Business

The sharp decline in house prices took a pause for breath last month, according to a closely-watched report. Nationwide said prices were unchanged in September compared to the previous month. The lender had reported a 0.8% fall in August. It meant that prices were still 5.3% lower than a year earlier, equalling the biggest annual

The German media giant which publishes Die Welt, one of Europe’s leading newspapers, has joined the race to buy The Daily Telegraph and its Sunday sister title. Sky News can exclusively reveal that Axel Springer has registered its interest in acquiring the British broadsheets. Insiders said the company, which also owns the Business Insider and

A British start-up which helps to forecast floods more accurately has raised £2m from a syndicate of prominent investors. Sky News understands that Previsico, which was spun out of Loughborough University in 2019, has secured the backing at a significant premium to its previous funding round. The round was led by 24Haymarket, the angel investor

Vivendi, the global media conglomerate, is exploring a sale of its See Tickets division and the organiser of the annual Love Supreme music festival in east Sussex. Sky News has learnt that Paris-headquartered Vivendi, which owns the French broadcaster Canal Plus and the marketing services giant Havas, is working with advisers on a potential disposal

Spotify Technology is testing an artificial intelligence (AI) powered feature that will translate podcasts into other languages. Powered by Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s newly released voice generation technology, translated versions of podcasts will mimic the original speaker’s style and will be more natural than traditional dubbing, Spotify said. Podcasts such as Armchair Expert from actor Dax Shepard,

The shootout between one of the world’s largest tech companies and Britain’s competition regulator is, at heart, a battle for control of the new frontline of gaming.  The gaming industry is a $250bn (£204bn) industry that, on some measures, is now larger than the music, book and movie industries combined. And the fastest growing part

A sports streaming service whose customers include Manchester City Football Club, the Premier League champions, has collapsed into administration after the failure of funding talks. Sky News has learnt that Recast, which is based in Edinburgh, called in Interpath Advisory to handle its insolvency on Friday. The company operates a subscription-free live and on-demand platform

Ian King’s show looks at the biggest gaming deal in history – he’s speaking to Sarah Cardell from the Competition and Markets Authority about its approval of Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard. There’s also an analysis of the latest retail sales figures by John Stevenson from Peel Hunt. And Sashola Prestcote and Stella Pozzi, the

Microsoft’s revised effort to get the £55bn takeover of Activision Blizzard past UK regulators appears to be on track for clearance. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had been a sole thorn in the side of the acquisition, rejecting the original terms on the grounds it had a duty to protect innovation and choice in

The headline numbers don’t do justice to the significance of the inflation data. On the surface, this only looks like a small fall, with the consumer price index (CPI) dropping from 6.8% in July to 6.7% in August. So what, you might ask? After all, it’s a far smaller drop than the one we heard

Marks & Spencer is swapping plastic bags for paper ones across all of its stores following a successful trial. The retailer has become the latest chain to opt for the more environmentally friendly bags following Morrisons, Waitrose and Aldi, which all use paper bags for customers – though some stores offer plastic bags as an

The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) has revealed its transformation plan will take two more years to complete than expected, while revealing a fall in losses over the first half of its financial year. The employee-owned company, in which staff are known as partners, said that a combination of higher costs due to inflation and a

The owner of Scotland’s only commercial gold mine has warned it is at risk of plunging into administration. Scotgold Resources has suspended trading in its shares on the London Stock Exchange and says it needs “significant” funding to allow the firm to continue as a going concern. The announcement comes after the company said in

Ian King and Sky’s business correspondent Paul Kelso discuss BMW’s plan to build its next-generation electric Mini in Oxford. As a rescue deal to buy some Wilko stores collapses, Ian speaks to Julie Palmer, regional managing partner at the corporate rescue and recovery practice Begbies Traynor Group, about what this means for employees. And Space

BMW says it is confident the European Commission will ease regulations that would leave a new generation of electric Minis made at its Cowley plant in Oxford subject to 10% export tariffs. Speaking as the company announced a £600m investment in the UK, including £75m of taxpayer support, BMW board member Milan Nedeljkovic told Sky

BMW is to build its next-generation electric Mini in Oxford after securing millions of pounds in taxpayer support from the government. The German-headquartered car giant is set to announce later on Monday details of its multi-million pound investment, which ministers say will secure around 4,000 jobs. It comes after Sky News revealed earlier this year

Apple has seen around $200bn (£160bn) wiped off its value after China extended its curbs on iPhone use by government workers. Shares in the tech giant have tumbled by 6.4% over the last two days in response to Beijing ordering some state employees from using the devices. The move has fuelled fears Apple and its

Universal Music Group (UMG) and independent streaming platform Deezer have announced the “most ambitious change” to the economics of streaming since its creation, with the launch of a new model promising higher royalties for artists. The collaboration between UMG, the world’s largest record company, and French streaming platform Deezer means artists will be paid double

The boss of the UK’s largest household energy supplier has been forced to defend record profits amid warnings of worse times ahead for household bills this winter. In evidence to the energy security and net zero committee of MPs, the chief executive of British Gas parent firm Centrica, Chris O’Shea, insisted the 889% surge in

China’s economy has slipped into deflation as consumer prices declined in July for the first time in more than two years. Ballooning local government debt, weak import and exports, challenges in the housing market, and growing youth unemployment are all contributing to the country’s downturn. On the Sky News Daily, Dominic Waghorn speaks to our