Financial news

• The Guardian view on Europe’s future: spend big or risk the consequences | Editorial

  17-09-2024 19:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi is right to call for Marshall plan-type investment in the continent’s futureIn a landmark 400-page report on Europe’s competitiveness and future published last week, Mario Draghi, the former president of the European Central Bank, did not mince words. In the absence of annual investment three times greater than that delivered by the postwar Marshall plan, Mr Draghi predicted, Europe would face a “slow agony” as its economies
  
  Read more

• An ingenious plan to revive THG, or too clever by half? | Nils Pratley

  17-09-2024 19:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Proposal to ‘demerge’ group’s Ingenuity e-commerce division needs far more clarity to convince stock marketMatthew Moulding has muttered about spin-offs at THG almost from the moment he brought the Lookfantastic and Myprotein e-commerce company, then called the Hut Group, to the stock market four years ago at a princely valuation of £4.5bn.Here comes the first actual proposal, albeit one at a very early stage: there could be a “demerger” of Ingenuity, the divi
  
  Read more

• The UK's two-child benefit limit has rightly caused outrage. But another cruel policy needs urgent attention | Ruth Patrick

  17-09-2024 15:30
  
  Thanks to the benefit cap, a family of five that I have worked with are living on as little as £65 a weekThis morning, about 300,000 children woke up in households affected by the benefit cap. Lots of these children – enough to fill more than 1,000 primary schools – will be living in cold and damp homes, with food cupboards near empty; in deep poverty that leaves normal childhood activities, such as after-school clubs, swimming lessons and family days out, far out of reach.Sinc
  
  Read more

• ‘We don’t want golf just to be for retired guys … it’s for everyone’: Nigel Oddy of American Golf

  17-09-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A post-lockdown surge in interest in the sport should help diversify the clientele both on the greens and in golf shops, says the retail veteranFor most chief executives, a round on the golf course is a quiet Friday afternoon treat after the business of the day is done. For Nigel Oddy, the fairways and bunkers of Britain are his second office as he meets with suppliers to his American Golf stores.The retail veteran has run Europe’s biggest golf retailer since April 2023, reviving a childho
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• OpenAI says the latest ChatGPT can ‘think’ – and I have thoughts

  17-09-2024 12:45 via theguardian.com
  
  In this week’s newsletter: The AI company says its ‘o1’ model is capable of reason, a key blocker in the way of truly gamechanging artificial intelligence. But is it that simple?• Don’t get TechScape delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereWe are fast approaching two years of the generative AI revolution, sparked by the November 2022 release of ChatGPT by OpenAI. So far it’s been a mixed bag.OpenAI recently announced it had crossed 200 million weekly active users
  
  Read more

• Ovo Energy to pay out nearly £2.4m over customer complaint failures

  17-09-2024 10:33
  Ofgem says 1,395 customers will receive compensation after lengthy delays in getting complaints addressedBusiness live – latest updatesThe energy supplier Ovo has agreed to pay £2.37m in compensation to customers and towards a redress scheme over failures in how it handled customer complaints.The sector regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, said 1,395 Ovo customers would receive compensation after lengthy delays in getting their complaints addressed, in some cases up to 18 months. Ther
  
  Read more

• Dear Airbnb: who is ‘Rachel’, and how has she taken over my booking?

  17-09-2024 09:30
  
  When I got a confirmation email addressed to the wrong name. I suspected an error and cancelled. Then £500 wastaken from my accountEight months ago, I booked an Airbnb on my new iPhone. The confirmation congratulated someone called Rachel on the booking.I realised Airbnb tech had somehow logged me in to a stranger’s account using my new work phone number and my Face ID. Airbnb later told me the phone number had been recycled and was previously owned by “Rachel”. No paymen
  
  Read more

• UK’s smart meter targets leaving energy users short-changed, says Martin Lewis

  17-09-2024 06:00
  
  Consumer campaigner writes to Ed Miliband warning that installations are being prioritised over repairsEnergy customers are being short-changed by “perverse” government targets to install electronic smart meters in homes across the UK, according to the consumer campaigner Martin Lewis.Lewis, the founder and chair of MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE), has written to Ed Miliband, the secretary of state for energy security and net zero, warning that installations are being prioritised over re
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• People are getting ‘stuck’ in insecure work for years, says UK thinktank

  17-09-2024 06:00
  
  Work Foundation says ‘juggling unpredictable pay and hours’ keeps staff from upskilling and finding new jobs‘I don’t do a monthly shop any more’: life with unpredictable working hoursInsecure work can often be a trap, rather than a stepping stone to a better life, according to new research that tracked the employment of 10,000 people across four years.As debate rages over Labour’s plans to improve workers’ rights, a study from the Work Foundation thinkta
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!