Financial news

• Amazon's retreat from New York represents a turning point | Ross Barkan

  14-02-2019 23:10
  The company’s surrender is a warning to all Democrats who claim to be progressive: you don’t get to support a company like this anymoreAmazon was ready to impose its will on the largest city in America. The trillion dollar corporation had lined up the support of the mayor of New York City and the governor of New York, and began hiring the fleet of well-compensated lobbyists and strategists necessary to see its vision through.It was a typical American story: a corporation with unfatho
  
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• Phew, the Bank would deploy common sense on no-deal Brexit | Nils Pratley

  14-02-2019 20:52
  Previous projections of a deep recession had assumed the MPC would crank up interest ratesA no-deal Brexit, in economic terms, would be a trip into the unknown and would very likely involve a severe shock. Even the sober sub-set of Brexit promoters concedes the latter short-term point. But at least one likely outcome is becoming clearer: the Bank of England would not make things worse by cranking up interest rates.The idea that it might was a strange notion entertained by Threadneedle Street las
  
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• Gavin Williams MP – ideal for Crackerjack | Brief letters

  14-02-2019 19:09 via theguardian.com
  Children’s TV | Energy | Football | Toilet seats | Peak DistrictHow come no mention of the three performers with by far the greatest number of appearances (Crackerjack back after 35 years as BBC takes on Netflix, 12 February)? Peter Glaze (309), Jillian Comber (188) and Leslie Crowther (159). They were the team when I went to the show with my school in the early 60s. Might Gavin Williamson MP be one of the new presenters? He seems ideal to “usher in a new era of … whizzbang au
  
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• ‘I’m sorry you had to do that, Mum’: learning what my Airbnb guests got up to | Brigid Delaney

  14-02-2019 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Why did I have to taint this piece of rural paradise with these weird, horny guests?
  Last year I was only home for about 70 nights. I travelled a lot and, when I was away, rented my house out on Airbnb.So, during the summer, on one of my rare nights home, I decided to host a small party for my neighbours to thank them for putting my bins out, and keeping an eye on the place. But also I wanted to get to know them. Continue reading...
  
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• A380: a comfortable, eerily quiet cruise ship of the skies

  14-02-2019 18:00
  ‘It felt less like being in a plane than in a strange kind of conference centre’The first thing you noticed was the silence. Even sitting by the engines at takeoff, you didn’t need to raise your voice on the A380 superjumbo. The quiet was almost eerie.It was a monstrous double-decker so big it felt like travelling in two planes stuck on top of one other. It was a kind of cruise ship of the skies with staircases, bars and private first-class cabins, spilling out a wave passenger
  
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• Amazon cancels plans for New York headquarters after fierce opposition

  14-02-2019 17:55
  Tech company says it has ‘decided not to move forward’ with giant campus in QueensSign up for the US morning briefing for a fresh perspectiveAmazon has cancelled its plans for a new headquarters in New York City following a torrent of local political opposition.“After much thought and deliberation, we’ve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens,” the company said in a statement. Continue reading...
  
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• Craggy island for sale: gulls, grass, wind and no mod cons

  14-02-2019 17:50 via theguardian.com
  Uninhabited High Island off the west coast of Ireland can be yours for £1.1mA craggy island off the west coast of Ireland which was home to iron age settlers, medieval monks and a poet in search of inspiration has gone on sale for €1.25m (£1.1m).High Island, an 80-acre swath of rock, heather and wind probably too remote even for Father Ted, sits in the Atlantic two miles off the coast of Galway. Continue reading...
  
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• Do YOU live in England's best town to buy a house? Top 10 best and worst REVEALED

  14-02-2019 15:55 via feedproxy.google.com
  HOUSE prices increased at their slowest annual rate in more than five years in December, so it could be the ideal time to splash out on a property. But what are the best and worst towns to buy one in England?
  
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• Ryanair says air traffic control problems will disrupt summer flights

  14-02-2019 15:39 via theguardian.com
  Disruption due to strikes and staff shortages will be worse than last year, airline predictsRyanair has said air traffic control strikes and staff shortages will cause record levels of disruption to holiday flights this summer. Strikes have already forced the airline to cancel several hundred flights this year in its quieter winter schedules. Continue reading...
  
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• WOMEN entrepreneurs report huge gender prejudice when trying to raise finance

  14-02-2019 15:18 via feedproxy.google.com
  Thousands of female chiefs of small and medium-sized enterprises say they are up against it when trying to secure a loan or investment and it is all to do with their gender.
  
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• Royal Mail’s subscription box report finds a booming sector attracting bigger brands 

  14-02-2019 14:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  Subscription boxes, a UK market forecast to be worth £1 billion by 2022, has been driven by start-ups but now its success is prompting bigger brands to get in on the act, says Royal Mail.
  
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• UK estate agents at their gloomiest for 10 years, says Rics

  14-02-2019 08:01 via theguardian.com
  Expectations, demand and sales expectations all down in latest market snapshotBrexit uncertainty and a lack of affordability in some areas continue to stifle the UK housing market, leaving Britain’s estate agentswith their gloomiest view of property values in 10 years.The latest monthly snapshot from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) shows a further weakening of the market, with demand, prices and sales expectations all down. Continue reading...
  
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• BT is ‘taking advantage’ of older people’s loyalty

  14-02-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Charges vary and customers aren’t being offered the best deals when they have to renewI volunteer with a local charity which helps older people get to grips with new technology. I’ve come across a worrying number of people who, in my opinion, are being taken advantage of by BT. Some are reluctant to change phone/broadband supplier and mistakenly think BT will repay their loyalty. Many pay quarterly and contact BT by post or telephone rather than online. Moreover, no two people seem t
  
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• Council tax to rise across England as austerity hits hard

  14-02-2019 01:01 via theguardian.com
  ‘Chronic underfunding’ forces cuts to services including social care, roads and libraries
  Almost all councils in England plan to increase council tax from April and three-quarters intend to raise it above 2.75%, research reveals.The maximum rise allowed without a local referendum is 2.99%. Similar proportions plan to raise charges and fees. Continue reading...
  
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