Business

Zapp, one of the new breed of rapid grocery delivery apps engaged in a battle for share of British shoppers’ wallets, is opening talks about a new round of funding less than seven months after tapping investors for nearly $100m (£72.5m). Sky News has learnt that Zapp has hired JP Morgan, the Wall Street banking

More than 100 Conservative MPs have made a fresh plea to Chancellor Rishi Sunak to do more to support pubs and clubs at next week’s budget. In a letter to Mr Sunak, the group of Tory backbenchers have called on the chancellor to maintain a freeze on alcohol duties when he delivers his budget on

Green bonds offering savers the chance to back the government’s environmental projects are going on sale – but experts think the “paltry” returns on offer will see demand wilt. The bonds, described as the first ever green savings product issued by a country, go on sale online via the Treasury-backed National Savings & Investments (NS&I)

The maker of a host of well known consumer brands has revealed a big lift in prices and warned of worse to come as it battles “unprecedented cost inflation” around the world. Unilever, which produces foods such as Marmite, Cornetto ice creams and Hellmann’s mayonnaise alongside goods including Dove soap, said it had raised prices

Tesla said it had battled chip shortages, port congestion and rolling blackouts as it reported better-than-expected sales – but warned “outside factors” could hold back further growth. The electric car maker, led by billionaire Elon Musk, also boosted its profitability in the third quarter despite a 6% fall in the average selling price of its

Petrol retailers have been accused of “taking a bigger cut” by a motoring group after warning that record pump prices are expected within days. The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) – which shot to public prominence last month as the industry grappled delivery problems that sparked weeks of panic-buying in areas of England – blamed rising

As we begin to hit the shops ahead of Christmas, retail sales are back to pre-pandemic levels for the first time since restrictions eased in April. We are now spending more on items like clothing and furnishings than we were in February 2020, according to real-time credit and debit card data from the Office for

The government’s net zero strategy will “support up to 440,000 jobs” by 2030, a business minister has said – as he announced a move towards the end of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. The new plan, published on Tuesday, has the intention of dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions to reach the government’s

The government has intervened in the £6.3bn takeover of UK defence and aerospace technology firm Meggitt to assess national security concerns. Shareholders last month voted to back the acquisition of Meggitt by US rival Parker-Hannifin, after the deal was agreed by the UK group’s board in August. But Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has now issued

A global shipping services firm has told Sky News it could be another “18 months” before the industry weathers the sea of challenges causing massive disruption to the supply chain. James Gundy, the chief executive of Braemar Shipping Services, warned that container bottlenecks around the world were only part of the problem and only going

A former boss of Gucci is being lined up by Carlyle, the global buyout giant, to fashion a fresh growth spurt at End, the British online clothing business it bought this year. Sky News understands that Patrizio di Marco, who left Gucci in 2014 and subsequently had a spell with Dolce & Gabbana, another famed

The backlog of cargo ships at the busiest port complex in the US – images of which have come to define the global supply chain crisis – is unlikely to return to normal before next summer. The executive director of the Port of Long Beach in California says plans to switch to 24/7 operations, pushed

Matthew Moulding, the boss of the online beauty, nutrition and technology services group THG, is to surrender his golden share in the company in an attempt to restore the City’s confidence after a torrid fortnight. Sky News has learnt that the owner of The Hut Group, which floated just over a year ago, will announce

The head of British Gas owner Centrica has called for a “fit and proper” test for executives running energy firms after a series of insolvencies prompted by high gas price crisis that are set to leave consumers with a £2bn bill. Chris O’Shea, chief executive of the energy giant, called for changes to ensure that

If the trainee truckers the haulage industry so desperately needs could change direction as fast and frequently as government ministers they would sail through the HGV test. The latest U-turn, executed to address the supply chain crisis, comes from the Department for Transport, and even by the standards of recent weeks it is a screecher.

Boots enjoyed a bumper year thanks to booming sales of COVID-19 tests, according to its latest company results – despite footfall levels on the high street still being weaker than they were before the pandemic. In the 12 months between August 2020 and August 2021, sales topped £34bn at parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA).

The government wants to change how frequently overseas HGV operators can deliver in the UK to help solve the current supply chain problems. A consultation on extending “cabotage” rights will be launched on Friday to try to shore up supply chains and prevent shops running out of goods or increasing prices due to an HGV

The government is expected to back down today in a row over visas for foreign butchers to prevent a mass cull of British pigs. A shortage of butchers at industrial slaughterhouses has left farmers with too many pigs on their farms, leading to warnings that 10,000 pigs a week could have to be destroyed. It

The demise of two more energy companies has been confirmed as the surge in wholesale gas costs this year drives up bills for providers and households alike. Sky News had revealed on Tuesday that up to four suppliers were in talks with the regulator about entering its Supplier of Last Resort (SOLR) mechanism. Pure Planet

UK economic growth picked up in August as bars, restaurants and festivals benefited from a first full month without COVID restrictions in England, official figures show. Gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.4% month-on-month, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) – slightly below experts’ average forecast of 0.5% growth. However the report also