Business

UK banks’ trust account exodus cuts lifeline for disabled people, says charity
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

Customers face ‘severe consequences’ as banks and building societies close accounts typically set up to help vulnerable peoplePeople with disabilities are facing potential hardship because banks are scrapping trust accounts that allow money to be managed safely on their behalf.Victims awarded personal injury settlements and those with learning difficulties are among those facing “severe consequences” as accounts are closed or frozen by high street banks and building societies, according to campaigners. Continue reading...

Rachel Reeves’ push to improve EU ties remains boxed in by red lines
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

Chancellor’s visit to EU meeting looks for smoother trade to improve growth but youth mobility scheme remains sticking pointRachel Reeves is seeking a “deeper, more mature relationship” between Britain and the EU: this was her central message to the bloc’s finance ministers in Brussels a fortnight ago.In her brief speech to the meeting of her European counterparts – the first a UK chancellor had attended since Brexit – Reeves mentioned the UK’s relationship with the EU nine times. Continue reading...

Jewellery, buttons and a conceptual bra: how the Royal Mint boss found a new source of money
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

As the coin minting trade has waned, the venerable institution has moved into new businessesIn the shadow of the Eiffel Tower in September, throngs of fashion elites were flocking to a makeshift catwalk along the French capital’s Avenue de Saxe.Paris fashion week was in full swing. But as the likes of Vogue editor Anna Wintour and Olympic diver Tom Daley took their seats for Stella McCartney’s summer 2025 runway show, Anne Jessopp found herself fighting nerves. Continue reading...

Guinness raids its Irish reserves to ease UK shortages amid gen Z demand
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

Diageo also reportedly puts shipments for North America on standby for potential diversion to keep up with thirstGuinness is raiding its reserves in Ireland to boost shipments to the UK, where a social media-fuelled surge in demand has left some pubs facing shortages.The reserves – known as security stocks – are usually earmarked for Irish customers but are now being used to ease pressure on publicans in the UK who have struggled to keep up with new fans after a marketing push in recent years. Continue reading...

Trump threatens to take back Panama Canal over ‘ridiculous’ fees
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

Trump also warns he would not let a ‘vital national asset’ for the US fall into the ‘wrong hands’Donald Trump has demanded that the Panama Canal be given back to the US if Panama did not manage the waterway in a fashion that was acceptable to him – and he accused the central American country of charging excessive rates for use of the ocean-connecting ship passage.“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late Saturday, a little more than a month before the start of his second US presidency. “This complete ‘rip-off’ of our Country will immediately stop….”Reuters contributed reporting Continue reading...

‘Heartless’ multinationals exploiting pensions loophole for UK workers
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

Hewlett Packard, American Express and Pfizer among firms to have frozen increases in payouts despite inflationSome of the world’s richest companies are accused of exploiting a loophole in pension law to freeze increases in payouts for many former UK employees, despite the cost of living crisis.The companies, which include Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), American Express and Pfizer, are being urged to “do the right thing” and increase these frozen pension payouts in line with inflation. MPs have condemned the failure of companies to increase the payments in the face of high inflation in recent years as “heartless” and “unethical”. Continue reading...

Let China build electric cars in UK, Tory ex-chancellor tells Rachel Reeves ahead of trade trip
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

Despite ‘spy’ scandal, Philip Hammond says Britain should now adopt a ‘pragmatic approach to Beijing’China should be encouraged to build electric cars and renewable energy technology in the UK as part of a new pragmatic trading relationship that would benefit both countries, a former Tory chancellor has said ahead of a landmark visit by Rachel Reeves to Beijing early in the new year.Philip Hammond, who was chancellor from 2016 to 2019, and the last UK minister to take part in formal economic discussions with China before the process was abruptly ended, told the Observer that while Reeves should never “compromise security for trade”, there were vital economic sectors where deals could be struck. Continue reading...