Financial news

• Employment rights reforms ‘could cost UK businesses £5bn a year’

  21-10-2024 23:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Government analysis says those on low pay stand to benefit most, with some potentially earning extra £600 a yearEmployment rights reforms could cost businesses up to £5bn a year, according to the government’s own analysis, which also found the changes will benefit low-paid employees the most, with some shift workers potentially earning an extra £600 a year.In the analysis the government acknowledges that businesses will end up paying more, including for changes to sick pa
  
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• Microsoft introduces ‘AI employees’ that can handle client queries

  21-10-2024 18:58 via theguardian.com
  
  US company gives customers the ability to build own virtual agents as well as releasing 10 off-the-shelf botsMicrosoft is introducing autonomous artificial intelligence agents, or virtual employees, that can perform tasks such as handling client queries and identifying sales leads, as the tech sector strives to show investors that the AI boom can produce indispensable products.The US tech company is giving customers the ability to build their own AI agents as well as releasing 10 off-the-shelf b
  
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• Reeves’ income tax plan will hurt working people and increase inequality | Letters

  21-10-2024 18:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Su Hardman on the news that the chancellor is expected to extend the freeze on income tax thresholds in the budget. Plus letters from Patrick Donovan, Prof Mike Stein and Michael Meadowcroft on Labour’s tax plansI was stunned to read that Rachel Reeves is even considering extending the freeze on personal tax allowances (Rachel Reeves expected to extend ‘stealth’ freeze on income tax thresholds, 18 October). These have already been frozen for the best part of a decade thanks to
  
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• Disney says it will name CEO Bob Iger’s second successor in 2026

  21-10-2024 17:38 via theguardian.com
  
  Company taps former Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman as its new board chair, who will lead the searchWalt Disney said it would announce another replacement for CEO Bob Iger in early 2026 and named a veteran of Morgan Stanley as board chair on Monday, for the first time announcing a timetable for succession at the storied media and entertainment company.James Gorman will step down as executive chair of Morgan Stanley at the end of 2024 and take on the position at Disney in January. He had served a
  
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• UK interest rates to fall to 2.75% by next autumn, Goldman Sachs predicts

  21-10-2024 17:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Economists at investment bank say markets are underestimating likely extent of action by Bank of EnglandBusiness live – latest updatesInterest rates are on course to fall to 2.75% by next autumn after the Bank of England reduces the cost of borrowing at each of its nine next meetings, a leading investment bank has predicted.Economists at Goldman Sachs said that, according to their assessment of the long-term level of interest rates consistent with achieving the government’s 2% inflat
  
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• More than 20 foods recalled over peanut fears, says UK watchdog

  21-10-2024 16:36 via theguardian.com
  Affected items produced by FGS Ingredients include Domino’s BBQ Dip, seasonings and meat productsMore than 20 dips and seasonings, including Domino’s Pizza’s BBQ dip, have been recalled over fears that may they contain undeclared peanuts, the food watchdog has said.The Food Standards Authority (FSA) has called on consumers to return a range of dips, curry powders and seasonings produced by the company FGS Ingredients over concerns that they may contain the allergen when it was
  
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• Fujitsu and Post Office clash over new rules on Horizon data requests

  21-10-2024 15:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Software maker now requires answer on whether use of audit records is related to action against post office workersBusiness live – latest updatesFujitsu has begun forcing the Post Office to disclose whether Horizon data requests will be used to investigate a branch owner-operator for “any impropriety”, prompting objections from the state-owned body’s executives.The development emerged in documents shown to the public inquiry into how hundreds of branch owner-operators wer
  
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• WH Smith to stock vinyl albums for first time since 1990s

  21-10-2024 15:27 via theguardian.com
  
  LPs will be available in 80 high street shops across the UK to attract ‘seasoned fans and new listeners alike’When CD sales took off in the late 80s, many believed it sounded the death knell for the old-fashioned vinyl album.Fast forward 40 years and records are the in thing again, so much so that the high street retailer WH Smith is bringing them back after a three-decade hiatus. Continue reading...
  
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• VW fined £5.4m for mistreating vulnerable UK car finance customers

  21-10-2024 14:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Company must also pay £21.5m to 110,000 victims after taking vehicles away with little warningBusiness live – latest updatesVolkswagen has been forced to pay customers £21.5m in compensation on top of a fine of £5.4m for failing to treat struggling customers fairly, including repossessing vehicles from people who had attempted suicide or were caring for sick relatives.The UK financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said 110,000 customers had suffered de
  
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• Nationwide issues 'under £100' warning and says 'come forward'

  21-10-2024 14:37 via express.co.uk
  
  Nationwide wants potentially millions of customers to make contact in certain circumstances.
  
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• Conspiracy theories and a $1m check: a night at Elon Musk’s surreal election giveaway

  21-10-2024 14:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Musk’s latest ploy to assist Trump to win the US election has been to give away $1m every day to a member of the publicUS politics live – latest updatesStanding before a large US flag, which spanned the breadth of a vast stage, the world’s richest man told an assembled audience that he loved them.“This kind of energy lights a fire in my soul,” he said, having just made one of the crowd a millionaire after everyone chanted his name.Don’t miss important US elect
  
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• TfL could be forced to pay millions over Dutch lorry drivers’ low emission zone fines

  21-10-2024 14:13 via theguardian.com
  
  Hauliers’ group Transport in Nood BV launched judicial review earlier this year over fines issued in Ulez and LezTransport for London (TfL) could be forced to pay back millions of pounds in low emission zone fines issued to Dutch lorry drivers after agreeing they had been issued unlawfully.The body said it had agreed to settle a claim regarding the Ulez fines after a company representing dozens of Dutch haulage companies launched a legal challenge into the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) an
  
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• Millions poured into tax-free ISA accounts ahead of feared Budget raid

  21-10-2024 13:41 via express.co.uk
  
  The number of people using the full £20,000 annual tax-free ISA allowance to either save cash or buy stocks and shares has tripled
  
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• Two key allowances to use to avoid Labour 'stealth' tax in Budget

  21-10-2024 13:27 via express.co.uk
  
  Hundreds of thousands of people have been dragged into paying higher tax rates in recent years.
  
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• Bank increases interest on Cash ISA to 4.42% and earns 'excellent' rating

  21-10-2024 13:15 via express.co.uk
  
  The new Cash ISA deal now places "competitively" in its sector.
  
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• Virgin Media O2 offers £10 railcards to make travel 'more affordable' - how to claim

  21-10-2024 12:48 via express.co.uk
  
  Virgin Media O2 customers need to be quick as they only have a few weeks to snap up the new savings deal.
  
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• TikTok owner sacks intern for allegedly sabotaging AI project

  21-10-2024 12:44 via theguardian.com
  
  ByteDance dismissed person in August it says ‘maliciously interfered’ with training of artificial intelligence modelsThe owner of TikTok has sacked an intern for allegedly sabotaging an internal artificial intelligence project.ByteDance said it had dismissed the person in August after they “maliciously interfered” with the training of artificial intelligence (AI) models used in a research project. Continue reading...
  
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• Gold rush! – Price hits $3,000 an ounce before Christmas

  21-10-2024 12:34 via express.co.uk
  
  Gold has surged in price by 40 percent in the past year
  
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• Premium Bond frustration as cashing in holdings will cost more than value of savings

  21-10-2024 12:06 via express.co.uk
  
  The saver had been sent a form to fill in by NS&I.
  
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• Bad buffet behaviour is out of control. So should we be fined for our food waste? | Emma Beddington

  21-10-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  I have unbridled lust when faced with a buffet – as do many others. But penalties for overfilling our plates are only one possible answer ...Should you be penalised for having eyes bigger than your belly? A Cornish pub is trying it out: Mark Graham, the landlord of the Star Inn, now charges £2.40 a person for buffet “excess leftovers”. “A few spuds is obviously no problem,” Graham told a customer who complained, but said that buffet behaviour was out of contro
  
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• ‘Time-chunking’ and great design … side hustle experts give their tips for success

  21-10-2024 11:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Nearly half of us now run a side gig alongside our regular job. Here’s how to make it work …The side hustle has become central to modern living. Nearly 50% of Brits have a side hustle, with nine out of 10 “side hustlers” who are under 34 planning to transition said hustle into a full-time business. But juggling your side hustle with your day job can be tricky even for the most skilled multitasker. So here are some tips for managing multiple gigs without annoying your bos
  
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• Radical Inheritance Tax change proposed as Labour 'plans Budget raid'

  21-10-2024 11:04 via express.co.uk
  
  The UK is expected to see £5.5 trillion in assets passed down between generations between now and 2050, including £1 trillion in the 2020s
  
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• France warns US buyer of Sanofi division of penalties for shifting production abroad

  21-10-2024 10:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Private equity firm CD&R revealed to be in exclusive talks to buy 50% stake in consumer healthcare arm OpellaThe French government has warned a US private equity firm buying the consumer healthcare arm of the drugmaker Sanofi that it faces penalties of more than €100m if it does not keep production and jobs in France.Sanofi is splitting off Opella, which makes the paracetamol brand Doliprane, the laxative Dulcolax and other over-the-counter medicines and vitamins. However, news of talks
  
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• Martin Lewis urges anyone over 66 to make simple pension check immediately

  21-10-2024 10:37 via express.co.uk
  
  State pensioners could significantly increase their annual income by making the check.
  
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• If you don’t have a will, now is the time to get one written for ‘free’

  21-10-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Charity schemes are urging the two out of three people who are not prepared to get one drawn up … or everything could go to the crownPeople have been urged to overcome their fear of their own mortality and prepare a will to avoid losing control of what happens to their assets when they die.Two out of three people either do not have a will, or have one which is out of date, according to research by Will Aid, a charity scheme that allows people to get a will written for free, in exchange fo
  
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• I thought I could ‘man up’ and deal with my high-stress job. Then it made me too sick to work | JD Murphy

  21-10-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  As a fire brigade commander, I worked on the Grenfell Tower disaster. When I developed PTSD, I realised I couldn’t just ‘push through’I am eight years old and walking in the Welsh rain. The pace is fast and I imagine I’m a soldier who mustn’t stop marching. Even as a child, I already know that that’s just what you do: you don’t give up.Swallowing my dislodged tooth during a camping weekend with my dad and his work friends, so they wouldn’t think I
  
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• As a fire brigade commander I hid my stress. Then it made me too sick to work | JD Murphy

  21-10-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  I realised I had PTSD after investigating the Grenfell Tower fire and developing autoimmune illnesses, so I had to learn to stop ‘manning up’ I am eight years old and walking in the Welsh rain. The pace is fast and I imagine I’m a soldier who mustn’t stop marching. Even as a child, I already know that that’s just what you do: you don’t give up.Swallowing my dislodged tooth during a camping weekend with my dad and his work friends, so they wouldn’t think
  
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• Serial returners send back £6.6bn of online purchases a year in UK, report finds

  21-10-2024 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Industry bodies say over-ordering is eroding profitability as big sellers clamp down on practiceShoppers with a habit of returning goods bought online to retailers will send back £1,400 of products each this year, totalling £6.6bn, a UK report has found.Serial returners account for 11% of shoppers, but are on course to account for almost a quarter of the £27bn forecast returns this year, according to the report by the return logistics company ZigZag and the research company Ret
  
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• We were left out in the cold over a faulty heat pump installation

  21-10-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Trying to get some redress from green energy installers when things go wrong is a long, hard slogTwo years ago I signed a £14,409 contract for a heat pump installation and paid the deposit. Three weeks after the pump was fitted, the company that installed it, Omni Heat and Power, went into liquidation. It had been due to return to repair damage to the pump’s casing, and I had not yet paid the balance. I paid the pump manufacturer Grant Engineering UK to do the repairs and, as I
  
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• AA calls for ban on new drivers under 21 carrying passengers of similar age in UK

  21-10-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Motoring organisation estimates introduction of graduated driving licences would save at least 58 lives a yearNew drivers under 21 in the UK should be banned from carrying passengers of a similar age for six months after passing their test, a motoring organisation has urged.The AA estimated that introducing a graduated driving licence (GDL) would save at least 58 lives and prevent 934 people being seriously injured in road crashes each year. Continue reading...
  
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• Number of homes sold in UK up by a third, says Rightmove

  21-10-2024 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Autumn price bump failed to emerge as buyers spoiled for choice, with properties on market at a 10-year highThe number of homes being sold is up almost a third, year on year, so far this month, although the traditional autumn price bump has failed to emerge due to buyers being spoilt for choice, with the number of properties for sale at a 10-year high, according to Rightmove.The number of sales agreed is up 29%, with the number of house hunters contacting estate agents up 17%, despite some marke
  
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• Half of UK workforce lack access to workplace health support, report finds

  21-10-2024 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Study by Royal Society for Public Health shows current system could further exacerbate health inequalitiesAlmost half of the UK workforce lack access to workplace health support including winter flu vaccinations and checks for cardiovascular diseases, a report has found.The analysis, by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), looked at data from the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (DBEIS) and found that more than 10 million UK
  
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