Financial news

• Hundreds of Waitrose jobs may go as retailer plans six store closures

  08-02-2017 21:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Grocer will also remove level of management as profits continue to fallWaitrose is planning to close six stores and remove a level of management in its supermarkets, putting 600 jobs at risk.The upmarket grocer began consulting with staff at the six stores – in Hertford, Staines, Leek, Huntingdon, Cardiff Queen Street and Palmers Green in north London – on Monday ahead of planned closures later this year. The company said it hoped to replace the Palmers Green store with a new outlet
  
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• People who’ve fallen through the net won’t get a home from Sajid Javid | Simon Jenkins

  08-02-2017 21:14
  
  The secretary of state for community’s plan is ill-conceived. Public money should switch to social housing – to need, and not demandThis week’s housing white paper is nothing of the sort. It is a stew of fake news, old cliches and pretend solutions. The communities secretary, Sajid Javid, says the “housing market is broken”, parroting his predecessor, Eric Pickles, who claimed to have mended it. Javid’s policy tosses in the old saw that “Britain needs to
  
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• GSK needs no medicine despite talk of poor performance

  08-02-2017 20:49 via theguardian.com
  
  GlaxoSmithKline’s new chief inherits a business with healthy profit growth and has no need for drastic remediesIf you had reinvested your dividends along the way, you would have enjoyed a 116% return on your money by owning GlaxoSmithKline shares in the nine years since Sir Andrew Witty became chief executive. That record is much better than the FTSE 100 index’s, but poorer than AstraZeneca’s, which is one reason why the perception persists that GSK has been a laggard.In its sh
  
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• McLaren to create 200 jobs in Sheffield with new £50m plant

  08-02-2017 20:40 via theguardian.com
  
  Carmaker will use composites technology centre to build carbon-fibre chassis for future models in boost for local economyMcLaren Automotive is to open a £50m manufacturing plant in Sheffield that will create more than 200 jobs.The McLaren composites technology centre will build carbon-fibre chassis for future McLaren sports cars. Full production will begin at the site by 2020. Continue reading...
  
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• Housing crisis: the empty nester's guide to downsizing

  08-02-2017 19:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Encouraging older people to move out of large houses has been suggested as a way to free up homes for younger families. So what’s it like to sell up and go smaller?Bob Veitch and his wife Susan can see their old house from the garden of their new home in the small town of Marshfield in Gloucestershire. “We get no pangs of regret,” says Bob, even though they lived in their Edwardian farmhouse for 40 years and raised their two sons and cared for his parents there. They were, he s
  
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• Greece in focus as investors fear fresh crisis –as it happened

  08-02-2017 19:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Markets fear Greece is on course for another debt crisis following rift between its European lenders and the International Monetary FundGreece’s debt costs rise sharply following IMF riftTed Malloch: Greece will ask to leave the eurozoneUK workers should expect smaller pay rises, BoE agents warnBrexit debate: MPs prepare to voteEuropean markets dip; FTSE 250 hits new high 6.02pm GMTThe FTSE 250 may have edged up to a new closing high, but there was little else to get investors excited duri
  
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• Savers warned: Here are the 10 big ISA mistakes to AVOID ahead of deadline

  08-02-2017 18:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  TIME is running out for savers to use their annual tax-free savings limit and boost cash or investment returns.
  
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• Brexit and Donald Trump WILL hit Berlin's economy, warns German business group

  08-02-2017 18:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  GERMANY'S capital Berlin is set to see a significant slowdown in economic growth, thanks to Britain's exit from the European Union and the election of Donald Trump, according to a national business group.
  
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• Samsung factory fire caused by faulty batteries

  08-02-2017 17:31 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Minor’ fire at Galaxy Note 7 battery supplier’s Tianjin plant saw 110 firefighters and 19 trucks sent to put out blaze, according to emergency servicesA fire that drew out 110 firefighters and 19 trucks to a factory operated by Samsung Galaxy Note 7 battery supplier, Samsung SDI, was caused by discarded faulty batteries, the company has said.A “minor fire” broke out Wednesday in a Samsung SDI plant in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin and had to be extinguished,
  
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• EURO IN TURMOIL: Single currency sinks amid Frexit and Greek debt crisis fears

  08-02-2017 16:24 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE pound has jumped against the euro amid mounting fears over a toxic cocktail of political risks that threaten the future of the European Union .
  
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• Trump envoy says Greece is now more likely to leave the euro

  08-02-2017 16:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Ted Malloch, proposed US ambassador to the EU, casts doubt on survival of eurozone and says Athens should return to drachmaDonald Trump’s administration has put itself on a fresh collision course with the European Union after the president’s candidate to be ambassador in Brussels said Greece should leave the euro and predicted the single currency would not survive more than 18 months in its present form.Days after being accused of “outrageous malevolence” towards the EU f
  
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• Candy brothers accused of blackmail and extortion in high court

  08-02-2017 15:34
  
  Billionaire property developers behind One Hyde Park reject £132m claim by former friend and business partner Mark HolyoakeThe billionaire Candy brothers have faced accusations of blackmail, extortion and intimidation in the high court, as former business partners and once close advisers prepared to give evidence against them in a £132m claim for damages.The case, which has reached trial after a year of legal wrangling, is being brought by the entrepreneur Mark Holyoake, whose reputa
  
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• GREEK DEBT CRISIS: Eurozone blasts back at IMF’s furious criticism of Greek bailout

  08-02-2017 15:13 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE Eurogroup president has hit out at the International Monetary Fund , as relations continue to sour over Greece's bailout programme, sparking concerns of a fresh debt crisis.
  
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• UK supreme court backs woman's right to receive late partner's pension

  08-02-2017 15:07
  
  Ruling marks significant extension of unmarried cohabitees’ rights and could affect millions of familiesA Northern Ireland woman who was refused payments from her former partner’s pension has won her battle to extend benefits automatically to those who are unmarried.Denise Brewster, from Coleraine, had been living with Lenny McMullan for 10 years. They were engaged on Christmas Eve 2009 but he died suddenly in the early hours of Boxing Day morning. Continue reading...
  
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• No big pay rises for Britons despite inflation, says Bank of England

  08-02-2017 13:55
  
  Bank forecasts that UK pay growth is likely to slow despite hopes being raised as economy shrugs off effects of Brexit voteHopes of bumper pay rises as the economy shrugs off the effect of the Brexit vote appear to be dashed by a Bank of England survey that predicts a decline in wages growth this year.A report by the central bank’s regional agents found that far from strengthening in response to higher inflation, average pay settlements will decline from 2.7% to 2.2% this year. Continue re
  
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• Britain's FTSE 250 hits RECORD HIGH as investors seek safety from Europe turmoil

  08-02-2017 12:54 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  BRITAIN'S domestically focused stock index has surged to its highest ever level, as investors rush to stash money in UK companies amid growing fears for the future of the eurozone.
  
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• Cod in a cold climate – in pictures

  08-02-2017 12:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Fish is Norway’s most valuable export, more so than its vast oil fields. Two-thirds of UK cod comes from the Barents Sea. As the climate changes and the sea grows warmer the fish move north, and so, too, do the fishermen Continue reading...
  
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• It's time corporate tax dodgers started losing lucrative council contracts | Paul Monaghan

  08-02-2017 12:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Local government contracts worth £50bn should go to companies paying the right amount of tax in the right place at the right time In a significant step forward for tax justice, the UK government has said all councils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland must interrogate potential suppliers on any history of tax evasion and avoidance dating back to October 2012.At stake is £50bn of annual local government procurement, money used to pay for everything from electricity to building con
  
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• UK financial watchdog rejects shake up of open-ended funds - Reuters

  08-02-2017 12:02
  
  UK financial watchdog rejects shake up of open-ended funds
  Reuters
  LONDON Feb 8 Britain's financial watchdog has decided against a shake-up of the open-ended funds industry, saying changes such as a ban on holding illiquid assets would increase costs and do little to improve protection of consumers. The Financial ...en meer »
  
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• Obsession with ending poverty is where development is going wrong | Efosa Ojomo

  08-02-2017 11:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Almost all development projects focus on alleviating poverty rather than creating prosperity. This is a fundamental flawHow can we alleviate extreme poverty? It’s the question that underpins the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs), and almost all development projects. Because poverty almost always shows itself as a lack of resources in poor communities – food, safe water, sanitation, education, healthcare – it’s reasonable to theorise that poverty is a resource proble
  
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• Banks charging up to £180 fees on £100 borrowing, Which? finds

  08-02-2017 10:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  BORROWERS needing as little as £100 could be charged up to £156 more by their bank than it would cost at a payday lender, Which? has found.
  
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• Spinal Tap creators aim to 'go to 11' with $400m lawsuit

  08-02-2017 10:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Harry Shearer joined by fellow band members and director Rob Reiner in claim Vivendi has not fully shared profitsThe band members from cult rock mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap have agreed to reunite in a move they claim will ensure a $400m (£321m) lawsuit against media firm Vivendi “goes to 11”.Three of the film’s co-creators and stars have agreed to get back together to join co-star Harry Shearer in a suit against the French firm, the parent company of Universal Music.
  
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• Introduction of 30 hours free childcare could mean shortage of places

  08-02-2017 09:25
  
  More than half of councils in England are unsure if there will be enough places when change is introduced in SeptemberOnly a third of local authorities in England expect there to be enough childcare places when changes to the system are introduced later this year.Plans to double the free hours available to pre-schoolers are due to be introduced in September but more than half of councils are unsure if they will have enough childcare available.Continue reading...
  
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• Lloyds must compensate the victims of the £245m HBOS scam – fast | Nils Pratley

  08-02-2017 08:51 via theguardian.com
  
  The banking group’s initial reaction to the loan scandal seemed half-hearted – it now has the chance to put that rightLloyds Banking Group has done what it should have done last week. It has said it will appoint an independent outsider to consider compensation payments to those small businesses who were victims of the fraudulent activities of Lynden Scourfield, the disgraced former head of HBOS’s impaired loans operation in Reading.From the moment last Thursday when Scourfield
  
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• ‘A horrendous notion’: small firms object to tourist tax proposals

  08-02-2017 08:15
  
  As Bath, Edinburgh and London consider a tourist tax, we talk to independent accommodation ventures about the idea“Cheap headline-grabbing and noise-making by local authorities.” That’s how one vexed owner of a 29-bedroom hotel in Bath described the Bath and North East Somerset council’s proposals to introduce a tourist tax in the area.Laurence Beere, co-owner of the Queensberry Hotel wasn’t the only hotelier frustrated by the potential tax. In Bath, 20 local operat
  
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• Lack of transparency over green energy subsidies 'shambolic', say MPs

  08-02-2017 08:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Government criticised for failing to keep consumers updated as overspend on renewables is forecast to push up bills MPs have criticised ministers for their “shambolic” failure to regularly spell out the impact of government green policies on household energy bills.The Commons public accounts committee said the government had missed its commitment to publishing annual reports on how consumer bills were affected by subsidies to support solar and wind power.Continue reading...
  
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• Nationwide blocked my cards when I tried to buy European train tickets

  08-02-2017 08:00
  
  Its fraud detection systems got on the wrong track when I tried to book online with Austrian Railways and Deutsche BahnYour recent story about a reader whose Nationwide account was blocked is the tip of the iceberg. A month ago, I tried to book rail tickets on the Austrian Railways website. The transaction failed and Nationwide blocked my debit card. I tried with my other Nationwide card but it blocked that, too, blaming “suspected fraudulent activity”.Continue reading...
  
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• Homes near airports – in pictures

  08-02-2017 08:00
  
  From Derbyshire to Essex via Alicante and Dalaman, these properties will let you make a quick getaway Continue reading...
  
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• Turnbull calls Australia Post chairman over CEO's pay – video

  08-02-2017 01:56 via theguardian.com
  
  The prime minister has called the chairman of Australia Post after it was revealed its chief executive, Ahmed Fahour, took home $5.6m in salary and bonus in 2016. Turnbull told reporters, ‘I think that renumeration is too high.’ Continue reading...
  
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• City News: New Look, Lloyds, BP, and Bellway

  08-02-2017 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  NEW Look blamed fewer shoppers and fierce price competition as quarterly profits plunged by more than a third.
  
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• L’Oreal to sell The Body Shop for £852m 10 years after buying it

  08-02-2017 01:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  L'OREAL is mulling €1 billion sale of The Body Shop more than 10 years after snapping up the ethical skincare brand, according to reports.
  
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• Brexit will cost UK 30,000 finance jobs, says Brussels thinktank

  08-02-2017 00:01 via theguardian.com
  
  City’s EU rivals must harmonise approach to regulation to avoid banking risk, argues European commission-linked BruegelThe UK could lose 30,000 finance sector jobs as a result of Brexit, but EU rivals need to act to avoid importing banking risk to the continent, according to an influential thinktank with close ties to the European commission.The City of London stands to lose 10,000 banking jobs and 20,000 roles in accountancy, law and consulting, as EU clients move business worth €1.8
  
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