Author: SKYNEWS

Jeremy Hunt is to extend a key government lending programme for another two years following pleas from Britain’s army of small businesses.Sky News has learnt that the chancellor will announce in his budget on Wednesday that the recovery loan scheme, which was reintroduced in the summer of 2022, is to be extended until 2026. Sources said that Treasury officials had heeded calls from business groups that the expiry of the existing scheme in June would represent a cliff-edge for smaller companies in need of loan guarantees.Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, is understood to have urged the chancellor to back the…

The Spice Girls have released an anniversary video marking 30 years since their very first auditions back in 1994.The British pop group formed three decades ago, taking the nation, and charts, by storm with their music. Composed of Victoria Adams (now Beckham), Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell (now Horner), Melanie Brown (aka Mel B) and Melanie Chisholm (Mel C), the group have released a video marking the anniversary of their auditions.Set to their smash song Wannabe, the video shows old footage of the women before they were famous laughing and joking around together as they practised their dances and performances.The group…

Rolls-Royce Submarines has announced more than 200 jobs will be created with the opening of two new offices in Scotland and Wales.The firm said it is aiming to attract engineers and specialists from across the UK to work on its growing portfolio of defence nuclear projects. The satellite offices, funded by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), will be based at Glasgow Airport Business Park and in St Mellons, Cardiff.Rolls-Royce Submarines said more than 100 jobs will be created in each city to “help access the skilled talent pools in both regions”.In Glasgow, the focus is on recruiting those with a…

The O2 Academy Brixton will reopen in April with a series of tribute acts, 16 months after a deadly crush at the venue killed two people.Security guard Gaby Hutchinson, 23, and Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, were killed when fans without tickets tried to force their way into a show by Nigerian Afrobeat artist Asake on December 15, 2022. The south London venue faced permanent closure after the Metropolitan Police urged the council to remove its licence, but following a two-day hearing in September 2023, Lambeth Council voted to allow the venue to continue operating – providing it meets “77 extensive and…

Ian has the latest developments at The Daily Telegraph with Sky News’ City editor Mark Kleinman. He also speaks to David Livingstone, chief client officer at the Wall Street banking giant Citi, about the budget. And Zig Serafin, chief executive of Qualtrics talks to Ian about making businesses more productive.:: Listen and subscribe to The Ian King Business Podcast here. Source link

Shares in the troubled UK music investor Hipgnosis Songs Fund hit a record low on Monday after the value of its portfolio was cut and said it had halted investor payouts “for the foreseeable future”.The FTSE 250 firm said that a review had estimated the fair value of its catalogue, including rights to work by artists including Shakira, Ed Sheeran, Blondie and Red Hot Chili Peppers, at between £1.8bn to just over £2bn. The sums contained in the report, carried out by its lead adviser Shot Tower, were down by at least a fifth on the value Hipgnosis had reported…

Apple has been fined €1.8bn (£1.54bn) by the EU for favouring its own music streaming service rather than rivals. Apple didn’t fully inform their device users there were alternative and cheaper subscription services for more than a decade, said the EU executive, the European Commission. As a result, iPhone and iPad users paid “significantly higher prices for music streaming subscriptions”, it said.The fine has been issued due to a complaint by streaming service Spotify. It launched a five year investigation which focused on how Apple prevented app developers from telling their users about cheaper ways to pay for subscriptions without…

The Princess of Wales’s uncle is reportedly set to appear as a contestant on the new series of Celebrity Big Brother.Gary Goldsmith is reportedly set to take part in the celebrity reality show, which returns to UK television for the first time in six years tonight. The 58-year-old businessman, the younger brother of Kate’s mother, Carole, attended the wedding of his niece and Prince William at Westminster Abbey in 2011.According to The Sun newspaper, Mr Goldsmith arrived at ITV’s studios yesterday and has been put up in a London hotel ahead of the launch of the new series tonight.It comes…

The independent directors appointed to oversee the sale of The Daily Telegraph have been warned that the removal of the newspaper’s two most senior executives breached a government order – and that any subsequent transgression could result in a multimillion pound fine.Sky News has learnt that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) last week wrote to Goodwin Procter, the law firm acting for the independent board members, to say that Lucy Frazer, the culture secretary, had concluded that recent management changes at the broadsheet publisher had contravened a requirement that she must consent to the removal and appointment…

Four astronauts have blasted off to the International Space Station for a six-month stint in orbit.SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched from the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Sunday, carrying NASA’s Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin. Footage showed the rocket’s nine Merlin engines roaring into life as it ascended from the launch tower. Image: Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin and NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps (L-R). Pic: Reuters The astronauts should dock with the orbiting lab some 250 miles (420km) above Earth on Tuesday after a 16-hour flight.The crew…