Business

Image copyright Getty Images Business rates should be halved and VAT increased to 22% in a bid to save the High Street, former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King has said. This would help retailers battling with online rivals who do not face the same tax burden, he said. He told the BBC’s Today programme it was […]

Image copyright Getty Images China’s mobile operators have made 5G services available to consumers, as the country seeks to become a global technology leader. State-owned carriers China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom unveiled their 5G data plans on Thursday. It comes as Beijing and Washington have been embroiled in a power struggle over trade

Image caption Protesters outside Asda’s Leeds headquarters Many Asda supermarket workers face the sack this weekend unless they sign new contracts that include the introduction of unpaid breaks for 100,000 staff. Workers have until the end of Saturday to agree the terms, due to come into force after a 12-week consultation. Asda insists most workers

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionWhy do some tumble dryers catch fire? Whirlpool used “chilling” non-disclosure agreements “to silence customers” while fire-prone tumble dryers remained in UK homes, MPs say. The manufacturer deflected concerns and was too slow to fix the fire danger, which first emerged four years ago, the Commons business

Image copyright Getty Images A salmonella scare has sparked the recall of hummus stocked in a wide range of supermarkets. The recall is for 17 products at chains such as Aldi, Morrisons, Lidl, Asda and Sainsbury’s. It also applies to a Nando’s branded product. The products have use-by dates ranging from 31 October to 7

The Japanese have said they are the country’s greatest invention of the 20th Century – greater even than the Walkman or Tamagotchi. They are instant noodles, which were created in response to food shortages in post-war Japan and have since become a feature in people’s diets all over the world. Aaron Heslehurst tells their story.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Mark Carney is due to leave the Bank of England at the end of January The government will wait until after the general election on 12 December to name the new governor of the Bank of England. The appointed of a new bank chief to succeed Mark Carney was

Image copyright PA Media Image caption The fast food chain confirmed the adverts have now been removed from its restaurants in Portugal McDonald’s has apologised for a Halloween marketing campaign which promoted a dessert in Portugal with the words: “Sundae Bloody Sundae”. The term Bloody Sunday is used to refer to one of the worst

Image copyright EPA Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has told a rally in Battersea the Conservatives have “slashed taxes for the richest”. It’s not obvious which taxes he’s referring to and Labour has not yet given more details – but let’s look at a few possibilities. There are clearly some taxes that have been cut by

Image copyright Getty Images Troubled five-a-side football pitch operator Goals Soccer Centres is being bought by rival Soccerworld. Goals, which is part-owned by Sports Direct’s Mike Ashley, put itself up for sale in August following the emergence of an accounting scandal. In a statement, Goals said it was being acquired by Northwind 5s Ltd. The