Company apologises and says network ‘recovering’ after many customers say there were unable to access services
Tens of thousands of Vodafone customers in the UK have reported they could not access services including the internet and making mobile phone calls.
Consumers started reporting problems on the website of the outage monitor Downdetector from about 3pm on Monday.
Continue reading...Surprise finding by Hamptons shows age group comprises 50% of all new shareholders in firms set up this year
Millennials now account for half of new buy-to-let investors in England and Wales, signalling a generational shift in landlords, while rents have dipped, according to a report.
It is a surprise finding, as many millennials – people born between 1981 and 1996 – have struggled to afford a housing purchase, which means they are less likely than older generations to own their home. Even so, some have clearly fared better, and millennials are leading the charge in buy-to-let investment, according to analysis of Companies House data by the estate agent Hamptons.
Continue reading...Robert Dewar’s widow, Susan, is a leading campaigner over multimillion-pound Norton Motorcycles fraud
The family of a deceased man, who was conned out of his retirement savings after investing in the Norton Motorcycles pension scam, is to lose almost half the subsequent compensation award because of a little-known tax rule.
A long-running battle to win an award from the Fraud Compensation Fund (FCF) meant that Robert Dewar’s pension was not reimbursed until 2024, five years after his death at the age of 64.
Continue reading...Competition watchdog agrees requests from Anglian, Northumbrian, Southern, Wessex and South East to raise household bills
Water bills for millions of households in England will increase by even more than expected after the competition regulator gave the green light for five water suppliers to raise charges to customers – but rejected most of the companies’ demands.
An independent group of experts appointed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provisionally decided to allow the companies to collectively charge customers an extra £556m over the next five years, it said on Thursday. That was only 21% of the £2.7bn that the firms had requested.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here
Voting in the Labour deputy leadership election opens today. Lucy Powell, the former Commons leader, is seen as the favourite and, as Jessica Elgot reports, Powell told supporters yesterday that, if she is elected, she will use the post to argue for changes in the way the government is operating. “We can’t sugarcoat the fact that things aren’t going well,” she said.
Powell is no longer a government minister and, if she is elected deputy leader, she will do the job from the backbenches. In an interview on Newsnight last night, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary standing against Powell, said a Powell victory would be “destabilising” for the party. She said:
[Electing Powell] risks destabilising the party … we best achieve what we need to do together when we have those fierce conversations, including disagreements, behind closed doors.
Members need to understand that there’s a potential challenge around all of that – that if you’re not inside when the big decisions are being made, you’re not at that table, you’re not in those conversations.
Continue reading...IPPR report warns of ‘productivity crisis’ and says many firms out of step with gen Z shift away from alcohol
One in three UK workers have called in sick after drinking at a work event or after hours with colleagues, research has found.
Many staff feel under pressure to drink in work-related settings against their wishes, despite a big shift among younger adults away from consuming as much alcohol as their predecessors.
32% of workers had called in sick the next day after drinking at a work event or with workmates in the last year.
41% of 18- to 24-year-olds had been too hungover to work, and 47% of 25- to 34-year-olds.
22% of staff in education and 24% in health and social care had cried off work the next day after drinking at or after work in the past six months, and a fifth in both sectors had turned up late the next day.
28% think drinking at work events excludes non-drinkers or creates cliques.
Continue reading...Research finds it would take average worker saving all their earnings for 52 years to match wealth of richest 10th of society
It would take the average earner in the UK 52 years’ worth of earnings to become as wealthy as the richest 10%, according to new research by the Resolution Foundation.
In a new report, the influential thinktank analyses the Office for National Statistics’ latest wealth and assets survey, which covers the Covid pandemic period of 2020-22.
Continue reading...US government shutdown and uncertainty about the economy has caused a surge in value of precious metal
Gold futures prices topped $4,000 per ounce for the first time on Tuesday as investors continue to seek safe havens for their money, with the US government essentially shut down and widespread uncertainty around the economy.
As of 9.10am ET, gold futures traded at $4,003 in New York. The going price for New York spot gold rose to $3,960.60 per troy ounce – the standard for measuring precious metals.
Continue reading...Proposed government overhaul of house purchase process looks at shifting some costs from buyers to sellers
Ministers are attempting to cut the time it takes to buy a home by four weeks under new proposals aimed at overhauling the housebuying process.
The UK government will also consult on plans to shift costs from buyers to sellers, including compelling sellers and estate agents to provide buyers with vital information – such as the condition of the home and the scale of any leasehold costs – upfront.
Continue reading...As typical annual dual-fuel charge rises to £1,755, charities warn over record £4.4bn owed to suppliers
Britons preparing to ration energy as Ofgem price cap rises, says charity
What is the energy price cap for Great Britain, and can I cut my bill?
Three and a half years after war plunged Europe into an energy supply crisis, millions of households in Great Britain are braced for another winter of painful gas and electricity bills.
On Wednesday, the quarterly cap on charges will increase again. Despite a fall in wholesale gas prices, the ceiling for a typical annual dual-fuel bill will rise by 2% to £1,755 to help cover the costs of energy policies and network upgrades.
Continue reading...National Energy Action says 58% of households expect to cut heating use as typical annual dual-fuel bill increases to £1,755
‘It’s unsustainable’: homes in Great Britain brace for winter with soaring energy debts
What is the energy price cap for Great Britain, and can I cut my bill?
The majority of British households expect to restrict their home heating this winter to try to keep rising costs in check, according to research released as the price cap that dictates most bills rose again.
The fuel poverty charity National Energy Action said 58% of households told its survey they were likely to trim their energy use, a nine-percentage-point increase from the level in January.
Continue reading...Mayor of Greater Manchester says he would have to be ‘wrenched’ out of city and says he wants UK to rejoin EU. This live blog is closed
In her Today interview Rachel Reeves was asked about a FT report saying she will urge business leaders to highlight the risks of a Reform UK government in her speech later.
The FT say Reeves will tell the Labour conference.
Who is standing up for Britain’s stability. A Labour government that is resolute in cutting interest rates and borrowing or a Reform party that cheered on Liz Truss’ mini-budget?
Who is standing up for Britain’s businesses? A Labour government that is forging a closer relationship with our nearest trading partners or a Reform party that talks Britain down and is hungry to cut us off from the world?
Continue reading...Recruitment report identifies sharp rise in vacancies for warehouse staff and cleaners but large fall in graduate opportunities
Graduates fresh from university will find it difficult to find a job after a 35% drop in hiring by employers over the last year, according to analysis by a leading recruitment data provider.
Hiring freezes at many employers have taken the biggest toll on graduates and meant there is fierce competition for the few jobs left for younger workers.
Continue reading...Recruitment report identifies sharp rise in vacancies for warehouse staff and cleaners but large fall in graduate opportunities
Graduates fresh from university will find it difficult to find a job after a 35% drop in hiring by employers over the last year, according to analysis by a leading recruitment data provider.
Hiring freezes at many employers have taken the biggest toll on graduates and meant there is fierce competition for the few jobs left for younger workers.
Continue reading...Nationwide survey in London, Manchester and Glasgow shows pandemic trends may be reversing as more people return to office
People buying homes in London 500 metres from a tube or railway station pay £42,700 more than buyers of similar properties 1,500 metres away from transport hubs, according to new data.
The figures indicate that despite the reshaping of the housing market sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and dramatic changes to working patterns, the traditional estate agent mantra of “good transport links” continues to wield its power over buyers.
Continue reading...Newcastle building society aims for those with smaller deposits and no help hoping to get on to housing ladder
First-time buyers are being offered the chance to borrow up to 98% of the price of a property – but they cannot get help with their deposit from the bank of mum and dad.
Newcastle building society’s First Step mortgage is designed to help those who have been saving to get on the housing ladder.
Continue reading...Those on typical £200,000 mortgages taken out between October 2020 and February 2023 may see costs jump by £3,996 a year this winter
More than 350,000 households who locked in to low-interest fixed-rate mortgages five years ago are expected to see their costs jump this winter as they reach the end of their deals.
Analysis by the bill management app Nous found almost half of mortgages taken out between October 2020 – as the housing market revived after an initial Covid shock – and February 2023 were five-year fixed-rate deals.
Continue reading...Stalling house prices and shift back to office working are affecting people’s ability to move out of city, say experts
Londoners are buying the lowest share of houses outside the capital in more than a decade as their moving plans are curtailed by a stalling local market and the shift back to office working.
They were behind just 5.3% of house purchases elsewhere in the country in the first seven months of this year, the lowest proportion since 2013, research has found.
Continue reading...A new survey finds less than half of British people now carry a wallet – even though 80% own one
Name: The wallet.
Age: The word originates from the late 14th century, meaning something like knapsack. That’s how Shakespeare uses it in Troilus and Cressida, when Ulysses says: “Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back.”
Continue reading...Experiences of booking for big London gigs underscore the opaque practices of some online platforms
When Danny bought tickets to see Deftones in Crystal Palace Park he was not expecting to be initiated into an apparent subterfuge.
Yet shortly before the south London gig, Viagogo, the resale platform that sold him the tickets, sent him a scanned copy of a passport ID page belonging to a Dutch man he had never met.
Continue reading...