Financial news

• ‘We’ve no magic wand’: UK mortgage advisers face an avalanche of queries

  28-07-2023 17:08
  
  In Bingley, West Yorkshire, brokers are busy dealing with concerns over interest rates, and being asked to tell the futureBingley in West Yorkshire is more than 200 miles from Threadneedle Street in London, but the decisions being made at the Bank of England are hitting very close to home for the clients of the town’s branch of the Mortgage Advice Bureau.This week, brokers there were busy dealing with the fallout from the Bank’s recent interest rate decisions, and their clients&rsquo
  
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• Around the world in seven carts: how people shop for groceries internationally

  28-07-2023 17:00
  
  Wealthy nations have been hit by inflation but the way this has changed grocery shopping culture – and governments’ responses – varyRead more from Guardian Australia’s The cost of eating seriesA handful of multinational names may dominate high street fashion and fast food around the world, but when it comes to grocery shopping, every country has their own chains and their own quirks. While it is not uncommon for the supermarket landscape to be dominated by a few major pla
  
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• I’m secretly a Coutts customer but for people like me there’s little point

  28-07-2023 15:28
  
  You need to be rich to take advantage of the actually useful stuff – I hide my card and just use my Monzo As someone with a Coutts account, maybe the least relatable aspect of the Nigel Farage story is: why would you publicise your Coutts account? I spent years developing the muscle memory to hold my thumb precisely over the brand name any time I take my card out; the telltale online banking icon is tucked safely away in the elephant’s graveyard of the fourth page of apps on my phone
  
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• No longer bog standard: how loo roll became a status symbol

  28-07-2023 14:45
  
  Since the pandemic toilet paper has come out of the shadows to take centre stage in UK bathroomsHandbags and cars are more traditional status symbols, but in these topsy-turvy times the humble toilet roll is being treated with more reverence than you would expect for something used to wipe your bottom with. In the toilets of trendy restaurants or friends, proud pyramids of loo roll stand in bright, graphic wrapping. On Instagram, influencers now allow it to stay in the backdrop of bathroom selfi
  
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• Big UK lenders cut fixed mortgage deals in sign rates may be close to peaking

  28-07-2023 14:24
  
  Moves by Nationwide, HSBC and TSB come after fall in inflation eases fears over future interest rate risesBusiness live updates – latest newsSeveral big lenders including Nationwide, HSBC and TSB have cut rates on their fixed mortgage deals in a sign that home loan costs may be close to peaking after surging to nearly 7%.The reductions follow data last week that showed inflation fell further than expected in June, helping to calm financial markets and trim expectations of the number of int
  
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• NatWest chair Howard Davies pledges to stay on after Farage row, says Alison Rose was a ‘great leader’ – business live

  28-07-2023 11:41
  
  Davies says NatWest has lost a ‘great leader’, following departure of Alison Rose this week, but must now look forwardWas Alison Rose held to a higher standard because she is a woman?Coutts chief quits and crisis wipes £1bn off NatWest sharesSir Philip Augar, financial author, says NatWest is now a “stable and secure financial institution”.Fifteen years ago, in the financial crisis, it was going bust, Augar reminds the Today Programme, (prompting the government to b
  
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• London Ulez: court dismisses challenge by five councils over expansion

  28-07-2023 11:10
  
  Decision is victory for mayor Sadiq Khan, with zone due to be extended at end of AugustUK politics live – latest updatesThe high court has dismissed a legal challenge by five Conservative-led councils against the expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez).The zone, which the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said was vital to tackle toxic air, is due to be extended throughout the whole of Greater London at the end of August, making owners of the most polluting cars pay to drive.
  
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• Relief for struggling bill payers as energy bills could drop again to £1,860 a year

  28-07-2023 11:02 via express.co.uk
  
  Analysts have said energy bills are stabilising but will remain well above what they were prior to the surge in the cost of living.
  
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• Certain Royal Mail stamps will become worthless next week - everything you need to know

  28-07-2023 10:11 via express.co.uk
  
  Royal Mail is urging Britons to use up their old-style stamps by July 31 before they become worthless.
  
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• Good news for savers as bank offers 'excellent' interest rate on savings account

  28-07-2023 10:05 via express.co.uk
  
  Bank of London and the Middle East has increased the rate on its 90 Day Notice Account.
  
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• State pension underpayments: Government issues update on when it will contact people

  28-07-2023 09:22 via express.co.uk
  
  The DWP has estimated tens of thousands of state pensioners are owed payments.
  
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• The Tories think their war on traffic rules is a vote magnet. Here’s why they are wrong | Phineas Harper

  28-07-2023 09:00
  
  Pro-car campaigns fail to cut through in Britain. Labour must dare to stand firm in defence of green policies such as UlezOnce so clogged with noxious fumes that it earned the nickname the Smoke, London has been battling pollution for more than a century. From the Great Stink to the Great Smog, successive public health emergencies have for decades prompted ambitious anti-pollution measures, gradually transforming the capital for the better.The Victoria Embankment containing Joseph Bazalgette&rsq
  
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• Victorian homes for sale – in pictures

  28-07-2023 08:00
  
  From a grand villa in Scotland, to the archetypal terrace moments from the River Thames Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Vampire kangaroo’: Macquarie boss defends management of debt-ridden Thames Water

  28-07-2023 07:01
  
  Shemara Wikramanayake decries nickname given to investment bank by media as utility burdened by $26bn debtThe Macquarie chief executive, Shemara Wikramanayake, has delivered a fervent defence of the company’s former stewardship of ailing utility Thames Water, labelling its management of debt levels as prudent and bemoaning the investment bank’s UK nickname, the “vampire kangaroo”.Wikramanayake told shareholders Britain’s ageing infrastructure required significant in
  
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• The people have spoken, and they want to speak to real live humans, not a rail ticket self-service app | Gaby Hinsliff

  28-07-2023 07:00
  
  Automation is causing many casualties. Technology marches on, but there’s a yearning for moments of precious connectionRejoice, rejoice: the railway ticket office may yet be saved for the nation. Or more likely, it’s at least earned a brief reprieve. After a public outcry against plans to shut booths staffed by real live humans, train operators have relented and extended what was a suspiciously short three-week consultation.Passengers will now have until September to make their point
  
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• State pension warning as thousands to miss out on £5,000 payment increase

  28-07-2023 07:00 via express.co.uk
  
  Older expats in certain countries will not receive the state pension triple lock rise which will lead to them having lower payments than most.
  
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• How UK house prices left the middle class behind

  28-07-2023 07:00
  
  New data confirms that unaffordability is entrenched, with almost all housing now the preserve of the richThat buying a property – any property – in the UK is increasingly the preserve of the rich will come as no surprise to low-income households.But official data shows that the middle classes are increasingly squeezed, with only the cheapest 10% of houses now affordable (no more than five times a household’s income according to the Office for National Statistics) to middle-inc
  
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• ‘People are like, Wow!’: the man trying to make condoms sexy – podcast

  28-07-2023 06:00
  
  It has been said that condoms share marketing characteristics with napalm and funerals. But it is Ben Wilson’s mission to make us believe they are key to human happiness Continue reading...
  
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• Why Nigel Farage’s bank account matters so much – podcast

  28-07-2023 04:00
  
  Since the politician’s account with Coutts was closed, the story has dominated the news agenda. Does it show that something has gone very wrong in our banking system?On the surface it may not sound like a story that would generate national interest. A controversial politician finds his bank account with a bank catering to the ultra-wealthy has been closed. So why has it dominated news headlines?Last month Nigel Farage posted a six-minute video on social media explaining that his bank accou
  
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• Martin Lewis urges Britons to ‘ditch’ cash ISAs to get high savings interest rates

  28-07-2023 03:01 via express.co.uk
  
  The finance expert discussed the best way for savers to secure higher interest rates on The Martin Lewis podcast.
  
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• Britain loses 6,000 retail outlets in five years as shops close

  28-07-2023 01:01
  
  British Retail Consortium points to ‘crippling’ business rates, the cost of living crisis and Covid as factorsBusiness live – latest updatesBritain has lost 6,000 storefronts in five years, new figures show, with financial pressures forcing shop owners to close their stores and leave cities with undesirable “gap-toothed high streets”.Covid, the cost of living crisis and “crippling” business rates are causing businesses to desert retail spaces, and local
  
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