Property website, Rightmove, has today reported a further rise in asking prices for the month of October. According to Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales surged 2.8% in October on a monthly basis and were 1.2% higher compared with this time last year. This compares with a 0.7% monthly increase and [...]
Banking giant HSBC has today announced plans to shed 25,000 jobs by 2013 after reporting a rise in half-year profits. The bank, which is Europe’s largest, has already unveiled 5,000 job cuts, 700 of which are in the UK. HSBC has a global workforce of 335,000 worldwide, with 52,000 in the UK. It said the [...]
Supermarket giant Tesco has today reported a fall in UK like-for-like sales but said overseas sales remained strong. British shoppers continue to rein in their spending due to economic uncertainty and Government spending cuts which led to a fall of 0.1% in sales for the 12 week period to 28 May – worse than the [...]
Banking giant Barclays is reducing headcount further – this time at its credit card arm, Barclaycard. The announcement comes just a week after the bank said it will axe 1,000 jobs as it ceases to offer financial planning advice in its branches. Meanwhile, the job losses within the credit card division are the result of [...]
Supermarket giant Tesco today announced like-for-like sales, excluding petrol, grew by just 0.6% in the six week period to 8 January compared with a year earlier. The figures were worse than expected for the Christmas period and the company blamed the heavy snowfall which gripped most of the country during the build up to the [...]
The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) December industrial trends survey today revealed further good news for the sector after overseas demand surged to a 15-year high. The pound gained following the news which revealed firms experiencing above normal demand from overseas was 4% – a significant improvement on the previous month’s -7% and the highest [...]
Approximately 13,000 British holidaymakers are stranded abroad after budget travel firm Kiss Flights has collapsed. The firm, which operated flights to Greece, Egypt, Turkey and the Canary Islands, is the latest in a long line of travel firms that have recently gone bust. The collapse has meant the travel plans of 60,000 Britons are ruined [...]
Brits travelling abroad last year wasted £122 million on unnecessary foreign exchange fees when using their credit cards, according to research by Santander. Overseas holidaymakers spent £1.5 billion on credit cards last year, an average of £600 per traveller. Many credit card providers charge foreign exchange fees of up 2.75%, Santander revealed, equivalent to £16.50 [...]
The world’s biggest supermarket, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, has described the current sales environment as “difficult”. The retailing giant said sales were down 0.4% in the three months to 31 October at stores open for more than 12 months. US consumers continue to rein in their spending as the economy continues to see a rise in [...]
Consumer advice magazine Which? has warned Brits planning a holiday overseas to watch out for hidden charges on online currency exchange services. Competitive exchange rates offered by online providers may be tempting, Which? said, but additional charges such as credit card transaction fees and delivery fees can make online currency services more expensive than the [...]
A new international money transfer service launched this week by the Post Office aims to make overseas money transfers “significantly easier”. The Post Office Overseas Property Money Transfer provides protection against fluctuating currencies by enabling customers to fix the exchange rate on money transfers for up to 12 months. Money is exchanged at competitive rates [...]
As the recession continues through the summer many British holidaymakers are choosing to stay in the UK rather than travel overseas. Research by insurance provider LV= found that Brits choosing UK holidays are planning to save an average £247 per person by ditching their trip abroad. A quarter of the working population will take their [...]
A new guide published this week advises credit card holders on using their card overseas. According to UK Cards Association APACS, over 3% of credit card payments by Brits are made overseas. The APACS guide provides advice for holidaymakers and business travellers on the best places to withdraw cash abroad and on keeping card details [...]
Motorists planning to drive overseas this summer should contact their car insurance provider before setting off, uSwitch.com has warned. Research by the price comparison site found that one in five (22%) drivers believe their car insurance provides the same cover abroad as it does in the UK. A similar number (18%) think that travel insurance [...]
International travellers are best to opt for the Post Office Platinum credit card, according to research by moneysupermarket.com. Debit card holders, meanwhile, are advised to choose the Nationwide FlexAccount. The price comparison website said the Post Office’s card offers free purchase protection, no overseas charges, and zero percent on purchases for three months. “This is [...]
British motorists considering driving overseas this year must ensure they are adequately insured. The price comparison site, moneysupermarket.com, is urging drivers to look at their car insurance policies before thinking about driving abroad. 39% of motorists are unaware their motor insurance may be automatically downgraded from comprehensive to third party when driving in Europe, according [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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