Financial news

• Life is hard for retailers. But Sports Direct is in a crisis of Ashley’s own making

  27-07-2019 17:00
  Government action is needed to preserve Britain’s high streets. But no law can protect a company from unrestrained ambitionEven by Mike Ashley’s standards, Sport’s Direct’s annual results statement on Friday was an extraordinary performance. The idiosyncratic billionaire’s comments included expressing regret about buying House of Fraser last year due to its “terminal” problems; urging the City regulator to offer voluntary drugs tests to the chief executi
  
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• HS2: hated by some, halted in parts, but still making progress

  27-07-2019 17:00
  At Old Oak Common in west London, work is well under way, but the controversies around the high-speed line may multiply with Boris Johnson as prime ministerA decade has elapsed since the Labour government published plans for a high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham, and later to Leeds and Manchester. It was a grand vision, enthusiastically adopted by the coalition, backed by northern leaders, but never embraced in Tory heartlands.Indeed, for much of the Brexit wing of the party, HS2
  
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• Despite Hinkley, the new plan for nuclear is hardly better than the old one

  27-07-2019 17:00
  Taxpayers are still on the hook, and renewable options are still being overlookedThe government’s new funding model at the heart of its plan for a nuclear renaissance is an improvement since it struck a deal three years ago to support Hinkley Point C in Somerset. This is the best that can be said for the new strategy, outlined by officials in a consultation last week. It is also very faint praise.EDF Energy’s deal to build Hinkley Point C, Britain’s first new nuclear power plan
  
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• The holiday nightmare for parents unable to pay £828 for childcare

  27-07-2019 16:00
  School’s over but rather than being a welcome summer break, for low-income families the reality is a six-week juggling nightmareSchool’s out, and for millions of children it represents liberation from timetables, uniforms and homework. But for working parents, the six-week summer holiday is a nightmare of trying to organise and pay for childcare, with many relying on a fragile patchwork of playschemes, grandparents, friends, neighbours, and snatching time off work where possible.As u
  
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• Wealthiest 10% cash in as average family income falls

  27-07-2019 15:00
  Unearned rewards from savings and property double as salaries stall against cost of livingThe “unearned income” of the most well-off people in Britain more than doubled while millions endured austerity and stagnant wages, an Observer analysis of government data reveals.Income from property, interest, dividends and other investment income – sometimes called unearned income, as most of it does not come directly from work – rose by more than 40% between 2010-11 and 2015-16,
  
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• 'It didn't matter if someone liked it or not': six leading architects revisit their first commission

  27-07-2019 13:00
  From a beach cafe to a social housing ziggurat: this is where it all began for Norman Foster, Asif Khan and othersAmenity centre and passenger terminal for Fred Olsen, Millwall docks, London, 1969-70
  I met Richard Rogers in the early 60s at Yale School of Architecture in the US, where we were both studying for our master’s. We got on well and combined forces to form Team 4, with Wendy Cheeseman and her sister Georgie Walton, who was the only registered architect at the firm. Wendy and I ma
  
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• 'My husband quit his job to help grow my business. More men should do this'

  27-07-2019 09:30
  A growing number of fathers are supporting their partners in their work and childcare, leading to a more fulfilling work-life balance
  Despite our best intentions to equally parent our firstborn child, my husband and I slipped into the traditional roles of him returning to work while I took on the childcare. We were both self-employed, and freelance fathers aren’t entitled to paternity pay, so Rich took less than two weeks off before returning full-time to his job. It was the same when our
  
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• Thousands without mobiles could be frozen out of online payments

  27-07-2019 08:00
  Under new fraud rules, codes will be sent to phones, which could leave some users excluded
  Thousands of UK consumers who can’t get a mobile signal at home – or don’t own a mobile phone – face being frozen out of internet shopping as banks are increasingly insisting that online payments are verified by text.HSBC has told customers they will have to register a mobile phone to enable it to verify future online card payments. And with other banks set to follow its lead, MPs h
  
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• Public sector pensions mess could lead to bigger payouts for some

  27-07-2019 08:00
  Former pensions minister Steve Webb examines the potential implications of a court ruling on workers’ payouts, which could leave the new prime minister with a £4bn headache
  The pension prospects of more than six million teachers, nurses, civil servants, local government workers and other public servants are in limbo following a court judgment last year and the government’s subsequent response.Sweeping changes to public sector pensions came into effect in 2015 (or 2014 for local
  
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• ‘I used to go travelling, but now I pay a mortgage and I'm having a baby’

  27-07-2019 08:00
  Bethan Jones on how her spending has changed since she bought a house and became pregnantName: Bethan Jones
  Age: 34
  Income: £40,000
  Occupation: Owner and director of Cwtch Camping and holiday operations manager at Gupton FarmThis year has seen some big life-changers for me. I bought my first house, a two-bedroom terrace in Pembroke, at the start of January, and then a few weeks later I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I’m due in two months, and now that I have a mortgage
  
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• Lean meat: US pork prices rise as sweltering summer leads to skinny pigs

  27-07-2019 08:00
  Farmers say they have more slender summer herd to sellOverweight pigs in spring led to lowest prices in a decadeLean times for US pig farmers have led to an unforeseen spike in pork prices.Sweltering under record-setting summer temperatures, pigs that have sweated off the pounds and are now considered underweight. Continue reading...
  
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• IRS warns crypto holders: dodge tax and we'll hand out stiff punishments

  27-07-2019 08:00
  Service sending out warning letters to more than 10,000 peopleIRS chief: ‘Taxpayers should take these letters very seriously’Watch out, crypto-heads – the taxman cometh. The Internal Revenue Service has begun mailing more than 10,000 letters to cryptocurrency holders warning of stiff penalties if they fail to report income or pay tax on crypto transactions. Related: $32m stolen from Tokyo cryptocurrency exchange in latest hackContinue reading...
  
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• How can we keep our car cool without aircon?

  27-07-2019 08:00
  We’ve been suffering this week as our only cure is a sprayer to mist each other with waterEvery 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.Our elderly estate car doesn’t have air conditioning and we’ve been suffering this week. We already have an in-car garden sprayer to mist water over each other but I need more proven tips to keep cool on th
  
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• Pension contributions: Blogger hopes to boost £50K fund to £500K fast - how YOU could too

  27-07-2019 05:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  PENSION contributions may not always take the priority in a person’s lifetime, but for a comfortable retirement, setting aside the savings can be crucial. Personal finance blogger Lynn James sat down with Express.co.uk, to document her pension journey.
  
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