Financial news

• Personal allowance: How much is your personal tax allowance going up on Saturday?

  05-04-2019 21:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE NEW TAX year begins on April 6, 2019, and there are several changes coming into effect on this date. But how much will personal tax allowances increase by?
  
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• Universal Credit: DWP confirms working families will get £630 EXTRA from Saturday

  05-04-2019 21:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  BIG CHANGES to tax, pensions and Universal Credit will come into force on Saturday, April 6 - with the Department for Work and Pensions confirming working families will get £630 extra from that date.
  
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• Topshop's Philip Green plans to halve Arcadia pension payments

  05-04-2019 19:58 via theguardian.com
  Billionaire in talks about cutting payments by £25m as part of turnaround planSir Philip Green is seeking to halve payments into his Topshop fashion empire’s pension fund as part of a financial restructuring plan the billionaire says is needed to save the business from collapse.The former BHS owner is in talks with the pension regulator and the trustees of his Arcadia group’s pension fund about cutting annual payments into the scheme from £50m to £25m. The pension d
  
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• The Guardian view on the gender pay gap: acts must follow facts | Editorial

  05-04-2019 19:30 via theguardian.com
  Naming and shaming employers who pay men far more than women is important, but progress requires policy as well as dataKnowing that there is a gender pay gap is one thing. Shrinking it is something else. When the UK government introduced compulsory reporting of the difference between men’s and women’s pay by companies employing more than 250 people, the hope was that publishing the data would lead to action. Announcing what he called a “really big move” in 2015, then prim
  
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• Melrose plan to shut GKN Aerospace factory is 'breach of faith'

  05-04-2019 19:13 via theguardian.com
  Melrose denies loss of jobs at Birmingham factory violates assurances over GKN’s future Melrose has been accused of a “breach of faith” after revealing plans to shut a GKN factory in Birmingham, a year after promising to invest in the business to avoid government intervention in its £8bn takeover of the engineering firm.The Kings Norton factory, which makes windscreens and windows for both civilian and military aircraft, is to close with the loss of 170 jobs over a two-ye
  
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• Let’s move to Whitstable, Kent: pockets of peace on the gentrified seaside

  05-04-2019 17:30 via theguardian.com
  The town still manages to balance quite-posh delis with men’s outfitters from the age of Perry ComoWhat’s going for it? I’m an old hand at Whitstable. Not as old as some of the seadogs nursing pints in the Neptune. But I’ve been coming here since the days when, if fortune smiled, you might spy the elderly Peter Cushing – then the town’s starriest resident – pottering along the high street. What a difference 30 years makes. My latest trip confirms that Wh
  
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• State pension changes 2019: How YOUR state pension will change this year - will it GO UP?

  05-04-2019 15:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  STATE PENSIONS will undergo changes from this weekend - with these changes coming into effect on Saturday, April 6, 2019 - here’s a breakdown of the changes and how these will impact you.
  
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• Pound US dollar exchange rate: GBP/USD rises on Tusk’s Brexit ‘flextension’ proposal

  05-04-2019 15:33 via feedproxy.google.com
  The pound is up against the US dollar today and is currently trading around $1.309. The pairing edged higher following reports that EC President Donald Tusk would urge the EU27 to grant the UK a possible 12-month extension to Brexit. The US dollar, meanwhile, has weakened as traders flee to riskier currencies after Donald Trump declared that a ‘monumental’ US-China trade deal was imminent.
  
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• Gender pay gap figures: debunking the myths

  05-04-2019 15:32 via theguardian.com
  As this year’s data is released, we tackle the most common misconceptions Thousands of companies have filed their gender pay gap figures, revealing men are paid, on average, more than women in the majority of British businesses.Despite the results, myths and misconceptions about the gender pay gap persist. We’ve pulled together some of the most common myths to help you navigate the pay gap deniers. Continue reading...
  
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• Mining firms must reveal waste dump safety records, say investors

  05-04-2019 15:07 via theguardian.com
  Move by group controlling $10tn in assets comes after dam collapse in BrazilA group of investors controlling more than $10tn in assets has written to the world’s largest mining companies demanding they reveal the safety records of their waste dumps after the collapse of the Brumadinho dam in Brazil in January, which killed hundreds of people.The dam, owned by the Brazilian mining firm Vale, was used to store tailings, the unwanted byproducts of an iron ore mine. It failed, releasing 11.7m
  
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• Pound euro exchange rate: GBP/EUR edges up despite German construction boost

  05-04-2019 14:33 via feedproxy.google.com
  This morning, the pound has made tentative gains on the euro and the pairing is currently trading at around €1.166. In a reversal of fortune for the country, February’s German industrial production rose by a higher-than-forecast 0.7 per cent, boosted by a pickup in construction.
  
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• Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft investigated over online games

  05-04-2019 14:20 via theguardian.com
  CMA examines auto-renewal terms for Switch, PlayStation and Xbox subscriptions The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox amid fears that the way subscriptions to their online games services are renewed is unfair.The competition watchdog said on Friday that its consumer law investigation will seek to determine if the companies’ business practices are legal. Continue reading...
  
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• Government accused of promoting inequality by stealth

  05-04-2019 14:15 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: tax allowances for rich up 43% as social security payments fall, says thinktankMore generous tax relief means the government is providing more in-work cash support to Britain’s richest households than poor families are receiving, according to a left-leaning thinktank.A study by the Fabian Society said nearly half the savings made in welfare payments in recent years had gone on increases in the tax-free personal allowance, rather than being used for deficit reduction. Continue re
  
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• Co-op curbs sale of knives in response to rising crime

  05-04-2019 13:37 via theguardian.com
  Supermarket begins campaign aimed at protecting staff and the communityThe Co-op has stopped selling kitchen knives in response to the increase in knife crime recorded in recent years.Steve Murrells, the Co-operative Group’s chief executive, said it put a halt to the sale of single knives about three weeks ago. Continue reading...
  
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• Ann Summers to ask landlords for lower rents after £3.3m loss

  05-04-2019 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Lingerie and sex toys retailer hires property advisers to discuss options for storesAnn Summers is the latest struggling retailer to seek lower rents from landlords amid a high street downturn.The retailer, best known for its sex toys and lingerie, has hired property advisers to discuss options for its 106 stores after slumping to a £3.3m loss last year. The plunge into the red was blamed on rising store costs as well as the Brexit shock to sterling, which pushed up sourcing costs. Ann Sum
  
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• UK productivity grows by just 0.5% in 2018 amid Brexit uncertainty

  05-04-2019 12:41 via theguardian.com
  ONS says Britain achieving growth of only a quarter the level seen a decade agoBritain has maintained its dismal productivity record, with the rise in worker efficiency in 2018 only a quarter of the level seen before the financial crisis a decade ago.Amid fears Brexit uncertainty is set to further damage productivity growth, holding back improvements in living standards, the Office for National Statistics said labour productivity grew by only 0.5% last year compared to 2017. Continue reading...
  
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• Why is Trump easing financial rules when Europe has opposing view? | Howard Davies

  05-04-2019 12:12 via theguardian.com
  US embraces deregulation but European governments are wary of risky companies and marketsThe US president, Donald Trump, made his intentions on financial regulation clear from the very start of his administration. He issued an executive order requiring that for every new regulation imposed at least two should be targeted for repeal. No such deregulatory zeal is evident in Europe.The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, signed by Trump in May 2018, has, in practice, em
  
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• House prices hold up better than forecast amid Brexit doubts

  05-04-2019 11:09 via theguardian.com
  Drop in March from February but Halifax says UK prices up year on year in first quarterUK house prices held up better than expected in March as supply constraints outweighed uncertainty over the Brexit process, according to figures from Halifax.The high street lender said house prices rose by 2.6% in the three months to March compared with the same period last year. The increase was above the 2.3% annual rise predicted in a Reuters poll of economists. Continue reading...
  
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• Homes for sale with a car charging point – in pictures

  05-04-2019 08:34 via theguardian.com
  Plug in and get on the move to these properties, from Scotland to East Sussex Continue reading...
  
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• ‘It’s genuine, you know?’: why the online influencer industry is going ‘authentic’

  05-04-2019 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Calamities such as Fyre Festival have tarnished the booming business of YouTube and Instagram stars. Now the industry’s top tastemakers have a new plan: keeping it real. By Sophie ElmhirstIn a central London hair salon last December, the fashion influencer Victoria Magrath (@inthefrow) mingled among a few of her 849,000 Instagram followers. Magrath – tall, with signature silver hair – was celebrating the launch of her book, The New Fashion Rules, at an event organised by her ta
  
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• Gender pay gap: What did we learn this year?

  05-04-2019 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Figures shed light on continued inequality with every industry still paying men more on average than womenGender pay gap figures reveal widespread inequality across British businesses as every industry continues to pay men more on average than women.
  Almost eight out of 10 British companies pay men more than women. According to figures filed by thousands of businesses and public bodies at the deadline there has been negligible progress on closing the pay gap between 2017 and 2018, as the average
  
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• Amazon shoppers misled by 'bundled' star-ratings and reviews

  05-04-2019 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Guardian study finds inferior items appear highly praised, making ratings worthlessBadly translated versions of classic books and critically panned remakes of Hollywood films appear to have glowing endorsements on Amazon thanks to the website’s policy of bundling together reviews of different products.Analysis by the Guardian shows products that have actually been given one-star ratings appear alongside rave reviews of better quality items, making it impossible for consumers to judge the t
  
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• Carlos Ghosn to fight to 'bitter end' as ex-Nissan chairman detained for 10 days

  05-04-2019 06:29 via theguardian.com
  Ghosn, who can be questioned without his lawyers present, declares innocence in TV interview just before re-arrest Carlos Ghosn will be detained for questioning for 10 days, a court has decided, after the former Nissan chairman was re-arrested on Thursday, reportedly over allegations he misused company funds.Prosecutors applied to extend Ghosn’s detention, a move that was approved by judges in Tokyo. The former executive has already been held for 108 days on three other charges of financia
  
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