Financial news

• Bahrain strikes its biggest oil field, dwarfing current reserves

  01-04-2018 19:02 via theguardian.com
  Find has substantial reserves of light crude and natural gas, says Kingdom’s oil ministerBahrain has discovered its biggest oil field in more than 80 years.The “highly significant” oil and deep gas resource is thought to dwarf the Gulf kingdom’s current reserves, according to an official announcement on Sunday. It is located in the Khaleej al-Bahrain basin, located off the country’s west coast.Continue reading...
  
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• Craft beer makers hope to crack new markets with tap rooms

  01-04-2018 16:57 via theguardian.com
  A third of small breweries run tap bars, which are ‘becoming as important as local pubs’British craft beer makers are reviving the tradition of brewery tap rooms as an antidote to the national trend of pub closures and the dominance of big brewers.About a third of small breweries now run a tap bar, which lets drinkers sample their wares, according to a report by the Society of Independent Brewers (Siba), which also highlights a burgeoning micropub scene as brewers take over empty sho
  
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• Government's Easter pay rise is not all it's cracked up to be | Richard Partington

  01-04-2018 12:35 via theguardian.com
  The Tories finally deliver on Osborne’s living wage promise, but this is a masterclass in political deceit When George Osborne promised Britain a pay rise in the summer of 2015, fresh from electoral victory over Ed Miliband, he pledged a “national living wage” in an attempt to steal a march on his defeated opponent. Three years later, his promise means more than 2 million workers received an inflation-beating pay rise of 4.4% on Easter Sunday as the living wage rose for the sec
  
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• Trouble for big tech as consumers sour on Amazon, Facebook and co

  01-04-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Trump is after Amazon, Congress is after Facebook, and Apple and Google have their problems too. Should the world’s top tech firms be worried?Trump is going after Amazon; Congress is after Facebook; Google is too big, and Apple is short of new products. Is it any surprise that sentiment toward the tech industry giants is turning sour? The consequences of such a readjustment, however, may be dire. Related: Trump lashes out at Amazon and sends stocks tumblingContinue reading...
  
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• Natasha makes sure mothers come first with her new baby brand MUM & YOU 

  01-04-2018 12:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  Mum & You, a new baby brand with easy-to-use, original products designed by mothers, has just been launched by TV presenter and Strictly winner Natasha Kaplinsky.
  
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• The weakness of price caps is clear. Energy markets need bolder action

  01-04-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The big firms have raised tariffs to within a pound of the prepayment-meter maximum. What price government promises of savings now?Many of the 5 million vulnerable households who already have their energy bills capped will be hit by an average price hike of £57 a year from Sunday.Five of the big six energy firms are raising their tariffs for prepayment meters – mostly used by renters and people who have fallen behind on payments – to within £1 of the new £1,089 cap.
  
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• Pay gap also affects men as gender still decides job roles

  01-04-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Banks are among the companies paying women much less, but the new data reveals several unusual anomaliesThe biggest gender pay gap in the country is at a chain of nursery schools in Hampshire. Male employees at Yellow Dot Nursery are paid 81% less than women on the median average. That means that men earn 19p an hour for every pound that women earn.While the vast majority of British companies have been found to be paying women a lot less than men, there are examples of the inverse problem. A cen
  
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• No April fool: it’s national price hike day in the UK

  01-04-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  From phone and TV bills to prescriptions and long-haul flights, the cost of a raft of goods and services goes up on SundayIf the Easter weekend is proving expensive, then stand by, because it’s only going to get worse. Sunday 1 April has been dubbed national price-hike day as a host of government bodies and private firms will increase charges, potentially adding at least £100 to family budgets this year. Continue reading...
  
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• Have you ever wished you were less well informed? Try outsourcing

  01-04-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  A joke from The West Wing has become a truism for today’s boardrooms: nothing beats plausible deniabilityIn the final season of the US political drama The West Wing, White House press secretary Will Bailey is called into the office of chief of staff CJ Cregg, where he is told that the president’s son-in-law might be sleeping with the nanny.Bailey is furious – not so much at the news, but more the fact he’s received this information at all. Continue reading...
  
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• Don’t expect much Leave regret when Brexit hits prosperity | Anand Menon

  01-04-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The post-departure outlook is not good. But it will be hard to recognise or quantify any damage to the economy if growth is merely lower than it might have beenBrexit has brought the UK and EU closer in some regards. While the prime minister began the letter to the president of the European council that triggered article 50 with “Dear President Tusk”, her missive this March was headed “Dear Donald”. But that’s about it. On the substance of the future relationship, t
  
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• GKN will be stripped and sold for parts by ghouls who have no interest in making things | Will Hutton

  01-04-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  What can we expect from a takeover led by a protege of Lord Hanson, the man who laid waste to industrial Britain?The past is never dead. When the wheeling, dealing, asset-stripping Hanson Trust finally collapsed in 2007, having played a major part in the deindustrialisation of Britain – but having greatly enriched its Thatcherite founder Lord Hanson – I thought a stake had finally being driven through the heart of a particular ghoul.Never again would our Westminster, Whitehall and Ci
  
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• Bitcoin price 'ROCKETS': Cryptocurrency market GROWS after volatile period

  01-04-2018 03:50 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN’S price has rocketed upwards following a period of volatile value plunges that saw the cryptocurrency trading for as low as $6,657.05 which will come as a brief sigh of relief for investors, it has emerged.
  
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• High street crisis will deepen, warns Sainsbury's chief executive

  01-04-2018 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE HIGH street turmoil that has seen retailers and restaurant groups shut hundreds of sites with the loss of thousands of jobs will deepen, Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe warns.
  
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• Free energy switching service Labrador raises £1.4million to fund official launch

  01-04-2018 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  FREE energy switching service Labrador has raised £1.4 million from investors to fund its official launch and growth plans.
  
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• Dash to beat the taxman: The end of the tax year on April 5 - Five minute guide

  01-04-2018 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE CLOCK is ticking, the end of the 2017/18 financial year is upon us, so now is the time to make one final check to see if you can shrink your tax bill. With a little effort, you and your partner may be able to save hundreds or even thousands of pounds in tax payments, but you will have to act fast.
  
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• Beast From The East and reduced exports hit UK manufacturing index

  01-04-2018 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  BRITAIN’S manufacturing boom is running out of steam, data from IHS Markit is expected to show this week.
  
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• April is the cruellest month for annual price hikes

  01-04-2018 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  TODAY is April Fool’s Day and many Britons will feel like they are on the wrong end of a nasty practical joke, as life gets even more expensive from today.
  
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