Business

Retail staff face reduced hours or even losing their job as bosses continue to face up to rising government-imposed costs, according to an industry lobby group. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said its survey of finance chiefs in the sector found 52% were planning to reduce the number of hours and overtime for staff. The…

Take the Central Line into the middle of London and just before the train arrives at Bank station, something strange happens. Rather than approaching in a straight line, the tunnel begins to twist and turn round dramatically. The angle of the curve is part of the explanation for why there is an enormous gap between…

Grieving parents awaited Mark Zuckerberg’s arrival at a courthouse in downtown Los Angeles for what is being called the social media industry’s “big tobacco moment”. “I’m comforted by the fact he’s here alone, with only his lawyers and a jury. He’s without his lobbyists or his PR machine,” says Lori Schott, whose 18-year-old daughter Annalee…

ASOS has paid tribute to its co-founder after he died in a fall from the balcony of his apartment in Thailand. Quentin Griffiths fell from the 17th floor of the apartment block in the seaside resort city of Pattaya on 9 February, Thai have police said. Police said initial investigations suggest there are no indications…

For this week’s Savings Guide, we have a special edition with Mark Chicken, a chartered financial planner at The Private Office, looking at how you can save your child from university debt… For parents with young children, university can feel a very long way off. But with graduates in England facing up to 40 years…

A Norwegian green steel group is in the running to buy Speciality Steels UK (SSUK), Britain’s third-biggest producer of the metal, six months after it collapsed into liquidation. Sky News has learnt that Blastr, which is privately owned, is among a small number of parties which remain talks with the Official Receiver about a deal…

The advisory firm founded by Lord Mandelson is on the verge of being placed in administration, a member of staff has told Sky News. Global Counsel (GC), which severed its connection to the former government minister and ambassador to the US earlier this month amid his association with the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, employs…

Online seller eBay has agreed to pay $1.2bn (£890m) to purchase second-hand fashion marketplace Depop from Etsy, the companies have announced. The all-cash deal is expected to be completed by the middle of this year – five years after Etsy, an online marketplace, bought Depop for $1.6bn (£1.18bn). The acquisition comes as the popularity of…

Plans to increase the minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds to the same level as for other adults could be delayed, Sky News understands. In its 2024 election manifesto, Labour committed to “remove the discriminatory age bands, so all adults are entitled to the same minimum wage, delivering a pay rise to hundreds of thousands…

Annual energy bills will fall by £117 from April due to government changes, forecasters have predicted. Measures announced in the budget will mean a drop to £1,641 a year for a typical dual‑fuel household, according to research firm Cornwall Insight. That would represent a 7% fall from the £1,758 being paid until the end of…