Financial news

• Sundays aren't that special, right? Not according to the Fair Work Commission | Greg Jericho

  25-02-2017 22:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Has our view of Sunday really changed enough to warrant a 25% cut in penalty rates for retail workers? The decision by the Fair Work Commission to cut penalty rates for Sundays was of course handed down on a Thursday morning. The decision, which will provide negligible economic benefit and which in the FWC’s own words will provide “hardship” to workers, was announced at 11am on Thursday – at a time when we would all expect a government agency to make such an announcement.
  
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• Hi-tech financial firms flee UK amid doubts over Brexit | Politics | The ... - The Guardian

  25-02-2017 21:54
  
  The Guardian
  Hi-tech financial firms flee UK amid doubts over Brexit | Politics | The ...
  The Guardian
  Leading 'fintech' player says 'the exodus is beginning' as members of £6bn industry start seeking other bases in Europe.en meer »
  
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• Letter to my younger self: embrace the challenge to keep bouncing back

  25-02-2017 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A phone call from a producer demanding £250,000 nearly ended Jim Cregan’s dream to build his iced coffee business, but he says positivity will make it workDear Jim,I’m so stoked you’ve decided to take this leap. Finally, at 29 years old, you’ve realised there’s nothing worse than wasting your life on something that you don’t want to do or believe in, and the decision you’ve made means you’re going to do something that makes your heart sing. C
  
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• Oxford once again tops list of UK's least affordable places to live

  25-02-2017 09:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Homes in the city cost more than 10 times the average local income, as home affordability in the UK hits a nine-year lowHome affordability in Britain is at its worst level since 2008, with Oxford, London and Winchester the UK’s most unaffordable places to buy. Affordability ratings, which compare the costs of buying a home in an area with the average regional pay, say that the cost of homeownership in five cities is now more than 10 times the average local income, thanks to a rapid growth
  
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• Will business rates hike be final chapter for high street bookshops?

  25-02-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Booksellers group says rise will kill off independent stores and berates Treasury for cutting tax for sector’s biggest online rival AmazonBookshops could be wiped off the high street as a result of changes to the business rates system, the industry has warned the Treasury.In a letter to David Gauke, chief secretary to the Treasury, the Booksellers Association said many bookshops will be crippled by rate increases and described the tax as “archaic”. Continue reading...
  
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• What can I do with my National Geographic magazine collection?

  25-02-2017 08:00
  
  No one wants to buy them and I don’t want to throw them awayEvery week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.This week’s question: Continue reading...
  
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• On your bike: the best and the worst of city cycle schemes

  25-02-2017 08:00
  
  As bike-sharing in London hits a record high, we explore schemes across the globe
  This year is the 10th ­anniversary of the world’s first large-scale bike-sharing scheme, the Velib in Paris, whose immediate success – 20 million users in its first year – prompted cities across the world to wheel out their own copies. A decade later there are 1,000 of these schemes, from Milton Keynes to the medina in Marrakech, with 17 across the UK and more opening this year.Some have back-
  
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• Norwegian's low-cost long-haul transatlantic fares take off quickly

  25-02-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Fares as low as £69 prove elusive for many, leaving most passengers staring at a no-frills summer service for £228 … one-way!At 35,000 feet above the Atlantic, there is no free lunch - and certainly not for passengers who have only stumped up £69 for a flight on Norwegian. Some of the fares advertised this week to the US from the UK and Ireland are lower than the passenger taxes levied on the tickets. Is it too good to be true – and if not, how are Norwegian doing
  
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• The truth about falling gas prices

  25-02-2017 07:59
  
  For many of EDF’s five million customers they have actually gone upIn December one of the “big six” energy firms, EDF, had some good news for consumers. In a press release it said it would be “cutting gas prices again ahead of the coldest winter months, and will hold back electricity price rises until March”. It added that “electricity costs have been rising for some time, but gas prices are not facing the same pressures. The company believes it is right that
  
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• ‘Part-time is unfairly interpreted as lack of commitment’ – our work expert responds

  25-02-2017 07:59
  
  Our careers expert – and you the readers – help a marketer who wants to write, and a part-time ecologist who isn’t being paid enoughI graduated with a first in English when the recession was at its worst. Consequently I was fixated on stability and survival, even though that meant relegating my real love, writing, to a hobby. As a result I’ve done well, and at the age of 27 became head of marketing at a mid-size company. Continue reading...
  
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• Drive off with a secondhand car for less

  25-02-2017 07:59
  
  Buying a used car was historically fraught with danger, but the rise of finance leasing deals means many three-year-old cars can be safely snapped upOver the past three years consumers have increasingly been relying on credit to fund new car purchases, with nearly nine out of 10 private vehicles bought this way during 2016, according to the Finance & Leasing Association. The rise of the personal contract purchase (PCP), which lets you buy, say, a new Ford Fiesta for as little as £150 a
  
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• Homes with sunrooms – in pictures

  25-02-2017 00:45 via theguardian.com
  
  These properties, from Cumbria to Essex, are ideal for catching some rays all year roundContinue reading...
  
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