US retail sales grew unexpectedly in February by 0.3% after economists had predicted a fall of 0.2% due to bad weather, which gripped most of the country during part of the month. According to the Commerce Department, the rise is the biggest since November, driven by hopes that economic recovery is gaining momentum. The news [...]
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) today reported the heavy snowfall earlier in the year cost insurers £650 million in weather-related claims. Between December 18 and January 13, when snow and plummeting temperatures swept the country, there were around 335,000 claims, said the ABI. The majority of the claims came from motorists as a result [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed UK industrial output unexpectedly fell in January – primarily due to the cold weather during the month. According to the ONS, output fell by 0.4% in January compared with the previous month and represented the largest monthly fall since August. Analysts had expected a 0.3% rise. However, [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has revealed a fall in sales of previously owned homes in the US for the month of January, suggesting the extension of the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers is having little appeal. The industry body said sales agreements fell 7.6% in January compared with December and the index [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed a fall in sales of new homes in the US for the month of January – the third consecutive month that sales have fallen. According to the Commerce Department, new single-family home sales dived by 11.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 306,000 units – the lowest since [...]
As expected, the snowy and icy conditions experienced in the UK in January has resulted in a fall in retail sales. The severe wintry weather drove shoppers away from the High Street and resulted in a 1.8% fall in retail sales – the sharpest drop in 18 months. The official figures, from the Office for [...]
The CBI has today reported a sharp fall in retail sales for the month of January due, in part, to the severe wintry weather and the rise in VAT which has hit consumer demand. According to the lobby group’s monthly survey (between January 4 and 15), more than a quarter (28%) of retailers said sales [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is seen as a barometer of British retailing, today announced that takings recovered slightly in the week to 16 January compared with the previous week when heavy snowfall affected much of the country. In the week to 16 January, sales were up 11.1% on the same period a year ago. [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is seen as a barometer of British retailing, today announced that takings dived by almost 30% in the week to 9 January compared with the same week a year ago as a result of the severe weather that has hit the UK. The results have revealed the impact that the [...]
Research company Synovate has revealed that the recent heavy snowfall is having a major affect on the number of people visiting the High Street. The UK has been hit by the worst weather in 30 years and on Sunday 10 January, overall shopper numbers in non-food stores in the UK were down 14% compared with [...]
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG’s retail sales monitor has revealed a rise in UK retail sales in June, primarily due to the good weather during the month. Like-for-like sales rose 1.4% last month compared with June 2008 with non-food sales over the three months to June experiencing their best performance since October last [...]
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has announced today that the British High Street saw a flurry of shoppers in April, as a result of the sunshine. The BRC said like-for-like sales, which excludes sales from new shops, rose by 4.6% in April, compared with the same month last year. However, the BRC cautions that a [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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