Financial news

• Many happy returns: sustainable startups are turning a profit from your unwanted clothes

  29-12-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Now that half of our clothing purchases are sent back, reverse logistics – or the returns industry – has become big business, with companies finding ways to reduce wasteFor many, the Boxing Day sales are a festive tradition, but last week major retailers from Next to John Lewis announced that their stores would stay closed as they expected customers to do their bargain hunting online.For those who regret their internet purchases – or those who unwrapped yet another hideous Chri
  
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• EU asks X for internal documents about algorithms as it steps up investigation

  17-01-2025 18:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Musk’s company has been accused of manipulating systems to give far-right posts and politicians greater visibilityThe European Commission has asked X to hand over internal documents about its algorithms, as it steps up its investigation into whether Elon Musk’s social media platform has breached EU rules on content moderation.The EU’s executive branch told the company it wanted to see internal documentation about its “recommender system”, which makes content suggest
  
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• FTSE 100 hits record as interest rate hopes push down UK borrowing costs

  17-01-2025 18:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Nearly every share on index rose after fall in value of pound helped multinationals listed in LondonThe UK’s blue-chip stock index has hit a record high, as hopes of interest rate cuts this year drove down government borrowing costs.Almost every share on the FTSE 100 rose on Friday, the fall in the value of the pound bolstering multinationals listed in London and propelling the index above 8,500 points for the first time. Continue reading...
  
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• UK mortgage rules could be eased to increase growth

  17-01-2025 18:23 via theguardian.com
  
  FCA also aims to change law to try to prevent a repeat of mass compensation schemes for consumers such as PPIMortgage rules could be loosened by the City regulator as it comes under government pressure to increase economic growth and home ownership across the UK.The move to “simplify responsible lending” for property purchases is part of a range of proposals put forward by the Financial Conduct Authority in an attempt to prove that the watchdog is not standing in the way of the Labou
  
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• Virgin Media announces price rises in unwelcome message to broadband and TV customers

  17-01-2025 18:03 via express.co.uk
  
  Virgin Media has announced prices will rise for broadband and TV customers with the exact amount changing depending when you signed up.
  
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• BT announces new price rises with exact date in message to all customers

  17-01-2025 17:59 via express.co.uk
  
  BT has announced price rises in a message to all customers including broadband and mobile.
  
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• Two men sentenced in UK over £1m fraud based on stolen banking letters

  17-01-2025 17:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Muhammed Qayyum and Adbdul Khan intercepted post and used it to gain access to victims’ account detailsTwo men have been sentenced after a £1m fraud in which letters from banks were intercepted and used to steal money from people’s accounts.Muhammed Qayyum, 42, and Abdul Khan, 30, worked together on the scheme where victims had their post stolen and then banks were contacted to get the account details changed so funds could be transferred out. Continue reading...
  
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• TikTok hopes for Trump intervention after US supreme court upholds US ban

  17-01-2025 17:39 via theguardian.com
  
  App will become unavailable in US on 19 January, unless Trump directs justice department not to enforce the lawThe US supreme court has issued a ruling upholding a nationwide ban on TikTok unless it sells to an owner in the US. The nine justices voted unanimously in a decision on Friday that sides with the majority of the US Congress and the US Department of Justice that the hugely popular social media app is a threat to US national security.“We conclude that the challenged provisions do n
  
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• ‘There are options’ pension expert shares hope for savers amid inheritance tax change

  17-01-2025 16:49 via express.co.uk
  
  Pensions are losing their inheritance tax-free status, but Brits don't have to fall victim as one expert shared the ‘key first step'.
  
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• Triple lock branded 'unfair' as replacement three-year model proposed

  17-01-2025 16:13 via express.co.uk
  
  Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch spoke this week about changing to a 'means-tested' approach.
  
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• Bank of England delays rules designed to avoid banking crash by a year

  17-01-2025 15:40 via theguardian.com
  
  Donald Trump’s return to White House and Rachel Reeves’s call for regulators to help drive UK growth taken into accountBusiness live – latest updatesThe Bank of England will further delay capital rules meant to prevent another 2008-style crash, as it weighs the impact of Donald Trump’s return to the White House and the chancellor Rachel Reeves’s call for regulators to help drive UK growth.The Bank’s regulatory arm said it was delaying the date by which banks h
  
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• IMF upgrades UK growth forecast and takes swipe at Trump plans

  17-01-2025 15:10 via theguardian.com
  
  UK economy predicted to grow by 1.6% this year as fund warns of potentially destabilising effect of Trump policy• Business live – latest updatesThe International Monetary Fund has upgraded its forecast for UK growth this year in an update to its biannual assessment of the global economy, while taking a swipe at plans by Donald Trump’s incoming US administration for the potentially destabilising effect of large-scale tax cuts, import tariffs and weaker regulations.In a fillip to
  
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• WASPI pensioner blasts Labour Government as she feels 'stabbed in the back'

  17-01-2025 14:59 via express.co.uk
  
  Colleen Webster struggled to get a job and had to live on benefits for many years as she waited for her State Pension.
  
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• Octopus overtakes British Gas as Britain’s largest household energy supplier

  17-01-2025 14:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Company grew share of market to 23.7% of households in Great Britain by end of 2024, says Cornwall Insight Octopus Energy has become Britain’s largest household energy supplier for the first time, toppling British Gas almost four decades after it was privatised under Margaret Thatcher.The energy company grew its share of the market to 23.7% of households in Great Britain by the end of last year, according to latest figures, less than a decade after it was founded by its chief executive, Gr
  
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• Quirky 'side hustle' can earn you up to £665 per job

  17-01-2025 14:19 via express.co.uk
  
  Nearly half of Britons have turned to a job on the side to boost their income, new research shows.
  
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• ‘He’s one of the best’: the economist shaping Rachel Reeves’s growth plans

  17-01-2025 14:13 via theguardian.com
  
  John Van Reenen believes he can help Labour solve the ‘peculiar British problem’ of chronically weak productivityThe economist John Van Reenen lacks the public status of Gordon Brown’s “two Eds” – Balls and Miliband – who ranged across Whitehall in New Labour’s first term, enforcing the Treasury’s will. But ask today’s Labour apparatchiks about Rachel Reeves’s approach to growth, which she will set out in a speech later this month
  
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• Rachel Reeves eyes move to water down mortgage rules

  17-01-2025 13:34 via express.co.uk
  
  A thriving property market and sales offer benefits to the wider economy because of associated spending on furniture and home improvements.
  
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• Martin Lewis says ‘save £1,000’ a year with ‘forgotten utility’

  17-01-2025 13:12 via express.co.uk
  
  Martin Lewis says looking at your water bills, the 'forgotten utility', could save you up to £1,000 a year.
  
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• Zuckerberg is quite the champion of the underrepresented – so long as you’re conservative and live in Texas | Joseph Harker

  17-01-2025 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The Meta boss has ditched his diversity scheme and moved his moderation team. Is he jealous of the attention Musk is getting?Joseph Harker is the Guardian’s senior editor, diversity and developmentWas it just for the PR? That’s what many who care about fairness in the workplace have been asking since Meta, headed by Mark Zuckerberg, announced the scrapping of all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) schemes within the organisation. Days earlier, fast food giant McDonald’s made
  
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• Martin Lewis urges AA, RAC, Sky and EE customers to get money off bills now

  17-01-2025 12:56 via express.co.uk
  
  Martin Lewis revealed that the AA, RAC, EE and Sky are among the best companies to haggle with to get money off their bills.
  
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• England’s renters are about to gain more rights, but until then landlords may exploit weak regulation even more cruelly | Nick Bano

  17-01-2025 11:00 via theguardian.com
  There are fears that landlords will capitalise on the last remaining no-fault evictions, and increase rents before the new scheme comes into effectLast month, I was working with a young homeless family on England’s south coast. The local council had found them a privately rented flat with an agreed rent, and provided a “landlord incentive” payment of £1,500. But, when the council emailed the landlord to confirm the arrangements, he replied to say that he was increasing th
  
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• Apple suspends AI-generated news alert service after BBC complaint

  17-01-2025 10:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Inaccurate notices branded with broadcaster’s logo sent to iPhone users but tech firm works on improvementsApple is suspending an artificial intelligence feature that made inaccurate summaries of news headlines.The tech company received a complaint from the BBC after the AI-generated service issued a news alert branded with the corporation’s logo falsely telling some iPhone users that Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, Brian Thompson, had
  
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• Food stores in Great Britain have worst Christmas since 2013

  17-01-2025 09:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Overall retail sales volumes fall by 0.3% in December amid weak ‘golden quarter’ of tradingBusiness live – latest updatesRetailers in Great Britain experienced a surprise fall in sales volumes last month, as supermarkets and other food stores had their worst Christmas since 2013, according to official figures.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said sales volumes fell 0.3% month on month in December, as the crucial retailing “golden quarter” of trading for the
  
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• Flats for sale in fashionable parts of cities in England – in pictures

  17-01-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From a Grade II-listed former hospital in Lincoln to an apartment in a converted warehouse in London Continue reading...
  
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• Speedier drug trials and better films: how AI is transforming businesses

  17-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From aviation to retail, many industries are already looking to artificial intelligence to improve productivityKeir Starmer this week announced a 50-point plan that aims to give the UK world leader status in artificial intelligence and grow the economy by as much as £47bn a year over a decade.The multibillion-pound investment, which seeks to create a 20-fold increase in the amount of AI computing power under public control by 2030, has been framed as a gamechanger for businesses and public
  
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• ‘Everyone thought it would cause gridlock’: the highway that Seoul turned into a stream

  17-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Cheonggyecheon stream in the South Korean capital has become an attraction – and helps with flood management, fighting air pollution and cooling the cityOn a crisp December morning, office workers and tourists stroll along a tree-lined stream in central Seoul, pausing on stepping stones that cross its flowing waters. It’s difficult to imagine that just over 20 years ago, this was a vast elevated highway carrying 168,000 cars daily through the heart of South Korea’s capital.Cheo
  
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• Debris seen in sky after SpaceX Starship rocket breaks up after launch – video

  17-01-2025 03:58 via theguardian.com
  
  SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its latest test flight, but the spacecraft was destroyed following a thrilling booster catch back at the pad. The spacecraft was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a near loop around the world similar to previous test flightsSpaceX’s Starship test flight ends tragically after spacecraft is destroyed Continue reading...
  
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• Memo for Rachel Reeves: regulators cannot produce growth out of thin air | Nils Pratley

  16-01-2025 19:40 via theguardian.com
  Companies grumble about watchdogs, and there’s often room to improve, but the big stuff is in the hands of government“Every regulator, no matter what sector, has a part to play by tearing down the regulatory barriers that hold back growth,” said Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, after summoning the overseers of the railways, aviation, water and energy industries and more for a pow-wow at No 11. You’d almost think the UK would be transformed into a high-growth paradise if onl
  
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• How we're getting ripped off by hidden inflation – video

  16-01-2025 09:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Why are your favourite products getting smaller but costing the same? From toilet paper rolls to snacks, shrinkflation is the sneaky tactic is affecting many things we buy. In this video, Neelam Tailor looks into how companies hide shrinkflation and what you can do about it.After a holiday season where festive treats like Cadbury’s Christmas selection boxes shrank while prices stayed the same, shrinkflation continues to impact shoppers in 2025. Start the year informed and learn how to spot
  
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• Sunbury-on-Thames sees biggest house price rise in UK in 2024

  16-01-2025 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Surrey town saw 12.5% increase in asking prices last year with rest of UK rising just 1.4%, according to RightmoveIt’s very name conjures images of warmth, and now Sunbury-on-Thames has been named as a property hotspot. According to listings website Rightmove, the Surrey town recorded the biggest rise in asking prices in Great Britain last year, registering a 12.5% leap in the average, from £527,005 to £592,976.The town has long been popular with commuters, as it takes less tha
  
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