Jacob Rees-Mogg has unveiled a new package of support that will slash businesses’ energy bills in half.
The Business Secretary confirmed that the Government will cap how much companies can be charged for energy amid concerns that thousands could collapse without further help.
The move caps bills at £211 per MWh for electricity and £75 per MWh for gas – less than half the expected cost this winter – and removes green levies.
The measures, which will be applied directly to bills, will begin in October and last for six months.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said that schools, charities, hospitals and other non-domestic organisations will be covered by the policy alongside businesses.
A parallel scheme will be established in Northern Ireland, while the Government said it will provide equivalent support to non-domestic consumers who use heating oil or alternative fuels instead of gas.
It comes two weeks after the Government stepped in to cap household energy bills at £2,500 per year for two years from October.
The Business Secretary said the new policy would give companies the equivalent level of support to households.
Sign up to the Front Page newsletter for free: Your essential guide to the day's agenda from The Telegraph - direct to your inbox seven days a week.
US futures are treading water as investors brace for a hefty interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve for a third straight meeting.
The central bank is expected to raise rates by 75 basis points this evening, and traders will have a close eye on a press conference from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Futures tracking the S&P 500 and Dow Jones were flat, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.1pc.
City Hall will lend Transport for London up to £500m to help shore up its budget and avoid service cuts.
Mayor Sadiq Khan has established a finance facility to ensure the transport group's budget will be balanced until 2024.
City Hall said the funding gave TfL time for its revenue to recover, adding that a recent Government agreement left the organisation with a £230m funding gap that may not be able to met with efficiency savings.
In a statement Sadiq Khan said:
The recent funding agreement for TfL came after some extremely tough and protracted negotiations. Although TfL and I were able to secure a number of key concessions, the Government still left TfL with a significant funding gap.
City Hall’s innovative yet prudent approach to ensuring TfL can balance its books, will help TfL to adapt to the negative impacts of the pandemic without the need for significant service cuts, protecting London’s transport network for the millions of Londoners and visitors who rely on it every day.
Sir Martin Sorrell's S4 Capital has reported ballooning operating losses as it spends more on hiring to fuel its rapid growth.
The digital advertising firm's losses more than quadrupled in the first half to £75.4m.
Sir Martin vowed to cut spending and said the company would focus on growing its existing businesses rather than pursuing more acquisitions.
He said: "Combinations remain a key part of our growth strategy, however, for the time being we are focused on organic growth and maximising value from our existing businesses, where momentum remains strong."
S4's revenue jumped 60pc to £446.4m and it reaffirmed its full-year net revenue growth target of 25pc. Shares jumped 10pc.
Liz Truss is said to have tapped a former EDF executive to lead Downing Street's business relations strategy as she looks to win over the City.
Michael Stott, who has also worked as a Conservative Party press officer, has been recruited by the new Prime Minister as the head of business liaison in No 10, Sky News reports.
Mr Stott will replace Alex Hickman, who held the role under Boris Johnson.
The appointment highlights Ms Truss's efforts to position her administration as pro-business as she paves the way for tax cuts at the mini Budget later this week.
The Russian stock market tumbled on Wednesday after Vladimir Putin ordered his country’s first mobilisation since the Second World War and warned the West he was prepared to use nuclear weapons.
Matt Oliver has more on the market reaction:
Mr Putin’s bellicose warning sent the Moscow Stock Exchange’s MOEX index plunging by as much as 10pc, marking the second day in a row of big losses.
The MOEX had already fallen by 9pc on Tuesday following the president’s threat to annex parts of Ukrainian territory currently held by his country’s troops, using what have been denounced as “sham” referendums.
The escalation sent shockwaves through gas markets as well, with the European benchmark price jumping 8pc higher to about €210 per megawatt hour.
Sterling and the euro weakened as investors took flight to the dollar. The US currency hit a 20-year high against a basket of six other major currencies on Wednesday morning.
Read Matt's full story here
More than 2,000 bus drivers in London are plotting an all-out strike next month, threatening widespread disruption across the capital.
Members of the Unite union working at Arriva's north London division will begin the walk-out on October 4. The strike will run continuously until the dispute is resolved.
The dispute affects drivers operating from a total of eight depots: Ash Grove, Barking, Clapton, Edmonton, Enfield, Palmers Green, Tottenham and Wood Green. The strike will affect routes throughout north London.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said:
Our members at Arriva have generated huge profits for the company for decades. Arriva can afford to offer a pay increase that meets the real rate of inflation, but it has put profits before people and declined to do so.
Unite will leave no stone unturned in the support given to our members during this dispute.
Jonathan Geldart, director general of the Institute of Directors, says the Government's intervention provides "much needed short-term reassurance" for companies.
We particularly welcome the decision to include all contracts signed since April 1 2022 within the scope of the new arrangements, and also the commitment to work with suppliers to ensure all businesses currently on variable contracts have the option of a fixing rate deal that benefits from the government support price.
Currently around one in 4 firms are on variable arrangements so it is important they are now given maximum certainty to help them plan.
We look forward to working with the government in the coming months to ensure that any further relief is carefully targeted at those industries and sectors whose survival is most threatened by current economic conditions.
Ultimately, however, business and government will need to work hand in hand to develop domestic energy sources and reduce consumption and dependency on expensive fossil fuels.
Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg was spotted filming on the streets of Westminster this morning.
He's just posted the video, which details the new energy bills support for businesses.
Businesses are the beating heart of the British economy.
Today we are announcing support for businesses, charities and public bodies, which will reduce the burden of rising energy bills, protect jobs and promote growth.https://t.co/qqqKFE4qbR pic.twitter.com/YEZxYaGIn5
Neil Woodford's fund administrator is facing an additional £50m fine over the collapse of the star stockpicker's flagship fund.
The Financial Conduct Authority has issued a draft notice to Link Fund Solutions warning of the penalty. It comes two days after the City watchdog said Link could face a redress payment of up to £306m.
Link was the fund administrator on the LF Woodford Equity Income fund, which started to be liquidated nearly three years ago.
Mr Woodford froze the vehicle in mid-2019 because he couldn’t meet clients’ withdrawal requests, trapping £3.7bn of investor funds.
Link said in a statement: “Link Group has not made any commitment to fund or financially support LFSL. Link Group considers that any liabilities relating to the Woodford matters will be confined to LFSL.”
Sainsbury's is in discussions with a real estate investment trust over a sale and leaseback deal for its supermarkets worth around £500m.
The agreement, which includes 18 stores in the south of England, would see LXi REIT purchase the sites and rent them back to the company.
The move would help Sainsbury's to bolster its balance sheet as surging inflation threatens grocers' profit margins. The chain is already investing more than £500m over two years to keep prices lower.
Russian stocks have crashed to their lowest since the start of the invasion of Ukraine after Putin declared a partial mobilisation and said he wasn't bluffing over the use of nuclear weapons.
The benchmark Moex index tumbled as much as 9.6pc to the lowest since February 24, before paring losses to 4.2pc.
Oil giants Gazprom and Lukoil and lender Sberbank led the losses.
Investors are fleeing Russian stocks after Putin's televised address stoked concerns about an escalation in the conflict.
The rouble was also 2.6pc weaker against the dollar at 62.18 to the dollar, having dipped to its lowest since early July.
The FTSE 100 has extended its gains after the Government confirmed it will slash businesses' energy bills in half.
Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg unveiled details of the six-month scheme, which will be applied directly to companies' bills and come into effect in October.
The blue-chip index pushed 0.6pc higher.
Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK, says the support package will give businesses reassurance.
Industry will warmly welcome the timely announcement of an energy price cap for an initial six months for all business users.
Government has delivered a scheme which is simple to understand, giving reassurance to the business sector and making immediately available the much needed help companies have been calling for across the board at a time energy costs were spiralling out of control.
It does appear likely that prices will remain high for many months to come and industry is likely to need support for a longer period if we are to protect jobs and remain competitive, so the further announcement of a review on future support at the three month stage is reassuring.
We will monitor the impact of the cap closely, and will engage with the review mechanism later in the year to ensure that these priorities are recognised and understood.
We recognise that all parties have moved at pace and a long way. However, manufacturing businesses are under huge pressure already many are struggling to stay afloat. We hope that this support can be made tangible as quickly as possible and not applied retrospectively at the end of the next quarter.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, says further help is needed from the Chancellor in Friday's mini Budget.
We welcome this very significant and critical intervention by the Government. It will be a lifeline for many pubs and brewers this winter.
It is crucial that business owners can easily understand what discount they will be receiving so they can effectively plan ahead, and the requirement for security deposits to enter new contracts must be removed as a barrier to fair supply.
Whilst this announcement has helped businesses to breathe an initial sigh of relief as they head into this critical period, more support is needed to tackle the cost of doing business and we need a plan beyond the next six months.
Our industry is one of only a few that supports jobs and livelihoods in every single part of the UK, and we have the potential to deliver growth in every single community we serve.
On Friday, the Chancellor must take steps to address the cost of doing business, by reducing the tax burden on our sector, allowing pubs and brewers the chance to not only survive this winter, but remain at the heart of local economies and their communities for many years to come.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, welcomes the energy support for businesses.
This intervention is unprecedented and it is extremely welcome that Government has listened to hospitality businesses facing an uncertain winter.
We particularly welcome its inclusiveness – from the smallest companies to the largest - all of which combine to provide a huge number of jobs, which are now much more secure.
The Government has recognised the vulnerability of hospitality as a sector, and we will continue to work with the Government, to ensure that there is no cliff edge when these measures fall away.
Prime Minister Liz Truss says:
I understand the huge pressure businesses, charities and public sector organisations are facing with their energy bills, which is why we are taking immediate action to support them over the winter and protect jobs and livelihoods.
As we are doing for consumers, our new scheme will keep their energy bills down from October, providing certainty and peace of mind.
At the same time, we are boosting Britain’s homegrown energy supply so we fix the root cause of the issues we are facing and ensure greater energy security for us all.
The new Energy Bill Relief Scheme will cut energy prices for businesses, charities and public-sector organisations such as schools and hospitals.
The scheme will run for 6 months covering energy used from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023.
Sterling dropped to a fresh 37-year low this morning as the currency continues to take a battering.
Russia's announcement of a partial mobilisation of troops in Ukraine fuelled demand for the safe-haven dollar, while data showing a rise in UK Government borrowing also weighed on the pound.
Investors are also piling into the dollar ahead of an expected rise in interest rates by the Federal Reserve this evening.
The pound fell as much as 0.7pc against the dollar to $1.1305, its lowest since 1985, before paring losses slightly. Against the euro it was up 0.3pc to 87.32p.
West Ham United’s main sponsor Betway has been fined more than £400,000 for advertising on children’s pages of the Premier League football team’s websites, the Gambling Commission has announced.
The regulator said that for nearly a year and a half from April 2020, the Betway logo appeared on a web page offering users the opportunity to print out a teddy bear for children to colour in.
And for more than a year from October 2020, the Betway logo also featured on the “Young Hammers at Home” website.
Betway has a slew of sponsorship deals with sports clubs around the world as varied as the Chicago Bulls basketball team, South African rugby and West Indies’ cricket side.
The London-headquartered company’s website lays claim to have “operations [that] meet or exceed the highest industry standards”.
A spokesman for Betway said: "On this occasion, the Betway logo – owing to a technical error – appeared on a restricted section of the West Ham United website. As soon as we were made aware of this error, we took immediate action to get it removed.
"Nonetheless, we accept the fine and will continue to work closely with the club to ensure this does not happen again."
It’s not just gas prices that are on the rise this morning – oil has pushed higher too.
Benchmark Brent crude gained 2.6pc to just under $93 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was trading above $86.
It comes after Putin confirmed he ordered a partial mobilisation of troops in Ukraine and vowed to annex occupied territories.
The escalation has fuelled concerns of further disruption to energy supplies.
Here's some more on that Aveva takeover deal...
The software group has been snapped up by Schneider Electric in a deal that values it at just under £9.5bn.
Schneider will buy out minority shareholders for £31 per share. The French company, which already holds 59pc of Aveva, will pay about £3.9bn for the remaining equity.
The deal for Cambridge-based Aveva, which has more than 6,400 employees, is expected to complete in the first three months of 2023.
The acquisition will help to strengthen Schneider’s foothold in the UK, where it already has around 4,000 staff.
The FTSE 100 has turned positive in early trading as investors look ahead to more details about energy bills support for businesses.
The blue-chip index rose 0.3pc, reversing its early losses.
Markets are waiting for details of how the Government will help companies cope with surging energy bills.
Housebuilders including Persimmon, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey were among the biggest risers following a report that Liz Truss will cut stamp duty in this week’s budget.
Aveva was up 2.2pc after Schneider Electric confirmed a £9.5bn takeover deal, while BAE Systems jumped 4.7pc as Putin’s escalation of Russia’s investigation of Ukraine bolstered defence stocks.
The domestically-focused FTSE 250 rose 0.2pc, with housebuilders Bellway and Redrow the top gainers. Games Workshop slumped 8.6pc following a downbeat trading update.
JD Sports will hand at least £5.5m to former boss Peter Cowgill as part of an exit deal after he was ousted amid concerns about his corporate governance.
Mr Cowgill was pushed out in May following a series of issues, including a clandestine meeting in a car park with the boss of rival Footasylum.
He will be paid £3.5m over two years in the first part of the deal and £2m over three years for the second. He is also receiving his salary, benefit and bonus up to his departure in May.
The company said it would honour his contractual notice period of 12 months.
The agreement also means Mr Cowgill cannot work or advise any competitors to the high street sports chain and cannot solicit any of its employees.
He will also be kept on as a consultant to support chairman Andy Higginson and chief executive Regis Schultz.
Billionaire tycoon Xavier Niel has taken a 2.5pc stake in Vodafone, becoming the second French mogul to swoop on a British telecoms firm.
The entrepreneur bought the stake through his Atlas Investissement vehice, saying it saw “opportunities to accelerate both the streamlining of Vodafone’s footprint and the separation of its infrastructure assets”.
It added that it supported Vodafone's intention to merge with rivals such as those in the UK and Italy and separate out its infrastructure assets like towers and fibre.
Shares in the FTSE 100 company rose 1.4pc.
It comes after fellow French tycoon Patrick Drahi took an 18pc stake in BT last year, fuelling speculation of a possible takeover bid.
Natural gas prices jumped in early trading as Putin stepped up his war in Ukraine.
The Russian leader warned the West he is "not bluffing" over nuclear weapons as he announced a partial military mobilisation, which will see 300,000 reservists called up to the army.
Russia will also move to annex the territories its forces have already occupied.
Benchmark European gas jumped as much as 6.6pc as Putin raised the stakes in the war, stoking fears to further disruption to supplies.
The escalation offset Germany's move to nationalise ailing energy giant Uniper in a move designed to protect its energy system from collapse.
The FTSE 100 has lost ground at the opening bell as markets await more details about energy support for businesses.
The blue-chip index fell 0.3pc to 7,173 points.
Government borrowing climbed to £58.2bn in the first five months of the financial year – a sum that's set to surge further as Liz Truss prepares to unveil tax cuts and energy bills support.
Inflation is already taking its toll on the public finances, with debt costs surging to £8.2bn. That's the highest for any August on record.
Borrowing for the month was £11.8bn. This was ahead of forecasts but downward revisions to previous months meant the deficit for the year so far was in line with OBR forecasts.
The numbers will fuel criticism that Ms Truss is putting the public finances at risk and stoking inflation.
The Prime Minister has promised more than £30bn of tax giveaways in a bid to boost growth, and earlier this month pledged further support for household energy bills. More support for businesses is coming this morning.
Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks was £11.8 billion in August 2022.
This was £2.6 billion less than in August 2021 but £6.5 billion more than in pre-COVID August 2019, when it was £5.3 billion https://t.co/42s1SHr9Lq pic.twitter.com/jPtHGoZglI
Liz Truss's economic plan has been given short shrift by one former Bank of England policy maker.
Danny Blanchflower, now a Dartmouth College economic professor, has taken aim at the Prime Minister's "disastrous" economic policies, which he said were in "total disarray".
He also expanded on his concerns about the outlook for the UK economy, which is expected to tip into recession later this year. He suggested investors should short the pound.
Liz Truss will cut stamp duty on home purchases in an effort to stimulate economic growth, the Times reports this morning.
The Prime Minister and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will announce the measure on Friday as part of the emergency Budget.
Ms Truss reportedly believed that the tax cut will encourage growth by allowing more people to move and enabling first-time buyers to get on the property ladder.
Whitehall sources told the newspaper that the policy was the "rabbit" in the mini Budget.
All eyes are on the Business Secretary this morning for more details about a multi-billion-pound support package to help companies cope with soaring energy bills.
Jacob Rees-Mogg is expected to unveil a package that will slash businesses's energy costs in half amid concerns the crisis could spark a wave of collapses.
Electricity bills are expected to be slashed in half, while gas bills will be cut by a quarter. The measures will last for six months.
It comes after ministers intervened to cap households energy bills at £2,500 per year for two years from October.
1) Sir Richard Branson-backed bid to launch rocket from Cornwall pushed back again Virgin Orbit is planning over a dozen rocket launches from Cornwall in the next decade
2) Chocolate scratch-n-sniff cards on the menu at National Lottery Czech-owned gambling business aims to dramatically increase number of scratch card purchases
3) British millionaire numbers surge above France and Germany Recovery in UK markets boosts ranks of the wealthy, finds Credit Suisse
4) Jacob Rees-Mogg faces High Court showdown with 11 striking unions Trade unions launch judicial review over plans to replace striking workers
5) New Transport Secretary to meet union bosses in olive branch after months of rail strikes Dialogue with unions comes after a new wave of strikes announced for October
Hong Kong stocks dropped at the start of trade this morning, reversing the previous day's gains as investors geared up for an expected Federal Reserve interest rate hike.
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.768pc. The Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.5pc, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China's second exchange lost 0.7pc.
Tokyo stocks opened lower, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 index down 1pc, while the broader Topix index plummeted 0.8pc.