First the Prosecco shortage, and now this! Salmon prices soar May 17, 2016 Summer parties are set to be more expensive this year – salmon prices are on the rise. The price increase, fuelled by reduced production in Chile and Norway, comes shortly after fears of a Prosecco shortage emerged. Chilean salmon prices are currently up by more than 60 per cent year on year after an algal bloom [...]
Premier Foods reveals exceedingly good profit rise May 17, 2016 A profit rise at Premier Foods has pleased investors with shares rising more than three per cent in early trading. The figures The maker of household favourites like Mr Kipling cakes, Oxo and Sharwood's has reported a 3.5 per cent rise pre-tax profits to £86.1m for the year to the start of April, while revenues inched up [...]
Oil prices reach six-month high on latest surge May 17, 2016 Oil prices continued to surge on Tuesday, reaching a six-month high. The price of a barrel of Brent Crude reached just short of $49.50 on Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is also approaching the $50 mark. Read more: Oil prices soar to six-month highs in wake of global supply disruptions Oil prices are [...]
CMA: UK banks must cap overdraft fees, adopt better technology to make switching easier May 17, 2016 Banks will have a maximum monthly charge they can impose on customers for using unarranged overdrafts, and be forced to give greater warnings to people who are about to go into the red to give them time to avoid charges, under new proposals put forward today. The Competition and Markets Authority, which has been carrying [...]
Vodafone raises dividends as it predicts better things to come May 17, 2016 Vodafone's share price rose in early trading this morning, after the telecoms giant reported further declines in its final results for the year – but forecast a turnaround to come in 2017. The figures Group revenues fell three per cent to £40.9bn in the 12 months to 31 March, while group services revenues dropped 3.5 per cent to £37.2bn. Organic revenues [...]
Plumbers ramp up fees on emergency call outs by 117 per cent May 17, 2016 Plumbers ramp up their fees by a staggering 117 per cent if they are called out in an emergency, new research has found. Householders who desperately need a tradesperson to fix a water leak end up paying a “plumber premium” on the normal hourly rate, with some plumbers quoting up to £300+VAT an hour, according to [...]
Job vacancies fall in April due to National Living Wage May 17, 2016 UK companies are hiring less staff due to the National Living Wage, a new report has concluded. The higher minimum wage was introduced on 1 April and means workers aged 25 and above must be paid at least £7.20 an hour, which equates to a pay rise for 1.3 million workers this year, according to [...]
Canary Wharfers’ favourite dating app is taking a leaf out of Grindr’s book May 17, 2016 Keep your eyes peeled for covert meet-ups in Canary Wharf this week. Dating app Happn, hugely popular with suited workers in the Docklands, has unveiled a new feature called "See You There". The app, which lets singletons connect with people they’ve crossed paths with in real life, has launched the feature to actively encourage more meet-ups [...]
The break-up plan: It’s high time to end Britain’s banking oligopoly May 17, 2016 It has been called a near banking "oligopoly". The Big Four banks enjoy such market dominance that they reportedly hold more than three quarters of all active current accounts. According to the FCA, the largest six banks also control 80 per cent of the mortgage market. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) grew sufficiently concerned [...]
Christine Lagarde is wrong: Here are four economic positives from Brexit May 17, 2016 IMF chief Christine Lagarde said last week she has “not seen anything positive” about Brexit in terms of economics. Even for the head of a global body which we might expect would dislike major political disruption to the international order, and a good friend of the chancellor, this shows a remarkable lack of imagination. Suffering [...]