The head of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has effectively been forced out of the role after losing the confidence of its board amid growing government pressure on economic watchdogs. Sky News understands that Abby Thomas, whose departure was announced earlier on Thursday, was at the centre of several disputes with fellow directors over issues

HSBC Holdings is to hand its new chief executive a pay package potentially worth more than £15m as part of an overhaul of its bosses' remuneration triggered by the government's scrapping of the EU bonus cap. Sky News has learnt that Europe's biggest lender, which has a market capitalisation of more than £147bn, is putting

The Bank of England has cut interest rates by another quarter percentage point, bringing down the cost of borrowing to 4.5%. And in a sign that households can expect more cuts in the months to come, two members of the Bank 's Monetary Policy Committee said they would have preferred to reduce rates even more

Let's start with the simple bit: interest rates have been cut - down by another quarter percentage point to 4.5%. But what happens next? Not long ago, the answer was quite simple: the Bank of England would carry on cutting borrowing costs, one quarter point cut every three months, until they reached, say, 3.5%. That

Let's start with the simple bit: interest rates have been cut - down by another quarter percentage point to 4.5 per cent. But what happens next? Not long ago, the answer was quite simple: the Bank of England would carry on cutting borrowing costs, one quarter point cut every three months, until they reached, say

The government's plan to meet housebuilding targets by building on the so-called grey belt is "rushed" and "not properly thought through", according to a Lords committee report. The grey belt policy is also unlikely to make any significant difference in the number of new homes that can be built, the report from the House of

Demand for electric vehicles accelerated in January, with fully battery-powered cars outperforming an overall contraction in the car market that the industry blames on declining business and consumer confidence. Battery EVs (BEVs) accounted for 21% of almost 140,000 new car registrations in January, the highest-ever share for the month and a year-on-year increase of 41.6%.

Planning rules will be ripped up to make it easier to build new nuclear reactors and create thousands of highly skilled jobs, the government has announced. The reforms are the latest in a series of proposals designed to "get Britain building" to help grow the economy, after powers for environmental quangos to delay infrastructure projects

Demand for electric vehicles accelerated in January, with fully battery-powered cars outperforming an overall contraction in the car market that the industry blames on declining business and consumer confidence. Battery EVs (BEVs) accounted for 21% of almost 140,000 new car registrations in January, the highest-ever share for the month and a year-on-year increase of 41.6%.

Ewan Venters, the former Fortnum & Mason chief, is joining the board of Paul Smith Ltd, the design company best-known for its striped fashion garments. Sky News understands that Mr Venters, who recently stepped down as the boss of global contemporary art gallery Hauser & Wirth, has agreed to become a non-executive of Paul Smith