lenders, which include prominent City names such as Invesco and Man GLG, could strike a deal within the

Ministers are urging the chancellor to provide £300m of taxpayers’ money to avert the closure of British Steel’s two blast furnaces – a move that would trigger the loss of thousands of industrial jobs in northern England. Sky News has learnt that Grant Shapps, the business secretary, and Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, wrote to

In response to the release of thousands of pages of his tax returns, former US president Donald Trump warned “horrible things” were to come, taking aim at “radical left Democrats”. The former US president was unable to stop Democrats in Congress divulging the information, covering 2015 to 2020. In a statement responding to the release,

House prices recorded their “worst run” since 2008 following a fourth consecutive monthly decline in December, according to a closely-watched measure. Mortgage lender Nationwide’s index charted a sharp slowdown in the annual rate of price growth – to 2.8% this month following the 4.4% recorded in November. It said prices dipped 0.1% in December compared

The cost of living crisis will deepen next year as people continue to be hit with falling pay, higher taxes and soaring bills, a think tank has warned. Households face a cost of living “groundhog year” with disposable incomes plummeting even further than in 2022 and living standards getting “far worse” before they improve, according

Wages are climbing at close to their fastest pace since records began. Yet, workers’ pay packets are declining at close to their fastest pace since records began. Both of these seemingly contradictory statements are true. Workers are fighting for pay rises and are having some success but the gains are no match for inflation, which

Tesla stocks have slid to their lowest value in more than two years as the electric car maker plans to reduce its production cycle and investors worry how much time Elon Musk is dedicating to managing Twitter. Musk emailed Tesla staff telling them not to be “bothered by stock market craziness” and that Tesla will

Border Force, rail and driving test staff are resuming strike action today – but strikes by waste collection workers in Wirral have been called off after a pay offer was accepted. Those striking on Wednesday include: Members of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) at Great Western Railway will walk out from noon to 11.59am

The number of Boxing Day shoppers rose by 50% across the UK but remained below pre-pandemic levels as cost of living pressures weigh on consumers. More shoppers were drawn to Boxing Day sales this year than last in all retail settings across the UK, according to data from retail analytics company Springboard. By 12pm today

The guide to getting a Boxing Day bargain Reena Sewraz, from Which?, says there are ways to keep costs down no matter what you’re in the market for. Make sure deals are genuine: Some special offers may not be as special as they appear. Use price-tracking websites to check the history of a price. Shop