Author: SKYNEWS

If you’re booking a wintery weekend away, be it a city break, Christmas market town, or escape to the countryside, you may want to reconsider your go-to hotel chain.A Which? survey of more than 6,000 people has ranked the best and worst hotels with some surprising results. A pub hotel group has come top of the table and beaten the likes of Marriott and Hilton, while J D Wetherspoon replaced Premier Inn as a value for money brand deserving of Which? special recognition.”A night away should be a real treat but with hotel prices climbing, finding a hotel chain that…

Executives from some of Britain’s most valuable technology start-ups have delivered a bombshell warning to Rachel Reeves that tax-raising measures in this month’s budget could force them to cancel plans to list their companies on the London Stock Exchange.Sky News has obtained a letter sent this week by companies including Revolut, Funding Circle, OakNorth, Clearscore and Quantexa urging the chancellor not to impose an exit tax on wealthy individuals or take other decisions “which will result in reduced confidence or hesitant investment in the UK”. In total, the signatories to the letter run companies collectively valued at well over $100bn.Money…

Malaysian rapper and filmmaker Namewee has been detained in connection with the murder of a Taiwanese social media influencer.Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, surrendered to police on Wednesday and will be placed under remand for six days, his lawyer Joshua Tay said.Nurse turned model Iris Hsieh, who had more than half a million followers on Instagram and also operated an OnlyFans account, was found dead in a hotel bathtub in Kuala Lumpur on 22 October.According to local media reports, police said Wee was the last person seen with her before her death.The 31-year-old, whose real name was…

The chief executive of Ovo Energy, one of Britain’s biggest energy suppliers, is to step down in the middle of a search for investors to pump hundreds of millions of pounds into the company.Sky News has learnt that David Buttress, the former Just Eat chief who served a brief period as Boris Johnson’s cost-of-living tsar, has told colleagues that he will be leaving the company following discussions with its board. Money blog: Infamous trader bets millions on AI bubble burstingMr Buttress joined Ovo in May 2024, two months after his appointment was announced.Chris Houghton, a former Ovo chief executive under…

The cyber attack on high street department store Marks and Spencer is expected to directly cost roughly £136m.The figure is only the cost of immediate incident systems response and recovery, as well as specialist legal and professional services support. Combined with a loss in sales, as the retailer’s online systems were out of action from Easter into the summer, statutory profit before tax at the business has been nearly wiped out for the first half of the year.This profit measure dropped from £391.9m last year to £3.4m this year. Statutory profit before tax is the official profit figure reported in…

Becks, Goldenballs and now officially Sir David, football star David Beckham has received his knighthood from the King – and told Sky News he cried when he found out about the honour.After years in the running following his OBE in 2003, the former England captain and Manchester United star has now been knighted for his services to sport and charity at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. Sir David’s wife Victoria, the Spice Girl turned fashion designer and now Lady Victoria, joined him at the event – and of course, designed his suit. The couple married in 1999 and have…

Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have hinted at tax rises to come when the chancellor delivers the budget later this month.In a Downing Street speech this morning, Ms Reeves will address “speculation” that an increase in income tax will be announced during the highly-anticipated statement on 26 November. Politics Hub: Follow chancellor’s speech liveSky News political editor Beth Rigby said it was “highly unusual” for the chancellor to make such a speech, but the Treasury believes she must “try to prepare the ground and make the argument for another big tax-raising budget”.”I will make the choices necessary to deliver…

Prince William has talked about the need for more good leaders, as well as putting on a display of his less serious side, on the first day of his tour to Brazil.William, who is in the country all week for both his annual Earthshot Awards on Wednesday and COP30, the UN’s climate conference, started his trip with a penalty shootout at the iconic Maracana Stadium in Rio, before heading to Copacabana Beach to kick off his shoes and take part in a volleyball game. Image: Pics: PA On Tuesday, he will focus more heavily on his environmental work with a…

Five new arrests have been made in the investigation into the Louvre jewellery heist, the prosecutor for Paris has said.French radio station RTL reported the arrests on Thursday, following an interview with Laure Beccuau. The Paris prosecutor’s department shared the interview on social media with the caption: “Louvre Burglary: Five New Suspects Apprehended.”In the interview, Ms Beccuau said one of the five suspects was identified through DNA traces left at the crime scene, but she added that it was “too early” to comment further on the suspects’ identities.All five were arrested in coordinated raids in Paris and its surrounding areas…

Ryanair’s boss has accused the chancellor of having no idea how to grow the UK economy as the airline reported hikes to fares had delivered a 42% rise in half-year profits.Michael O’Leary told Sky’s Mornings with Ridge and Frost programme that Rachel Reeves “hasn’t the rashers how to deliver growth” while taking aim at a planned rise in air passenger duty slated for next April. He called for the hike, revealed at her first budget last October, to be reversed in her speech to the Commons on 26 November – a budget business believes could further harm private sector investment.Money…