Ofcom cracks down on inflation-linked price hikes January 17, 2025 Telecoms providers must set out upfront price rises that will apply to customer contracts to protect consumers from uncertain and volatile inflation. From today, Ofcom will require any price rises linked to future inflation to be clearly written into a customer’s contract at the point of sale. Many leading phone, TV and broadband firms already [...]
‘Student Tax’ to hit graduates on minimum wage by April January 16, 2025 Thousands of graduates will find themselves stranded in their home town, unable to root out professional opportunities, when April’s hike in the minimum wage drags them into the threshold of student loan repayments, a top financial services firm has warned. The government announced an above inflation rise in the National Living Wage of 5.6 per [...]
Sadiq Khan to hike his share of London council tax bills January 16, 2025 Sir Sadiq Khan is set to hike Londoners’ average council tax bills by almost £19 a year – with City Hall’s share of the yearly total reaching almost £500. The London mayor is planning to increase his average ‘precept’ – or the amount he adds onto residents’ bills from their local councils – by four [...]
UK economy: Interest rate cut a ‘certainty’ in February after weak data January 16, 2025 Economists expect the Bank of England to back a third rate cut next month after two important pieces of economic data were published this week.
Pressure on Reeves after more sluggish growth – but it’s not all doom and gloom January 16, 2025 Rachel Reeves’ handling of the UK economy is likely to come under further scrutiny after the publication of another set of lacklustre GDP figures. The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of last year. It is now on track to be stagnant in the second half, having grown [...]
Rachel Reeves – “Gilty” as charged January 16, 2025 The verdict is in. The Gilt market has found the Chancellor Rachel Reeves guilty of reckless endangerment of the country’s finances. A large electoral majority led her to think the world would happily finance what she described in her Mais Lecture as the “smart and strategic state”. Sticking to fiscal rules is for nought if [...]
Domino’s Pizza gobbles up sales in Central Europe January 16, 2025 Increased hunger for pizza across Poland and Croatia helped sales jump at the owner of Domino’s in both European countries, according to new figures. DP Poland, which runs Domino’s Pizza stores and restaurants across Poland and Croatia, has racked up system sales of £55.4m for 2024 after being able to attract new customers. In Poland, [...]
Robot hoovers on the menu as Premier Inn owner counts cost of Budget January 16, 2025 Whitbread, the hospitality chain which owns Premier Inn, could see UK costs increase by more than £100m following the Autumn Budget. In a statement on the London Stock Exchange, the firm warned of gross UK cost inflation of between five and six per cent on a £1.7bn cost base, when factoring in the impact of [...]
UK economy grows just 0.1 per cent following Budget January 16, 2025 Economic momentum has ground to a halt since Labour took office while business confidence has also fallen sharply, particularly in the wake of October's Budget.
Poundland adds more items to its offering – but do customers see the value? January 16, 2025 Yougov’s chief executive Steve Hatch takes a closer look at the data behind the biggest stories in business. Here, he searches for value in Poundland. Poundland announced an increase in the number of £1 products it offers from 1,500 to 2,400 on 6 January 2025, having cut the price of basics such as milk, bread, [...]