Known as “Mega Monday”, today is expected to be the busiest internet shopping day of the year with online shoppers expecting to spend £22 million an hour – according to shopping comparison website Kelkoo. A staggering £537 million is expected to spent today as the majority of British consumers will have just received their final [...]
A survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC)/KPMG has today revealed a rise in November retail sales of an annual rate of 1.8%. However, it was much less than the 3.8% annual growth seen the previous month as the figures were dragged down by falling food price inflation. Furthermore, the milder weather meant sales of [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is seen as a barometer of British retailing, has experienced its biggest ever weekly sales figures despite the recession. In the week to December 5, the chain reported sales of £102.4 million – up 13.8% on the same week a year earlier and nearly £1 million more than the previous [...]
Marks and Spencer (M&S) has revealed it is considering establishing an online food shopping service. The retailing giant has been toying with the idea for some time but opted out due to the costs associated with setting up the service. However, Steve Rowe, the company’s director of retail, told City analysts in London yesterday: “Food [...]
Online shopping could give the UK’s economy the boost it needs to climb out of recession, according to a new report. PayPal UK’s Online Retail Report estimates that the amount Brits spend online is set to double by the end of 2011, from £8.9 billion per year to £21.3 billion. During 2011, consumers will spend [...]
Many Brits, conscious of a lighter wallet since the onset of the credit crunch, are choosing to haggle in high street stores. Nearly three quarters of those polled in a uSwitch.com survey said they have started haggling for consumer goods. One in ten (9%) will always haggle wherever they are making a purchase, whilst the [...]
The UK is changing its shopping habits as a coping mechanism during the credit crunch, new research has revealed. A survey by Abbey Credit Cards found that Brits are increasingly searching for bargain deals to make every pound go as far as possible. More than a third of shoppers now check the price of an [...]
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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