Financial news

• WTO head offers to mediate between China and US over trade war

  19-09-2018 19:29 via theguardian.com
  Roberto Azevêdo is determined to get the two countries talking and defuse the growing conflictThe head of the World Trade Organization has pledged to mediate between the US and China as fears grow that the escalating trade conflict between the world’s two biggest economies could lead to a full-scale global trade war. Related: China hits back at US with $60bn of new tariffsContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Ryanair faces growing backlash at annual shareholder meeting

  19-09-2018 18:42 via theguardian.com
  RLAM latest investor planning to vote against the re-election of the airline’s chairmanRoyal London Asset Management is the latest Ryanair investor to announce it is planning to vote against the re-election of the airline’s chairman at its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday, over concerns about how the company is run.RLAM, which manages £117bn of assets, said it will also vote against the senior independent director and the chairman of the audit committee, listing a string
  
  Read more

• Tesco opens discount store Jack's to take on Lidl and Aldi

  19-09-2018 18:29 via theguardian.com
  Grocer lays down gauntlet to German rivals by promising to be ‘cheapest in town’Tesco has started a new front in its battle to win back shoppers from Aldi and Lidl with the launch of a new discount chain Jack’s that promises to be the “cheapest in town”.The first two Jack’s stores – named after the supermarket giant’s founder Jack Cohen – will open on Thursday. Tesco’s chief executive, Dave Lewis, said the chain would sell low-priced, p
  
  Read more

• Romanians in the UK: 'If we go, who will do the jobs after Brexit?' – photo essay

  19-09-2018 18:17 via theguardian.com
  The Guardian meets members of the second largest community of British immigrants, who share their concerns ahead of Brexit in an uncertain climateRomanians recently overtook the Irish and Indians as the second biggest immigrant community in the UK, but they are among the most vulnerable in the country after Brexit, according to a leading charity advocating for east Europeans in the UK.Many fill vital jobs that keep Britain’s supermarket shelves stocked, the elderly in care homes fed, and h
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Royal Mail chair resigns after shareholder pay revolt

  19-09-2018 17:39 via theguardian.com
  Peter Long quits to focus on role at Countrywide as postal group aims to placate investorsThe chair of Royal Mail, Peter Long, has stepped down after one of the biggest executive pay revolts by investors in UK corporate history. The privatised postal service operator said Long had reviewed his board roles and decided to focus on his position as executive chair of the estate agent Countrywide.Royal Mail said Long had concluded it was no longer possible for him to remain as the executive chair of
  
  Read more

• World Bank reports slower progress on extreme poverty

  19-09-2018 14:02 via theguardian.com
  Syrian war and population growth in parts of Africa hit drive to improve poverty rates The war in Syria and a population surge in sub-Saharan Africa have undermined efforts to reduce the number of people living in extreme poverty, the World Bank has said. In its annual report, the Washington-based development agency said the proportion of people living in such conditions had fallen to a new low of 10% in 2015 – the latest number available – down from 11% in 2013. It meant that the nu
  
  Read more

• Aldi and Lidl won't be scared by Tesco's new discount Jack's | Nils Pratley

  19-09-2018 13:31 via theguardian.com
  Supermarket giant is wise not to bet the farm on its ‘rough copy of Aldi’ – the real battle will be making a profitJack’s, Tesco’s answer to Aldi and Lidl, would have been a good idea 15 years ago. Back then, the German discounting duo, after a stuttering start in the UK in the 1990s, still operated outside the food retailing mainstream, which is where Tesco wanted to keep them. These days they are 13% of the market in combination and harder to knock off their strid
  
  Read more

• 'Queen of prints' Orla Kiely's fashion brand set for liquidation

  19-09-2018 12:43 via theguardian.com
  High street woes continue as Irish designer’s fashion label closes website and storesOrla Kiely, the brand known for its 1970s-inspired prints and favoured by the Duchess of Cambridge and Alexa Chung, has closed its stores and website in the UK and Ireland after its parent company, Kiely Rowan, appointed administrators to wind down the company.The company, named after the Irish designer who owns it – known as the “queen of prints” – and her husband, Dermott Rowan, s
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• UK households face squeeze after surprise inflation jump to 2.7%

  19-09-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Dearer autumn clothing ranges boost CPI to six-month high despite a forecast fallUK inflation unexpectedly rose to the highest level in six months in August, pushed up by the rising cost of items including theatre tickets, package holidays, and high street shops launching their new-season autumn clothing ranges.The Office for National Statistics said the consumer price index (CPI) jumped to 2.7% last month from 2.5% in July, confounding economists’ forecasts for the rate to fall to 2.4%. C
  
  Read more

• No-deal Brexit to fuel £1,500 rise in cost of EU car in UK, says motor trade

  19-09-2018 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Industry body warns tariffs would add £5bn to cost of 2.7m vehicles, with average price rising as much as £2,700 in EUThe average cost of a car from an EU country could rise by £1,500 in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the UK’s automotive trade body has predicted.The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders warned that leaving without a deal was “not an option” for the automotive sector, which supports more than 800,000 jobs in the UK. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• We spent £1,281 on a House of Fraser sofa – have we lost our cash?

  19-09-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  We ordered it in store before Sports Direct bought the chain out of administrationIn early July I ordered a £1,281 sofa from House of Fraser. It was due to be delivered on 20 August and I was assured up until the beginning of that week that it would go ahead despite the store going into administration. It never arrived.I’ve now been told by the administrator, EY, that I am a creditor and will need to make an unsecured claim, though I would most likely receive a very small amount, if
  
  Read more

• Tom Watson: Labour would ban gambling with credit cards

  19-09-2018 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Deputy leader says crackdown on betting industry necessary to tackle addiction ‘epidemic’Labour would ban the use of credit cards to place bets, affecting billions of pounds of transactions a year, as part of a crackdown on the gambling industry designed to tackle an “epidemic” of addiction.Deputy leader Tom Watson will this week publish the conclusions of the party’s year-long review of gambling regulations, which were liberalised under Tony Blair’s governmen
  
  Read more

• The US-China trade war is unlikely to be settled soon | Nils Pratley

  19-09-2018 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Trump needs a quick result but is unlikely to get one without drawing in other nationsJack Ma’s prediction that the US-China trade war could last 20 years sounds plausible. At the very least, the Alibaba billionaire’s opening analysis is surely correct: “If you want a short-term solution, there is no solution.”First, an immediate climbdown by either side is out of the question. Donald Trump’s imposition of 10% tariffs on $200bn of Chinese imports was quickly followe
  
  Read more

• Only 20% of rich Britons hold ethical assets, study finds

  19-09-2018 07:01 via theguardian.com
  UBS says Britons were second-least likely to buy into sustainable investments after AmericansOnly one in every five of the UK’s super-rich have even a tiny fraction of their assets held in sustainable investments, according to research which reveals that wealthy Britons are lagging behind Chinese and Brazilian millionaires in investing their money ethically.Research by UBS Global Wealth Management found that just 20% of British high net worth individuals (HNWIs) – classed as those wi
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!