News Tag: competition
March 8, 2010
Virgin Money, which is set to launch as a retail bank later this year, has announced it will charge a monthly fee for current account customers.
However, the company said the fees will be low and will replace high overdraft charges.
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Money recently acquired regional bank Church House Trust.
Virgin Money, which was unsuccessful in ...
Virgin Money to become first bank to charge upfront fees
by Kay Murchie
February 19, 2010
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is recommending a "shake-up" of the way in which most Britons sell their homes, including new legislation that encourages innovation in the estate agency market.
Following a study of the home-buying and selling process, the watchdog concludes: "The housing market remains dominated by traditional estate agents with weak competition between them on price".
It wants to ...
Watchdog recommends “shake-up” of estate agency market
by Gill Montia
February 3, 2010
The planned merger between mobile phone giants, T-Mobile UK and Orange, is set to be investigated by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
The OFT said the merger "threatens significantly to affect competition in mobile telecommunications in the UK".
At the time of the proposed merger in September, the two phone giants said a deal would create the UK’s largest mobile phone ...
Orange and T-Mobile merger under threat
by Kay Murchie
January 8, 2010
Alliance & Leicester (A&L) replaced HSBC as the UK's most consistently competitive mortgage lender during the final quarter of 2009.
According to research by mortgage search software firm, Evaluate Technologies, A&L surged ahead despite having failed to register any of its home loans in best buy tables during the previous quarter.
The lender, which is to be rebranded Santander later this year, managed ...
A&L most consistently competitive mortgage lender
by Gill Montia
Virgin Money buys regional bank Church House Trust
by Kay Murchie
November 25, 2009
Low-cost airline bmi has announced plans to axe around 600 jobs as part of a restructuring plan.
The carrier, like many others around the world, has been hit by a slump in demand, higher fuel prices and increased competition.
The economic downturn has meant many airlines have been forced out of business as fewer people are travelling by air.
The restructure at bmi will see ...
bmi plans 600 job losses
by Kay Murchie
November 23, 2009
WHSmith has abandoned talks with bookshop chain Borders, which is set to see Borders UK enter administration unless a sale is imminent.
Borders is understood to not have sufficient cash to see it through to Christmas as it has suffered amid increased competition from supermarkets and online retailers, such as Amazon.
As a result, the chain has been in talks with ...
WHSmith walks away from Borders deal
by Kay Murchie
November 3, 2009
A major overhaul of the UK banking industry has been confirmed by the Treasury today with plans for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group to sell off bank branches.
The shake-up comes as the Government hopes to create more competition within the industry.
The Government holds a 70% stake in RBS and a 43% stake in Lloyds after last autumn’s ...
Treasury confirms RBS and Lloyds sell-offs
by Kay Murchie
November 1, 2009
Last week, it was announced that nationalised Northern Rock is to be split into two, after receiving the necessary approval from the European Union (EU).
Meanwhile this weekend, it has been confirmed by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, that Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) are to broken up.
The new banks will be standard retail banks, ...
Banking sector overhaul sees Lloyds and RBS broken up
by Kay Murchie
October 28, 2009
UK airports operator BAA has reported a pre-tax loss of £784.7 million for the first nine months of the year, compared with a £519 million loss a year earlier.
The group said it had lost £225 million on Gatwick Airport, which it confirmed it had sold last week for £1.51 billion. However, today BAA said that it had valued the airport for ...
Gatwick airport sale hits BAA
by Kay Murchie
EU set to approve Northern Rock split
by Kay Murchie
October 21, 2009
BAA has today confirmed the sale of Gatwick airport to Global Infrastructure Partners for £1.51 billion.
The sale of the airport is due to be finalised at the end of the year - subject to approval by the European Union.
The sale marks the end of BAA's 40-year monopoly of London's three main airports - Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
However, the £1.51 billion ...
BAA confirms sale of Gatwick airport
by Kay Murchie
October 6, 2009
Evidence that the UK mortgage market is stabilising has emerged from Moneyfacts.co.uk, which has noted that lenders have been extending the shelf lives of their various offerings in recent weeks.
According to the financial website, the average mortgage product was available for 24 working days in September, up from 18 working days in August, and the longest period since October ...
Lenders extend shelf lives of mortgage offerings
by Gill Montia
August 27, 2009
Moneyfacts.co.uk has revealed that the price contest between supermarkets and banks is hotting up.
According to the comparison site, supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsbury's have both increased their savings account interest rates and also offer competitive rates on credit cards, loans and life assurance.
The Tesco savings account is one of the best performing with an interest rate of 3% on its ...
Tesco and Sainsbury’s increase rates for savers
by Kay Murchie
December 8, 2008
Estate agents that have so far survived the housing market downturn can look forward to a review of the market by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), in 2009.
The watchdog has promised to take a comprehensive look at the sector and will be involving both consumer groups and industry bodies.
In a similar study completed in 2004, the OFT ...
OFT to check out competition among estate agents
by Gill Montia
November 26, 2008
In a move that could be seen as a snub to the Government, state-owned Northern Rock has increased rates on some of its most attractive mortgage deals.
For new borrowers, the bank's one-year fixed mortgage rate has increased from 3.99% to 4.19%.
Meanwhile, rates on the lender's two and five-year fixed-rate home loans have risen by up to 0.3%, potentially adding £40 a month ...
Northern Rock raises fixed-rates
by Gill Montia
August 6, 2008
This week has seen a round of rate cuts from High Street lenders, as competition appears to be returning to the market.
Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest have announced interest rate cuts of at least 0.10% on their new fixed and tracker mortgages, while rates on some other deals are being reduced by up to 0.30%.
Abbey is making itself attractive to new borrowers ...
Rate cut round up
by Gill Montia
May 27, 2008
HomesMatter has requested an Office of Fair Trading investigation into Rightmove's decision not to allow it to advertise on the property portal.
The recently established estate agency charges a flat fee of £899 plus VAT to sell a property, regardless of its value.
According to HomesMatter, Rightmove has declined the business because the estate agency fees will be substantially less than ...
HomesMatter locks horns with Rightmove over lower fees
by Gill Montia
