From pensions panic and Barclays bungles to Brexit blues and half pint horrors: Here’s what got us talking this week March 4, 2016 There was a hush hush high profile wedding. There were some fancy cars. And there was the disappointing discovery that having a job actually costs you money. Here's what got us talking 1) Pensions panic Retirees at both ends of the spectrum continued to fret over changes to their pension scheme. In one corner, we [...]
Consumer goods groups challenge financials to become biggest sector in FTSE 100 as Barclays, HSBC, RBS and Standard Chartered share prices plummet year-to-date March 3, 2016 Consumer goods groups are challenging the dominance of financial firms in the FTSE 100 for the first time in a decade. The two sectors are neck-and-neck, with consumer goods actually overtaking financials briefly during February, rising to account for 20.85 per cent of the FTSE 100, compared with 20.61 per cent, before slipping back down again. [...]
MWC 2016 roundup: the biggest new phones announced at this year’s Mobile World Congress February 24, 2016 LG G5 LG’s new flagship handset is one of the first modular designs to market, allowing you to remove part of the phone to snap on new accessories to upgrade or add functionality. So far LG has shown the G5 customised with a camera grip – which adds additional battery capacity as well as shutter [...]
Focus On Shadwell: Good transport and pubs mean promising times ahead in East London February 23, 2016 St Chad – after whom east London’s Chadwelle, now known as Shadwell, is named – is jokingly referred to as the patron saint of botched elections. This modern nickname was applied after the 2000 US election, when irregular “chads” (punched holes) may have defaced enough ballots cost Al Gore the 2000 US election. Chad is [...]
Mobile World Congress 2016: Google’s guide to getting your business noticed on smartphone February 19, 2016 On Monday, marketers will flock to Barcelona for the annual Mobile World Congress – four days of presentations, networking and plenty of sangria. But what most will be looking for is how to convince prospective customers to engage with their brand on the most intimate device we own. Smartphones have become so ingrained in our lives that for [...]
Innovative Finance Isa: A guide to the new product and what it means for investors February 18, 2016 In less than two months, the Innovative Finance Isa will be launched, enabling savers to hold peer-to-peer (P2P) loans within the tax efficient wrapper. Hailed as the moment the P2P industry will chassé into the mainstream, research suggests it’ll also be popular with savers. According to research by P2P lending platform ThinCats, one in four [...]
It’s official: Twitter’s getting Gifs with search support for web, iOS and Android from Giphy and Riffsy February 17, 2016 Twitter is adding a new feature which will likely please most of the internet this time: gif support. Users will be able to search for and add gifs to their tweets directly in Twitter. "Whenever you're composing a tweet or direct message, you can search and browse the gif library. So if you're looking for the [...]
Millennials told they should be saving £800 a month if they want a £30,000 a year income when they retire; millennials react with Kanye jokes and cat gifs February 16, 2016 Millennials are having a hard enough time saving up for a deposit on a house: now they're being told they should be putting £800 aside each month for their retirement. That's the amount that Rebecca Taylor, director at the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments, has said 25-year olds should be averaging every month for the [...]
Sunderland and England winger Adam Johnson sacked after admitting child sex charge February 11, 2016 England winger Adam Johnson was last night sacked by Sunderland after his plea of guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child and one charge of grooming. Blacks Cats boss Sam Allardyce had earlier confirmed that Johnson would not be involved in the club’s Premier League fixture against Manchester United at the Stadium [...]
Global turmoil? Four things the Bank of England could still do if we were plunged back into a financial crisis February 11, 2016 UK stocks have hit a three-year low, the economy has lost steam, and concerns are growing that, should things go pear-shaped, interest rates are so low the Bank of England has run out of ammunition. Whatever your view on whether we're about to be plunged back into the misery of a full blown financial crisis, here's [...]