Water company tells creditors it will not survive long enough to agree refinancing deal without more money
Thames Water has asked its creditors for another £2.4bn as the embattled water company comes close to running out of cash.
The UK’s largest water company said on Thursday it needed another short-term cash injection because it would be unable to reach a longer-term deal to sort out its giant debt pile before running out of cash by “the end of 2026 or the start of 2027”.
Continue reading...Chip makers and tech investors such as Samsung and SoftBank plunge as potential interest rate hikes spook markets
An accelerating sell-off of AI-linked shares has hit global markets, as fears over rising inflation and future interest rate hikes spooked traders already wary of the heavily indebted sector.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi 200 index, which is heavily skewed towards the companies that make memory chips, fell more than 8% overnight to a six-month closing low, triggering circuit breakers that brought trading to a halt at various points.
Continue reading...Price of chocolates falls in run-up to Halloween, while supermarkets use special offers to draw in sales
Grocery price inflation in the UK has picked up further, prompting shoppers to turn to special offers to keep their bills down – while the price of chocolates has fallen in the run-up to Halloween.
Supermarket prices were 2.5% higher than last year in the four weeks to 4 October, up from 2.3% last month, according to data from the retail analysts Worldpanel by Numerator.
Continue reading...Cyber-attack on TFG London comes less than a week after online fashion seller Asos was hit by hackers
The owner of Phase Eight, Hobbs and Whistles has said its websites and IT systems have been hit by a cyber-attack that may have compromised customers’ personal data.
The South-African listed TFG London said it identified the “cybersecurity incident” at the three UK-based retail chains on Sunday. Its two other UK brands, Inside Story and White Stuff, are not affected.
Continue reading...Spain remains most popular destination as Britons book later in hope of better deals, Abta report finds
The UK’s cost of living squeeze means fewer people plan to ringfence money for holidays abroad next year, the travel industry has warned.
Despite war, wildfires and EES border checks, the numbers of Britons taking holidays climbed back to pre-pandemic levels this year – but rising costs may mean the numbers have peaked, according to an annual travel industry report on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Bosses of Citroën owner and French carmaker also urge UK government to consider limiting imports from China
Stellantis and Renault have backed the UK car industry for inclusion in proposed rules to protect EU industry, but urged the British government to consider limiting imports of Chinese cars.
Emanuele Cappellano, who leads Stellantis’s European brands including Fiat, Citroën, Opel and Vauxhall, and François Provost, the chief executive of France’s Renault, said the UK should effectively be counted as one of the EU’s 27 member states for the purposes of the proposed “Made in Europe” legislation.
Continue reading...US economists developed models that help central bankers and finance ministers to stabilise their economies
Two US economists have won the 2026 Nobel economics prize for their work developing models that help central bankers and finance ministers to stabilise their countries, avoiding long recessions and runaway inflation.
Robert Hall of Stanford University, California, and Michael Woodford of Columbia University, New York, were recognised for developing the “microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation”, giving policymakers better tools to smooth out the peaks and troughs of their economies.
Continue reading...Uneven caring responsibilities combined with a lack of flexible work options have prevented women from staying in senior positions, research suggests
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More part-time bosses and “co-CEOs” could keep women in leadership and narrow Australia’s gender pay gap, the federal government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency says.
WGEA warned resistance to gender equality was growing and urged employers to make management more flexible to reduce the gender pay gap, where women earn $0.79 for every $1 a man makes on average.
Continue reading...Tenants encouraged to seek free options after online property platforms respond to Reserve Bank’s credit card payment reform
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Online property management platforms are charging renters new fees or pushing them on to paid “memberships” to avoid processing costs associated with card payments in the wake of the ban on surcharges.
Tenants have been encouraged to challenge or bypass additional fees charged by so-called rent-tech platforms, including in Victoria, where fees on rent payments are banned.
Continue reading...Penny Wong welcomes Iraqi government’s decision to allow engineer to leave Baghdad but Pether’s team criticise timing of media statement
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Advisers to Australian Robert Pether have expressed concern about the timing of a statement from the foreign minister announcing his depature from Iraq, saying it was issued at a sensitive period while the engineer was still transiting through Turkey.
Penny Wong’s office issued a statement on Monday announcing that Pether had been allowed to leave Iraq after five years trapped in the country, including a four-year stint in jail that his family feared would kill him.
Continue reading...Oliver Blume says ‘Made in Europe’ rules to counter rapid rise of lower-price Chinese brands ‘must reward real value creation’
The boss of Volkswagen has backed EU proposals to boost its domestic industry, arguing European carmakers need to be able to “compete under comparable conditions” with Chinese rivals.
Oliver Blume said “Made in Europe” rules from the EU “must reward real value creation in Europe”, speaking in Paris before the motor show this week.
Continue reading...Analysts say fuel will take weeks to ship and quantity is too small to affect prices, while full deal is unlikely to be met given damage to Russian refineries
Donald Trump’s deal with Vladimir Putin to temporarily lift sanctions on US imports of Russian diesel will have little “meaningful” effect on motorists and businesses in the US and overseas, energy and foreign policy analysts have predicted.
The US president infuriated Volodymyr Zelenskyy when he announced the deal on Friday, writing on Truth Social that the agreement with his Russia counterpart to supply millions of tonnes of diesel was essential to reduce fuel prices in the US, which have soared after his decision to go to war against Iran.
Continue reading...Competition is hotting up, with National Savings & Investments lifting rates to the highest in years
National Savings and Investments (NS&I) has increased the returns on some of its accounts, with many now paying more than 5% for the first time in nearly three years.
Competition in the savings market has been growing, leading to some of the highest interest rates for years.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Chancellor urged to reverse Rishi Sunak’s tax surcharge cuts to claw back billions in lost revenue
Tax cuts for big banks have deprived the UK government of £6bn in revenues, according to campaigners, who are calling on the chancellor, John Healey, to increase taxes and force lenders to pay their “fair share” in the budget.
Calculations by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which represents unions with more than 5.3 million members across England and Wales, shows that the public purse is billions of pounds worse off as a result of tax cuts introduced under the Tory chancellor Rishi Sunak in 2023.
Continue reading...Gang breaks into cellar of Marchesi Antinori in Cortona and loads two trucks with 30,000 bottles before getaway
Thousands of bottles of wine worth €5m (£4.2m) have been stolen from a prestigious winery in Tuscany in what is thought to be the biggest heist of its kind in Italy.
A gang of at least seven masked individuals broke into the cellar of Marchesi Antinori, a family-owned winery dating back to the late 1300s, in Cortona after shutting off the alarms and surveillance cameras before using company forklifts to load two large trucks with 30,000 bottles of wine and making off.
Continue reading...Global sportswear brand is suing online retailer in the federal court for selling clothes featuring ‘deceptively similar’ design
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Global sportswear brand Adidas claims Australian label White Fox is trying to trade off its reputation by infringing its distinctive three-stripe trademark.
Adidas is suing the online fast-fashion retailer in the Federal Court for selling clothes with a four-stripe design, which it argues is deceptively similar to its classic design.
Continue reading...Talks between Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have set industry tongues wagging, with analysts saying the market is ripe for change
They may be two of the most recognisable brands in Britain, with a combined 188 years serving shoppers, but industry watchers agree that either Asda or Morrisons – or both – could disappear within a decade.
This week, it emerged that Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – the UK’s second- and sixth-largest supermarket chains – had held merger talks between last November and February, before the larger player decided to walk away.
Continue reading...Regulator also vetoes extra Blackpool service, citing lack of space on west coast mainline for new direct trains to capital
Plans to run direct train services to Wrexham and Rochdale from London have been rejected by the rail regulator because of “significant pressure” on the line.
The Office of Rail and Road said that there was insufficient space on the crowded west coast mainline to introduce the two new separate train services.
Continue reading...Exclusive: 10-year sponsorship extension at a 50% premium on last agreement crowns bonanza year for live venue
O2 has struck a record £200m deal to retain the naming rights to the London venue the O2 in what is thought to be the largest renewal of its kind in UK history.
The 10-year agreement will extend O2’s relationship until at least 2038. It cements the sponsorship as the second longest-running UK stadium naming rights deal after Arsenal’s partnership for the football club’s London ground,
Continue reading...Latest model is launching in New York to target rich US buyers – and is more than 5.2 metres long and 2 metres wide
It has no rear window, will not fit into a UK parking space and – starting at £130,000 – ($172,000) is aimed squarely at rich tech industry buyers driving the wide open roads of America.
Jaguar’s electric car, the Type 01, was launched in New York on Tuesday night and marks the culmination of a two-year rebrand that has been one of the most scrutinised in automotive history.
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