Tesco Clubcard and Sainbury’s Nectar schemes do help consumers, regulator says November 27, 2024 A year-long probe into UK supermarkets’ pricing practices has found “very little” evidence that shoppers are being treated unfairly with loyalty programmes such as the Tesco Clubcard scheme and Sainsbury’s Nectar points. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) probe, which has been ongoing since November last year, investigated whether supermarket loyalty schemes cause inflation by faking the [...]
Retail sales fall on Budget uncertainty before run-up to Christmas November 22, 2024 Retail sales fell by almost one per cent last month as cash-strapped Brits held back big ticket purchases amid a cloud of Budget uncertainty. The Office for National Statistics said this morning they dropped by 0.7 per cent in October, following a 0.1 per cent rise the previous month, which had been revised down from [...]
Homeowners face massive inheritance tax hike after Budget hit November 21, 2024 London homeowners are going to be hit with an eye-watering 1,840 per cent increase in inheritance tax (IHT) liability, as a direct result of Rachel Reeves’ Budget changes, it has been calculated. A single homeowner in the capital with an averaged priced home of £525,586, with the same amount in their pension, will have a [...]
Inflation surprise scuppers hope of Christmas interest rate cut November 20, 2024 A bigger than expected rise in inflation last month has all but scuppered hopes of a cut to interest rates by the Bank of England in December. While economists had been expecting rising energy prices to push inflation beyond the Bank of England’s two per cent target last month, a sharper than expected lift in [...]
Lidl boss warns retailers are ‘reeling’ after Budget tax raid November 20, 2024 The boss of budget supermarket Lidl has warned retailers are “reeling” following Labour’s tax raid in the Autumn Budget. The German supermarket’s UK boss Ryan McDonnell said the discount brand was staring down the barrel of “tens of millions of pounds” in extra costs. This comes after the Chancellor unveiled a £25.7bn tax-raising package, with [...]
Surging housing costs push inflation back above Bank of England target November 20, 2024 Inflation has risen back above the Bank of England’s two per cent target, the latest data has shown today. According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) consumer price inflation (CPI) hit 2.3 per cent in October. The figure came in above economists projections. Economists had forecast CPI to come in [...]
Reynolds and economists warn of trade impact of US tariffs November 19, 2024 The business secretary has warned of a “significant moment for global trade” and predicted a “difficult conversation” with the US lies ahead, as economists predict a £20bn blow to Britain’s economy from Donald Trump’s tariff plans. Jonathan Reynolds warned the UK should avoid “speculating on how we should respond before there is something to respond [...]
Trump’s victory: Why Americans chose the man who impoverished them November 14, 2024 US voters chose to elect a President who made them materially poorer not richer. Sam Fowles investigates why.
US inflation picks up as Fed considers pace of interest rate cuts November 13, 2024 US inflation increased on the back of stubborn housing costs, new figures show, strengthening the case for a gradual approach to cutting interest rates. The consumer price index increased to 2.6 per cent in October, according to figures from the Bureau of Labour Statistics, up from 2.4 per cent the month before but in line [...]
Just Eat shares spike after it announces Grubhub sale November 13, 2024 Delivery platform Just Eat has agreed to sell its American arm, Grubhub, to the US takeaway startup Wonder. Shares in Just Eat rose 19 per cent in early trades on the news. Just Eat sold the platform for $650m (£500m), a 90 per cent discount on the $7bn it paid in 2021—or, adjusting for inflation, [...]