Business

Amazon and a subsidiary have agreed to pay millions to settle two separate privacy cases against its Alexa and Ring doorbell devices. Both cases were taken by US government consumer watchdog, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Amazon denies violating the law. In a case against the Alexa voice assistant, Amazon agreed to pay $25m

CBI members are to begin voting today on the future of the business lobby group, following a series of scandals. The organisation was plunged into disarray after claims of serious sexual assault were made by CBI employees against colleagues. Today it will launch what it describes as an “ambitious ‘programme of change'”, with adjustments to

Rail passengers are set to suffer fresh travel disruption over the next few days due to more strikes in long-running disputes over pay, jobs and conditions. Train companies are warning that services will be “severely reduced” because of industrial action by drivers and other workers. Members of the drivers’ union Aslef will walk out on

Asda’s chairman has said supermarkets are owed a “debt of gratitude” as he dismissed talk of capping prices as “rather backward looking”. Stuart Rose’s comments come after reports that supermarkets will be encouraged to introduce voluntary price caps on essentials such as milk and bread to help customers cope with the cost of living. Lord

Food inflation in the UK has slowed from April’s record-breaking rise – but is still up more than 15% on the year, new retail figures show. Research by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen shows a 15.4% rise in food inflation in the year to May. It is the second-fastest annual increase that the

HSBC will next month unveil a new name for the technology-focused bank it rescued earlier this year after its US parent collapsed. Sky News has learned that Europe’s biggest lender intends to rebrand Silicon Valley Bank UK (SVBUK) under the name HSBC Innovation Banking. The new identity is expected to be announced to coincide with

The Ineos billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe remains the leading candidate to buy Manchester United Football Club despite an inconclusive board meeting held late last week. Sky News understands that directors of the Premier League club’s holding company met on Thursday to discuss the progress of its £5bn-plus auction. Controlled by members of the Glazer family

Plans to encourage supermarkets to introduce voluntary price caps on food staples in a bid to help with the cost of living crisis are being drawn up by Downing Street, according to reports. The scheme would aim to get retailers charging the lowest possible amount for some basic products like milk and bread, the Sunday Telegraph reported. A

The executive who presided over a bitter “cruises and cufflinks” row at one of Britain’s biggest wealth managers is preparing to step down. Sky News has learnt that St James’s Place, the FTSE-100 group which oversees more than £150bn of client assets, has kicked off a search to replace Andrew Croft. City sources said on

Ian King hears from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who says the government will do whatever it takes to bring down inflation, even if that means a recession. He also speaks to Nick Harding, the chief executive of consumer lender Fluro as analysis by PwC shows total household debt in the UK has exceeded 2 trillion pounds

The government finds its hands somewhat tied at present on measures it can take to boost economic growth. The parlous state of public finances – the government borrowed £25bn alone in April – means that neither meaningful tax cuts nor increases in public spending that lift productivity are feasible just now. So it is no

Britain’s largest building society has made some mortgages more expensive as the Bank of England’s interest rate is now expected to rise higher than previously thought. Nationwide has said interest rates on new fixed-rate mortgages will rise 0.45 percentage points. It follows moves by lenders such as Halifax, Santander and Atom Bank who also upped

Jeremy Hunt has told Sky News he is comfortable with Britain being plunged into recession if that’s what it takes to bring down inflation. The chancellor said that he would fully support the Bank of England raising interest rates higher, potentially towards 5.5%, as it battled higher-than-expected prices. Asked by Sky News whether he was

The owners of Asda and petrol stations giant EG Group were on Thursday applying the finishing touches to a £10bn merger of their operations in Britain. Sky News has learnt that the billionaire Issa brothers – Mohsin and Zuber, who launched EG Group – and TDR Capital are aiming to announce the tie-up on Friday.

Microsoft will on Wednesday lodge a formal appeal against British regulators’ decision to block its $75bn takeover of Activision Blizzard, the Call of Duty maker. Sky News understands that the technology behemoth will file its complaint with the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) within hours, sparking the next phase of its fight to secure one of

The rate of inflation is finally back in single digits for the first time since last summer, easing to 8.7% last month but food inflation remains near 20% and core price inflation is at a 30 year high. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the decline in the consumer prices index measure (CPI) was

The head of the Bank of England has said there are “very big lessons” to learn about how the central bank has dealt with the economic shocks that have resulted in persistent double digit inflation and a cost of living crisis. Governor Andrew Bailey’s comments represent a tone change from the Bank, away from defending

Britain is no longer expected to suffer a recession this year, nor will it have the weakest economic growth in the group of seven leading industrialised economies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said today. Unveiling a dramatic upgrade to its outlook for Britain, the Fund, which previously predicted Britain would face the worst 2023 of

Ireland is set to become the first country in the world to put health warnings on alcohol products. Dublin’s health minister Stephen Donnelly signed new regulations on Monday, which will warn drinkers about the health risks of drinking alcohol, as well as the calorie count of the product. However, the labels will not be mandatory

A growing number of skilled workers from Africa and Asia are moving to Britain to plug crippling staff shortages, according to new figures that reveal the changing picture of migration. Businesses are making use of the new post-Brexit migration system to bring in IT professionals, nurses and accountants. Since January 2021, the new system has