Business

The Body Shop has announced it is closing half of its stores in the UK – including seven today and cutting 40% of roles at its London-based head office. It comes after the embattled retailer entered administration last week, putting more than 2,000 jobs at risk. The Body Shop has roughly 200 outlets across the

On today’s episode, Ian King speaks to the former chief operating officer at Barclays to discuss the bank’s latest results. He also discusses finances in football’s Premier League with our city editor, Mark Kleinman. And Ian chats about the need for more investment in infrastructure to achieve the UK’s net zero targets. :: Listen and

The rate of inflation has remained at 4%, despite forecasters predicting a rise, official figures show. The consumer price index measure of inflation stood at 4% in January, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Money latest: Inflation rate holds – as surprise US data leads to market sell-off It’s the same as in December

On today’s episode, Ian King speaks to the chief executive of Pandora about the jewellery firm’s latest results. He also discusses a merger between housebuilder Barratt Developments and its smaller rival Redrow. And the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering’s been awarded to two pioneers of wind power – Ian chats to the chairman of the

Videos have emerged of people driving Teslas while wearing what appear to be virtual reality headsets, with the US transport secretary issuing a warning. A video posted on X showed a Tesla driver who seemed to be gesturing with his hands while using Apple’s recently released Vision Pro headsets. The device, which was released last

Police investigating allegations of serious misconduct, including sexual assault, at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) say they are “not able to progress further criminally” with 11 claims looked at to date. Sky News has learned that City of London Police currently has just one matter that officers are continuing to examine. The business lobby

The company that owns Facebook and Instagram has said it is planning to label all images on its social media platforms that have been created using artificial intelligence (AI). Meta, which also owns the Threads social media site, has already been placing “Imagined with AI” labels on photorealistic images created using its own Meta AI

Apple shares slumped in after-hours trading – driven by disappointing iPhone sales in China and a warning that future revenues will fall well short of expectations on Wall Street. The gloomy market reaction overshadowed an otherwise strong financial performance in Apple’s first fiscal quarter. In the three months to 30 December, the tech giant reported

In today’s episode, Ian King speaks with Dan Ives – managing director of the brokerage and advisory firm Wedbush Securities – to discuss Microsoft’s revenues and AI. Ian Johnston, global pharmaceutical correspondent at the Financial Times, discusses sales of popular weight loss drug ‘Wegvoy’, made by Novo Nordisk – as they say their sales almost

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Jeremy Hunt should not be planning to cut taxes any time soon. In what will be seen as a bombshell intervention ahead of this year’s election, the Fund, widely regarded as the world’s most authoritative economic body, said its analysts had advised the UK Treasury not to cut

The slow-motion collapse of Evergrande, the world’s most indebted company, entered what is likely to be its final stage on Monday when a Hong Kong court ordered its liquidation. The property developer, which has more than $300bn worth of liabilities, has been approaching this point ever since, in December 2021, it first missed a bond

A Hong Kong court has ordered the liquidation of China Evergrande, the real estate firm with more than $300bn (£236.1bn) of debts, amid deepening fears for the territory’s wider corporate health. Justice Linda Chan ruled Evergrande had been unable to offer a concrete restructuring plan to creditors – more than two years after defaulting on

The BBC has pulled an episode of Dragons’ Den from iPlayer over concerns about “unfounded claims” that a product could cure ME.  In the episode, which first aired on 18 January, businesswoman Giselle Boxer said she had used “diet, acupuncture, Chinese herbs and ear seeds” to help her recovery from ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis), also known

A promise by the incoming National Lottery operator to slash the price of a ticket from £2 to £1 is under review. Allwyn has also said delayed plans for new draw-based games will impact sales and the amount of money it can give to good causes in the early part of its 10-year licence. The

Just three weeks into 2024, one of the most eye-catching developments in financial markets has been a surge in issuance of corporate debt – the activity by which companies raise money selling bonds to investors. According to data from London Stock Exchange Group, investment-grade companies have issued $153bn (£120bn) worth of bonds this month, the

Manchester City have been overtaken in an annual global football club money ranking, with an old foe from Spain reclaiming the top spot. The 27th edition of the Deloitte Football Money League placed Real Madrid at the head of the pack for the first time since 2017-18, with Premier League clubs losing ground in the

An arm of one of China’s largest municipal governments is in talks to buy Stemcor, the historic British steel trading company. Sky News has learnt that a new company connected to Guangzhou Aerotropolis, which is located in the province of Guangdong, is in detailed negotiations with Stemcor’s lenders about a deal to take control of

On today’s show, we’ve got the latest reports about potential cutbacks at fund manager abrdn. Ian King speaks to Carina Namih, partner at Plural, about a new €400m (£342m) fund to back the next generation of start-ups. Yoko Spirig, co-founder and chief executive of Ledgy, discusses research showing almost three-quarters of UK tech companies would

The passing of the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill to its next stage is good news for Rishi Sunak.  MPs gave the bill a second reading by 293 votes to 211 on Monday evening, with the government securing a majority of 82. The prime minister is a man, remember, who said he wants to “max out”

Google has started construction on a new $1bn (£789m) data centre in the UK, it has been revealed. The announcement was made at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been meeting company bosses as part of a bid to “champion British excellence in tech”. The new facility is to be