Business

Britain’s economy is “less weak” than previously expected but a recent rise in COVID-19 cases could take its toll on activity, the Bank of England has said. It now sees GDP being 7% smaller in the current quarter than it was prior to the pandemic – not as bad as it had previously feared. But

John Lewis Partnership has confirmed it will not pay a staff bonus next year after it posted a half-year loss of £635m. It is the first time in more than 60 years that workers at the employee-owned business will not receive a pay-out, which was last axed after in 1948 in the aftermath of the

Britain’s best-known film studio is to deliver a boost to the country’s embattled movie and tourism industries by unveiling expansion plans that will include a blockbuster visitor attraction. Sky News has learnt that Pinewood Group, which has played host to many instalments of the James Bond and Star Wars franchises, will announce proposals on Thursday

The long-term economic cost of the COVID-19 pandemic may amount to $7trn (£5.3trn) – around $900 (£690) for every man woman and child on the planet – the OECD warned today. In its latest set of global forecasts, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that the world may never regain the economic

Thomas Cook is back selling holidays almost a year after its dramatic collapse which forced the UK authorities to repatriate 150,000 holidaymakers and put 9,000 people out of a job. Sky News revealed last week how a former major shareholder, which snapped up the fallen travel brand for £11m, was to relaunch Thomas Cook as

Britain’s unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in the three months to July as the total number of jobless rose by 62,000, the Office for National Statistics said. The jobless rate was up from 3.9% a month earlier – but is still yet to be fully illustrative of the economic crisis with the Treasury’s soon-to-end furlough

New Look’s biggest landlords will vote against the fashion retailer’s latest rescue plan on Tuesday, throwing its survival into further doubt amid the UK’s deepening high street crisis. Sky News has learnt that British Land, which owns 19 New Look stores, and Landsec, which owns 10, will oppose its planned company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in

UK-based chip designer Arm Holdings is to be sold to America’s Nvidia in a deal worth up to $40bn (£31bn). The new owner said Arm – which licenses its chip designs for use by major electronics brands such as Apple – would remain based in Cambridge and its site expanded. Chip maker Nvidia is buying

The British perfume brand Jo Malone has “deeply apologised” to Star Wars actor John Boyega after he was cut out of the Chinese version of an advert he helped create. Originally, the commercial featured the London-born star walking around Peckham, the neighbourhood where he grew up. The video, entitled London Gent, also made reference to

A pack of turnaround investors, private equity funds and food groups are vying to snap up Hovis, one of Britain’s best-known food brands, in a deal that could be worth well over £100m. Sky News has learnt that firms including Endless, Epiris – the buyout firm which recently snapped up restaurant chains Bella Italia and

The John Lewis Partnership is plotting the takeover of a fast-growing recipe box provider backed by the former Wimbledon champion Sir Andy Murray as it seeks to tap into consumers’ post-pandemic penchant for subscription services. Sky News has learnt that Waitrose is in detailed negotiations to buy Mindful Chef, which provides meal-kits to thousands of customers

Here’s the irony: up until recently, if there was one part of the European Union which most Conservatives said they actually rather liked, it was the state aid regime. This, after all, was the one bit of the single market that Britain put most store by. Indeed, back in the 1980s when it was being

In ordinary times chancellors and prime ministers would trade a limb for a monthly increase in GDP of 6.6%, but these are far from normal days and there are already signs that the post-lockdown bounce back may be losing some of its zip. The positives first. The recovery in July continues the V-shaped trajectory established

The economy remained 11.7% below its coronavirus pandemic peak in July as the UK emerges from its sharpest recession on record, official figures show The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.6% in the month as more parts of the economy awakened from the enforced hibernation of the COVID-19

Scottish-born Citigroup executive Jane Fraser is to become the first woman to lead a Wall Street bank after being announced as the firm’s next boss. Cambridge-educated Ms Fraser, who began her career at Goldman Sachs in London, will take over from current chief executive Michael Corbat in February. The 53-year-old’s promotion to one of the

Morrisons has reported a £155m hit to profits from costs related to the coronavirus crisis. The UK’s fourth-largest supermarket chain said, like rivals, it had seen a surge in sales during the first half of its financial year in the run-up to, and during, the COVID-19 lockdown that began in March that saw all non-essential