Ho-ho-how much? This is the energy cost of cooking Christmas dinner, leaving the lights on and working from home December 20, 2016 We're all aware that the festive season puts a strain on our wallets, but thanks to new research you can be rest assured it puts added pressure on your energy bills too. The average household can spend up to £50 extra on gas and electricity in December as parties get underway, turkeys get basted and [...]
Britons have lost their taste for these favourites of Christmas past December 20, 2016 Christmas 2016 may have been marked by the rise of craft beer and gin advent calendars (yes, really), and a season when we cracked open £2bn worth of bubbly, but spare a thought for the traditional tipples we're leaving behind. Despite being a Christmas staple, Britons have lost their taste for the fortified wines of port, sherry and vermouth, as [...]
Kier Group drives ahead with £140m Highways England maintenance contract win December 20, 2016 FTSE 250-listed construction and engineering firm Kier Group has won a £140m contract to repair and maintain services on a section of the Highways England network. The 15-year contract will commence on 1 April next year and covers a section of road called Area 13, which is located in Cumbria and North Lancashire. Kier will provide [...]
Lloyds Banking Group snaps up Bank of America’s MBNA credit card firm for £1.9bn in first acquisition since financial crisis December 20, 2016 Lloyds Banking Group has beaten off other bidders to snap up Bank of America's UK credit card company MBNA for £1.9bn, in its first acquisition since it was bailed out by taxpayers in 2008. The UK lender emerged as the frontrunner to take over MBNA, which holds assets of £7bn, in late November. The takeover is a [...]
Berlin: 12 people have died and 48 are injured after a truck “deliberately” drove into a Christmas market December 20, 2016 Berlin police said 12 people have died and 48 injured after a truck ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market in the heart of west Berlin last night. Investigators assume the driver that ploughed into the market did so deliberately and said the incident was a "probable terrorist attack". "Our investigators assume that the truck [...]
Households could start 2017 hundreds of pounds worse off by not switching deals before dozens come to an end December 19, 2016 UK households could be starting 2017 more than £250 worse off when dozens of fixed dual fuel energy tariffs finish at the end of this month, GoCompare Energy has warned. At the end of the month, 35 fixed dual gas and electricity tariffs from some of the country's leading suppliers are due to terminate, 33 of [...]
Hurricane Energy’s share price storms higher after group announces “significant” North Sea oil find December 19, 2016 Hurricane Energy's share price has stormed more than 13 per cent higher this morning after the group announced it had made a "significant" find at its North Sea Lincoln well. Drilling has revealed the oil column's estimated 250m barrels of recoverable oil is a "conservative" forecast, Hurricane said today. The well is close to the company's [...]
Drax gets go-ahead to convert unit of Yorkshire power plant from coal to biomass December 19, 2016 The European Commission has given the go-ahead for UK power company Drax to convert a unit of its sprawling Yorkshire power station from coal to biomass. EU antitrust regulators said the conversion will further environmental and energy targets. An in-depth investigation was launched in January to assess whether proposer state aid to assist the conversion would lead [...]
Harvard and University of California psychiatry professors weigh in on President-elect Donald Trump’s ability to lead December 19, 2016 President-elect Donald Trump may not be short of critics a month before his inauguration, and now it seems the medical community is weighing in on his leadership style too. Three leading professors of psychiatry have warned that Trump's "grandiosity" and "hypersensitivity" to criticism deserve a psychiatric evaluation (as opposed to, say, angry tweets and Saturday Night Live [...]
Britons set to get stingier this Christmas as the average spend per person on presents falls by £50 December 19, 2016 If you already thought 2016 had been a less-than-ideal year, we have some more bad news for you – and this time it's about your Christmas presents. As the curse of 2016 carries on working its magic, the average spend on gifts per person for friends and family has declined by 11 per cent this [...]
