Business

Wilko will shut the doors on its last remaining high street stores for the final time after the chain’s collapse. The 93-year-old retailer has been closing each of its 400 UK stores over the past month after collapsing into administration in August. Forty-one stores now remain but will close on Sunday. The shelves have already

The board of Metro Bank rejected a secret takeover approach last month from a rival British lender, just days before its share price crashed when it emerged that it was seeking hundreds of millions of pounds to shore up its finances. Sky News can exclusively reveal that Shawbrook has tabled several bid proposals to Metro

The UK is on course for the biggest tax rise in at least 50 years because of the freeze on personal thresholds and soaring inflation, according to new analysis. The Resolution Foundation said taxpayers are set to hand over about £40bn a year by 2028 – up from a forecast of £30bn at the time

Ian King speaks to the head of UK Residential Research at the real estate consultancy, Knight Frank, about house prices – which have fallen for a sixth month in a row. Plus, hear from the boss of Merlin Entertainments about its plans to launch augmented reality games at its attractions – based on hit TV

A Hong Kong-listed company is in talks to buy Stemcor, the historic British steel trading group, amid pressure from its lenders to secure new ownership. Sky News has learnt that GR Life Style, a property company, is the preferred bidder for Stemcor following months of talks with a series of potential buyers. City sources said

JD Wetherspoon has credited a surge in sales and reduction in costs for its first annual profit since the COVID pandemic. The value pub and hotel chain, which trades from 826 sites across the UK and Ireland, reported profit before tax for the year to the end of July of £42.6m. That compared to a

Elon Musk’s $44bn (£36bn) takeover of Twitter is under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and he could be compelled to testify. According to court filings on Thursday, the case centres around concerns the world’s richest man broke federal security laws in 2022, when he bought Twitter stock. The investigation is also

The embattled highspeed rail project, HS2, will not reach its London terminus without private sector funding, Sky News understands. Without substantial corporate investment there is no guarantee of the line ending in Euston – instead it would end at Old Oak Common in west London. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reallocated the public sector budget

Metro Bank has kicked off talks about the sale of a £3bn chunk of its mortgage book as part of an increasingly urgent attempt to shore up its fragile balance sheet. Sky News has learnt that advisers to Metro Bank – which saw its shares plunge on Thursday after acknowledging that it was seeking to

British Airways (BA) is on the brink of a long-term pay deal with its pilots aimed at removing the renewed threat of strike action until at least 2027. Sky News has learnt that BA, a subsidiary of the FTSE 100 company International Airlines Group, was applying the finishing touches to an agreement with BALPA, the

The competition regulator is to investigate the dominance of Amazon and Microsoft in the UK’s cloud market. It follows a study by the telecoms watchdog Ofcom which “identified features that make it more difficult for UK businesses to switch and use multiple cloud suppliers”. Ofcom added: “We are particularly concerned about the position of the

The talent agency which managed Phillip Schofield until the disgraced TV star’s career imploded this week is this weekend facing questions about its own future after its lenders called in advisers to explore a financial restructuring. Sky News can reveal that YMU, which is owned by a private equity firm, has for weeks been involved