Financial news

• Your old plastic bottle … reborn as a towel, bag or swimsuit

  28-07-2018 17:00 via theguardian.com
  As technology finds innovative ways to recycle, waste products are being used in an unlikely range of goodsin high street storesFirst it was “bags for life”, chunky doormats and, more recently, clothing such as fleeces, swimwear and pack-away macs. Now towels made from recycled plastic bottles are to go on sale in the UK for the first time in August – the latest initiative in the war against single-use plastics and the result of a technological breakthrough that has produced a
  
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• What to do about our ageing population? Give ’em all a job

  28-07-2018 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Never mind millennials. The real economic debate needs to focus on the role of over-50s in the workplaceRetirement is a dirty word for Barbara French, who at 75 still gets up before 6am on weekdays to clean the Co-op’s Plymouth groceries depot where she has worked for almost 40 years. “I enjoy coming to work,” she says. “It gives me a purpose. I think it’s wonderful if companies give us golden oldies work for as long as we want.”Much has changed in her four de
  
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• Is this the week when UK interest rates might finally rise above 0.5%?

  28-07-2018 17:00 via theguardian.com
  The Bank of England cut borrowing costs hard in 2008 and left them low. Now, after some false dawns, that might be changingThe Bank of England’s interest-rate setters are expected to vote on Thursday to raise the cost of borrowing for only the second time since the 2008 crash. Most City analysts agree: the Bank’s base rate will rise from 0.5% to 0.75%.That said, we’ve been here before. Mortgage borrowers were told in February that a rate rise was imminent and were guided by gov
  
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• Job fears as Japanese bid to build Royal Navy support ships

  28-07-2018 16:23 via theguardian.com
  Union warns of setback for shipyard workers if contract goes abroadFears are mounting that a billion-pound contract to build a new fleet of ships for the Royal Navy could go to a Japanese company. The move would trigger dismay in UK military circles and would be seen as a major setback for the country’s shipyards, struggling with dwindling order books.It could also have political consequences as a decision to award the contract to an overseas firm might damage the government. Continue read
  
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• Moviepass crashed because it ran out of money – and future looks uncertain

  28-07-2018 13:00 via theguardian.com
  The US subscription-based cinema tickets had to get an emergency loan of $5m just to continue offering the serviceThe MoviePass app, which offers a subscription-based movie ticket service, went down on Thursday because the company ran out of money to pay partner cinemas. The company had to request an emergency $5m loan just to reinstate the service. Related: Björn Ulvaeus: 'Abba was such a European idea'Continue reading...
  
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• Some like it hot — but UK heatwave proves a mixed blessing - Financial Times

  28-07-2018 12:11
  Financial Times
  Some like it hot — but UK heatwave proves a mixed blessing
  Financial Times
  The hottest July on record has been a mixed blessing for Charlie Bird, director of sales at Rossi Ice Cream in Southend-on-Sea. The heatwave has boosted revenues, but played havoc with his freezers. A combination of hot air and low water pressure blew ...
  
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• Richard Branson: ‘I’m well-behaved in real life, but misbehave atrociously in dreams’

  28-07-2018 09:00
  The 68-year-old Virgin boss on sleeping in the air, family and why he never dietsSix months of the year, I’m on a plane, so I save time by taking night flights and sleeping in the air. I get jet lag, so I keep melatonin spray by the bed: two puffs, and I’m back to sleep. At home on the Caribbean island of Necker (I bought it when I was 28), I rise early at 5.30am after seven hours’ sleep. I keep away from blue light and screens for two or three hours before bed. I’m a goo
  
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• Why spend £1,000 on a smartphone when you could get one for less than £150?

  28-07-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  An iPhone X is £999, a Samsung S9 £739, but you can find good mobiles that cost a lot lessHow do you find the best-value smartphone deal? If you are anything like me, you can be easily overwhelmed by the range of deals on offer – Carphone Warehouse alone lists 77 different pay-monthly plans. But if your old mobile phone has died, or you just dropped it one too many times, don’t be seduced into signing a £30-a-month, two-year contract for a £500-plus smartphone
  
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• 'Travelling is how I choose to invest my money'

  28-07-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Account manager Lou Spearman on why she prioritises trips abroad over saving for a homeEver since I was 18 and backpacked round the world for a year, my focus has been on travelling as much as possible. That comes at a financial cost, of course. I’m terrible at saving because I spend most of my earnings on it. I earn £34,000 a year plus £10,000 commission as an account manager – and £10,000 of that will go on holidays. So far, I’ve ticked off 55 countries. Thi
  
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• Taking a gap year? Here’s what you need to know about money

  28-07-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  It’s crucial to read the small print on everything from insurance and cards to your mobileSchool’s out and the world is your oyster. Each year thousands of school leavers and graduates pack their backpacks and head off to sunnier climes. But it pays to study your finances before you jet off.Gap-year travellers need to read the small print on everything from debit card charges to travel insurance to make sure their trip abroad doesn’t turn into an expensive mistake. Continue rea
  
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• Is it worth splashing out on an expensive suitcase?

  28-07-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  My partner insists it’s worth spending £300 on a Samsonite, but I wonder if should I just buy a cheap oneEvery 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.My partner insists it’s worth spending £300 on a Samsonite suitcase as it will last forever, but I can’t bear the thought of spending that much. Can readers say which brands are w
  
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• ‘I lost my cash in a solar project, but after a five-year battle I’ll get it back’

  28-07-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  A small investor teamed up with hundreds of others who saw £7.5m go up in smoke. Now they will get compensationThe offer for Secured Energy Bonds looked good. It was a chance to invest in a project to put solar panels on 22 schools across the country. The return offered was a decent rate of 6.5% over three years.That was 2013. I first saw the adverts in the Guardian. I was not a big investor, but wanted to put some money into an environmentally sustainable project.Continue reading...
  
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• ‘I got a £50,000 bill for a flood – but I didn’t own the house’

  28-07-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Buyers must insure their home at the point of exchange rather than completion, as one couple found out to their costA Brighton family who were buying a home that was flooded by a major leak just before they completed the purchase are warning others to make sure they buy insurance on exchange, after they were in effect forced to buy a home that had been wrecked.James and Daisy Callahan, who have a two-year-old child, are facing a £50,000 bill for repairs and to cover the rent of a replaceme
  
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• Beware: forgoing child benefit could cost you your state pension | Patrick Collinson

  28-07-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  When George Osborne limited who could claim, the change had an unintended consequenceLast year approaching half a million women opted out of receiving child benefit. An unknown number never applied in the first place. Why? Almost certainly because their partner was earning more than £60,000 a year, which is the final cut-off point for the payment. But while they save their partner the hassle of having to fill in a self-assessment tax form, the ones who have not applied may also be unwittin
  
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• IT meltdown pushes TSB into £107m loss

  28-07-2018 03:08 via feedproxy.google.com
  TSB counted the cost of an IT meltdown which left customers locked out of their online accounts and exposed to fraud. The Spanish-owned challenger bank sank to a £107.4million half-year pre-tax loss compared with a £108.3million last time after a £176.4million hit following the botched migration in April.
  
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• Worst email ever? Sydney boss apologises for angry all-staff message that went viral

  28-07-2018 02:24 via theguardian.com
  Marcus Wood says workers ‘getting on my tits’, and unless performance improves he will fire their ‘sorry arses’A Sydney boss has apologised for an angry all-staff email that repeatedly accused his employees of “getting on my tits”, playing “endless ping pong” and likened their taking frequent sick leave to a film about a man dying of Aids. Marcus Wood, the director of Mars Recruiting, has owned up as the author of the self-described “Gordon R
  
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• Disneyland hikes some wages to $15 an hour after outcry over worker poverty

  28-07-2018 01:52 via theguardian.com
  Some struggling workers will see a pay increase but unions condemn thousands left out of the deal
  Seeking to mute bad publicity about workers sleeping in their cars and relying on union food banks, Walt Disney Co has agreed to increase its minimum pay rate for some workers from $11 per hour to $15.Members of four unions representing ticket takers, ride operators, cleaners, store employees and truck and bus drivers at the southern California Disneyland resort complex in Anaheim – often nick
  
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• Energy provider goes BUST leaving THOUSANDS of customers in limbo

  28-07-2018 01:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  A TROUBLED energy provider has ceased trading leaving thousands in limbo after after the company was banned from taking on new clients due to poor customer service. Sector watchdog Ofgem announced the closure of Iresa, leaving nearly 100,000 customers in limbo.
  
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