Financial news

• Equal pay settlements for female council workers pass £1bn

  27-12-2025 21:30 via theguardian.com
  GMB union says 30,000 claims settled with six local councils for average of £30,000 and expects 10,000 more in 2026Equal pay settlements for female workers at local councils have passed the £1bn mark, with thousands more expected next year.Legal claims have been brought against local councils on behalf of people in female-dominated roles, such as cleaners or carers, who for years have been denied the conditions and benefits given to employees in traditionally male-dominated jobs. Con
  
  Read more

• HMRC rules can boost your tax-free allowance to £13,006

  27-12-2025 16:00 via express.co.uk
  HMRC's Tax-Free Personal Allowance can effectively reach £13,006 through little-known tax reliefs including work expenses
  
  Read more

• ‘Classic Italian flavours with a subtle sweetness’: the best supermarket charcuterie antipasti, tasted and rated

  27-12-2025 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Prosciutto, coppa, chorizo, jamón serrano … a selection of cured meats makes the perfect platter for TwixmasThe foundation of my culinary education was unconventional, to say the least. In the 90s, I was taught by my best friend, Ben Hodges, formerly of the River Café, and brother to Jake Hodges, who co-founded Moro in London. We’d cater for hundreds at weddings, and thousands at festivals from Glastonbury to Green Man, cooking Spanish- and Italian-influenced food. Whe
  
  Read more

• Mortgage hunters poised for 2026 gift as rates set to 'drop below 3%'

  27-12-2025 13:40 via express.co.uk
  It comes after inflation fell more sharply than expected and a price war looms
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• ‘They can open doors’: the community-based project helping people into work in Teesside

  27-12-2025 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Stockton’s JobsPlus is a pilot scheme with caseworkers who connect individual people with potential jobs, providing direct financial help where necessary“We’ve had quite a few people on the estate get jobs,” says Bryan Stokell, who found work as a full-time security guard thanks to Stockton-on-Tees’s JobsPlus project. The 47-year-old father has since become a “community champion”, encouraging his neighbours to enrol.“It got to the point where even
  
  Read more

• Anna Tims’ dishonours list: the not-so good, the bad and the ugly customer service awards 2025

  27-12-2025 10:00 via theguardian.com
  It is time to roll out the red carpet in recognition of those that worked hard to keep customers at arm’s lengthWhen the year began, I was a listening ear to Your Problems, my column for the Observer. Now I’m a Guardian consumer champion. Reinvention is always bracing. My old life was spent wrestling airlines, insurance firms and energy providers intent on plundering readers’ piggy banks. My new life? Wrestling airlines, insurance firms and energy providers intent on plundering
  
  Read more

• Labour plotting to ditch Rachel Reeves – and install a lunatic NOBODY would vote for

  27-12-2025 09:30 via express.co.uk
  The Chancellor is living on borrowed time. She surely can't survive 2026.
  
  Read more

• Ticket fees: UK gig-goers fight back against new wave of charges

  27-12-2025 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Fed-up fans are questioning additional ‘restoration’ costs for new stadiums as well as a lack of transparencyGig-goers who bought tickets for Gorillaz at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June next year have been refunded some of their booking fee by the ticket seller Gigantic after the Guardian queried the pricing.A reader contacted us asking why he had been charged a £1 “restoration fee” for a concert at the £850m stadium in north London. The Gigantic website als
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Marmite-scented deodorant tops list of UK’s most unwanted Christmas presents

  27-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Consumer group Which? finds one in five people are unsure what to do with dud gifts after the festive periodMarmite-scented deodorant and already-worn pyjamas have topped the list of the most disappointing Christmas presents, according to research that found one in five Britons have received an unwanted gift in their festive haul.More than 2,000 members of the public were polled by the consumer group Which? in January about the gifts they received last Christmas, with 21% of those surveyed sayin
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!