Children heading off to University next month? They could be spending half of their student loan in the first 100 days August 17, 2016 Parents whose children are preparing to head off to university may be surprised to hear that students spend an average of £3,304 during the first 100 days of their studies. Nearly one in five students frittered away their entire student loan during this period and a quarter resorted to borrowing money before the end of the [...]
Costs forcing millions to move back with parents after a break-up May 11, 2016 Financial pressures have been blamed for forcing 7.2m adults to move back in with their parents after a break-up. Rising rent and mortgage costs mean many are unable to pay for separate accommodation, according to research from Churchill Home Insurance out today. Financial reasons were listed as the main cause of needing to move back [...]
US tops chart of most expensive countries for cancer drugs June 6, 2016 The US forks out the most in the world for cancer drugs, new research has revealed. The highest retail prices for a median of 23 cancer drugs were found to be in the US, with the lowest prices in India and South Africa. The UK ranked third, behind China. Despite poorer countries having access to cheaper drugs, the treatments [...]
National Living Wage to cost businesses £11bn by 2020, report warns May 4, 2016 Businesses will have to stump up much as £11bn in extra wage costs over the next four years to meet the chancellor's National Living Wage (NLW) target of £9 per hour, new research has warned. The report, by property firm Bilfinger GVA, estimates that the new hourly rate of £7.20 per hour for over 25 year olds will cost businesses around [...]
Health insurance in the UK is about to become more costly, but it could be worse – you could be shopping for a policy in Russia May 3, 2016 The cost of health insurance in the UK is expected to experience its biggest jump for the last five years, according to a report out today. The research by Willis Towers Watson found that health insurance costs were expected to grow by 6.5 per cent in the UK in 2016, which is one of the [...]
Renters in London are having the hardest time of all, suffering the smallest pay rises in UK and soaring housing costs April 6, 2016 If you rent a house in London and work full-time, chances are the economic recovery has been something you read about in the newspapers but haven’t felt in your pocket. That’s because over the last three years, London has experienced the slowest growth in average wages of any part in the UK, but the fastest increases [...]
Charities must think more like business to stay ahead in a tough new environment July 28, 2016 An independent report published this week shows that the Prince’s Trust, the charity of which I am chairman, has returned £1.4bn in social value over the last 10 years. It is a figure of which we are immensely proud. Behind it lies a myriad of human stories. We have helped to transform thousands of young lives, [...]
Co-operative Bank: Core business posts profit – but group warns there is still hard work ahead May 20, 2016 The Co-operative Bank's core business has posted a profit for the first three months of the year – shrugging off the losses it made last year. The figures It was a bit of a mixed bag, with total core bank net customer loans up from £14.7bn at the end of December to £15.2bn, thanks to growth [...]
Inflation rate falls to 0.3 per cent in April due to cheaper clothes and air fares May 17, 2016 Inflation was running at 0.3 per cent in April, figures out this morning from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown, denting the trend of slow-and-steady price rises since the start of the year. The headline consumer prices index (CPI) rate fell back from 0.5 per cent in March and is now in line with figures [...]
Iain Duncan Smith: “Immigration is the economy, stupid.” May 31, 2016 Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith has warned that unchecked immigration will hit both wages and the affordability of homes as a new report has forecast that almost half a million refugees could arrive in the UK from 2020 onwards. According to a report from lobbying group Migration Watch, up to 968,000 of the 1.7m refugees already in [...]