Business

One of Britain’s fastest-growing genomics companies is selling a stake to Tencent, the giant Chinese technology investor, as part of a funding round that also includes a major UK pensions provider. Sky News has learnt that Cambridge-based Congenica will on Monday announce that it has secured $50m (£39m) in a Series C fundraising. Legal &

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, is plotting an overhaul of the UK’s public company listings regime in a bid to lure more technology ‘unicorns’ to London. Sky News has learnt that Mr Sunak is preparing to announce a review aimed at helping the City compete more robustly with New York’s vast capital markets in a post-Brexit

Deloitte is kicking off talks with potential buyers of its British restructuring business amid expectations of a surge in activity triggered by swathes of coronavirus-inspired insolvencies. Sky News has learnt that Daniel Butters, who heads the big four audit firm’s UK restructuring operations, briefed hundreds of staff this week that he had been given a

Darktrace, the fast-growing British cyber security company, is targeting a blockbuster $5bn (£3.8bn) valuation as it lines up investment banks to work on a London stock market flotation. Sky News has learnt that Darktrace is close to appointing UBS and Berenberg as part of a syndicate of advisers which will aim to launch an initial

Hovis, the 134-year old British bread brand, has been bought by a UK private equity firm following a bidding war. Joint owners Premier Foods, of Mr Kipling fame, and US-based Gores Group sold the brand to Endless for an undisclosed sum days after Sky News revealed that it was close to seeing off competition from

Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell has been jailed for six years for evading £584,000 in taxes. Chappell failed to pay the tax on £2.2m in income he received after buying the chain for £1 in 2015 from retail tycoon Sir Philip Green. Meanwhile he splashed out on a luxury lifestyle which included a £90,000 yacht,

The furlough scheme will be extended until the end of March, the chancellor has announced. Rishi Sunak made the announcement in a statement to MPs, telling them that the payments would remain at 80% of people’s wages. The policy will be reviewed in January, he told the Commons, to “decide whether economic circumstances are improving

Joe Biden has made no secret of his opposition to Boris Johnson’s career-defining flagship policy: Brexit. Mr Biden claims – wrongly, according to the prime minister – that the Good Friday Agreement is threatened by the Internal Market Bill, currently going through the House of Lords. Image: Boris Johnson will be hoping to have a

Nearly 80 business leaders from the north of England are backing a plea to Boris Johnson from the region’s “Red Wall” Tory MPs for a roadmap out of lockdown and a post-Covid economic recovery plan. In a move turning up the heat on the prime minister as England goes into a four-week lockdown, the business

Lloyds Banking Group is to cut 1,070 jobs under a plan to simplify structures in some back office operations. The bank said that the shake-up – the latest in a string of announcements – would affect its group transformation and retail bank teams and result in 730 net jobs lost. That was because the plans

Global stock markets have rallied sharply as Americans head to the polls – with the likely impact of any result on economic stimulus preoccupying investors. London’s FTSE 100 was 2% higher in early afternoon trading with European markets also ahead, picking up after gains from Wall Street and in Asian trading overnight. There were further

Primark’s inability to trade online during coronavirus lockdowns has prompted a 40% slump in its parent firm’s annual profits. Associated British Foods (ABF) said enforced closures of the discount fashion retailer’s stores lost it an estimated £2bn in revenue and outweighed increases to its bottom line from its sugar, grocery, agriculture and ingredients divisions in

The announcement of a second lockdown will see the government extend its aid to afflicted households and businesses. There will be a continuation of the furlough scheme as well as similar help for the self-employed, plus further payment holidays for mortgages and other loans. Live coronavirus updates from the UK and around the world Please

Britain’s biggest airport is preparing to launch a legal challenge to the Treasury’s move to end VAT rebates for tourists, arguing that it will intensify the crisis afflicting the coronavirus-battered retail industry. Sky News has learnt that Heathrow Airport is leading plans for a judicial review of the government’s decision, which retailers say will trigger

Transport for London (TfL) has secured an estimated £1.8bn bailout from the government to help the service through the coronavirus pandemic. The capital’s transport body said the agreement will enable it to continue operating until the end of March 2021. The exact amount of money involved will be subject to passenger revenue in the coming

Furlough payments will be extended at 80% for the duration of England’s second lockdown, the prime minister has confirmed. After announcing the strictest blanket coronavirus measures since March, Boris Johnson said the furlough scheme would continue through November until 2 December. He said the end of the scheme, in which employees will receive four-fifths of