Financial news

• Luxury handbag maker Mulberry heads to the pub after £5m loss

  19-06-2019 21:18 via theguardian.com
  Company seeking to attract younger shoppers with series of music gigs in London pubsThe luxury handbag maker Mulberry is aiming to raise its profile with younger shoppers with a series of music gigs in pubs after falling to a £5m loss.The Somerset-based company said it was investing in the UK market with events in London pubs including the Betsey Trotwood in Clerkenwell and the Prince of Peckham in south London, with free tickets to be made available through the events app Dice. Continue r
  
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• HMRC cracks down on gangs over renewable energy VAT fraud

  19-06-2019 21:12 via theguardian.com
  Emergency action came into effect without notice to avoid tipping off fraudstersCriminal gangs are targeting the renewable energy industry in the latest wave of VAT fraud that has been blamed for draining billions of euros from the EU every year.HM Revenue & Customs said it had cracked down on the trading of renewable energy certificates “with immediate effect” to counter “a serious and credible threat to the VAT system”. Continue reading...
  
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• Lloyds boss Horta-Osório's pay bubble needs bursting | Nils Pratley

  19-06-2019 20:54 via theguardian.com
  ‘People like a winner,’ the head of remuneration told MPs; but that could do with rigorous testingOne could say Stuart Sinclair should get out more, but the head of Lloyds Banking Group’s remuneration committee says he’s been doing exactly that. He’s been on a tour of the branches and can report that staff agree: chief executive António Horta-Osório is a national hero and Sinclair and his committee should continue to throw millions in his direction, ju
  
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• Hargreaves Lansdown confronted Neil Woodford in late 2017

  19-06-2019 20:30 via theguardian.com
  Investment group questioned fund’s performance but believed it would recoverInvestment group Hargreaves Lansdown has revealed it first confronted fund manager Neil Woodford about the level of unquoted, hard-to-sell assets in his now-suspended Equity Income Fund more than 18 months ago, and said it believed he would bounce back from a period of poor performance. In a letter to Nicky Morgan, MP and chair of the Treasury select committee, Hargreaves’ chief executive Chris Hill also disc
  
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• Bathstore faces collapse putting 700 jobs, 168 stores at risk

  19-06-2019 19:58 via theguardian.com
  Company appoints advisers to handle possible administration after failing to find buyerBathstore, the UK’s biggest bathroom specialist, is the latest retailer facing a financial crunch, putting hundreds more high street jobs at risk.Advisory firm BDO has been lined up to handle a potential administration after the loss-making business failed to find a buyer. It is understood that the group’s owner is unwilling to put in more cash to save the business ahead of this month’s rent
  
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• Global financial bodies not fit for purpose, John McDonnell says

  19-06-2019 19:00 via theguardian.com
  IMF, WTO and World Bank not doing enough to fight climate crisis, shadow chancellor saysFighting the climate crisis should be put at the heart of decisions made by the International Monetary Fund and other global institutions as part of a fundamental shake-up designed to reduce the influence of corporate power, John McDonnell has said.The shadow chancellor used a Guardian interview to say that Donald Trump’s hostility to international bodies was the opportunity to recast organisations set
  
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• The Guatemalans who pay the price for the west’s need for nickel

  19-06-2019 18:00 via theguardian.com
  A vast European-owned mine is operating near Mayan villages, sparking a battle for survivalThe road to Guatemala’s biggest nickel mine is barely visible through a cloud of red dust, churned up by the 25-tonne trucks that thunder past loaded with ore.From the choking haze a cyclist emerges, weaving between the lorries. On his back he carries a bundle of firewood. Goggles protect his eyes, a bandana covers his nose and mouth. Continue reading...
  
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• Centrica, owner of British Gas, plans to axe 700 jobs in the summer

  19-06-2019 17:42
  Group blames falling customer numbers and government cap on standard energy tariffsThe owner of British Gas will axe another 700 staff from its UK offices this summer as part of a total cut of 4,000 intended to weather challenges in the energy market.The latest blow to Centrica employees comes after the FTSE 100 energy firm reduced its workforce by 2,200 jobs last year and announced plans to cut another 500 in April. Continue reading...
  
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• Facebook cryptocurrency: dawn of the corporation-government | Ethan Lou

  19-06-2019 15:12 via theguardian.com
  If it gets the green light from regulators, Facebook is on its way to creating its own currency – a prospect that should alarm us
  Facebook’s cryptocurrency, officially unveiled on Tuesday, heralds the rise of the corporation-government, potentially shaping the already vast powers of the Silicon Valley giants into a borderless, unaccountable techno-oligarchy.The crystal ball is dark, and we should be afraid. Continue reading...
  
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• William Hill and Paddy Power ads appeared in app aimed at children

  19-06-2019 14:02 via theguardian.com
  Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck ‘accidentally’ appeared in Looney Tunes World of Mayhem video gameAdverts for the bookmakers William Hill and Paddy Power Betfair appeared in a mobile phone app approved for seven-year-olds, featuring cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, in an apparent mistake that has been called “unacceptable”.The Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints after users of a game called Looney Tunes World of Mayhem were invited to view adv
  
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• Monsoon Accessorize seeks landlords’ support for rescue plan

  19-06-2019 13:28 via theguardian.com
  Owner offers share of profits in exchange for rent cuts in effort to keep fashion retailer afloat
  Monsoon Accessorize is to launch plans for a rescue package after its owner, Peter Simon, agreed to offer landlords a share of future profits worth up to £10m in return for rent cuts.Simon, who founded Monsoon as a London market stall in the 1970s, is also thought to have offered to invest £34m in the 270-shop fashion retail chain to keep it afloat. Continue reading...
  
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• Housebuilder Berkeley signals end to bumper earnings as profits fall

  19-06-2019 13:23
  Group will target growth outside its traditional territory of London Profits at Berkeley Group fell by a fifth last year as the housebuilder signalled the end of a period of bumper earnings and said it would look outside its traditional territory in London.Growth in the housing market has weakened in the past three years as extended political uncertainty has weighed on prices, particularly in London and south-east England, where Berkeley specialises. Continue reading...
  
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• Best smartphone 2019: iPhone, Huawei, Samsung and OnePlus compared and ranked

  19-06-2019 12:35
  Our updated list of the top iOS and Android mobile phones – at the best prices right now Need a new smartphone but don’t know which one is the very best? Here’s a guide comparing the current top-end smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Huawei, OnePlus and others to help you pick the best handset for you.There has never been a better time to buy a new flagship smartphone with many quality handsets available at a wider range of prices than ever before. Whether your priority is two-da
  
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• Car price war and falling air fares cool UK inflation

  19-06-2019 12:08
  Rise in interest rates unlikely, with CPI down to 2% in May from 2.1% in AprilA fall in transport costs and cheaper clothing brought to an end the recent rise in inflation that threatened to push the Bank of England to increase interest rates.Energy costs, which spiked in April, and a price war in the car industry following a slump in sales over the past year also helped to bring down the consumer prices index (CPI) from 2.1% in April to 2% in May. Transport costs fell by 3.8% overall between Ap
  
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• New beginnings: embracing summer with wildlife drawing and an energy switch

  19-06-2019 10:51
  Phil Samba embraced the changing of the seasons with a life-admin win and a seriously cute new hobby …I really hate winter. It’s dark, it’s cold, it’s wet and, worst of all, it’s so hard to wake up in the morning and feel motivated to get things done. So, when warm days finally arrive, I always embrace the change with open arms.This year I was especially keen to make the most of the onset of summer, and decided to take a two-pronged approach: tackling a daunting li
  
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• Consumers being badly advised on pensions, says regulator

  19-06-2019 10:06
  FCA warns some transfer decisions mean greater risk of financial insecurity in old ageThe City watchdog has raised fresh concerns that thousands of consumers are being wrongly advised to cash in their defined benefit pension, putting them at greater risk of financial insecurity in old age.The Financial Conduct Authority said the advice was handed out despite being unsuitable for most people who opt to take a lump sum by transferring to poorer-value stock market-linked schemes at the expense of a
  
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• Harveys left us sitting on the floor waiting for a sofa delivery

  19-06-2019 08:00
  They were ordered five months ago and the firm kept promising a date but they never cameWe ordered two sofas from Harveys nearly five months ago and were told delivery would be in eight weeks. In due course, I got a message asking me to call to arrange for our delivery. Straight afterwards, I received two more messages saying the original notification was sent in error and to ignore it. A week later, we received another request to call to arrange delivery. I was given a date and asked not to dis
  
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• UK's problem debtors to get 60-day 'breathing space'

  19-06-2019 07:01
  Treasury unveils two months free of hassle from creditors with interest and fees frozen to help control financesPeople struggling with serious debt are to benefit from a new two-month “breathing space” during which they cannot be hassled by debt collectors and bailiffs, the government has said.During the 60-day period, those eligible will be protected from enforcement action from creditors, and will also see their interest, fees and charges frozen. Continue reading...
  
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• What oil companies knew: the great climate cover-up - podcast

  19-06-2019 04:00 via theguardian.com
  Oil firms are said to have known for decades of the link between burning fossil fuels and climate breakdown. Author Bill McKibben describes how industry lobbying created a 30-year barrier to tackling the crisis. Plus: John Stewart on his campaign to stop the third runway at HeathrowBefore 1988, climate change was a subject confined to the realm of academic journals. That all changed when the scientist James Hansen told Congress that global heating was caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases in
  
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• Weak pay rises and dearer housing fuel jump in working poor, says IFS

  19-06-2019 01:01
  Number in poverty rises to 8m, with 60% living in households where someone works Britain has seen a big jump in the working poor since the 1990s, with almost three out of five people below the official poverty line living in a household where at least one person is working.The Institute for Fiscal Studies found that a drop in the number of workless households, better-off pensioners and higher rents had resulted in 8 million in poverty from working households. Continue reading...
  
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