Author: SKYNEWS

A division of Blackrock, the world’s biggest asset manager, is in talks to provide hundreds of millions of pounds of funding to a company which owns stakes in Six Nations Rugby and the women’s professional tennis tour.Sky News has learnt that HPS, the global private credit giant, is among the parties negotiating with CVC Capital Partners over the financing of its Global Sports Group (GSG) holding company. The talks, which are not exclusive, would see HPS help provide firepower for the CVC-backed vehicle to make further acquisitions to expand its portfolio.Chaired by Marc Allera, the former BT Group consumer boss,…

British astronaut Tim Peake has urged the US and China to de-escalate talk of a space race and instead return to the moon with a “spirit of collaboration”.In an interview with Sky News to mark the 10th anniversary of his launch to the International Space Station (ISS), Mr Peake said it would be “foolish” to start a new era of hazardous lunar exploration without contingency plans for rescuing astronauts from other countries in an emergency. “Space is incredibly hard, a very hostile environment,” he said.”It would be foolish to not have things like common docking systems so that we can…

Writing 26 books and a memoir in his lifetime, John le Carré is widely considered to be one of the best spy novelists of all time.His son, Simon Cornwell, told Sky News: “I think there was only one thing that was more important to him than his family and that was his writing.” Image: Rory Keenan and Mat Betteridge in The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. Pic: Johan Persson Image: Tom Hiddleston returns in season two of The Night Manager. Pic: BBC/Ink Factory/Des Willie First gaining attention in 1963 with his breakout novel, The Spy Who Came In…

Next, the high street fashion giant, is plotting a swoop on Russell & Bromley, the 145 year-old shoe retailer.Sky News has learnt that Next, which has a market capitalisation of £16.6bn, is among the parties in talks with Russell & Bromley’s advisers about a deal. City sources said this weekend that a number of other suitors were also in the frame to make an investment in the chain, although their identities were unclear.The talks come amid the peak Christmas trading period, with retail bosses hopeful that consumer confidence holds up over the coming weeks despite the stuttering economy.Russell & Bromley…

Acres of sweet, red strawberries are ripening in West Sussex this winter ready to be sold in UK supermarkets.LED lighting in vast glasshouses is enabling berries to be grown all year on a commercial scale for the first time ever. It means less reliance on fruit flown in from countries like Egypt. Image: Bartosz Pinkosz “The LED lighting is the prime reason for successful growing,” said Bartosz Pinkosz, operations director of The Summer Berry.”If it was not a sunny day, the LED lighting would create enough energy for leaves to absorb that energy, take it in and deliver the energy…

Peter Greene, the actor known for roles in Pulp Fiction and The Mask, has died aged 60.He was found dead at his New York City apartment on Friday, his manager confirmed. A cause of death has not been disclosed. Greene drew praise for the various villains and criminals he played in his acting career, which began in his 20s.”Nobody played a bad guy better than Peter,” manager Gregg Edwards told Sky News’ US sister outlet NBC News.”But he also had, you know, a gentle side that most people never saw, and a heart as big as gold.” Greene played the…

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s holding company has axed a fifth of its workforce, even as he plots a high street restaurant comeback six years after his Jamie’s Italian chain collapsed into administration.Sky News has learnt that Jamie Oliver Group – which is not connected to the newly revived restaurant business – is making 25 of its 126 staff redundant. A spokeswoman confirmed by email that “the consultation [process] is complete” and the numbers of staff affected, but refused to answer further questions, including about why the restructuring was taking place and whether the 25 employees had formally left the company.The…

Companies generate massive profits from people’s information, with experts describing user data as “the new oil”.Some of these companies are household names but many are unknown, with one analyst comparing the relationship between companies and users as “David vs Goliath”. Is there anything you can do about it, or are you resigned to having companies know all about you – and make money on it?How companies collect dataSam Jones, founder of Gener8, a company that helps users make money from their own data online, told our Money team how companies farmed data on users. “Companies collect data about people through…

Author Joanna Trollope has died aged 82, her family has said.Trollope was one of the nation’s most widely read authors, having published more than 30 novels during a career that began in the 1970s.Her novels include “Aga sagas” The Rector’s Wife, Marrying The Mistress and Daughters-in-Law.In a statement, Trollope’s daughters Antonia and Louise said: “Our beloved and inspirational mother Joanna Trollope has died peacefully at her Oxfordshire home, on December 11, aged 82.” Image: Trollope with Queen Elizabeth II in 2001. Pic: PA Her literary agent James Gill said: “It is with great sadness that we learn of the passing…

The UK economy contracted by 0.1% in October, according to official figures.The surprise fall in gross domestic product (GDP) – a measure of economic output – comes after a similar unexpected 0.1% drop in September and 0% growth in August. Economists polled by the Reuters news agency had predicted that October GDP would grow by 0.1%.The figures, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), represent more bad news for the chancellor over the state of the UK economy.Commentators had warned that consumer spending was likely to be restrained in the run-up to November’s budget, amid concerns about the impact of…