Business

The owner of song catalogues produced by artists such as ZZ Top and Ellie Goulding is raising hundreds of millions of dollars in a deal with the private equity firm Searchlight Capital. Sky News has learnt that Chord Music Partners has struck an agreement for Searchlight to invest $400m in the company, which is backed…

Gala Bingo players have been left “angry” and “disgusted” after a technical glitch led them to believe they had won thousands of pounds. Several punters received notifications saying they had won an online bingo game, with some able to withdraw the money. But they were later told there had been a “technical error” and the…

UK economic growth slowed as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs hit and businesses grappled with higher costs, official figures show. A measure of everything produced in the economy, gross domestic product (GDP), expanded just 0.3% in the three months to June, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It’s a slowdown from the first…

Fashion accessories chain Claire’s is set to appoint administrators for its UK and Ireland business – putting around 2,150 jobs at risk. The move will raise fears over the future of 306 stores, with 278 of those in the UK and 28 in Ireland. Sky News’ City editor Mark Kleinman reported last week that the…

The average two-year mortgage rate has fallen below 5% for the first time since the Liz Truss mini-budget. The interest rate charged on a typical two-year fixed mortgage deal is now 4.99%, according to financial information company Moneyfacts. It means there are more expensive and also cheaper two-year mortgage products on the market, but the…

For this week’s Savings Guide, Anna Bowes, personal finance expert from The Private Office, explains what the Help to Save scheme is… The Help to Save Scheme is essentially a programme that incentivises people claiming certain benefits to save money. It gives savers a generous government bonus if they put away between £1 and £50…

A buy now, pay later specialist which helps motorists spread the cost of repairing their cars has landed millions of pounds from the venture arms of Jaguar Land Rover, Porsche and other leading automotive groups. Sky News understands that Bumper, which is based in London and Sheffield, will announce later this week that it has…

The owner of Legoland and Madame Tussauds has abandoned plans to sell some of its British aquariums after failing to reel in sufficiently attractive bids. Sky News has learnt that Merlin Entertainments has decided to call off an auction of more than half a dozen Sea Life visitor attractions in locations including Blackpool, Brighton, Loch…

Around nine in 10 pharmacies experienced shoplifting and an increase in aggressive behaviour in the last year, a survey has found. Of 476 pharmacies in England polled by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), 88% said they have experienced a rise in shoplifting incidents. About 87% reported a surge in aggressive or intimidating behaviour towards pharmacy…

For around 700,000 teenagers on the treadmill that is the English education system, the A and T-level results that drop this week may be the most important step of all. They matter because they open the door to higher education, and a crucial life decision based on an unwritten contract that has stood since the…