Financial news

• Baby boomers don’t deserve to be punished | Letters

  19-02-2017 19:31 via theguardian.com
  
  I was incensed when I read Phillip Inman’s article Baby boomers, pay your dues (14 February). I am shocked at the bad feeling and bad publicity towards pensioners in the media. I was born in 1944 and cannot remember a time, as now, so hopeless for the workers of this country. When I started work there were always plenty of vacancies. In those days, outsourcing jobs to other countries and employing people on zero-hours contracts was unheard of.Employees were valued and treated well. Most fi
  
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• Results will reveal the good, the bad and the ugly of UK banks

  19-02-2017 16:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Boardroom pay, litigation and losses to come under spotlight as Britain’s top lenders post financial results this weekBritain’s major banks will be in the spotlight this week as they unveil their full year figures, with Royal Bank of Scotland forecast to make losses of more than £6bn and HSBC expected to face questions about a boardroom overhaul.
  The controversy over bankers’ pay is likely to be reignited as they disclose the size of their bonus pools and how much their b
  
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• Pound set to bounce BACK: 'Worst is behind us' as economy’s resilience WOWS markets

  19-02-2017 14:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE pound could be set for a major bounce back against the dollar in the coming weeks, as the worst of the economy news has likely already happened, according to a currency expert.
  
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• Waste expert to deal with contamination threats in Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup

  19-02-2017 13:53 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  WASTE water treatment expert Siltbuster, whose technology prevented pollution in the Mediterranean after the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster, has been drafted in to deal with contamination threats to World Cup construction sites in Qatar.
  
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• British Gas price freeze is unlikely to impress customers

  19-02-2017 13:38
  
  The energy firm’s gained notoriety over incorrect bills, excessive profits and high tariffs. A price pledge won’t deflect criticismEnergy companies are hardly popular at the best of times, but British Gas must have hoped for some praise when it said it was freezing energy prices until August, a timely announcement made on the same day Scottish Power unveiled a 7.8% increase.However, the move – which is being funded by cost cutting – could prove to be a temporary respite f
  
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• Cobbling together: the Brooklynites who gather to make handcrafted shoes

  19-02-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Former corporate fashion designers get ‘close to the product’ at Brooklyn Shoe Space, a shoemaking collective focused on sharing the ‘addicting’ tradeIt turns out that there are a lot of heels in the shoe business. “You would be surprised how much [shoe design] in the corporate world is just copied! I was a little nobody and I wanted to say this isn’t right to the director of Topshop,” Elizabeth Dunn, a bespoke shoemaker and London transplant, tells me,
  
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• Tackle your debts while interest rates are at lowest

  19-02-2017 12:59 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  DEBT IS a four-letter word, one that is proving to be a blight on people’s lives, particularly as they grow older.
  
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• Business news: Asda, L Brands, Siltbuster and Kraft Heinz

  19-02-2017 12:58 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  ASDA's slump gathered pace last year with its grocery sales down 4.5 per cent, compared to the 2.8 per cent decline it saw in 2015, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel.
  
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• £3.9 bn loss but Royal Bank of Scotland near to ‘normal’

  19-02-2017 12:38 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  ROYAL Bank of Scotland is close to becoming a “normal” bank, chief executive Ross McEwan is expected to say at its results on Friday, despite its ninth consecutive annual loss.
  
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• Euro set to CRUMBLE amid political election chaos as banks UNDERESTIMATE populist uprising

  19-02-2017 12:32 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE euro could soon crack under the pressure of political mayhem in the eurozone as banks are failing to accept populist parties will win upcoming elections, according to leading forecasts.
  
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• Price freeze unlikely to ease heat on Centrica

  19-02-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Tariff pledge is good news for customers – but won’t deflect all the flak over the energy firm’s excessive profits this weekEnergy companies are hardly popular at the best of times, but British Gas must have hoped for some praise when it said it was freezing energy prices until August, a timely announcement made on the same day Scottish Power unveiled a 7.8% increase.However, the move - which is being funded by cost cutting - could prove to be a temporary respite for consumers,
  
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• Camden comedy as council doesn’t let me read my meter

  19-02-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Local authority keeps our meter cupboard locked and says electricity firms need to pay for keys – meanwhile, residents and caretakers are not allowed accessI live in a Camden council block of flats but have been unable to read my electricity meter for seven years and therefore have no idea whether my bills are accurate or not. There is a cupboard that contains all the flats’ meters but it is locked, and Camden council will not allow residents or caretakers access. The council tells m
  
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• Another Brexit downside: foreign giants in power grabs for famous British names

  19-02-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The fall in the pound against the dollar has made it easier for Kraft Heinz to launch an approach for Unilever, and made UK carmaking unattractive to GMA small corner of Merseyside has become the centre of the corporate universe. Vauxhall’s plant in Ellesmere Port is less than seven miles away from Unilever’s base in Port Sunlight on the Wirral peninsula. The thousands of workers in those two places now face an anxious wait for the outcome of takeover talks involving their parent com
  
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• Pension warning: Retirees set for SHOCK tax bill after new rules are introduced THIS April

  19-02-2017 06:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  UNSUSPECTING savers drawing retirement income through pensions freedoms could be hit by stinging tax bills under new rules set to be introduced in April.
  
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• Inflation Hits UK Consumers - Financial Tribune

  19-02-2017 01:54
  
  Financial Tribune
  Inflation Hits UK Consumers
  Financial Tribune
  British shoppers unexpectedly cut back on their spending in January as last year's Brexit vote pushed up inflation, official data showed on Friday, the strongest sign to date that the country's economy is heading for a slowdown. Consumers were barely ...en meer »
  
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• Sainsbury's chief calls for 'fundamental reform' of business rates

  19-02-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Mike Coupe, whose firm faces rise of almost £120m to £500m, says changes to levy will benefit online firms such as AmazonThe chief executive of Sainsbury’s has waded into the row over business rates, describing the existing system archaic and calling for “fundamental reforms”.Adding to mounting pressure on the government to reconsider the controversial levy, Mike Coupe said that the shake-up would reduce bills for online retailer Amazon while many of its high street
  
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• Property tax burden will ruin firms, say experts

  19-02-2017 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Britain has the most uncompetitive property tax regime in the world and the looming hike in business rates will leave many companies struggling to survive, experts say
  
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• Five minute guide to the rising cost of car maintenance

  19-02-2017 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  BUYING a car is only the start of your spending, you then have to stump up for the running costs as well.
  
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• Business rates hike could cripple local economies

  19-02-2017 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Small and medium sized businesses are the backbone of the economy and unless Chancellor Philip Hammond takes action, business rate hikes will break many of them, which will blight towns and cripple local economies in the process.
  
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