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Finance

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Finance

‘It’s just vape shops, nail shops, charity shops’: can anything save the British high street?

It’s 20 years since Jo and Richard Hill bought anything in Rotherham town centre. Why have they and so many locals abandoned it for the nearest retail park – and what would it take to change their minds? On 22 May 1987, retail history was made in Rotherham. Parkgate Retail World, thought at the time to be the UK’s largest open-air shopping centre, welcomed shoppers for some one-stop retail therapy. The official opening was marked in swanky fashion with a “breathtaking” display from Marlboro’s red-and-white branded biplanes, followed by a “spectacular” laser show, the first in South Yorkshire.

The Guardian
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Finance

The worst two words in the dead of night? ‘Motorway closed’ | Adrian Chiles

You are shunted into side streets, crawling along, united with your fellow drivers in wordless despair. Last week, at 2am, my spirit broke The worst three words in the transport lexicon are often said to be “rail”, “replacement” and “bus”, in that order. But there’s worse. “Motorway closed” is worse. At least with rail replacement buses you get fair warning, on booking apps and whatnot. You can resolve to embrace the pain or, more likely, abandon the journey. Motorway closures, in the dead of night, invariably come as a nasty surprise. Waze, Google Maps, Apple Maps, etc can reliably get you fr

The Guardian
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Finance

UK interest rates increase expected after services sector activity accelerates

Purchasing manager’s index at eight-month high, bolstered by spending on AI as firms regain momentum lost to Iran war The Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates on Thursday after a closely watched survey showed growth across the UK’s services sector leapt last month to an eight-month high, bolstered by spending on artificial intelligence. S&P Global’s survey of the services sector in October showed businesses regained much of the momentum they lost after the start of the Iran war, but also felt the impact of a renewed spurt of input price inflation, which accelerated to a five-mon

The Guardian
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Finance

M&S boss bemoans last week’s budget as ‘whole lot of nothing’

Stuart Machin hits out at Labour but welcomes expected UK-EU food deal as retailer reveals half-year results The chief executive of Marks & Spencer has called John Healey’s first budget as chancellor a “whole lot of nothing” and bemoaned an “onslaught of taxation and regulation” from the Labour government despite welcoming an expected deal on EU border checks. Stuart Machin said he was disappointed at last week’s budget statement, adding that it “didn’t really address the issues we need to focus on growth”. He said the chancellor’s “real terms” freeze on business rates, for example, would lead

The Guardian
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Finance

BMW warns on profits as it counts cost of plan for 8,000 job cuts

German carmaker slashes profit margin to between -0.5% and 0.5% this year in face of competition from China The German carmaker BMW has issued its second profit warning in a year, blaming the costs of a restructuring programme including significant job losses in the face of continuing competition from China. The company is the latest to issue a profit downgrade in the German car sector, after Mercedes-Benz last week cut its profit outlook. Western automakers have struggled to keep pace with lower-cost Chinese rivals, which has led to reduced sales in China and a rise in Chinese exports to Euro

The Guardian
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Finance

Britain’s housing market unlikely to recover until 2028, says Savills

House prices forecast to fall by 1.5% next year as Middle East war keeps mortgage rates higher for longer Britain’s sluggish housing market is not expected to recover until 2028 as higher mortgage rates linked to the war in the Middle East deter buyers and weigh on prices. The property firm Savills said average house prices were expected to drift lower during the rest of 2026 and fall by 1.5% in 2027, as the prolonged conflict undermines buyers’ confidence and keeps mortgage rates higher for longer. Continue reading...

The Guardian
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Finance

Hackers behind $6.3bn Binance heist ‘used malware and bogus job interviews’

Firm reveals details about how its cryptocurrency exchange was compromised, saying operation began in June The hackers behind the $6.3bn (£4.7bn) Binance heist used bogus job interviews, malicious software and an internal AI tool, the company has revealed. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange was compromised in an operation that began with an inadvertent download of malware in June, led to a recruitment scam in September and then a raid last week of “hot wallets” where billions of dollars worth of crypto-assets were taken. Continue reading...

The Guardian
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Finance

Primark lacks fizz as it approaches its go-it-alone moment

After a profits dip, the chain’s demerger from its sister food company still makes sense but is unlikely to reveal tons of value Primark brings forward home deliveries plan by two years as profits slide The business logic for demerging Primark from Associated British Foods’ greater Ovaltine-to-Twinings empire – an event due to happen by the end of next year – is impeccable. Read this year’s results statement and you wonder why the controlling Weston family took 20 years to get behind the idea. One paragraph can be about a yeast plant in India or the impact of high gas prices on sugar-refining

The Guardian
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Finance

Protect Poundland from predatory capitalism, MPs tell government

Budget retailer and 12,000 jobs at risk after US owner fails to accept buyout offers MPs have called on the government to protect Poundland and other high street stores from “predatory capitalism” and asset-stripping. The fate of the retail chain and its 12,000 staff remains uncertain after it filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators at the high court last Thursday. Continue reading...

The Guardian
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