A digital platform which allows consumers to buy, sell and swap designer handbags has won backing from a host of luxury goods executives including a former boss of Jimmy Choo. Sky News understands that Luxury Promise, which was founded in 2017, will announce this week that it has raised $11m in a funding round led
Business
Santander has flagged up the likelihood of a mortgage price battle as lenders fight to offer the best deals even as the Bank of England raises interest rates. In a results statement revealing a big rise in annual profits for 2021, the Spanish lender’s UK arm said it expected its margin on loans this year
Google owner Alphabet defied the gloom surrounding the tech sector as its surging internet ad business helped it deliver better than expected results. Shares rose nearly 9% in after-hours trading after Alphabet said revenues for the fourth quarter jumped by 32% year-on-year to $75.3bn and profits rose 36% to $20.6bn. For the full year, sales
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
Britain’s cyber security centre has urged UK organisations to check their cyber defences because of concern about the potential for new Russian cyber attacks linked to tensions with Ukraine. The public-facing arm of the spy agency GCHQ encouraged everyone to read new guidance published on its website entitled: “Actions to take when the cyber threat
The boss of the largest sports crypto-currency trading platform has defended a business model that has generated millions of dollars in new revenue for football clubs and sports leagues, but drawn criticism that it tempts supporters into high-risk, opaque investments. Alex Dreyfus, chief executive of socios.com, told Sky News that the crypto-based “fan tokens” his
Oil has hit $90 a barrel for the first time since October 2014 on latest worries about tight supply and tensions in Europe in the Middle East. The Brent crude benchmark was up by 2% on Wednesday – with the increase likely to add to the cost of living headache facing UK consumers as it
UK car production plunged to its lowest level since 1956 last year as a shortage of semiconductor chips piled further pressure on an industry battered by the pandemic, new figures show. The impact of the shortages – which is being experienced by manufacturers worldwide – is expected to reduce later this year but continue to
Anyone looking for clues that inflationary pressures in the UK economy will ease in coming months would do well to avoid the CBI’s latest industrial trends survey today. The survey, conducted on a quarterly basis by the employer’s organisation, indicates that manufacturers are not only facing big cost increases at present but are also looking
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has taken an axe to its global growth forecasts while listing a string of threats to the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The world’s lender of last resort downgraded a prediction, made in October, for 4.9% growth in collective gross domestic product this year, saying it now expected a
Britons complained more about their treatment at the hands of businesses last year than any other on record, according to a long-running consumer survey. Issues with supply and service were most likely to cause trouble. A number of the issues were related to COVID-19, according to the Institute of Customer Service (ICS). The survey from
Wholesale gas costs have risen sharply while Bitcoin and stock market values have plunged further as tensions over Russia’s intentions concerning Ukraine add to the cocktail of concerns being juggled by global investors. The market volatility builds on heavy sell-offs that saw the US Nasdaq index come under particular pressure and endure its worst week
The quoted bid vehicle pursuing a takeover of M&C Saatchi has tabled a fresh offer which includes a partial cash alternative for investors in the London-listed advertising group. Sky News has learnt that AdvancedAdvT, which is backed by the technology entrepreneur Vin Murria and serial dealmaking group Marwyn, submitted a revised bid to the board
Dame Carolyn Fairbairn has joined the race to head Channel 4, the state-owned broadcaster, two years after leaving the CBI after a period of fractious ties between Britain’s biggest employers’ group and Boris Johnson’s administration. Sky News has learnt that Dame Carolyn is among a handful of contenders shortlisted to become Channel 4’s next chairman
The FTSE 100 has joined a global markets sell-off as it followed Wall Street into the red amid jitters over rate rises and the outlook for tech stocks. London’s leading share index fell by more than 100 points, or about 1.5%, while Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 were each down by around 2%. The
People should “get back to work” after Plan B rules were eased, the business secretary has said. Kwasi Kwarteng extolled the benefits of office-based staff interacting directly as he called for a return to “some degree of normality”. The comments came after the government this week dropped working from home guidance that was reintroduced late
The owner of the UK’s oldest cinema says the pandemic has created “the biggest existential crisis” ever faced by the industry. The Electric in Birmingham dates back to 1909 but enforced closure at the start of the pandemic led to it remaining shut for almost 22 months before finally reopening to the public this week.
Plans for a new British-owned battery gigaplant in Northumberland have been boosted by the commitment of around £100m of government funds to the £3.8bn scheme. The Britishvolt project intends to manufacture power cells for 300,000 electric vehicle battery packs a year at a new factory on the site of the former Blyth Power Station. The
A cross-Channel power cable project has been rejected by the government despite pressure to bolster energy supplies in the face of an unprecedented surge in prices. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng decided to dismiss Aquind’s plans to provide a new electricity link between Portsmouth and Normandy in France. The proposal was controversial as a company director,
The governor of the Bank of England has voiced “concern” that inflationary pressures in the UK economy could prove more stubborn than it expected. Andrew Bailey told a committee of MPs a key element of this was market forecasts since Christmas of higher than normal natural gas costs through 2023 as households and businesses grapple