Grexit threat fades as Greece records multi-billion euro surplus May 19, 2016 Greece recorded a budget surplus of €2.4bn (£1.8bn) in the first four months of 2016, in the latest sign that the country's bailout programme is on track. The surplus in Greece's central government primary budget smashed its own target of around €500m off the back of lower spending by the Syriza-led administration. Spending was more than €2bn below [...]
Digital challenger bank Tandem smashes crowdfunding target in minutes May 19, 2016 Another digital challenger bank has smashed its crowdfunding target within minutes as investors continue to clamour for an opportunity in fintech – and it hasn’t even launched yet. Tandem has raised £1m in just 20 minutes through crowdfunding platform Seedrs. The fundraising was open to those who pre-registered from 12pm today and having already reached its target, the bank is now [...]
Lamb to the slaughter: Government warns Brexit is a baaaad idea for the UK sheep industry May 19, 2016 The government has warned Britons that Brexit would trigger and economic meltdown, leaving each household £4,300 worse off a year, just as an an "electric shock" sends energy costs up by at least half a billion pounds. Read more: Brexit wouldn't cause a "profound shock" – but would be a positive change of direction for Britain But [...]
Uber drivers accused of over 30 sex attacks on customers in London last year May 19, 2016 Uber drivers in London were accused of 32 sexual attacks in one year, new data has revealed. The figures show one customer was assaulted once in ever 11 days, Freedom of Information data shows. The Metropolitan Police dealt with 154 allegations of sexual assaults that involved taxi, minicab (legally booked or illegally picked up in [...]
What you need to know about the new vaping legislation coming into force on 20 May May 19, 2016 From tomorrow, new legislation will significantly clamp down on and choke off e-cigarettes throughout the European Union. Here's everything you need to know about what will change, where the laws have come from and where you can still vape. What will change tomorrow? The maximum capacity of nicotine in an e-cigarette will now be 20mg, [...]
New domestic and EU laws will stub out menthol cigarettes and 10-packs from tomorrow May 19, 2016 Smokers are in for a bitter cocktail of regulation tomorrow as EU and UK laws come into force, phasing out 10-packs, menthol cigarettes and introducing new plain packaging rules. Manufacturers will be banned from producing 10-packs of cigarettes under the European Union's Tobacco Products Directive, which will be implemented on Friday after the European Court of [...]
Big tobacco companies lose High Court battle over plain packaging May 19, 2016 Big tobacco firms have lost a High Court challenge against new plain packaging rules that will be implemented tomorrow. Under the new rules, all cigarette packets will look similar, with the same green colour, font, size, case and alignment of text on boxes. Manufacturers will have to comply with the new packaging legislation from 20 [...]
Walmart up, Asda down: First quarter figures show supermarket still failing to get to grips with turnaround plan May 19, 2016 Woes continue for UKsupermarket Asda, which posted yet another quarterly fall in sales. However, Walmart's share price soared 9.2 per cent in morning trading on the back of the wider group's success. The figures Asda posted a 5.7 per cent fall in like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to 30 March. The drop comes as parent company Walmart posted [...]
Buy to let stampede not enough to stop mortgage lending from rising in April May 19, 2016 The housing market shows no sign of letting up as mortgage lending came to a post-crisis high for the month of April, despite the buy to let stampede in March. Gross mortgage lending – the amount dished out by lenders to people buying new homes – came in at £18.5bn in April, up 16 per cent over the year [...]