Business

Britain’s biggest high street lender is closing in on a deal to buy Curve, a provider of digital wallet technology that its new owner hopes will give it an edge in the race to build smarter online payments systems. Sky News has learnt that Lloyds Banking Group could announce the acquisition of Curve for about…

Union leaders are demanding no eleventh-hour retreat by the government on workers’ rights now their champion Angela Rayner is no longer in the cabinet. As delegates gather in Brighton for the TUC’s annual conference, the movement’s leadership is claiming four million people – one in eight of the UK workforce – are in “pervasive” insecure…

Peter Kyle, the new business and trade secretary, has pledged to deliver an “ambitious” growth agenda, telling the bosses of some of Britain’s biggest companies that he wants the government to play a role in creating the UK’s first trillion-dollar company. Sky News has learnt that Mr Kyle held a hastily convened call with business…

The new owner of WH Smith’s high street empire and the saviour of HMV are racing to salvage a future of Claire’s, the accessories retailer which slumped into administration last month, putting thousands of jobs at risk. Sky News has learnt that Modella Capital, which is to rebrand hundreds of WH Smith shops under the…

The investment minister appointed by Sir Keir Starmer less than a year ago is to quit her role, dealing a fresh blow to the government’s fledgling industrial strategy. Sky News can exclusively reveal that Baroness Gustafsson of Chesterton, the former boss of cybersecurity firm Darktrace, intends to relinquish her ministerial role after just 11 months….

The world’s richest man could be in line for a roughly $1trn pay award. Elon Musk‘s electric car company, Tesla, is trying to pay him about $1trn over the next decade. Money blog: UK airport ranked worst for fourth year in a row Under the proposal, Mr Musk would receive no salary or bonus but…

Retail sales rose a surprising amount in July, as good weather and the Women’s Euros led people to part with their cash, official figures show. The amount of spending rose 0.6% in July, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), far above the 0.2% rise anticipated by economists polled by Reuters. In…

A company which collects royalties on behalf of Hollywood studios including The Walt Disney Company and Amazon-owned MGM is being put up for sale in an auction expected to fetch hundreds of millions of pounds. Sky News has learnt that Motion Picture Licensing Company (MPLC), which is backed by private equity investors, is working with…

The head of Britain’s main banking lobby group has warned the chancellor against a budget raid on the industry, arguing that it would undermine her aim of delivering sustainable economic growth. In a letter to Rachel Reeves seen by Sky News, David Postings, the chief executive of UK Finance, said renewed speculation about increases to…

Beauty chain Lush has shut its UK shops, website and factories in protest at the Israeli government “preventing urgent humanitarian assistance from entering Gaza”. In a statement, the firm said more action was also needed by the British government “to bring an immediate stop to the death and destruction, including an end to arms sales…