Financial news

• Working from roam: more people logging on from UK airports and railway stations

  29-12-2024 16:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Birmingham airport and Liverpool Street station are among hubs where visits are up, says office providerAfter working from home, now comes working on the go. The post-pandemic surge in hybrid working has prompted increasing numbers of professionals to carry out some work while on the move, logging in from airports and railway stations across the UK, according to research.Footfall at transport hub-based workspaces has soared by 31% on average since 2022, according to figures from International Wo
  
  Read more

• Premium Bonds prize draw results for January 2025 - have you won £1million?

  02-01-2025 11:18 via express.co.uk
  
  The prize fund rate has fallen this month but there are still two £1million jackpot prizes.
  
  Read more

• Pensioners with these 10 health conditions can get £434 DWP payments

  02-01-2025 09:50 via express.co.uk
  
  The benefit, which is usually paid every four weeks, is tax-free and isn't means-tested.
  
  Read more

• £4,278 of freebies and discounts for people on Universal Credit in January

  01-01-2025 19:20 via express.co.uk
  
  Those claiming Universal Credit can get as much as £4,278 of freebies and discounts in January alone.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Russian gas flows to Europe via Ukraine cease as transit agreement expires

  01-01-2025 18:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Ukraine president hails ‘one of Moscow’s biggest defeats’ as deal’s end brings power cuts in breakaway Moldovan regionRussian gas has stopped flowing to Europe via Ukraine, ending a major energy route that goes back to Soviet times and had even survived three years of full-scale war between the two states.Ukraine cut off the transit route after an agreement signed in 2019 expired in the early hours of New Year’s Day, marking a new milestone in Europe weaning itself
  
  Read more

• EDF Energy admits 'this isn't ideal' as it issues New Year’s Day price warning

  01-01-2025 18:33 via express.co.uk
  
  Gas and electricity supplier EDF Energy has issued a £1,738 price warning to take effect on New Year's Day.
  
  Read more

• At best, 2025 will be a year of slow economic recovery. As for the worst? Brace yourselves | Larry Elliott

  01-01-2025 18:10 via theguardian.com
  
  With threats of recession, global fracturing and increasingly angry voters, Labour’s sticky start is unlikely to get any easierThe 2020s have been a dismal decade. Five years ago, when the first reports emerged of a new virus that had its origins in the Chinese city of Wuhan, it was hard to imagine that Covid-19 would have such a devastating impact. Yet within months, the UK was in lockdown, the global economy was in a chokehold, trade flows had dried up and governments were spending freel
  
  Read more

• It’s time to get serious about stamp duty on shares, a terrible advert for London

  01-01-2025 17:46 via theguardian.com
  
  The number of listed companies fleeing can’t be ignored – cutting or abolishing the tax could revive the capital marketLast year was another depressing one for departures from the London stock market. Back in January, it was Flutter heading for the exit. The owner of Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet got itself a secondary listing in the US and said it would quickly convert it into the primary one, which it did in May.When December arrived, we were still on the same theme. Ashtead Gro
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• UK households handed £500 cost of living payments in January with no benefits needed

  01-01-2025 17:18 via express.co.uk
  
  Households across the UK can get up to £500 cost of living payments this January and don't need to be on benefits to claim.
  
  Read more

• HMRC issues £2,200 savings alert with cash on offer to thousands

  01-01-2025 16:54 via express.co.uk
  
  Thousands of people may be unaware they have money to claim.
  
  Read more

• NatWest customers can hit £780 by end of 2025 using savings account method

  01-01-2025 16:50 via express.co.uk
  
  The method aims to get people in the habit of saving money every month.
  
  Read more

• Five money changes in January from HMRC to state pension Winter Fuel Payments

  01-01-2025 16:34 via express.co.uk
  
  There are at least five key money changes to watch out for in 2025, including state pensions, Winter Fuel Payments and HMRC taxes.
  
  Read more

• A year of two halves: how global financial markets fared in 2024

  01-01-2025 16:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Good for equities, good for the US, and good for crypto but the year spawned mixed blessings for the UK, China and EuropeGlobal stock markets climbed in 2024, helped by falling inflation and the US economy’s success in avoiding a hangover from a strong post-pandemic recovery.While Europe and the UK struggled to make headway, the US maintained pole position at the top of the rich nations’ growth league, pushing shares in New York to new record highs. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Bank offers market-leading easy access savings account paying 'boosted' 5% interest

  01-01-2025 15:34 via express.co.uk
  
  Savers can enjoy the boosted interest rate for the first six months.
  
  Read more

• UK consumers warned over offers of money to open betting accounts in their names

  01-01-2025 14:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Specialists raise alarm over companies such as Moneyful promoting ‘easy money’ in exchange for personal detailsConsumers struggling to pay bills over the festive season have been urged not to sign up with companies that offer money in exchange for personal details in order to open multiple betting accounts in their name.Fraud prevention and consumer specialists raised the alarm after the Guardian highlighted one such company, Kent-based Moneyful Ltd, which promoted the chance to make
  
  Read more

• Energy bills: is it worth shopping around for gas and electricity again?

  01-01-2025 14:18 via theguardian.com
  
  New energy price cap of £1,738 for Great Britain comes into force on 1 January but there are ways to find better dealsThe latest energy price cap came into force on 1 January 2025. At £1,738 a year it is 1.2% higher than in the previous three months. The price cap applies to energy providers’ standard tariffs, and the figure is for a typical household buying gas and electricity and paying by direct debit. Most households will pay a different sum as bills are based on usage. Con
  
  Read more

• UK government hires ‘nudge unit’ to help dispel heat pump myths

  01-01-2025 11:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Behaviour experts say misinformation shared in media and by other stakeholders is impeding uptakeExperts from a “nudge unit” have been hired to help ministers fight misinformation about heat pumps to try to encourage take-up of the devices.The appliances run on electricity instead of gas and are regarded as a way of decarbonising homes at scale. A target of installing 600,000 a year by 2028 is part of a drive to achieve Britain’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050. Continue r
  
  Read more

• I love to travel Europe by train. But here's what a joined-up 21st-century network needs | María Ramírez

  01-01-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Passenger numbers are rising, but competing with budget airlines will take work on ticket prices, infrastructure and integrationLast August, I took the train from Trieste to Ljubljana, following a route once used by the Orient Express. Along the way, I admired the Adriatic coast, discovered that Prosecco is a now abandoned railway station dating from 1857, and felt the shift in geography as the train climbed towards Villa Opicina on the Italian-Slovenian border. Crossing into Slovenia now means
  
  Read more

• UK property will be a buyers’ market in 2025, analysts predict

  01-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Cautious optimism’ forecast despite end to key stamp duty relief and fears of higher taxes and interest ratesExperts have predicted a “buyer’s market” for house hunters in the year ahead, giving them greater negotiating power as the mood of the housing market shifts to “cautious optimism”.However, even the more hopeful expectations for 2025 were met with caution, as an important stamp duty relief for first-time buyers was scheduled to end in the spring,
  
  Read more

• MPs say Post Office should not oversee Horizon compensation schemes

  01-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Influential Commons committee calls for government to take action to prevent justice being further delayedThe Post Office needs to be removed from running redress schemes for victims of the Horizon scandal to prevent justice from being further delayed, an influential parliamentary committee has said.In a report published on Wednesday, one year to the day since the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office brought the scandal to widespread public attention, the Commons business and trade committee sa
  
  Read more

• Millions of households in Great Britain face higher energy bills as price cap rises

  01-01-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Average annual bill in England, Scotland and Wales increases by 1.2% to £1,738 from New Year’s DayNine million homes will face higher energy bills from Wednesday as Britain braces for freezing temperatures and snow warnings for the new year period.The average energy bill for households across England, Scotland and Wales will rise by 1.2% from New Year’s Day to £1,738 a year for a typical household after the energy regulator raised its cap on gas and electricity charges. C
  
  Read more

• Great Guinness heist: thieves stole truck carrying 35,000 pints

  31-12-2024 19:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Revealed: lorry with 400 kegs of the Irish stout onboard disappeared from Northamptonshire depot, sources sayIn the days leading up to Christmas, stout-lovers were left reeling from a nationwide shortage of Guinness so severe that some pubs were forced to ration pints of the “black stuff” as taps began to run dry.Supermarkets remain at risk of running out due to customers’ stockpiling, according to reports, while the maker of the popular stout, Diageo, has even sent for back-up
  
  Read more

• Hospital porter sacked for not wearing face mask loses unfair dismissal claim

  31-12-2024 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Graham Fordham refused to wear face covering during Covid pandemic because he said it made him anxiousA hospital porter of 20 years who was sacked after refusing to wear a face mask during the Covid pandemic because it made him anxious has lost his claim for unfair dismissal and discrimination.The claims of Graham Fordham, who was laid off by his employer, Compass Group, after being off work for nine months, were rejected by an employment tribunal, which found the company had acted lawfully. Con
  
  Read more

• Xi says China’s economy on course to expand by 5% despite Trump concerns

  31-12-2024 16:52 via theguardian.com
  
  President seeks to allay fears that world’s second-largest economy will falter in 2025 because of high US tariffsChina’s economy is on course to expand by 5% in 2025, according to its president, Xi Jinping, meeting official growth targets and rebutting concerns that Donald Trump’s incoming US administration will harm Beijing’s prospects in the new year.Using his annual address to the nation, Xi sought to allay fears that the world’s second-largest economy would falt
  
  Read more

• FTSE records strongest annual gain since 2021 as aviation stocks take off

  31-12-2024 16:16 via theguardian.com
  
  UK’s blue-chip stock index posts rise of 5.7% for 2024, despite lagging behind Wall Street in past yearThe UK’s blue-chip stock index has recorded its strongest annual gain since 2021, despite lagging behind Wall Street over the past year.The FTSE 100 index, which tracks the largest companies listed in London, posted a rise of 5.7% for 2024. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• How to get 59 days off in 2025 with only 27 days of annual leave

  31-12-2024 15:42 via express.co.uk
  
  Britons can take advantage of bank holidays in four months in 2025 to extend their annual leave.
  
  Read more

• British Gas, EON, EDF and OVO customers get £148 with one simple change

  31-12-2024 15:18 via express.co.uk
  
  UK households can make big savings by making one simple change.
  
  Read more

• Martin Lewis' MSE issues warning to anyone without a smart meter

  31-12-2024 15:13 via express.co.uk
  
  Money Saving Expert has issued a warning to anyone without a smart meter or a working smart meter.
  
  Read more

• DWP PIP alert as six major changes to benefit to come in from 2025

  31-12-2024 14:44 via express.co.uk
  
  The benefit supports people who live with a long-term health condition or illness.
  
  Read more

• Pension Credit can unlock five more benefits many are 'unaware of' - can you claim?

  31-12-2024 14:16 via express.co.uk
  
  More than a fifth of survey respondents were "unaware" they'd be entitled to more benefits if they qualify for Pension Credit.
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!