Financial news

• British Land to drop out of FTSE 100 in reshuffle but Ocado survives

  31-05-2023 20:49
  
  Developer hit by higher interest rates and 2022’s mini-budget but online retailer buoyed by stronger sales at M&SThe property developer British Land is being relegated from the UK’s blue-chip share index, ending a 21-year run in the FTSE 100 after its value was hit by rising interest rates and the disruption caused by last autumn’s mini-budget.The online supermarket and retail technology group Ocado has clung on to its prized spot in the ranking, however, despite a sharp fa
  
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• London IPO of soda ash firm could net Turkish billionaire’s family £650m

  31-05-2023 20:28
  
  Ciner Group announces plans for 10% flotation of shares in WE Soda that may be big enough to propel company into FTSE 100The family of a Turkish billionaire who owns a football stadium named after the country’s recently re-elected authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, could be in line for £650m by floating an industrial company in London.The family of Turgay Ciner, 67, has built up an empire worth an estimated $1.6bn (£1.3bn) that spans mining, chemicals, shipping
  
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• Fresh wave of rail strikes to hit FA Cup final and Epsom Derby

  31-05-2023 19:54
  
  Weekend train services to be severely reduced across England as dispute over pay and conditions continuesA fresh wave of train strikes has led to rail services in parts of England grinding to a halt, with planned industrial action on Friday and Saturday set to affect hundreds of thousands of people travelling to sporting events and concerts.More than 12,000 members of Aslef, the drivers’ union, began a 24-hour strike on Wednesday as part of the long-running dispute between the unions and t
  
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• Making CBI staff feel safe to speak up should be more central to its message | Juliette Garside

  31-05-2023 19:37
  
  Leadership has taken important steps but the communication about its culture and the need for change has been mixed ahead of next week’s vote of confidenceThe voice of business has spoken. The messaging, however, is mixed. After a period of turmoil and soul searching, during which most of its work was suspended, the Confederation of British Industry has outlined plans for an overhaul of its culture and governance. Its members will be asked to give their verdict in a confidence vote, for wh
  
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• The Guardian view on food price caps: better at taming inflation than rate hikes | Editorial

  31-05-2023 19:25
  
  When the economy doesn’t work in the way that theory suggests, it’s time to junk the theoryThe whisper that the government was considering price caps on food, now the biggest driver of inflation, has produced the inevitable backlash. Out scuttled mini-me Thatcherites and big business PRs waving shrouds. Ministers admitted only to looking into the idea of “voluntary” controls. But the last 15 years have shown that state intervention is considered economic heresy until it b
  
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• Twitter’s value down two-thirds since Musk takeover, says investor

  31-05-2023 18:55
  
  Asset manager Fidelity reports that stake worth $20m in October 2022 is now worth just under $6.6mTwitter’s value has plummeted by almost two-thirds since Elon Musk acquired the company in October 2022, one of the social media company’s only remaining external investors has admitted.Fidelity, an asset manager that held a stake in Twitter worth about $20m after Musk acquired the business for $44bn, said in a corporate filing that its stake was now worth just under $6.6m. That would va
  
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• Terminally ill patients need help with energy bills | Letter

  31-05-2023 17:08
  
  The reduction in the energy price cap will make little difference to families affected by terminal illness, says Michelle JonesI care for people with a terminal illness in their homes. Too often, their last moments are overshadowed by worries about bills. Patients shiver in bed, reluctant to turn on the heating. Keeping warm shouldn’t be a luxury, especially for people who can deteriorate in the cold. The news about the energy price cap reduction (Report, 25 May) will make little differenc
  
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• Wellness connects with the crowds at The Big Retreat festival

  31-05-2023 16:43 via express.co.uk
  
  What's your way to wellness - a gong healing vibrations bath and a tantric energy massage or perhaps a spot of spoon carving followed by some foraging and dancing in the moonlight to Toploader?
  
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• CBI to search for new president as it plans to overhaul working culture

  31-05-2023 16:23
  
  Lobby group shares prospectus with members on changes to governance after scandalBritain’s most prominent business lobby group, the Confederation of British Industry, has put forward proposals to overhaul its culture and recruit a new president as it prepares for a confidence vote by members next week that will decide the organisation’s future.More than 50 of the CBI’s highest-profile members left or suspended their relationship with the body after the Guardian revealed a serie
  
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• NS&I launches payment change for Premium Bonds customers who want to top-up savings

  31-05-2023 16:12 via express.co.uk
  
  NS&I said the new change is a "secure way" to add funds to Premium Bonds and easy access savings accounts.
  
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• UK and US poised to fall into recession as interest rates dampen growth

  31-05-2023 15:44
  
  Moody’s report shows weak growth across G20 as central banks move to reduce persistent high inflation Stubbornly high inflation and higher borrowing costs are poised to drive the economies of the UK, Germany and US into recession, the leading rating agency Moody’s has warned.In a downbeat forecast for growth across advanced G20 economies, it said a ramping up of interest rates by central banks on both sides of the Atlantic was expected to weigh on economic growth this year. Continue
  
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• Bloomsbury reports sales surge as people buy books as ‘affordable diversion’

  31-05-2023 15:38
  
  Harry Potter publisher says in challenging economic times books are seen as cheap form of entertainmentBloomsbury Publishing, the home of Harry Potter, has revealed a rise in annual sales as it said people were turning to books as a cheap form of entertainment as finances were squeezed.Sales of children’s books rose 17%, led by a 51% jump in sales of the hit author Sarah J Maas’s titles whose latest work, Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath, was released in February last year. The
  
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• DWP confirms date Universal Credit claimants can get extra £500 a month towards childcare

  31-05-2023 15:32 via express.co.uk
  
  Some of those eligible will also be able to get a month's childcare paid upfront rather than being reimbursed later.
  
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• Almost 60% of people want regulation of AI in UK workplaces, survey finds

  31-05-2023 15:31
  
  Survey shows support for government setting rules around use of technologies such as ChatGPT to protect workers’ jobsAlmost 60% of people would like to see the UK government regulate the use of generative AI technologies such as ChatGPT in the workplace to help safeguard jobs, according to a survey.As leading figures in the tech industry call for restrictions on the rapid development of AI, research by the Prospect trade union suggests strong public support for regulation. Continue reading
  
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• Hundreds of mortgage deals pulled - best offers still available now

  31-05-2023 15:14 via express.co.uk
  
  Mortgage rates are getting increasingly volatile as lenders anticipate further Bank of England Base Rate rises.
  
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• Ofgem to investigate Drax compliance with biomass reporting rules

  31-05-2023 15:04
  
  Regulator expected to examine whether sustainability reports on sourcing of wood pellets meet renewables subsidy criteriaDrax is facing an investigation by the energy regulator into the sustainability of the biomass it uses at its wood-burning power plant amid growing scepticism over its green credentials.The energy regulator, Ofgem, said it would investigate whether the owner of Britain’s biggest power plant, in North Yorkshire, was in breach of the reporting rules required for its renewa
  
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• Leeds Building Society raises interest rates across ISA and savings accounts

  31-05-2023 14:59 via express.co.uk
  
  Leeds Building Society customers can now benefit from up to 4.25 percent on their fixed-rate ISAs.
  
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• Stop dumping your cast-offs on us, Ghanaian clothes traders tell EU

  31-05-2023 14:12
  
  With 100 tonnes of clothing from the west discarded every day in Accra, ‘fast fashion’ brands must be forced to help pay for the choking textile waste they create, environmentalists sayA group of secondhand clothes dealers from Ghana have visited Brussels to lobby for Europe-wide legislation to compel the fashion industry to help address the “environmental catastrophe” of dumping vast amounts of textiles in the west African country.The traders from Kantamanto in Accra, on
  
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• Treasury’s sanctions police ‘reviewing’ finances of Everton FC owner, Guardian understands

  31-05-2023 13:51
  
  Farhad Moshiri reportedly a ‘person of interest’ at special unit over links to sanctioned oligarch Alisher UsmanThe Treasury’s sanctions police have been reviewing the finances of the Everton Football Club owner, Farhad Moshiri, the Guardian understands.Moshiri appears to have become a person of interest to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) because of his links to Alisher Usmanov, the Russian-Uzbek billionaire who was sanctioned by the UK, the EU and the U
  
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• Thousands to get £200 to help with energy bills - but deadline to claim falls today

  31-05-2023 12:46 via express.co.uk
  
  Most people received the energy bills support automatically but some people need to apply online.
  
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• HMRC issues urgent scam warning to millions on tax credits - 'It’s very dangerous!'

  31-05-2023 12:38 via express.co.uk
  
  HM Revenue and Customs has issued warning of the latest tactics being employed by scammers to steal hard-earned cash from millions of people.
  
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• Urgent homebuyer warning as soaring mortgage rates threaten house price crash

  31-05-2023 12:25 via express.co.uk
  
  As fears of a house price crash grow, the forgotten spectre of negative equity could soon be menacing the UK property market again.
  
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• Fixed-rate savings account pays 5.25% and 'nothing can beat it today'

  31-05-2023 11:01 via express.co.uk
  
  Banks and building societies are hiking their savings rates to offer savers some protection from rampant inflation, and there could be more to come.
  
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• Airbnb is in denial over concerns we raised about our host

  31-05-2023 10:30
  
  He had been struck off the medical register and we feared the apartment might have been fitted with camerasI booked an Airbnb flat in London for my wife and two daughters. I later discovered that the host has been struck off the medical register for inappropriate sexual conduct, and I am worried that the apartment may be fitted with cameras. Airbnb, although agreeing that it is far from ideal, will only refund half the rent because it is upholding the host’s cancellation policy.Continue re
  
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• UK’s post-Brexit trade deals with Australia and New Zealand kick in

  31-05-2023 09:43
  
  Move called ‘historic’ but agreement with Australia forecast to raise Britain’s GDP by only 0.08% by 2035The UK’s post-Brexit trade deals with Australia and New Zealand have come into force, a moment lauded by the government as “historic” despite critics arguing they give away “far too much for far too little”.The trade agreements – the first of those negotiated after Britain’s EU exit to enter into force – come after George Eusti
  
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• Virgin Money announces interest rate increases on two types of savings accounts

  31-05-2023 09:27 via express.co.uk
  
  Virgin Money's interest rate rises come in an effort to help "boost" balances amid "challenging" times.
  
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• Running out of battery: how post-Brexit Britain is failing to set up a future-focused economy | Mariana Mazzucato

  31-05-2023 09:00
  
  One-off deals, such as the one with Jaguar Land Rover to produce electric batteries, won’t keep pace with the big industrial strategies of the US and EUThe UK government looks set to land a deal with Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover, in which the company will construct an electric-vehicle battery plant in Somerset in exchange for about £500m in subsidies. Jaguar Land Rover had previously warned that Brexit tariff rules could make production in the UK inviable.This is not the only time mi
  
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• Expert committee on England home ownership has not met for over a year

  31-05-2023 08:00
  
  Exclusive: Campaigners warn government pledge to reform leasehold system is slipping down agendaUK politics live – latest updatesAn expert committee set up to advise ministers on how to change England’s archaic home ownership laws has not met for over a year, the Guardian can reveal, as campaigners warn the issue is slipping down the government’s agenda.The Commonhold Council – a panel of 11 people from the property industry, the legal profession and academia – was
  
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• British households on prepayment meters risk missing £130m of energy bills support

  31-05-2023 07:00
  
  Low redemption rate for vouchers sent to prepay customers by post or email under government schemeBritish households on prepayment meters face missing out on up to £130m of support for their energy bills if they fail to redeem government vouchers before they expire in a month’s time.Under the energy bills support scheme, which runs until 30 June, all households are entitled to discounts of up to £400 on their bills. Continue reading...
  
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