Financial news

• Turkish lira crisis: Interest rates slashed in desperate attempt to avoid recession

  13-09-2019 20:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  TURKEY’s central bank has slashed interest rates by a further 3.25 percent as part of desperate attempts to avoid another disastrous recession.
  
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• Albemarle & Bond pawnbroker stores close

  13-09-2019 18:42
  Nearly 400 jobs at risk with customers fearing they may not be able to get pawned items backThe future of the pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond and nearly 400 staff is in doubt, leaving customers fearful that they will not get their belongings back, after it shut shops and its website warned that parts of the business had “ceased trading”.In a statement on its website, Albemarle & Bond told customers, who pawn valuables for short-term cash, that their items would be held at its paw
  
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• Pound US dollar exchange rate: GBP/USD soars to its highest levels since July

  13-09-2019 17:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound US dollar exchange rate soared to its highest level since July today, with the pairing trading around $1.245 on rising hopes that a no-deal Brexit could be avoided on October 31.
  
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• Ovo to be UK's second-largest energy supplier after £500m SSE deal

  13-09-2019 17:34
  Agreement to buy household supply arm of SSE will mean transfer of 8,000 staffOvo Energy is to become one of the UK’s biggest energy suppliers after agreeing to buy SSE’s home energy business in a £500m deal that breaks up the dominance of the big six energy suppliers.Ovo will supply almost 5m households across the UK after striking a deal to take on 3.5m SSE customers and 8,000 staff to become the largest supplier behind British Gas. Continue reading...
  
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• Pound Euro exchange rate: Brexit optimism and “nonsense stories” buoy GBP/EUR

  13-09-2019 17:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  THIS afternoon, the pound jumped 0.7 percent against the euro and the pairing is currently trading at around €1.123.
  
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• Let’s move to Lancaster, Lancashire: it's grander than you might think

  13-09-2019 17:29
  A slightly forgotten city of excellent pubs, doughty inhabitants and beautiful buildingsWhat’s going for it? Grander than you might think, Lancaster, if you think about it at all. Only intrepid tour coaches make it this far, leaving this slightly forgotten city of excellent pubs, doughty inhabitants and beautiful buildings largely for the Lancastrians. Its severe castle, high on the hill, looks ripped enough to withstand a meteorite, while the streets and squares below, curling round the f
  
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• Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple asked to turn over internal documents

  13-09-2019 17:05
  House judiciary committee wants records in antitrust inquiryMark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook names in requestsThe US government’s investigations into big tech widened on Friday as lawmakers announced they were seeking internal documents from Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple. Related: YouTuber PewDiePie scraps $50,000 pledge to anti-hate group after fan backlashContinue reading...
  
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• Spirits high for Wetherspoon customers as sales rise

  13-09-2019 16:02
  Boss Tim Martin dismisses worst-case scenario document for no-deal Brexit as ‘bollocks’The JD Wetherspoon chairman, Tim Martin, said a rise in the pub chain’s sales showed that customers have not been put off by his regular pro-Brexit diatribes, branding predictions of chaos if the UK leaves the EU without a deal “bollocks” propagated by remainers.Annual pre-tax profit at Wetherspoon was down 4.5% to £102.5m as costs rose, but sales jumped by nearly 7.4% to &p
  
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• London Stock Exchange rejects approach by Hong Kong counterpart

  13-09-2019 15:33
  ‘Fundamental flaws’ in £32bn takeover proposal mean LSE board sees no merit in itThe board of the London Stock Exchange has “unanimously rejected” an approach by its Hong Kong rival after the Asian bourse made a surprise £32bn bid to take over the 321-year-old City institution earlier this week.In an uncompromising response to the approach, which the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) described as a “significant backward step”, the UK firm said it
  
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• Halifax launches zero-deposit mortgage for first time buyers to help Britons get on ladder

  13-09-2019 15:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  HALIFAX has launched zero-deposit mortgages for first time buyers in a bid to boost the chances of Britons getting on the housing ladder.
  
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• Heather Mills launches UK 'vegan northern powerhouse'

  13-09-2019 15:09
  ‘Plant-based Valley’ could help lead consumers’ transition from ‘cattle culture diet’Climate activists have welcomed the launch in the Northumberland countryside of a “vegan Silicon Valley”, which is aimed at helping to fight climate change.The 55-acre site, the brainchild of the entrepreneur Heather Mills, will offer manufacturing, storage and business space exclusively to vegan entrepreneurs and plant-based businesses. Continue reading...
  
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• Network Rail failed railway arch tenants in £1.5bn sale, say MPs

  13-09-2019 10:47 via theguardian.com
  Taxpayers could face costs if space has to be repurchased for engineering works – reportNetwork Rail failed to act in the interests of tenants and taxpayers when it sold off £1.5bn of railway arches, sacrificing an important asset for short-term gain, according to MPs.A critical report from the public accounts committee has found that the controversial sale of thousands of arches will also mean future tenants have fewer rights – and existing tenants no longer have an option to
  
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• Cheap booze and fags: the last gasp of government health policy | Richard Vize

  13-09-2019 09:43
  Drowning our sorrows in duty-free whisky may be the only way to cope but as official policy, it stinksIn a government gearing up for an election, where every statement is supposed to be choreographed as part of a finely tuned grid of speeches and events, it takes a particular stupidity for the chancellor, Sajid Javid, to extol the virtues of cheap cigarettes and booze just as the health and social care secretary, Matt Hancock, was heading for Public Health England’s annual conference.Havin
  
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• Sainsbury's to introduce refillable packaging to cut plastic waste

  13-09-2019 01:01
  Supermarket chain exploring how to slash its use of 120,000 tonnes of plastics a year Sainsbury’s could sell milk and fizzy drinks in returnable glass bottles as part of a drive to halve the amount of plastic packaging it uses over the next six years.The UK’s second largest supermarket uses nearly 120,000 tonnes of plastic packaging a year and is pledging to slash that figure by 50% by 2025, with its own label and branded grocery products coming under scrutiny. In 2018 the retailer r
  
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