Financial news

• Curse of ITV's World Cup opening match coverage strikes again

  14-06-2018 23:28 via theguardian.com
  Viewers using broadcaster’s streaming service missed kick-off due to a ‘technical issue’The World Cup kicked off at 4pm on Thursday afternoon – but not for some people streaming the match on ITV’s website, who missed the start of the tournament.Related: Pomp, absurdity and goals galore get Russia’s show off to a delirious startContinue reading...
  
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• Wine and spirit duty freeze brings windfall for Treasury

  14-06-2018 23:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  A FREEZE on alcohol duty at last November’s Budget has given the Treasury a £67 million boost in just four months.
  
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• MPs threaten to publish internal Lloyds report into HBOS Reading fraud

  14-06-2018 20:43 via theguardian.com
  Cross-party group to publish 2013 report by Lloyds employee unless bank agrees to publish it firstA group of MPs have said they will publish a report into what Lloyds Banking Group knew about a fraud at its HBOS Reading unit, following years of campaigns for full disclosure by its victims. The fraud was one of Britain’s worst-ever banking scandals and the report claims that HBOS in 2008 concealed the fraud in an attempt to prevent the failure of a rights issue and its subsequent takeover b
  
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• Rupert Murdoch will be enjoying the hunt for 21st Century Fox

  14-06-2018 19:51 via theguardian.com
  Wily old operator could push Disney to improve its terms or take Comcast’s pile of cashRupert Murdoch has been lucky – or, more likely, skilful in his timing. He is now sitting on two juicy offers for the best bits of 21st Century Fox – the all-share $55bn (£41m) proposal from Disney, which was agreed six months ago, and now the thumping $65bn cash offer from Comcast.To understand quite how far Comcast is pushing out the boat, look at how much debt the owner of NBCUnivers
  
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• Stobart fires former boss Andrew Tinkler from its board

  14-06-2018 19:45 via theguardian.com
  Firm claims he has ‘set about subverting and disrupting the company in his own interests’The boardroom bust-up at Stobart has escalated after the infrastructure group fired the former chief executive and founder Andrew Tinkler and launched legal proceedings.The firm accused Tinkler, who was paid more than £5m last year in bonuses and long-term awards, of breaching his contract and fiduciary duty to shareholders, and trying to destabilise the company. Continue reading...
  
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• 'Ethical grocer' Farmdrop raises £10m to expand home delivery service

  14-06-2018 18:17
  Skype founder increases his investment, saying firm is using technology for goodThe online ethical grocer Farmdrop has raised £10m from investors, including the founder of Skype, to take its home delivery service to the north of England.The London-based company, launched by an ex-city broker, Ben Pugh, in 2014, wants to open a warehouse in Manchester after expanding to Bristol and Bath late last year. Continue reading...
  
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• How leading tech firms find creative ways to finance growth

  14-06-2018 16:47 via theguardian.com
  Hammerhead (pictured) and The Floow are among some of the top technology, film and gaming companies to have thrived from an alternative route to fundingIt was six years ago when technology entrepreneur Sam Chapman entered the risk-averse insurance sector trying to take a risk on new technology.The co-founder of The Floow, which crunches data to help prevent traffic accidents, knew traditional routes of finance would be difficult and expensive. Continue reading...
  
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• ECB calls halt to quantitative easing, despite 'soft' euro

  14-06-2018 16:04 via theguardian.com
  Wind-down in three-year bond buying programme balanced with a hold on interest ratesThe European Central Bank has shrugged off evidence of a slowdown in the eurozone and announced that it will phase out the stimulus provided by its massive three-year bond-buying programme to the eurozone economy by the end of the year.Despite warning that the single currency area was going through a soft patch at a time when protectionist risks were rising, the ECB said it would wind down its bond purchases over
  
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• Fall in UK rail passenger numbers casts doubt on viability of franchises

  14-06-2018 15:09
  Season ticket sales drop 9.2% with customers hit by rising fares, strikes and overcrowding Rail passenger numbers in the UK fell last year to 1.7bn in the biggest decrease since privatisation in the 1990s, casting fresh doubt on the viability of struggling franchises.According to figures published by the Office of Rail and Road, usage fell by 1.4% in the 2017-18 financial year, the first annual fall since 2009-10 and the biggest since 1993-4. Continue reading...
  
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• Free spirits: the couple who went from nine-to-fivers to fine distillers

  14-06-2018 14:04 via theguardian.com
  Chris Jaume and Abbie Neilson left the UK seeking sun, sand and adventure in Australia. They came back with the notion – and knowledge – to build their own whisky distillery. They tell Kate Wills how they swapped the daily grind for the dream of their own dramBefore they decided to pack it all in and start again, Chris Jaume and Abbie Neilson were settling in to their first “real jobs” after university. Newly qualified Jaume had joined an architecture firm and Neilson was
  
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• From online to on the high street: how one fashion brand made the move

  14-06-2018 12:27
  Festival-going retailer Carrie Hyndman on expanding her venture Junkbox Apparel with a store and creative space in ChesterWhen Carrie Hyndman finally set up her first bricks-and-mortar store for her adventure clothing brand, Junkbox Apparel, she did not want to lose sight of where she gained much of her inspiration – festivals. So she’s brought that creative buzz into a multi-faceted retail space. Continue reading...
  
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• Simply Be and High & Mighty owner to close all 20 UK stores

  14-06-2018 12:16 via theguardian.com
  Nearly 300 jobs to go as N Brown becomes latest retailer to be hit by high street malaiseThe online fashion retailer N Brown plans to close all 20 of its high street stores in the UK, which trade under the names High & Mighty, Jacamo and Simply Be, with the loss of 270 jobs.
  It is the latest retailer to shut stores amid difficult conditions on the high street and a long-term shift to online shopping. Continue reading...
  
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• Royal wedding and warm weather boost May retail figures

  14-06-2018 12:06 via theguardian.com
  Rise of 1.3% in store and online sales ‘has all the hallmarks of a weather-related blip’ Better weather brought some much-needed respite to Britain’s struggling retail sector last month as the hottest May on record brought consumers flocking back to the high street.The volume of goods sold in shops and online was 1.3% up on April – comfortably beating predictions in the financial markets of a 0.5% increase. Continue reading...
  
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• EU raises renewable energy targets to 32% by 2030

  14-06-2018 11:31
  UK called for 30% as green groups say increase does not go far enoughThe EU is raising its target for the amount of energy it consumes from renewable sources, in a deal lauded by the bloc’s climate chief as a hard-won victory for the switch to clean energy.Energy ministers agreed a binding renewable energy target of 32% by 2030, up from the previous goal of 27%, but fell short of the hopes of some countries and green groups for a more ambitious share. Continue reading...
  
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• Rolls-Royce to cut 3,000 jobs in UK

  14-06-2018 10:22 via theguardian.com
  Aircraft engine maker announces restructuring, with 4,600 jobs to go worldwideRolls-Royce has announced it is to cut 4,600 jobs as part of a major shakeup of its business, mainly affecting managerial and administrative roles in the UK.Warren East, the aircraft engine maker’s chief executive, said the UK would bear the brunt with around 3,000 of the job losses, and that he could not rule out compulsory redundancies. Continue reading...
  
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• When will 'gig economy' companies admit that their workers have rights? | Jason Moyer-Lee

  14-06-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The supreme court ruling against Pimlico Plumbers is just the most recent to assert that workers have employment rightsGig economy: heating engineer wins claim against Pimlico PlumbersFew aspects of the world of work have received more attention in recent times than the so-called “gig economy”, in which bicycle couriers, Uber drivers and others work for companies, often through an app, with no set schedule and paid on a per-job basis. However, the dominant feature of the “gig e
  
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• I relocated to Canada but my money didn’t

  14-06-2018 08:00
  I relocated to Canada and urgently need the money to secure a mortgageI transferred £54,020.24 from my Nationwide current account to my new Canadian account. The money was received the following day, but returned because of a query. I only discovered this when I called to ask why the funds had not appeared and Nationwide initially insisted the money was in Canada.Continue reading...
  
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• Shoppers being misled by labels that claim food is 'artisanal' or homemade

  14-06-2018 07:00
  Manufacturers too often make false claims and use deceptive pictures on labels, and regulation should be toughened up, says EU consumer championFood manufacturers are deceiving the public by mislabelling their products as “artisanal” or homemade and implying they are full of healthy whole grains and fruit when they are not, according to a new report.Food labelling needs to be toughened up, says the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) which has published the report. While manufactur
  
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