Category Archives: Money

Sales boost for B&Q and Screwfix owner amid rush for energy-saving products

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Kingfisher says sales of loft insulation roll more than double while smart thermostats rose by nearly a third

The B&Q owner, Kingfisher, has reported higher sales as fears over higher gas and electricity costs boosted demand for energy-efficient products including insulation roll and smart thermostats.

The retail group, which also owns the hardware trade supplier Screwfix, said customers who invested in a raft of energy-saving DIY products helped increase group sales by 0.6% to £3.3bn in the three months to October. When stripping out the impact of the weaker pound, sales were up 1.7%.

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Annual UK energy bills would have hit £4,279 without emergency support, Ofgem says

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Regulator raises cap for start of 2023 by £730 but government limits typical bill to £3,000 from April

The energy regulator Ofgem has said its price cap will reach £4,279 from January – but households will be shielded by the government’s emergency intervention to keep a lid on bills.

Ofgem said the cap, which is adjusted every quarter, will increase by £730 for the three months from the start of next year. However, the government’s energy price guarantee (EPG) will limit typical household bills to £2,500. Analysts had expected the cap to sit at about £4,200.

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EasyJet looks to over-45s in cabin crew recruitment drive

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Airline launches campaign targeting ‘empty nesters’ or people looking for challenge later in life

The airline easyJet has launched a recruitment drive urging people over the age of 45 to join its cabin crews, as firms devise new strategies for hiring staff in the UK amid a shortage of workers.

The airline said it has seen a 27% increase in crew aged 45 and over in the past four years, including a 30% increase in over-60s in the past year.

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Luxury goods boom in Britain as the young, rich and mortgage-free buck the recession

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Rich kids of Insta use strong dollar to fuel sales of high-end brands such as Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Gucci

They’re young, rich and mortgage-free, and the scions of the 1% are having a roaring twenties.

Despite the economic gloom currently shrouding the UK and many other western countries, sales of luxury brands have been booming and growing numbers of buyers are young adults.

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Women £570 a year worse off after 12 years of Conservatives, says Labour

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Analysis of ONS figures suggests average woman’s salary has fallen from £30,250 in 2010 to £29,680 today

Women are £570 a year worse off than they were before the Conservatives came into power 12 years ago and the autumn statement will leave them even worse off, Labour has claimed.

Citing analysis of ONS figures, Labour said that in real terms, the median full-time female worker’s salary has fallen from the equivalent of £30,250 in April 2010 to £29,680.

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UK’s most vulnerable missing out on energy bill support due to confusing systems

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Charity warns of ‘significant risk’ that those on old prepayment meters will be unable to redeem vouchers offering £400 discount

The poorest and most vulnerable people in the UK risk missing out on the energy bill support and cost of living payments they are entitled to, because of a lack of clarity over what is available from the government and how to get it, charities have warned.

Under the energy bills support scheme announced by Rishi Sunak when he was chancellor, all households are eligible for a £400 energy bill discount, paid across six instalments starting last month.

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Millions of UK households to pay more for energy from April

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Jeremy Hunt expected to use autumn statement to announce rise in household energy price cap to as much as £3,100

Millions of UK households will pay more for their energy from next April under plans to cut the generosity of the government’s gas and electricity support scheme expected to be announced by Jeremy Hunt on Thursday.

The chancellor is likely to use his autumn statement to say the need to save money and reduce state borrowing will require the household energy price cap to rise from £2,500 to an expected £3,000 to £3,100.

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Fund England’s bus network now or lose vital routes, campaigners warn

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Charities and transport groups say hundreds more routes face axe without targeted help and long-term funding

Bus services will not survive without sustained Treasury funding, campaigners and industry groups have warned the chancellor after the cutting of hundreds of routes in recent months.

Transport charities and trade bodies have written to Jeremy Hunt asking for support before this week’s autumn statement urging him to guarantee short-term funding, give targeted help to local authorities, and bring in better long-term financial settlements.

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Exodus of first-time buyers puts brakes on UK housing market

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Hike in mortgage costs after mini-budget cuts 20% off buyer demand in October

First-time buyers pulled back most from purchasing a home after the increase in mortgage costs following the mini-budget, according to a report showing a widespread slowdown in the property market.

Figures from the property platform Rightmove show buyer demand fell 20% in October compared with a year ago, as house-hunters put their property searches on hold in response to soaring borrowing costs and rising economic uncertainty.

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Energy bills: older Britons will pay more but youngest will struggle most, report finds

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Cost of living crisis affecting different generations in very different ways, says Resolution Foundation

Older people face a bigger income hit from surging energy costs this winter but younger households are more at risk of being unable to pay their bill or getting into debt amid the cost of living crisis, according to a report.

As households across Britain turn their heating on, the research by the Resolution Foundation thinktank found that older generations, in particular the over-75s, will spend a bigger share of their income, up from 5% to 8%, on their energy bills. For those under 50 the proportion is 5%.

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Minority ethnic Britons’ educational success not reflected in pay, study finds

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‘Clear evidence’ of discrimination in terms of salary and careers despite academic progress, IFS study finds

Most minority ethnic groups in the UK have made remarkable progress in educational achievement but “clear evidence” of discrimination remains in their pay and careers, according to a study published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The IFS report found that most of the largest minority ethnic groups obtain English and maths exam results at least as good or better than those achieved by white British students in England, and are more likely than white teenagers to go on to university.

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Energy bills: thousands of UK households in limbo over £400 support

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Concerns grow that people relying on communal heating may not receive state discount promised

Thousands of people living in homes with centrally supplied electricity are still waiting to hear if and when the UK government will pay them the £400 promised under the energy bills support scheme.

While those living in conventional homes with standard electricity meters are due to receive their second monthly payment of £66, concern is growing among some of the several hundred thousand households that receive their electricity via a communal supply that they will not see any of the money they have been promised.

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Rise in back pain and long-term sickness linked to home working – ONS

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Sharp rise in people leaving labour market in past three years could be related to home working since Covid

Back and neck injuries caused by working from home during the Covid pandemic has been identified by the UK’s official number crunchers as a possible factor contributing to a sharp rise in people leaving the labour market over the past three years.

The Office for National Statistics said there had been a marked increase in disabilities often associated by medical experts with excessive screen use, after the increase in the number of people home working while offices were shut during the pandemic.

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California ticket holder scoops $2bn jackpot in biggest lottery payout ever

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Winner of $2.04bn Powerball prize – $400m greater than previous record – not identified by name

The largest ever lottery prize in history, the $2.04bn Powerball jackpot, has been won.

The US lottery’s official website on Tuesday showed a ticket holder in California had matched the winning numbers, hours after an early Tuesday drawing that had been marred by delays.

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Influencer ‘Ray Hushpuppi’ jailed over plan to launder $300m

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Ramon Abbas, described by FBI as one of world’s most prolific money launderers, sentenced to 11 years

A social media influencer who called himself Ray Hushpuppi and flaunted a lavish lifestyle fuelled by his efforts to launder millions of stolen dollars has been sentenced in Los Angeles to more than 11 years in federal prison.

Ramon Abbas, 40, also was ordered by a federal judge to pay $1.7m in restitution to two fraud victims, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.

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UK house prices fall after ‘significant shock’ of mini-budget

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Halifax reports steepest monthly drop since February 2021 amid interest rate rises

UK house prices fell by 0.4% in October after Liz Truss’s mini-budget drove a sudden rise in mortgage rates, the lender Halifax said.

The decline in the average price to £292,598 was the third in the past four months and the steepest since February 2021. The annual rate of growth in house prices slowed to 8.3% in October from 9.8% in September.

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UK mortgage rate rises ‘will put extra 400,000 people in poverty’

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Analysis from Joseph Rowntree Foundation comes after Bank of England raised base rate

Higher monthly home loan costs will pull another 400,000 people into poverty in the coming year as the fallout from dearer mortgage rates ricochets through the housing market.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said an extra 120,000 households, the equivalent of 400,000 people, will be plunged into poverty when their current mortgage deal ends.

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UK government’s £400 energy bill support going unclaimed

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Many households who use non-smart prepayment meters are failing to redeem vouchers, says PayPoint

Government energy bill support worth as much as £400 over the winter is not reaching many households who use prepayment meters, according to data from a payments company.

Households with prepayment energy meters are entitled to vouchers giving them monthly discounts, but only half of the expected number have been used so far, according to PayPoint, which handles top-up payments in shops across the UK.

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March of the Mummies: thousands to turn out in push for UK childcare reform

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Founder of campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed says parents are being set up to fail

More than 15,000 people are expected to take to the streets across the UK calling for government reforms to a childcare and parental leave structure that critics describe as dangerous and devastating.

Saturday’s March of the Mummies, organised by the campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, is expected to bring out thousands of parents and children across 11 cities, with the author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the actor Sarah Solemani and the Labour MP Stella Creasy among those expected to attend.

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Shell doubles its profits to $9.5bn as call for windfall tax grows

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Oil giant to boost dividends as firm continues to benefit from energy price spike after Ukraine invasion

Shell has reported profits of nearly $9.5bn (£8.2bn) between July and September, more than double the amount it made during the same period a year earlier, as it said it would increase its payments to shareholders.

The oil company continued to benefit from soaring energy prices prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it was not able to match the record $11.5bn profit it earned between April and June, because of weaker refining and gas trading.

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