Author: SKYNEWS

Thousands of construction industry jobs are at risk as ISG, a construction group that builds prisons and police stations, faces imminent collapse.Sky News has learnt that Whitehall officials are lining up City advisers to work on contingency plans for ISG, which is expected to formally appoint administrators on Friday. EY is on standby to handle the insolvency proceedings.Money latest: Millions already buying mince pies ahead of ChristmasConstruction industry sources said that government officials were closely monitoring the crisis at ISG, which is expected to be the biggest casualty in the sector since Carillion collapsed in 2018. ISG employs about 2400…

A curator at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds has spoken to Sky News about going viral in an entertaining cross-generation TikTok video.”Serving curatorial realness fr [for real]” is how the social media video that has amassed more than four and a half million views is described. Curator Mark Murray-Flutter spoke to The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee about the video, in which he joked he had turned over scriptwriting duties to a Gen Z employee.In it, he used popular Gen Z slang terms such as “slay”, “pop off queen”, “main character energy” and more, to describe the museum and…

Coronation Street star Geoff Hinsliff has died aged 87, ITV has said. The actor was best known for playing Don Brennan on the soap from 1987 to 1997. He died last weekend. Helen Worth, who plays Gail Platt in the show, paid tribute to Hinsliff on behalf of Coronation Street and ITV, saying: “Geoff was a lovely, quiet man who will be sadly missed by us all.”His partnership with Lynne Perrie was something rather special and they gave the viewers huge pleasure for many years.” Image: Hinsliff with Lynne Perrie, who played his on-screen love interest Ivy Tilsley on the soap.…

The owner of the UK arm of the restaurant chain TGI Fridays (TGIF) has gone into administration, putting 4,500 jobs and 87 outlets at risk.Hostmore, which runs the UK franchise for TGIF, has appointed administrators and delisted its ordinary shares after struggling to find a “lasting solution” to save the business amid heavy losses and mounting debts, it said on Wednesday. The hospitality company has already tried to balance its books by deep cost-cutting, pausing its expansion programme, management changes, and selling outlets.It has put 87 of the chain’s restaurants on the market and hopes to complete a sale by…

British scientists have stored DNA information for an entire human on a crystal, which could be used to bring back humanity if we become extinct.The team from the University of Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) used lasers to inscribe the data on a 5D crystal, which they said can survive for billions of years. Unlike other storage formats, it does not degrade over time.In a statement, the university described the crystal – equivalent to fused quartz – as one of the most “chemically and thermally durable materials on Earth”.It can withstand massive forces, extreme temperatures and “exposure to cosmic radiation”.…

An actor has claimed he was the victim of “police misconduct” after allegedly being pepper sprayed in an “unlawful arrest”.Reece Richards, who appeared in the hit Netflix series Sex Education and is currently touring in Hairspray The Musical, said he was thrown to the ground during a police chase on 4 September following a performance of the stage show in Fulham, southwest London. He said the incident made it “painfully clear that racial profiling remains a significant issue”.Responding to a post and footage shared on social media, the Met Police said officers had been pursuing three men who ran from…

Nick Read is to end his torrid tenure as chief executive of the Post Office as he prepares to give evidence to the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal.Sky News has learnt that Mr Read, who took over five years ago, has decided to resign from the government-owned company. He initially stepped back temporarily from the post to focus on his evidence to the inquiry into the IT debacle that affected hundreds of sub-postmasters.In a statement confirming his departure after Sky News reported that it was imminent, Mr Read said: “It has been a great privilege to work with colleagues…

A partial lunar eclipse of a supermoon was visible across the UK and other parts of the world in the early hours of Tuesday morning.A supermoon occurs when a full moon is at its closest point to Earth during its orbit, with the Met Office saying this makes it appear 30% brighter and 14% bigger in the sky. The partial lunar eclipse – when the Earth’s shadow covers part of the moon – took place between 1.41am and 5.47am UK time.Ahead of the event, Becky Mitchell, Met Office meteorologist, said around 4% of the moon would be covered during the…

The BBC director-general has condemned Huw Edwards’ crimes as “appalling” and said the corporation is still having conversations about recovering part of his salary paid following his arrest.Tim Davie addressed the scandal following Edwards’ sentencing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Monday. Speaking at the Royal Television Society (RTS) annual convention, Mr Davie said he could not see the former presenter ever working at the BBC again “for obvious reasons”.”This man has just been convicted of appalling crimes and it’s pretty straightforward in my mind,” he said. Image: Huw Edwards was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Pic: PA Edwards…

A start-up which targets Pilates enthusiasts with digitally connected equipment has secured a £3.5m funding boost aimed at fuelling its expansion.Sky News understands that Belfast-based Reform RX has secured $5.1m in a round led by Clarendon Fund Managers, the equity fund manager for the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland. Founded in 2018, Reform RX is designed to augment users’ Pilates activity by tracking their movement to within a thousandth of a second, providing them with real-time biometric data.The company was established by Yvette McGaffin, a functional movement specialist, and Pilates expert Neal McGaffin.After running a boutique Pilates studio business, they…