Mark Kleinman

Mark Kleinman dominates his subject to an extent very few other British specialist journalists can claim. His scoops about the world of finance are an almost routine feature of City life, setting the agenda and always parting the curtain to allow an iconoclastic glimpse into the world of money and power. Even by his standards, however, 2023 was a vintage year. We have chosen three representative stories that helped to define the business landscape of a fractured Britain.

Story One -Manchester United owners to explore sale as Glazers seek new investment

The news that the Glazer family was preparing to put the world’s most famous football club up for sale – revealed exclusively in November 2022 by Sky News’ City Editor – reverberated across the world.

After nearly two decades of controversial ownership, the decision came after months of secret deliberations, and sparked an intensification of the demands among many Manchester United fans for the owners to depart.

Kleinman’s revelation of the plans was followed hours later by a statement confirming them to the New York Stock Exchange, sparking a frenzy of speculation about potential bidders from around the globe. His subsequent scoop in October 2023 that Sir Jim Ratcliffe was in talks to buy a substantial minority stake in the Old Trafford side revealed the probable outcome of a process which after more than 11 months had still not been concluded.

Story Two - Ministers weigh contingency plan for collapse of Thames Water

The state of Britain’s privatised water industry and its impact on the environment have quickly become a bitter political battleground with just a year to go until the next general election.

In June 2023, Kleinman revealed that ministers were drawing up secret contingency plans to nationalise the country’s biggest water company, Thames Water, amid growing doubts about its ability to stay afloat.

Kleinman’s story, which was followed up by every major national news outlet, disclosed that Thames Water’s shareholders were sceptical about the provision of new funding, forcing Whitehall to prepare for the company’s collapse. With new capital still to be injected into the company – which serves 15m customers – its future remains far from secure. Story Three - Government in advanced talks over £500m Tata Steel aid package

Few of Britain’s historic manufacturing industries provoke as much sentimentality and debate as its steelmaking sector.

The news that the government was in advanced talks to provide a £500m aid package to Tata Steel, the UK’s biggest steel producer, was revealed exclusively by Kleinman on Sky News almost a fortnight before the deal was officially announced by Whitehall and the company’s Indian owners.

The disclosure in the same story that up to 3,000 industrial jobs were also likely to disappear sparked fury, and raised fresh questions about the viability of Britain’s industrial strategy.