High street retailer Shoe Zone has announced it will close stores, in a move it claims is due to the impact of the Autumn budget. Meanwhile, inflation has risen again. Read these and the rest of today’s personal finance and consumer news below.
Wednesday 18 December 2024 12:42, UK
In our final Cheap Eats of the year, we’re speaking to Jamie Coleman, the head chef at the Boathouse in Instow, Devon…
Where is your top place for a meal for two for less than £40 nearby?
Block Cafe, in Barnstaple and Taunton, is a great little brunch/lunch spot for when my wife and I manage to get a sneaky child-free meal. This is our go-to spot – the coffee is excellent, and my favourite dish there is the bao buns.
At £4.50 each, there is a selection of pulled pork, fried chicken or togarashi tofu, and we end up just ordering a mix of these and some dirty fries.
Tell us your go-to cheap eat to cook at home when you have a night in
My favourite meal to cook at home is chilli. It is such a great versatile dish to make which can then be used to make various meals.
I like to use frozen Quorn for my chilli as it is cheaper to buy and you can easily take out the amount you need and place the bag back in the freezer.
Or you can make a bigger batch of chilli and eat it in different ways – my personal favourite is nachos, sat in front of the TV with a bottle of beer after the kids are in bed.
We’ve spoken to lots of top chefs – check out their Cheap Eats from around the country…
Migrants who come to the UK on skilled worker visas contribute 20 times more to public finances than the average working Britons, a report by the Migration Advisory Committee has found.
Each skilled migrant worker handed over around £16,300 on average to the country’s finances in their first year in the UK in 2022-23 – compared to an £800 net contribution from the average UK-born adult.
The report, which you can read here, noted that this reflected a “combination of the higher incomes for this group, leading to higher tax revenues, and reduced expenditure”.
“Skilled workers also tend to be younger than the UK population as a whole, resulting in lower health costs compared to the UK average,” it added.
It also found that, per household, working migrant families provided £12,000 to the public purse, while the equivalent UK home actually had a negative impact of £4,400.
However, it noted that this reflected the “higher expenditure for the equivalent UK household, both for adults and children” compared to skilled migrant workers.
“Additionally, the typical migrant household pays an estimated £1,400 in visa fees which is not paid by the UK equivalent,” it added.
Barclays has lost its bid to overturn a key ruling on car finance commission.
The case is likely to affect a potential multibillion pound consumer compensation scheme.
The Financial Conduct Authority is currently mulling over the redress scheme, which could see compensation awarded to people who bought their car on finance without knowing that the dealership was earning a commission from a bank off the back of the sale.
The Court of Appeal ruled such practices were unlawful earlier this year.
Barclays Partner Finance had challenged a decision by the Financial Ombudsman Service, which ruled one customer was unfairly charged commission of more than £1,300 on a loan in 2018.
The High Court dismissed the case in a written ruling, but Barclays said it would seek to appeal.
“This challenge related to a single, specific case on which we disagreed with the Financial Ombudsman Service’s decision,” a Barclays spokesperson said.
“We are disappointed in the court’s ruling and will be appealing.”
By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter
Storied British soft drinks maker Britvic can now officially merge with Danish brewing giant Carlsberg after competition regulator the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) approved the deal.
It effectively makes Carlsberg the UK’s biggest player in cask ale – giving it ownership of brands such as Hobgoblin, Young’s, Jennings Cumberland Ale and McEwan’s.
Elsewhere, the FTSE 100 benchmark UK stock index was up 0.43% but still below where it’s been for the last month.
It’s a similar story for the more UK-focused FTSE 250 index – it’s up 0.4% but still under the levels seen for most of the last month.
There’s very little change in the oil price, which is $73.68 for a barrel of Brent crude.
And the pound dipped against the dollar today after nearly a week of rises. One pound buys $1.2687. It’s held its value against the euro, though, sticking around a high €1.20.
Drinks company Thatchers has launched a bid to overturn a High Court ruling that denied its claims Aldi “copycatted” its cider.
The Somerset-based cider maker sued the German discount chain for allegedly infringing the trademark of its cloudy lemon cider, arguing its Taurus brand had copied its product.
However, in January the High Court in London dismissed Thatchers’ case.
Martin Howe KC, for Thatchers, said in written submissions yesterday that this was a case where the Court of Appeal could “justifiably interfere with the judge’s findings at first instance, and should do so”.
“Her judgment contains conclusions that are not rationally supportable and her overall finding that there was no unfair advantage is predicated on errors of principle,” he said.
The hearing is set to conclude today and a decision is expected at a later date.
High street retailer Shoe Zone has announced it will close stores, in a move it claims is due to the impact of the Autumn budget.
In its latest trading update, the discount footwear company said it had experienced “very challenging” conditions recently, due to weakened consumer confidence and bad weather.
On top of that, it said it would incur “significant additional costs” due to the increases in employer national insurance contributions and the national living wage set out by the chancellor in the budget.
“These additional costs have resulted in the planned closure of a number of stores that have now become unviable,” the company said.
“The combination of the above will have a significant impact on our full-year figures.”
It expects its profit before tax for the financial year ending in September 2025 to be “not less than” £5m, down from previous expectations of £10m, and it also cancelled its final shareholder dividend payout for 2023-24.
It has 297 stores nationwide and employs around 2,250 staff.
Rising inflation makes interest rate cuts less likely – rates are kept high to squeeze spending, and when this happens price rises tend to slow.
November’s CPI rise to 2.6% – announced this morning – was in line with expectations and so has had little impact on forecasts for the next cut.
The Bank of England’s next decision on whether to cut the base rate from 4.75% is tomorrow.
Before this morning’s data, the markets were pricing in a 91.9% likelihood of a rate hold. Afterwards it moved slightly to 90.3%.
The Bank will then meet in February – when the likelihood of a cut is 53% following the inflation news. It had been 48.2%.
By Saywah Mahmood, data journalist
Inflation has climbed again, increasing from 2.3% in October to 2.6% in November. With the festive season now upon us, the cost of many Christmas staples is shifting. While some are on the rise, others are providing some welcome savings.
When it comes to the dinner table, vegetables like carrots and potatoes have seen a sharp increase, both up by nearly 20%. On the drinks side, a 70cl bottle of cream liqueur is now 4% more expensive.
But Champagne lovers can celebrate, with prices for a bottle dropping by 0.5%.
For those crafting the perfect cheese board, there’s a mix of good and bad news. Soft cheese is up by 2%, but cheddar cheese has become slightly cheaper, with a 1% decrease per kilogram.
If you’re still hunting for last-minute gifts, there’s a bit of festive cheer in store. A pair of socks is now 0.5% cheaper, and a ladies’ scarf has dropped by 0.7%.
Children’s presents also offer some savings, with construction toys down by 6%, the biggest price drop among games and toys, and sit-and-ride toys for children under five down by 1.5%.
However, wrapping these gifts might cost a bit more than expected, with the price of wrapping paper increasing by 7%.
Avanti West Coast staff are set to strike after rejecting a deal aimed at resolving a dispute over rest day working.
Train managers will walkout on New Year’s Eve, 2 January and Sundays between 12 January and 25 May, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said.
An RMT spokesperson said: “Our members have resoundingly rejected Avanti’s latest offers in two referendums and sustained strike action is now the only way to focus management’s minds on reaching a negotiated settlement with the union.”
Up to 400 members of the RMT are involved in the dispute and 83% voted against a suggested deal, the union added.
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