Asda said it had “taken on board” comments by food poverty campaigner Jack Monroe as it announced it would stock low-price ranges in all of its 581 stores. Ms Monroe had highlighted, in a series of recent tweets, the lack of availability of many of the supermarket chain’s “Smart Price” products. Asda currently stocks 150
Business
Plans for a crackdown on “cowboy” parking firms will cap many fines at £50 and introduce a new code of conduct to better protect motorists, according to the government. Ministers said that millions would benefit from an overhaul following years of complaints over unfair and extortionate charges. The package of measures will see the majority
The business secretary has again ruled out the prospect of the government cutting VAT on energy bills to provide further support as the cost of living continues to rise. Kwasi Kwarteng told Sky News the move would be “quite regressive” because “rich people will benefit just as much as people on lower incomes”. “That’s not
Downing Street is in talks with Macquarie Group, the Australian lender, to secure a headline-grabbing £10bn investment in British infrastructure that would represent one of the largest-ever such commitments by an overseas company. Sky News has learnt that officials at Number 10 have been negotiating with executives at the bank about the plan – which
The power industry is concerned some companies could be making massive profits on the occasional days when renewable electricity generation slumps. Generators which step up to fill those gaps are charging record prices to “balance” the supply of electricity as our power grid rapidly shifts towards net-zero. The costs are paid by the industry, but
The boss of British Gas owner Centrica has warned that household bills could see a further increase in the autumn on top of the 54% hike set to take place in April. Chief executive Chris O’Shea told Sky News that “nobody really knows” where the wholesale costs of energy – which are running about four
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has suggested that workers should not ask for big pay rises as it battles surging inflation. The Bank has acted to combat accelerating price growth by hiking interest rates to 0.5%. But if employees ask for wage increases to match the cost of living its task could be made
Households will be left in “deep peril” and older people will be “badly shaken” by the rise in energy bills, charities have warned. On Thursday, energy regulator Ofgem announced prices are set to soar by 54% for 22 million households from the beginning of April, adding £693 to the annual costs of a typical household.
Millions of households will see their energy bills rise to a typical £1,971 a year after regulator Ofgem increased its price cap by 54%. The increase, which will on average see bills for 22 million customers on variable gas and electricity tariffs rise by £693, will take effect in April and follows a 12% rise
The energy regulator will reveal this morning the extent of the additional financial pain households face through its revision to the price cap. Ofgem is expected to confirm a rise from 1 April of up to 50% – about £700 – taking a typical annual bill for gas and electricity up towards the £2000 mark.
Millions of households will discover on Thursday how much their energy bills will rise this spring after the regulator brought forward its announcement of the new price cap. Ofgem will reveal what is expected to be an increase of up to 50% to the price cap for gas and electricity, adding around £700 to bills
Emergency traffic measures to control congestion at the Port of Dover have already been used as many times this year as in the first six months of 2021 combined, following the introduction of new Brexit border checks. Figures provided to Sky News by National Highways reveal the Dover Traffic Access Protocol (TAP), designed to prevent
A retail lobby group has warned it will be “impossible” for the sector to shield shoppers from rising costs in the months ahead as till prices hit their highest level for almost 10 years. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said there was no let-up in sight for the price pressures facing the industry which, it
Wordle, an online word game which has seen a surge in popularity recently, has been bought by The New York Times. The deal, which saw the media company take over running the game from creator Josh Wardle, was for “an undisclosed price in the low seven figures”. Wordle sees players try and guess a five
Tesco has revealed that its Jack’s discount store experiment is to end, with seven of the 13 stores to be closed down completely, and that it is to shut down deli counters at hundreds of other sites. The UK’s biggest supermarket chain launched the Jack’s brand – named after its founder Jack Cohen – in
The owners of Virgin Media O2 have kicked off talks to raise hundreds of millions of pounds from investors to fund the rollout of fast fibre broadband to millions more British households. Sky News revealed on Sunday that initial discussions with infrastructure funds got underway in recent weeks, with the aim of selling a large
Boris Johnson is facing more pressure from Conservative MPs to “go back to the drawing board” over a planned tax hike after he recommitted to an increase in National Insurance to help fund the NHS and social care. Senior Tory backbencher Robert Halfon told Sky News the government should instead look at windfall taxes on
Plans to “breathe fresh life into disadvantaged communities” across England have been announced as part of the government’s Levelling Up White Paper. Wolverhampton and Sheffield will be the first of 20 areas picked to benefit from a “radical new regeneration programme” launched by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). The chosen locations
Downing Street will next week unveil a gender-balanced line-up of business advisers to Boris Johnson, which includes the bosses of some of Britain’s fastest-growing technology companies. Sky News has obtained the list of members of the prime minister’s new business council, which is expected to be published as early as Monday. Half of its 28
Home Secretary Priti Patel has approved the extradition of a British entrepreneur to the US to answer criminal fraud charges. But Mike Lynch’s lawyers say they will file an appeal at the High Court as they fight the order which was earlier signed by Ms Patel following a midnight deadline. It comes on the day