British Gas agrees to pay £1m in compensation in latest mis-selling case to hit the industry July 5, 2014 British Gas will pay £1m in compensation after admitting to misleading customers by making exaggerated promises on its energy bill savings, industry regulator Ofgem has announced. The UK's largest energy supplier mis-sold deals to customers at Sainsbury's supermarkets nationwide and at the Westfield shopping centre in London's Shepherd's Bush in a two year period from [...]
Now RBS caps UK mortgages June 3, 2014 RBS yesterday joined Lloyds in cutting back mortgage lending for the most expensive houses, in the latest sign that banks are worried that the market could overheat. The move came as Nationwide reported house prices are at a record high, while ex-City watchdog boss Lord Turner said he is worried about the towering pile of [...]
London Report: UK data to show economy is on path to recovery June 2, 2014 ECONOMIC indicators out this week are expected to show the UK recovery continuing at a healthy pace. PMI survey data for services, manufacturing and construction are likely to show strong growth throughout May. Blerina Uruci, of Barclays, expects services PMI to hit 60 in May, up from 58.7 and well above the 50 figure which [...]
Sainsbury’s to expand clothing sales by trialling online launch June 9, 2014 Sainsbury is to take on its high street and supermarket rivals by selling its clothing brand Tu online for the first time. The retailer said yesterday that it will pilot selling clothing to around 200 “invited” customers in the Midlands in August, which if successful would then be rolled out nationwide. It comes after people [...]
Employment growth in UK’s construction sector hits all-time high July 2, 2014 The UK's construction sector is speeding up again this June, with activity growing at its fastest pace in four months. According to purchasing managers' index (PMI) data from Markit, the sector is expanding more ferociously than first estimated, with a headline reading of 62.6. Any number above 50 implies that activity in the sector is [...]
London house prices: Growth slumps July 25, 2014 The boom might be ending: London House Prices have stagnated in July, recording their first almost growth-free month since December 2012. According to data from Hometrack – which is a survey rather than indexed data – prices in the capital were unchanged at zero per cent for July, down from 0.5 per cent in June and 0.6 per cent [...]
Smartphone wars go galactic at Heathrow May 27, 2014 THE SMARTPHONE industry is well-known for its tit-for-tat behaviour. When they’re not battling in courts over patents, phone-makers use advertising to take pot-shots at their rivals. Samsung once built an entire fake Apple store to use for filming in its mockery of Apple. A month ago on Earth Day, Apple commissioned a nationwide ad saying, [...]
Uber surge pricing curbed by New York attorney general July 8, 2014 Uber will no longer apply surge pricing to its service during emergencies and other extreme events to avoid falling foul of price gouging laws in the US. The controversial taxi service hikes fares in line with higher demand, but doing so during incidents such as a hurricane Sandy caused lawmakers to consider the regulations in more [...]
UK house prices up 10.2 per cent – five graphs that show the rise August 6, 2014 Are they up or are they down? Halifax has released its latest house price figures which show a 10.2 per cent annual change and a 1.4 per cent rise in the last month, beating expectations. There has been a lot of speculation that the market is slowing, in part due to measures to regulate mortgage [...]
Nationwide and Lloyds head up jump in lending September 2, 2013 LENDING increased in the second quarter for the first time since the Bank of England launched its cheap funding scheme a year ago, official figures showed yesterday. The Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) gives cheap funding to banks on the basis they then lend it on to businesses and households. If their net lending falls, [...]