A “significant” step has been taken in establishing a national restorative justice programme for victims of the Post Office’s Horizon IT scandal.

Children of affected postmasters, as well as those directly hit by the faulty accounting software, will be part of the partially Fujitsu-funded programme, as the UK’s Restorative Justice Council acknowledged more than financial compensation was needed.

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Data from the Fujitsu-made Horizon computer program led to the wrongful prosecution of more than 700 postmasters for theft and false accounting, while many more racked up large debts, lost homes, livelihoods and reputations as they borrowed heavily to plug the incorrectly generated shortfalls in their branches.

As part of the inquiry into the scandal, its chair, Sir Wyn Williams, recommended the government, the Post Office and Fujitsu engage in a formal restorative justice plan to provide “full and fair redress

Restorative justice aims to repair harm by bringing together victims and those responsible.

Long-sought family involvement

On Thursday, the Restorative Justice Council (RJC), which runs the project, said it would expand engagement to children and families of victims.

The move marked “a significant advancement in the establishment of a national restorative justice programme for those impacted by the Post Office Horizon IT scandal”, the body said.

Relatives have long sought acknowledgement and support for the harm they suffered.

Some have told Sky News how their eating disorder escalated due to the prosecution of a parent, and they carried trauma for decades.

Calls for a family fund were made to redress the “chances that were taken from us growing up”.

What’s involved?

Online listening sessions for children of those affected and people previously unable to attend are planned in an effort to ensure all voices contribute to the restorative justice programme.

Also involved in the initiative is equipping the government (via the Department for Business and Trade), Post Office and Fujitsu “with the necessary skills and knowledge to engage in restorative dialogue with integrity”, the RJC said.

Group-based sessions with organisations involved in the scandal and a confidential safe space service for affected people to share their experiences and explore healing without the pressure of a formal process will be created.

Freelance restorative listeners are being recruited by the service for this purpose.

The formation of the scheme acknowledges the limitations of financial redress, with the RJC saying “true restoration requires truth, acknowledgement, accountability and meaningful action beyond financial compensation”.

The funding question

The restorative listening and wellbeing service is being funded by Fujitsu.

It comes amid questions as to the contribution of the Japanese multinational to redress.

Fujitsu has said it is “morally obligated” to contribute to the costs, but the extent would be determined by the outcome of the Horizon scandal public inquiry. Further inquiry reports are to be released in the coming months.

The Post Office is government-owned and so it’s taxpayers who fund victim payouts.

What next?

The RJC initiatives are pilot schemes for now.

Feedback from them is intended to shape the design of a full, long-term, national restorative justice programme, due to launch in April.

An updated report on restorative justice for Post Office victims will be published in January.

“The next phase is about translating their voices into real, restorative action – ensuring that healing, accountability and cultural change progress hand in hand,” said RJC chief executive Jim Simon.

So far, 145 individuals have been involved, with an extra 200 postmasters expected to be engaged between November and March.

“Engagement is good and continues to grow,” Mr Simon said.

The manager of the bulk of TGI Fridays’ restaurants around the world has swooped to buy its British operations in a deal which preserves all 2,000 jobs at the chain.

Sky News has learnt that Sugarloaf TGIF Management, run by former TGI Fridays chief executive Ray Blanchette, has struck a deal to take control of nearly 50 UK sites.

Industry sources said the deal was likely to be announced within days.

Money blog: Holidays blow as pound takes another battering

The transaction will see TGI Fridays’ UK arm form part of a growing international consolidation of the brand under Mr Blanchette.

The British chain, which employs just over 2,000 people and is said to have a strong booking pipeline for the crucial festive trading period, was sold just over a year ago to Calveton UK and Breal Capital, two investment firms.

The chain now operates from roughly the same number of restaurants as it did a year ago.

In a response to an enquiry from Sky News, a spokesperson for the two selling shareholders said: “After a prolonged period of due diligence we are pleased to announce the sale of TGI Friday’s UK to Sugarloaf, the manager and custodian of the worldwide brand.

“During the 12 months of our tenure we have stabilised the team and supply chains, as well as completing the first phase of repositioning the brand through a national relaunch on July 4th this year, which has seen improvements in both revenues and covers.”

The sale of the UK business comes during a tough period for the hospitality industry, which is grappling with a stagnating economy and the impact of tax rises in last year’s budget.

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is under intense pressure not to raise business taxes further when she unveils this year’s budget late next month.

Tech giants Apple and Amazon have defied industry predictions with better-than-expected financial results.

Apple’s success is largely thanks to record-breaking iPhone sales, while Amazon’s is down to cloud computing arm Amazon Web Services (AWS), in spite of last week’s outage which knocked out thousands of websites.

AWS revenue accelerated 20.2% to $33bn (almost £25bn), which CEO Andy Jassy said was a pace it hadn’t seen since 2022. AWS accounts for 60% of Amazon’s total operating income.

Cloud growth has been a key focus for the company in the face of ever-growing pressure from rivals Google and Microsoft, which also reported revenue leaps this week.

iPhone on the charge

With Donald Trump introducing punishing tariffs on India and China – the main manufacturing hubs for the iPhone – Apple’s record revenue has been even more welcome for boss Tim Cook.

The tariffs cost Apple $1.1bn (£824m) during the past quarter and are expected to cost another $1.4bn (just over £1bn) during the final three months of the year, but the new iPhone 17 range is a hit.

Consumers have been won over by a price point that didn’t stray above last year’s model, particularly in the US and Europe, leading to sales totalling $49bn (£36.1bn) during the July-September period – 6% up on last year.

Global market analyst IDC says almost 59 million iPhones were sold worldwide in the July-September quarter, putting Apple second behind Samsung at 61.4 million of their Android-powered phones.

Buoyed by the iPhone results, Apple earned $27.5bn (£21.4bn), or $1.85 per share (£1.44), nearly doubling its profit from a year ago. Revenue climbed 8% from a year ago to $102.5bn (£80bn).

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Wall Street analysts had been cautious about both companies, and their tech rivals, because of uncertainty caused by tariffs and whether investment in AI has been overplayed.

While welcoming its latest results, Amazon has issued a cautious sales outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter, citing continued Trump tariffs as a possible bump in the revenue road.

Companies, including Amazon, are introducing AI into nearly every facet of their operations in hopes of reducing costs and boosting productivity. There have been tens of thousands of job losses at US tech firms this year.

On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he did not believe the AI boom was a speculative bubble like the dot-com era, when many companies were “ideas rather than businesses”.

Today’s AI leaders “actually have earnings,” he said.