Business

The economy grew at its best annual pace on record in 2021 despite a December hit from measures to control the spread of the Omicron COVID variant, early official estimates have revealed. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the pace of growth between October and December – the fourth quarter – was

Unilever, the consumer goods giant behind brands including Marmite and Magnum ice creams, has signalled that shoppers face further price increases as its own costs continue to rocket. The company, which said it was to cut 1,500 jobs in a global reorganisation just last month, used the publication of its annual results to estimate that

Workers seeking wage rises and firms trying to maintain profits in line with inflation could help sustain a spiral of prices and force further rate rise action, a top Bank of England official has warned. The Bank’s chief economist Huw Pill said officials expect these so-called “second round” effects to be contained but that if

Higher costs, more paperwork and border delays have been “the only detectable impact so far” of Brexit for British businesses, according to a new report by MPs. Trade volumes have been suppressed since the end of the transition period in December 2020 – though the COVID-19 pandemic and wider global issues were also key factors,

At last November’s Glasgow climate talks COP26, many analysts predicted the cost of electric vehicles were set to plummet in the next few years. Then in December, the government cut down the grant for buyers of electric vehicles. So will they still soon be much cheaper? In short, yes. Here’s why. Please use Chrome browser

The energy regulator has told MPs that it estimated around £200m in household credit balances was lost through the failures of energy companies over the past year – with up to £10 set to be added to rocketing bills as a result. Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley made his remarks as the business, energy and

Asda said it had “taken on board” comments by food poverty campaigner Jack Monroe as it announced it would stock low-price ranges in all of its 581 stores. Ms Monroe had highlighted, in a series of recent tweets, the lack of availability of many of the supermarket chain’s “Smart Price” products. Asda currently stocks 150

Is net zero and environmental policy responsible for the energy crisis we’re currently going through? It’s one of those charged questions being asked not just in households across the country but in Whitehall too, with Conservatives arguing that the current spike in costs is proof that the UK needs to concentrate more on extracting fossil

The business secretary has again ruled out the prospect of the government cutting VAT on energy bills to provide further support as the cost of living continues to rise. Kwasi Kwarteng told Sky News the move would be “quite regressive” because “rich people will benefit just as much as people on lower incomes”. “That’s not

Downing Street is in talks with Macquarie Group, the Australian lender, to secure a headline-grabbing £10bn investment in British infrastructure that would represent one of the largest-ever such commitments by an overseas company. Sky News has learnt that officials at Number 10 have been negotiating with executives at the bank about the plan – which

The power industry is concerned some companies could be making massive profits on the occasional days when renewable electricity generation slumps. Generators which step up to fill those gaps are charging record prices to “balance” the supply of electricity as our power grid rapidly shifts towards net-zero. The costs are paid by the industry, but

The boss of British Gas owner Centrica has warned that household bills could see a further increase in the autumn on top of the 54% hike set to take place in April. Chief executive Chris O’Shea told Sky News that “nobody really knows” where the wholesale costs of energy – which are running about four

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has suggested that workers should not ask for big pay rises as it battles surging inflation. The Bank has acted to combat accelerating price growth by hiking interest rates to 0.5%. But if employees ask for wage increases to match the cost of living its task could be made

The Bank of England has raised interest rates, slashed its growth forecast and warned that families are about to suffer the biggest fall in living standards since comparable records began three decades ago. On a red letter day in Britain’s cost of living crisis, the Bank said that households will see their post-tax disposable income

The energy regulator will reveal this morning the extent of the additional financial pain households face through its revision to the price cap. Ofgem is expected to confirm a rise from 1 April of up to 50% – about £700 – taking a typical annual bill for gas and electricity up towards the £2000 mark.

Emergency traffic measures to control congestion at the Port of Dover have already been used as many times this year as in the first six months of 2021 combined, following the introduction of new Brexit border checks. Figures provided to Sky News by National Highways reveal the Dover Traffic Access Protocol (TAP), designed to prevent

More than one in five people are cutting back on their use of gas and electricity as household budgets are squeezed by inflation, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. The ONS said recent survey figures showed 66% of adults in Britain had experienced an increase in the cost of living over the

A retail lobby group has warned it will be “impossible” for the sector to shield shoppers from rising costs in the months ahead as till prices hit their highest level for almost 10 years. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said there was no let-up in sight for the price pressures facing the industry which, it

Wordle, an online word game which has seen a surge in popularity recently, has been bought by The New York Times. The deal, which saw the media company take over running the game from creator Josh Wardle, was for “an undisclosed price in the low seven figures”. Wordle sees players try and guess a five

The owners of Virgin Media O2 have kicked off talks to raise hundreds of millions of pounds from investors to fund the rollout of fast fibre broadband to millions more British households. Sky News revealed on Sunday that initial discussions with infrastructure funds got underway in recent weeks, with the aim of selling a large