Business

The pension scheme trustees at the government contractor Serco have been forced to tap the company for £60m of emergency support after the UK’s financial markets meltdown this week. Serco’s £1bn pensions scheme is the latest to scramble to raise cash after a plunge in the pound and a meltdown …

The pound has hit a new 37-year low after the bonanza of tax cuts and spending measures in Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget threatened to undermine confidence in the UK. Sterling fell to $1.077 in early trading when Asia-Pacific markets opened after the weekend, closer to parity with the US dollar. Chris …

UN secretary general António Guterres said it was ‘high time to put fossil fuel producers, investors and enablers on notice’ as he called for a global windfall tax to support countries struggling with climate disasters and rising living costs. Speaking at the UN general assembly on Tuesday, Guterres said: ‘Today, …

Consumers are racing to exchange their old paper banknotes for new plastic versions, just over a fortnight before they cease to be legal tender at the end of September. The Bank of England has warned people to expect long queues at its headquarters at Threadneedle Street in the City of …

Mourners hoping to travel to London to pay their respects to the Queen are being told to prepare for “unprecedented” demand on transport and in stations, with hundreds of thousands expected to make the trip. As many as 750,000 people are expected to travel to the capital from Wednesday to …

Government plans to cap energy bills are “poorly targeted” and will fail to protect low-income families without a package of additional support, charities and thinktanks have warned. Liz Truss is expected to announce a £90bn package to cap average household energy bills on Thursday, alongside subsidies for small and medium-sized …

One of Britain’s major intercity train operators, Avanti West Coast, has parted company with its boss a month after the company admitted it was unable to run its timetabled services. Avanti announced that its managing director, Phil Whittingham, had decided to step down, with effect from 15 September, the date …

Thousands of corner shops will be forced to close due to surging energy costs unless the government steps in with emergency support, a trade body has said. The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has written to the chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, saying that without financial support its members will be driven …

As a key mortgage rate has hit over 4% for the first time since 2013 and the price of new mortgages is rising even faster than UK interest rates, many prospective house buyers may have to reconsider what kind of loan they can take out to buy a home. We’d …

The clamour for the government to intervene to help households with their energy bills grows louder by the day. The Treasury is examining options to alleviate the cost of living crisis, which include extending the existing energy bills support scheme established by the then chancellor, Rishi Sunak, in May. On …