Ahead of the first TV debate in the run-up to polling day on 4 July, Sir Robert Chote, chair of the UK Statistics Authority, wrote to the main political parties to warn them about “ensuring the appropriate and transparent use of statistics”. Sir Robert said: “The work of the UK …

The government was considering getting rid of Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells, the inquiry into the Horizon scandal has heard. Ms Vennells was at the top of the government-owned company for 12 years, and CEO for seven, while the faulty Horizon accounting software was in operation. The Fujitsu-made IT …

We’ve all been there. You have a bad day and you need a little pick-me-up – so you head straight to your favourite website to buy something new. That hit of dopamine you get when buying something is what many businesses rely on – and no one seems to understand …

UK rates have yet to start coming down, although speculation is mounting that the Bank of England could trim them as early as this month. UK inflation has fallen to 2.3%, a long way down from its peak of over 11% in late 2022. Last month the International Monetary Fund …

The 20 countries using the euro currency have seen interest rates cut from record highs following progress in the battle against inflation over the past two-and-a-half years. The Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB) said on Thursday it was “appropriate” to trim its main deposit rate from 4% to 3.75%. It …

Government officials considered sacking Paula Vennells as the Post Office’s chief executive in 2014 some five years before she resigned, an inquiry has heard. According to government documents revealed at the long-running inquiry into the Horizon scandal, they had concerns about whether she was the right person to lead the …

Post Office inquiry live updates: Ex-Post Office chair Alice Perkins giving evidence – BBC News BreakingBreaking news Close breaking news Summary Alice Perkins, former chair of Post Office Ltd from 2011 to 2015, is giving evidence to the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal for a second day Perkins led …

Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, will next week meet the Czech tycoon who is on the verge of becoming the first foreign owner of Royal Mail in its 500-year history. Sky News has learnt that Ms Badenoch will hold talks with Daniel Kretinsky after his investment company, EP Group, struck …

The world has a new second most valuable public company – the AI microchip maker Nvidia. Riding the artificial intelligence (AI) boom – Nvidia’s share price has risen to the extent that it’s now worth more than $3trn (£2.34trn) and overtaken Apple. Only Microsoft is a more valuable company listed …

“We have realised that younger people are increasingly choosing not to drink as much alcohol,” said Atsushi Katsuki, the chief executive officer of Asahi Group Holdings. However, Japan’s biggest brewer sees this as both a risk and an opportunity. “Our firm is quite unique because while the majority of our …

One AI project being built to try to replace the need for future animal testing is called AnimalGAN. Developed by the US Food and Drug Administration, the software aims to be able to accurately determine how rats would react to any given chemical. The AI was trained using data from …

Nvidia’s market value has surged past $3tn (£2.3tn), lifting the chipmaker ahead of Apple to become the second most valuable publicly listed company in the world. The firm’s share price rose more than 5% on Wednesday, to more than $1,224. It extended a breathtakingly rapid climb that started last year, …

A former senior executive at the Post Office was told by auditors the Horizon IT system was “a real risk”, four years before sub-postmaster prosecutions stopped. Post Office’s auditors Ernst and Young (now called EY) warned Alice Perkins, the company chair in 2011, that the accountancy software “is a real …

Manchester City – a Premier League club with deep pockets thanks to its Abu Dhabi owners – is taking the league to court. It’s over the current Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules which determine whether sponsorship deals are financially ‘fair’ and require independent valuation for such deals. The rules aim …

McDonald’s has lost the EU trademark for use of the term “Big Mac” in relation to chicken sandwiches. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) upheld a complaint against the US fast food giant from Irish rival Supermac’s. In 2017 Supermac’s attempted to revoke McDonald’s use of the term Big Mac, …

According to Ms Perkins’ note, Mr Grant had gone on to discuss cases of alleged fraud by sub-postmasters at the time, pointing out that “suspects suggest it’s a systems problem”. But again, Ms Perkins said she did not make the connection between potential problems with Horizon and what sub-postmasters were …

A director of Marks & Spencer Group (M&S) is quitting the retailer’s board after being blindsided about the poaching of its new finance chief from another company he chairs. Sky News has learnt that Andrew Fisher, a long-serving M&S non-executive director, only discovered late in the recruitment process that M&S …

The next government is being urged to do more to help drive the transition to electric vehicles as private sales of new pure battery models go into reverse. According to data covering May released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), there was a 2% dip in UK …

The cases concerns advertising technology, usually shortened to adtech, which decides which online adverts people see, as well as how much they cost to publishers. Hosting such adverts is a huge source of revenue for many websites – Ad Tech Collective Action says digital advertising spend reached $490 billion in …

Since 1992 the Premier League has been funnelling previously unimagined wealth to the elite players, coaches and clubs of English football.  For almost as long as it has existed, however, those running the league have battled to maintain the commercial and competitive balance on which its success is based. Competition …