15m UK households brace for soaring energy bills, which will rise by £139 August 6, 2021 Energy bills for 15 million households will increase by at least £139 from October because of a rise in wholesale energy prices, regulator Ofgem has said. Watchdog Ofgem said today that energy customers on default tariffs paying by direct debit will see the sharpest jump in prices since the cap was introduced, taking average energy [...]
Mexico headed for travel red list but India turns amber as hotel quarantine rises to £3,700 per couple August 5, 2021 Any couples travelling in Mexico will now see their holiday get whole lot more expensive: The tourist hotspot will move to the UK’s travel red list from 4am Sunday, meaning any Brits arriving back in England must pay for a 10-day hotel quarantine which will rise to £3,700 per couple. The UK Government announced the [...]
Wagatha Christie: Jamie’s phone could be probed in Rebekah Vardy’s libel battle with Coleen Rooney August 4, 2021 Footballer Jamie Vardy’s phone may now be inspected as part of his wife Rebekah’s libel battle with Coleen Rooney, a judge at the High Court has ruled. Rooney accused Vardy of leaking “false stories” about her private life in October 2019 after carrying out a months-long “sting operation”. The wife of former England star Wayne [...]
UK weighs up blocking £29bn Arm takeover by Nvidia due to potential risks to national security August 3, 2021 The UK is considering blocking US chip company Nvidia buying tech darling Arm for £29bn due to potential risks to national security, according to reports. According to Bloomberg, a Government-ordered report into the sale, delivered in late July from the CMA, contains worrying implications for national security and now Number 10 is currently inclined to reject [...]
London Stock Exchange traders hit by third Refinitiv outage today August 2, 2021 London Stock Exchange’s Refinitiv news and data platform Eikon experienced an outage of several hours today, the company said, its third such glitch this year. The company reported similar issues in April and June. An LSEG customer support representative said the issue which started mid-afternoon had mostly affected users in Asia and the Europe, Middle [...]
Boris Johnson tells Iran to ‘face up to consequences’ of its drone attack August 2, 2021 Boris Johnson has called for Iran to “face up to the consequences” of its drone attack on an oil tanker that killed two people. It comes after Iran’s ambassador to the UK was today summoned to the Foreign Office in the wake of the attack, which saw a British national killed. The UK has said [...]
UK Government won’t insist workers are jabbed to return to office, but rules out Covid passports July 30, 2021 Workers being double-jabbed before returning to the office is a “good idea” but will not be a legal requirement, Grant Shapps said, and he today ruled out Covid passports for pubs and shops. The Transport Secretary said some companies will require their staff to be fully vaccinated but it won’t become law. Shapps said that [...]
Two-tiered recovery? High Streets struggle as one-in-seven shops sit vacant July 30, 2021 A wave of administrations, closures and downsizing has decimated the UK high street, with new figures out this morning showing one in seven shops are sitting empty – and the problem is getting worse. In the second quarter of 2021, the overall vacancy rate increased to 14.5 per cent across the UK, from 14.1 per [...]
Lookers shares drive higher as car dealer upgrades profit guidance July 29, 2021 Shares in car dealership chain Lookers jumped eight per cent this morning after the company told investors it was expecting a higher full year profit. Lookers said in a first half trading update that underlying profit before tax in six months to 30 June is now expected to be approximately £50m, compared to a £36.1m [...]
Staffline shares pop as recruiter’s profits set to rise despite lorry drive shortages July 28, 2021 Shares in recruiter Staffline popped nearly 10 per cent this morning after it predicted a rise in gross profits for the half year. Revenue for first half is expected to be £450.7m, up from £430.3 million for the same period last year, up 4.7 per cent. Gross profit expected to be £39m, up 14 per [...]
