Software firm belonging to Tory donor Frank Hester pays out £50m dividend

Sales and profits surge at TPP Group, whose software is said to be used by 7,800 NHS organisations

Pub chain shares rise on reports of government U-turn over business rates – as it happened

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

Tesco aiming for bumper 2026 after best Christmas market share in decade

Chain reports strong sales but shares drop 5% after analysts say third quarter performance was behind expectations

CMA begins full review of Kingsmill owner’s planned takeover of bread rival Hovis

Move by UK competition regulator comes as Associated British Foods, which owns Primark, issues profit warning

Revealed: the crypto entrepreneur linked to illegal weight-loss drug operation

Haul of illicit products led by medicines regulator was described as world’s largest of its kind, but no arrests have yet been made

‘Brilliant for work-life balance’: how Britain is embracing the ‘workation’

Research finds growing trend of employers letting employees work remotely to free up more holiday time

Greggs puts up price of sausage roll by 5p to £1.35 amid rising costs

Bakery chain also adds 10p to a latte, bringing it to £2.25, as CEO warns of ‘a tough, challenging market’

Trump plans to use Venezuela’s huge crude reserves ‘to cut US oil price to $50 a barrel’

President reportedly hopes falling price will cut domestic consumer energy bills

Musk lawsuit over OpenAI for-profit conversion can go to trial, US judge says

Judge says there is plenty of evidence to suggest OpenAI’s leaders made assurances nonprofit structure would be kept

Here’s why Labour is struggling to deliver: the British state is immense, but pull the levers and nothing happens

At home, the machinery of government creaks badly – abroad, a leaden UK lags far behind dynamic competitors. A radical overhaul is needed, says Guardian columnist Larry Elliott

Tunbridge Wells residents without water again as supplier blames cold weather

South East Water says 6,500 households have no water due to burst mains, a month after drinking water outage

M&S Christmas food sales soar but clothing suffers from cyber-attack fallout

Poor festive fashion sales deepen fears of squeeze on UK household budgets and falling high street footfall

Supermarkets could help UK shoppers eat more sustainable local fish – study

Shift from ‘big 5’ imports to British fish such as sprats and sardines would help diets and the planet, say researchers

Dog food accounts for 1% of UK greenhouse gas emissions, study finds

Study of 1,000 products finds wet, raw and meat-rich products have higher climate impact than dry kibble

Cable news networks scramble to cover fatal Minnesota ICE shooting – with both caution and commentary

Networks brought on former federal and police officials, with varying reactions and responses to Minneapolis killing