Business

Changing in cost but seemingly never in popularity, the Freddo chocolate bar has become a health check for the UK economy. When he created the confectionary almost a century ago in Australia, British teenager Harry Melbourne couldn’t have foreseen he was also crafting a barometer for the cost of living. But that’s the function of…

The Department for Work and Pensions will launch an independent review into its handling of prosecutions against Post Office staff, Sky News has learned. About 100 prosecutions were carried out by the DWP between 2001 and 2006 during the Horizon IT scandal. The “independent assurance review”, however, is yet to be commissioned and will not…

Two major US microchip makers have agreed to pay the Trump administration a portion of sales in return for export licences to send chips to China, according to reports. The world’s most valuable company, Nvidia, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will give 15% of Chinese sales of two AI-powering microchips to the US government. Such…

The owner of Silentnight, one of Britain’s biggest bed manufacturers, is preparing to end a controversial 14-year tenure which included settlements with regulators worth tens of millions of pounds. Sky News has learnt that HIG Europe, which bought Silentnight through an insolvency process in 2011, has appointed bankers at Rothschild to sell the company. City…

The long-term lease to the O2, London’s best-known live entertainment venue, has been sold to Britain’s biggest pensions insurance specialist. Sky News understands that a deal was signed last week for Rothesay, the title sponsor of England’s home Test cricket matches, to acquire the landmark’s 999-year lease for about £90million. The agreement, which is likely…

Sir Martin Sorrell, the advertising mogul, has received a number of merger approaches for S4 Capital, the London-listed marketing services group he founded seven years ago. Sky News can reveal that Sir Martin has been contacted in recent weeks by potential suitors including One Equity Partners, a US-based private equity firm which focuses on acquiring…

The owners of Visma, one of Europe’s biggest software companies, are close to hiring bankers for a £16bn flotation that would rank among the London market’s biggest for years. Sky News understands that Visma’s board and shareholders have convened a beauty parade of investment banks in the last fortnight ahead of an initial public offering…

Every week, our Money team interviews top chefs from around the UK, hearing about their cheap food hacks, views on the industry and more. Today, they speak to the co-founder of Genuine Restaurants Group, Sam Harrison… My favourite cheap eat is… Burnt on Askew Road in Shepherd’s Bush, west London – it’s a great spot…

Citroen has been told to improve its “chaotic” and “shameful” recall over a potentially fatal airbag safety fault.  Consumer champion Which? wants the government to intervene if Stellantis, the car brand’s parent company, does not improve the process for fixing the fault and offering customers compensation. Read all the latest Money news here A “stop-drive”…

The American investment giant Carlyle is preparing to take control of Very Group, one of Britain’s biggest online retailers, in a deal that will end the Barclay family’s long tenure at another major UK company. Sky News has learnt that Carlyle, which is the biggest lender to Very Group’s immediate parent company, could assume ownership…