Business

Air passenger numbers plummeted by 98% at the height the pandemic last year, official figures show. Monthly arrivals to the UK fell during the first coronavirus lockdown from 6.8 million in February to 112,300 in April 2020, data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals. The figures have been released as part of

Rolls-Royce Holdings, the FTSE-100 engineering group, will this week name a former Deloitte partner as its next finance chief as it tries to navigate through the headwinds of the COVID-19 crisis. Sky News has learnt that Panos Kakoullis, who spent 30 years at the accountancy giant, has been picked as the Derby-based industrial titan’s next

The shake-up of Britain’s big four audit firms is to continue in earnest when Deloitte unveils the sale of its restructuring arm to Teneo, a strategic consulting firm which advises many of the UK’s biggest companies. Sky News has learnt that Teneo, which is backed by the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, is in

The £4bn flotation of Darktrace, one of Britain’s most prominent technology companies, has been dealt a severe blow by the resignation of one of the investment banks hired to lead it. Sky News has learnt that UBS, the Swiss bank, has informed Darktrace that it is no longer able to work on the cybersecurity provider’s

The worst GDP since the invention of GDP. By now we’re mostly all familiar with the scale of the economic contraction this country has faced over the past year. We have lived the lockdowns, the furloughs, the closures. Even so, the scale of the fall in economic output still takes the breath away. Image: Bank

The coronavirus crisis meant the UK economy endured its deepest annual slump last year since the Great Frost in 1709, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said early estimates, subject to revision, showed that gross domestic product (GDP) tumbled by 9.9% in 2020. It was a consequence of large parts of

Food exports to the European Union fell by as much as 60% at the start of the year as traders and officials struggled to adapt to post-Brexit arrangements, MPs have been told. Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), said changes since Britain’s trade deal with Europe came into force on

The chairman of a City accountancy firm has resigned following a backlash over remarks made to staff which dismissed concerns about COVID crisis fatigue. Bill Michael, the chairman of KPMG UK, reportedly told the online gathering involving hundreds of workers on Monday that they should stop “moaning” and “playing the victim card”. It was an

The EU has accused the UK government of “shortcomings” over implementing Northern Ireland protocol, ahead of a meeting between the government and the bloc in London. The protocol was the way in which a “hard border” was prevented on the island of Ireland following the agreement of a Brexit deal in December – but has

Britain’s biggest airlines have told Boris Johnson that the industry is facing a “second lost summer” in a fresh plea for a clear roadmap to reopening international travel. Sky News has seen a letter from Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, to the prime minister in which he warns of “devastating further consequences for

Twitter has revealed that changes to the platform designed to combat misinformation ahead of the US election had resulted in a “small but measurable” hit to user numbers. The social media company made the disclosure as it published results showing better than expected quarterly sales and profits for the three months to the end of

Ocado has reported a leap in annual sales and core profitability as wider retail figures highlight the sharpest drop in business since May amid continuing coronavirus lockdowns. Ocado, best-known as an online grocer but also a provider of robotic warehouse technology, was the latest supermarket-style business to confirm a boost from its status as an

Boohoo is to pay £25m for Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton in a deal set to catapult the fashion brands to an online-only future at the expense of thousands of high street jobs. The online fashion specialist, which has already snapped up the Debenhams name amid the COVID-19 bloodbath for physical retailers, said it was

Brent crude oil prices have returned to $60 a barrel for the first time since January last year, before the coronavirus crisis took a toll on demand in the global economy. The cost of crude for April delivery nudged $60.06 a barrel in the early hours of Monday during trading in Asia. Market analysts cited

The volume of exports going through British ports to the EU fell by 68% last month compared with January last year, according to research. The Road Haulage Association’s chief executive Richard Burnett told The Observer that the organisation had also found 65-75% of vehicles arriving from the EU were returning to the bloc empty. This

Britain’s biggest banks will finalise plans for annual bonus payouts in the coming days, ahead of a results season that will lay bare billions of pounds of anticipated loan losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic. Sky News has learnt that the state-backed lender NatWest Group has informed the Treasury that it wants to hand out