Business

The parent firm of fashion retailer Joules and The Garden Trading Company is on the brink of collapse after a failure to secure new investment, it has been announced. Joules Group, which has around 1,600 staff, revealed it was to file a notice of intention to appoint administrators and had requested the suspension of trading

The high street empire founded by Mike Ashley is close to agreeing a deal to buy the stricken Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes. Sky News understands that Frasers Group is in advanced talks to buy the brand, which was put up for sale earlier this year after its Hong Kong-based owner collapsed into liquidation.

Jeremy Hunt has said everyone is going to be paying higher taxes but those who earn the most will have to make larger sacrifices. The chancellor told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme during Thursday’s autumn statement he “will be asking everyone for sacrifices” but recognises there is “only so much we can ask” from

The sale of collapsed energy company Bulb has been delayed by a High Court judge after concerns were raised by rival firms. The business is set to be bought by Octopus Energy, who announced it would be taking on Bulb’s 1.5 million customers after the company was placed into special administration last year. The deal

Byron, one of the UK’s best-known burger restaurant chains, is to be flipped to a new owner two-and-a-half years after a brush with insolvency. Sky News has learned that the company, which was one of numerous hospitality sector victims of the COVID pandemic, is working with advisers on a potential transaction. Sources said that the

FTX, one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, is commencing bankruptcy proceedings in the US. Sam Bankman-Fried, its 30-year-old chief executive who once graced the cover of Forbes, is also resigning, days after its bigger rival Binance walked away from a proposed acquisition. His replacement, John J Ray III, said: “The FTX Group has valuable

A union representing more than 100,000 civil servants has voted to strike in a dispute over pay, pensions and jobs. The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), one of the largest unions in the UK, said the legal threshold for industrial action had been reached in 126 separate areas, covering workers including driving test examiners,

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has warned of a “tough road ahead” which will require “extremely difficult decisions” as the UK economy contracted by 0.2% in the third quarter, early official figures show. The figure marked the first step towards recession. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a dip in output for September, leaving gross domestic

Britain is in the grip of a mental health crisis that is causing workers to drop out of the labour market and fuelling staff shortages. The number of people neither working nor seeking work has ballooned since the pandemic to almost nine million. Figures analysed by Sky News show that this is being driven by

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has become the latest big tech player to wield the axe in the tougher global economy, laying off 13% of its workforce. The firm announced on Wednesday it will cut its global headcount by more than 11,000 employees as part of a wider shake-up of the business that

Made.com has entered administration with the loss of all 500 jobs in the business. There was initially no news on how many, if any, workers would be saved when it was confirmed that the online furniture retailer’s operating subsidiary had officially collapsed and that rival Next had snapped up the brand, its website and intellectual

Primark has said it won’t further raise prices despite significant costs as it announced a return to pre-COVID-19 sales and market share in the UK. Commenting on Primark‘s full-year results, the chief executive of its parent company, Associated British Foods, said: “We have decided to hold prices for the new financial year at the levels

The cost of the average annual grocery shop has risen by almost £40 in just one month, according to an industry report which is warning it is too early to say when food price inflation will peak. Kantar Worldpanel reported a fresh record grocery inflation figure of 14.7% for the four weeks to 30 October,

The owners of Liverpool FC have said they are open to offers, raising the prospect of the club being sold. The Fenway Sports Group (FSG), which also owns the Boston Red Sox, bought the club in 2010, with it going on to win the Premier League in 2019-20 and the Champions League in 2019. In

Business Secretary Grant Shapps has hinted that the government may extend the windfall tax on oil and gas companies in this month’s autumn budget as it tries to stabilise the UK’s public finances. Speaking to Sky News with just 10 days to go before the government’s fiscal plans are unveiled, Mr Shapps said: “I mean,