Business

China’s Singles’ Day shopping event has chalked up slower growth this year after a more muted approach from online retail giant Alibaba. Sales grew 8.5% to 540bn yuan (£63bn) but that was down from a 26% increase last year and the smallest bounce since the extravaganza – now the world’s biggest online sales event –

The economy is recovering, but the pace of that recovery is diminishing – that’s the big picture from today’s gross domestic product statistics. However, the UK is getting ever closer now to regaining the income lost during the crisis. Quite where we are on that front depends somewhat on which measure you’re looking at. Once

Britain’s economic growth slowed to 1.3% in the third quarter, official figures show. It meant that gross domestic product (GDP) remained 2.1% lower than pre-pandemic levels, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The economy’s July-September performance was slightly weaker than the figure of 1.5% expected by economists and marks a sharp slowdown compared

The annual rate of inflation in the US has hit its highest level in more than three decades, fed by faster than expected rises in the cost of fuel and food. The headline consumer prices measure rose to 6.2% in October – a level not seen since 1990 – after a 0.9% surge on the

Marks & Spencer has swung back into the black after a pandemic-induced slump but warned of the impact of supply chain strains and higher labour costs over coming months. The retailer reported a profit of £187.3m for the six months to 2 October compared with a loss of £87.6m a year earlier – helped by

The pugilistic chairman of JD Wetherspoon has revived a long-running feud with investor groups over corporate governance at the listed pubs operator amid threats of a fresh revolt at this month’s annual meeting. Sky News has learnt that at least two shareholder advisory services are recommending protest votes on issues including boardroom diversity and the

Shoppers are buying Christmas gifts earlier than usual because of worries about supply chain problems, new figures suggest. A poll by Barclaycard showed that around a third said they were changing their approach to festive shopping this year due to fears over shortages, with more than half of these bringing forward purchases. The figures were

JD Sports has said it is not “suspicious or illegitimate” for its executive chairman Peter Cowgill to meet his opposite number at rival Footasylum – as it responds to the publication of footage in a newspaper. The Sunday Times said the footage showed Mr Cowgill meeting Barry Bown in a car park near Bury in

Vaccinated passengers are finally able to enter the United States from the UK, bringing an end to almost two years of coronavirus restrictions. Thousands of travellers will jet off on transatlantic flights for long awaited reunions with family and friends, while British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will operate a synchronised departure from Heathrow to celebrate

An investment vehicle which began building a stake in the London-listed gambling software group Playtech earlier this year is weighing plans for a £3bn takeover of the company. Sky News has learnt that Gopher Investments is working with bankers at Rothschild on an offer that would trump a recommended bid announced last month from Aristocrat

Abrdn, the FTSE-100 asset manager, is in advanced talks to buy Interactive Investor (II) for more than £1.5bn – a deal that will hand it control of one of Britain’s three big DIY stock-picking platforms. Sky News can reveal that abrdn, headed by Stephen Bird, is in exclusive negotiations to acquire II and hopes to

The UK’s five biggest supermarkets will try to halve the environmental impact of a weekly food shop by the end of the decade. It is the latest climate promise made during the COP26 summit in Glasgow, and it comes as the UK announces it will lead 45 governments in moving towards more sustainable ways of

Brexit is done, and for many, there’s genuine relief it’s over. But ongoing disagreements and post-treaty disputes are having real world costs to businesses who say they feel let down and misled by the Brexit process. The row over fishing rights and the threat of retaliatory action from the French have already cost one oyster

The owner of British Airways has placed its hopes for a return to profitability on strong demand for transatlantic travel after posting a loss for its key summer season. International Airlines Group (IAG) said the gradual lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions in key markets – culminating in the full reopening of the US travel corridor

Liberty Steel boss Sanjeev Gupta has been criticised in a report by MPs looking into the crisis that engulfed the company, as well as the future of the wider steel sector. It claimed that the use by Mr Gupta – once known as the “saviour of steel” – of “high risk financial funding practices” was

The Bank of England has surprised investors and economists by leaving interest rates on hold at 0.1% for at least another month. However, the Bank used its quarterly Monetary Policy Report to signal that it was likely to increase borrowing costs in the “coming months”. The decision pushed the pound lower by more than a

JD Sports has reacted angrily after a final ruling from the competition watchdog that it must sell the Footasylum chain bought for £90m in 2019. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) revealed its decision following a protracted investigation that saw JD appeal an original finding that it must offload the sportswear brand over fears it

America’s central bank has confirmed that it is to start scaling back its emergency support for the US economy. The US Federal Reserve said that it will start reducing its $120bn a month programme of bond purchases by $15bn a month, which should mean they will end altogether by June. It comes a day before

Financial firms that control around 40% of global assets will align themselves to the Paris Agreement 1.5 degree warming limit, Chancellor Rishi Sunak will say on Wednesday at critical UN climate talks. On “finance day” at COP26 on Wednesday, Mr Sunak will laud the “historic” climate commitment from global firms that control $130tr (£95tr) of

Three of Britain’s biggest high street lenders will this week join an alliance aimed at phasing out the world’s dependence on coal power amid a blizzard of efforts by multinationals to demonstrate their green credentials at the COP26 summit. Sky News has learnt that HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group will be among 10