Business

Microsoft has announced it will shut down Skype, once the dominant video call service, in May this year. At its peak, the service boasted more than 300 million users, but that number had fallen to more than 36 million users, according to the most recent figures shared by Microsoft in 2023. The US tech giant,

Purplebricks, the online estate agent owned by Sir Charles Dunstone, one of Britain’s most prolific entrepreneurs, has parachuted in an interim chief executive 18 months after it delisted from the London stock market. Sky News has learnt that shareholders in Strike, Purplebricks’ parent company, were notified this week that Stuart Bartlett, a former automotive industry

The government is spending £22bn on “unproven” technologies which will have a “very significant effect” on energy bills, according to an influential committee of MPs. There has been no assessment of whether the programme to capture and store carbon from the atmosphere is affordable for billpayers, said a report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)

Millions of people face council tax hikes over normal thresholds after the government allowed six areas to boost rates above the usual 5%. More than two million people will be hit by increases of between 5 and 10%. Windsor and Maidenhead Council wanted to increase council tax by 25% but the plan was blocked –

KKR, one of the world’s biggest private equity investors, is advancing plans to play a crucial role in a rescue of Britain’s biggest water supplier. Sky News has learnt that KKR, which manages assets of more than $600bn, has hired investment bankers and lawyers to help formulate a plan to inject billions of pounds of

The boss of GB Energy has told Sky News it could take 20 years to deliver a Labour government pledge of 1,000 jobs for Aberdeen. Sir Keir Starmer promised voters his flagship green initiative, which will be headquartered in the northeast of Scotland, would cut consumer energy bills by as much as £300. It is

President Donald Trump has been threatening increased tariffs on China for months and now he says he’s delivering it. Trump has said nothing can delay these tariffs, and for China that means an extra 10% slapped on to the cost of its exports. For China’s government, this is all part of the great game of

Donald Trump has placed 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on goods from China. The move, that came into effect on Saturday, raises fears of price increases for US consumers as the US president suggested he would try to blunt the impact on oil imports. He has been threatening the

A group of technology billionaires including the bosses of Google and Microsoft have triumphed in an auction of the Lords-based London Spirit team in a deal which will set a record benchmark for the sale of a sporting franchise. Sky News can exclusively reveal that the consortium led by Nikesh Arora, the chief executive of

Trouva, an online marketplace for fashion boutiques, is calling a halt to trading while it explores its fourth sale in less than three years. Sky News understands that the current owners of Trouva, which was founded in 2013, are working with the accountancy firm RSM to find a buyer. Trouva is now owned by Project

Every Thursday, our Money blog team interviews chefs from around the UK, hearing about their cheap food hacks and more. This week, we chat to Phil Kearsey, executive chef at the London-institution and Michelin-starred Pied à Terre. A top tip for amateur chefs is… acidity is a seasoning! Just like salt and pepper, citrus or

Marshmallow, the British insurance unicorn, is close to finalising a new capital injection valuing it at more than £1.5bn, despite the difficult funding environment facing many technology companies. Sky News has learnt that Marshmallow is in advanced talks to secure tens of millions of pounds in its first major equity fundraising in more than three

US tech firms exposed to big artificial intelligence (AI) investments are seeing their shares take a hammering over the emergence of a low-cost Chinese competitor. The likes of Nvidia, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Alphabet all saw their stocks come under pressure as investors questioned whether their share prices, already widely viewed as overblown following an

Each Monday, our Money team speaks to someone from a different profession to discover what it’s really like. This week we chat to James Davies, a specialist orthodontist at Quayside Orthodontics in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire… People think my job is… something they would not want to do. Looking in people’s mouths all day! What I’d say

Mobile network Three has apologised after customers across the country reported problems making and receiving voice calls. More than 10,000 people have logged problems on outage site Downdetector, with the first issues reported around 1pm. The network said a “small percentage” of customers were affected and that it was working hard to fix it. X

Part-owners of Chelsea and Manchester United football clubs are among a quartet of finalists vying to buy a big stake in London Spirit, the most prestigious franchise in English cricket’s Hundred competition. Sky News has learnt that a vehicle controlled by Todd Boehly, a shareholder in Chelsea, and members of the Manchester United-owning Glazer family

Donald Trump has given TikTok 75 days to convince US officials it doesn’t threaten national security – most likely by finding a new, US owner for its American operation. He signed the executive order within hours of entering the White House and told reporters: “I tell you what. Every rich person has called me about

Secret Escapes, the online travel platform, has hired bankers to explore a sale nearly 15 years after its launch. Sky News has learnt that Secret Escapes has appointed the investment bank Arma Partners to oversee an auction of the company. Sources close to a number of potential bidders said on Monday that the process was

China has released a slew of economic data this morning, showing its economy grew last year by a solid 5% percent, meeting the government’s target. Other annual figures released show that total retail sales of consumer goods were up by 3.5% last year, compared to 2023. But despite these positive indicators China’s economy is still

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned against the prospects of a renewed US-led trade war, just days before Donald Trump prepares to begin his second term in the White House. The world’s lender of last resort used the latest update to its World Economic Outlook (WEO) to lay out a series of consequences for