Business

Hauliers exporting goods to the European Union have faced fresh disruption since the turn of the year as a glitch in the UK’s digital customs system and new demands from French authorities threaten delays. Drivers heading to ports in the first few days of January found they were unable to enter details of shipments in

Major high street outlets performed better than expected over the Christmas period and Next increased its profit outlook as a result, painting a positive picture for retail. Sales were up nearly 5% at Next in the nine weeks to 30 December on the same period in 2021, far outpacing the 2% reduction the retailer had

Amazon has announced that it is cutting 18,000 jobs – the biggest round of layoffs in the company’s history. In a note to employees, CEO Andy Jassy confirmed that the e-commerce giant’s brick-and-mortar stores – including Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go – will be especially impacted by the cuts. Those working in human resources may

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to stealing billions of dollars of customer money in his first court appearance since he was released on a record $250m pretrial bail. Bankman-Fried, 30, entered his plea before US district judge Lewis Kaplan at a court in Manhattan, after spending the Christmas period under house

Food inflation hit a record annual rate in December as cash-strapped households prepared for Christmas, according to a retail sector report. The latest British Retail Consortium-NielsenIQ shop price index showed typical food grocery costs up 13.3% last month compared with December 2021. The rate had stood at 12.4% in November. The data showed fresh food

UK airlines are more likely to have delays compared to their rivals in Europe and around the world, figures for the past year show. A British operator didn’t make any of the leaderboards when the aviation analytics company Cirium put together the top 10 airlines and airports for avoiding delays in 2022. Cirium put together

Strikes by rail and road staff are set to cause extensive disruption to commuters returning to work after the Christmas break – amid fears that continued walkouts could cause a years-long slump in demand for train travel. About 40,000 members of the RMT union from Network Rail and 14 train operators are taking industrial action

Close to 50 shops shut down every day in 2022, more than at any other point for at least five years. In a bruising year for retail, 17,145 shops closed last year – up by nearly 50% on 2021, when 11,449 shops shut. Analysis by the Centre for Retail Research found about 47 sites shut up

A group of financial investors which have lent hundreds of millions of pounds to Matalan are close to finalising a deal to take control of one of Britain’s biggest homewares retailers. Sky News understands that the senior lenders, which include prominent City names such as Invesco and Man GLG, could strike a deal within the

Ministers are urging the chancellor to provide £300m of taxpayers’ money to avert the closure of British Steel’s two blast furnaces – a move that would trigger the loss of thousands of industrial jobs in northern England. Sky News has learnt that Grant Shapps, the business secretary, and Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, wrote to

In response to the release of thousands of pages of his tax returns, former US president Donald Trump warned “horrible things” were to come, taking aim at “radical left Democrats”. The former US president was unable to stop Democrats in Congress divulging the information, covering 2015 to 2020. In a statement responding to the release,

House prices recorded their “worst run” since 2008 following a fourth consecutive monthly decline in December, according to a closely-watched measure. Mortgage lender Nationwide’s index charted a sharp slowdown in the annual rate of price growth – to 2.8% this month following the 4.4% recorded in November. It said prices dipped 0.1% in December compared

The cost of living crisis will deepen next year as people continue to be hit with falling pay, higher taxes and soaring bills, a think tank has warned. Households face a cost of living “groundhog year” with disposable incomes plummeting even further than in 2022 and living standards getting “far worse” before they improve, according

Border Force, rail and driving test staff are resuming strike action today – but strikes by waste collection workers in Wirral have been called off after a pay offer was accepted. Those striking on Wednesday include: Members of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) at Great Western Railway will walk out from noon to 11.59am

For 3.8 million women born in the 1950s, retiring at 60 was all they knew. Until suddenly, they learned that they would have to wait a further six years to get their state pension. An additional six years of working none of them, including Moira Holland, had planned for. Ms Holland had dedicated 35 years

The number of Boxing Day shoppers rose by 50% across the UK but remained below pre-pandemic levels as cost of living pressures weigh on consumers. More shoppers were drawn to Boxing Day sales this year than last in all retail settings across the UK, according to data from retail analytics company Springboard. By 12pm today