Financial news

• Verifone back online after outage on card machines

  16-01-2018 23:32
  Shops, football stadiums and taxis were unable to take payments from frustrated customers on Tuesday
  The card payment company Verifone experienced an outage on its machines in France and the UK on Tuesday, causing widespread disruption.In UK shops that use the technology, including supermarkets such as Waitrose, there were reports of long queues, and several businesses took to social media to advise customers to bring cash with them. Continue reading...
  
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• Subcontractors lay off staff as Carillion crisis spreads

  16-01-2018 21:04
  Threat of contagion likened to re-run of banking crisis with up to 30,000 small firms in supply chain owed moneyThe dramatic collapse of Carillion has started to hit thousands of the firm’s suppliers, as the real world impact of the demise starts to emerge.Subcontractors owed money by the construction and services giant are already being pressurised by their banks and have begun laying off workers, as the threat of contagion afflicting the sector was likened to a near re-run of the banking
  
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• Six warning signs that the Carillion collapse was coming

  16-01-2018 19:04
  Alarm bells over the construction giant’s looming demise were ringing for monthsThe collapse of the construction giant Carillion, which has put thousands of jobs and numerous projects at risk, was shocking, but not entirely surprising. Some hedge fund managers were so sure the company’s problems were mounting they gambled on the share price plunging and made millions. The warning signs they were watching included: Continue reading...
  
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• After Carillion how many firms can the pensions lifeboat rescue?

  16-01-2018 19:00
  The Pension Protection Fund can absorb the firm’s liabilities but the spotlight is now on others with big pension deficitsThe pensions lifeboat that comes to the rescue when firms go bust is about to get a lot more crowded following the collapse of Carillion.
  The sprawling construction and outsourcing firm had a pension deficit of £580m but is now likely to rise to at least £800m because it no longer has a solvent business standing alongside it. The company’s crash into l
  
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• Carillion crisis: Theresa May rules out bailout as Labour accuses ministers of collusion - live updates

  16-01-2018 18:58
  Prime minister tells cabinet that it wasn’t possible to rescue Carillion, but insists taxpayers won’t face a huge billLatest: PM says taxpayer won’t bail out CarillionLabour: Government colluded to keep Carillion runningDirectors face ‘fast-track’ investigationUnions call for national task forceCarillion: Engineering firm owed £1.6m 5.57pm GMT The Federation of Small Businesses is alarmed to hear that Carillion’s creditors might only recover 1% of the mo
  
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• Greggs takes on Burger King and McDonald’s with hot food menu

  16-01-2018 17:22
  Bakery chain to trial dishes aimed to appeal in the evening including chicken goujons, potato wedges and pasta dishesGreggs is looking to take a bite out of McDonald’s and Burger King’s evening trade with a new fast-food menu that includes chicken goujons, potato wedges and pasta dishes.The Newcastle baker, famous for its sausage rolls and steak bakes, is broadening its takeaway menu as Britons spend more of their food budgets on eating out.Continue reading...
  
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• BP's Deepwater Horizon bill tops $65bn

  16-01-2018 17:16
  Oil giant now winding down payouts from 2010 disaster with 99% of 390,000 claims processedBP will have spent more than $65bn (£47bn) in compensation for the Deepwater Horizon disaster by the end of last year, but said it is finally winding down the last few hundred outstanding claims.The British oil giant announced on Tuesday it will be hit by a $1.7bn charge in the last quarter of 2017 for court-ordered payments resulting from the oil spill eight years ago, which was the worst in US histo
  
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• The Carillion scandal must bury the rip-off PFI dogma for good | John McDonnell

  16-01-2018 17:14
  The Tories still can’t see the utter failure of outsourcing. Only a Labour government will demolish this sordid economic modelThis week 20,000 Carillion workers and many more in the supply chain have had their livelihoods put at risk. The responsibility lies with this shambolic Tory government and mismanagement by Carillion’s fat-cat bosses. Related: I’m not surprised by Carillion’s failure – companies like this shouldn’t exist | Simon JenkinsContinue reading.
  
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• The truth about why we don't use all our annual holiday leave

  16-01-2018 16:33
  No one is really too busy to take a break – so why do a third of Brits fail to take four days’ leave a year?It turns out the good people of British Airways are extremely concerned about the wellbeing of the nation’s employees, and have commissioned a study to raise awareness of the fact that we are working too hard. More specifically, the fact that we aren’t taking enough two-week holidays. Let us all take a moment to appreciate their noble altruism.Their survey of 2,000
  
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• Carillion: ministers fast-track inquiry into directors' conduct

  16-01-2018 16:08
  Insolvency Service to investigate present and past bosses as unions gauge extent of job lossesThe government has asked the Insolvency Service to fast-track an investigation into the conduct of the directors who ran Carillion, the outsourcing firm with scores of government contracts that went into compulsory liquidation on Monday.The move came as politicians and unions held a series of emergency sessions to discuss the collapse, which has put 20,000 UK jobs at risk. Continue reading...
  
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• Provident Financial expects £120m loss at doorstep lending arm

  16-01-2018 16:02
  Firm, which specialises in lending to people in financial difficulty, lost customers after botched restructureDoorstep lender Provident Financial expects to post a £120m loss at its consumer credit business after struggling to win back customers following a botched reorganisation of the 130-year-old business last year.
  The company, which specialises in lending to people in financial difficulty, blamed a “lower than expected rate of reconnection” in the fourth quarter. Continue
  
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• Flat fare? Dodgy meter blocks rollout of London's electric cabs

  16-01-2018 15:35
  Zero-emission TX eCity cab can’t ply for hire until problem is sorted … and don’t get cabbies started on the lack of charging pointsState-of the-art electric taxis that London’s transport authorities hope will replace diesel black cabs have yet to enter service on the streets of the capital – because the meter does not work. Only one zero-emission taxi has so far been licensed in the capital with none yet to carry a paying passenger – two weeks after rules ca
  
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• UK green energy investment halves after policy changes

  16-01-2018 14:35
  Investment in green energy fell 56% in UK in 2017 – biggest fall of any country – after ‘stop-start’ support from governmentInvestment in clean energy plunged further in Britain than in any other country last year because of government policy changes, new figures show.The amount companies spent on green energy in the UK rose during the years of the coalition government (2010-2015) but has now fallen for two years in a row under the Conservatives, according to analysis by
  
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• Co-op launches even quicker online divorce service

  16-01-2018 14:07
  Couples in England and Wales seeking ‘quickie divorce’ could cut processing time by a thirdCouples seeking “quickie divorces” can make the process even speedier as a result of a new online service launched by the Co-op.
  The fixed-fee digital service from Co-op Legal Services enables people to start uncontested divorces online from home, supported by phone-based advice from experienced solicitors.Continue reading...
  
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• Carillion's collapse shows that we need an urgent review of outsourcing

  16-01-2018 13:32
  If a contractor fails, it’s the public sector that carries the can. We must make profit-seeking firms take more responsibility
  Carillion’s cave-in isn’t the first nor will it be the last spectacular failure of a contractor. There are more to come – and soon – in social care, where private equity owned Four Seasons is in deep trouble and Scotland’s Bield is pulling out of its four residential homes. But pundits predicted outsourcing was on its last legs when G4
  
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• UK inflation rate slips to 3%, the first fall for six months

  16-01-2018 11:29
  Squeeze on households eases slightly as effects of weak pound start to waneThe squeeze on British household budgets showed signs of easing in December as the rate of inflation fell for the first time in six months, helped by lower airfare costs and a fall in the price of games and toys. The consumer price index fell to 3% last month from a five-year high of 3.1% in November, raising the prospect that inflation may have peaked, easing some of the pressure on UK consumers. Economists had expected
  
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• I transferred £10,000 into the wrong account – how can I get it back?

  16-01-2018 08:00
  Somehow I managed to type the wrong sort code when transferring my redundancy payment into a new savings accountI am usually very careful with online banking but just before Christmas I appear to have inexplicably typed the wrong sort code when transferring a £10,000 redundancy payment into a new savings account with Birmingham Midshires. My money left my bank account but it has not turned up where it should have, and I am trapped in the nightmare of trying to get my bank, Barclays, to hel
  
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• MPs demand action on electrical white goods safety

  16-01-2018 07:01
  Government criticised over response to potential dangers of tumble dryers, fridge freezers and other productsThe government has been criticised by MPs for being slow to overhaul a “flawed and poorly resourced” safety regime for electrical white goods that has allowed 1m potentially dangerous tumble dryers to be in use in homes across the UK.The business, energy and industrial strategy select committee is also urging manufacturer Whirlpool to repair faulty machines within two weeks of
  
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• End of the A380 superjumbo? Airbus warns future of plane at risk

  16-01-2018 01:07
  Company says unless Emirates buys more of the jet then ‘there is no choice but to shut down the programme’Airbus said on Monday that it might have to end production of the double-decker A380 superjumbo jet, having booked no new orders for the plane in two years.
  The European aerospace group had been banking on another big order from main client Emirates in November, but the Dubai-based airline decided instead to buy 40 of Boeing’s Dreamliners. Continue reading...
  
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• Quarter of UK's poorest households are getting deeper in debt, IFS warns

  16-01-2018 01:01
  Poorest households are spending 25% of monthly income servicing debts as UK borrowing rocketsOne in four of Britain’s poorest households are falling behind with debt payments or spending more than a quarter of their monthly income on repayments, according to a study.The latest evidence of mounting debt problems for some of the most vulnerable in society is shown in a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, on behalf of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, at a time when borrowing on credit
  
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• Iceland supermarket vows to eliminate plastic on all own-branded products

  16-01-2018 00:49
  Retailer outlines five-year aim to replace all plastic packaging with trays made of paper and pulpIceland has become the first major retailer to commit to eliminate plastic packaging for all its own-brand products. The supermarket chain, which specialises in frozen food, said it would go plastic-free within five years to help end the “scourge” of plastic pollution.Continue reading...
  
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• Carillion liquidation: Jeremy Corbyn attacks ‘rip-off' privatisations as workers face uncertainty - as it happened

  16-01-2018 00:23
  Labour leader says Carillion crisis is a ‘watershed moment’ for UK public services, as government ministers discuss their next stepLatest: Corbyn blasts PFI failingsPrivate sector contracts guaranteed for 48 hoursMinister David Lidington updates MPsEarlier:IoD blasts board over bonusesSmall firms fear bills won’t be paid
  Calls for public inquiry 11.23pm GMT Finally, some 16 hours after Carillion went into liquidation, here are the other front pages:Tomorrow’s @telebusines
  
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• Fire services ready to deliver school meals after Carillion collapse

  16-01-2018 00:14
  Councils prepare to protect vital services at schools, and doubts emerge over construction projectsFirefighters are on standby to deliver school meals to children in at least one area of the country as councils and other public bodies scramble to deal with the collapse of the outsourcing firm, Carillion.The company provided a host of services to the NHS, as well as schools and other organisations across the country that will need to be covered. Continue reading...
  
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