BUSINESS LIVE: Lloyds brings backs dividend as profits surge

BUSINESS LIVE: Lloyds brings backs dividend as profits surge; BT issues bullish forecast for its prospects; Shell boosts dividend and launches bumper share buyback scheme Lloyds Banking Group swung to a profit of £2.6bn, new figures show Lloyds also announced plans to acquire savings and retirement firm Embark  By Jane Denton For Thisismoney Published: 02:59 … Read more

BUSINESS LIVE: Surge in pay rings alarm bells for pensioners

BUSINESS CLOSE: Surge in wages could mean big state pension boost; Asos share price falls sharply; FCA vows to become more ‘assertive’ New data shows the number of open job posts reached pre-pandemic levels In the three months to May, annual total pay growth hit 7.3%, ONS said  Online retailer Asos has seen its share … Read more

Deal-making surge boosts Wall St giants Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan

Deal-making surge boosts Wall St as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan rake in bumper profits By Daily Mail City & Finance Reporter Published: 22:26 BST, 13 July 2021 | Updated: 22:26 BST, 13 July 2021 Wall Street titans Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan raked in bumper profits between April and June amid a surge in … Read more

Ministers plan a DNA database for dogs to help tackle a surge in pet thefts during the pandemic 

Ministers plan a DNA database for dogs to help tackle a surge in pet thefts during the pandemic New system would requires owners to supply DNA swab from their pet’s mouth  Would be stored on a database used by police and local authority officials Follows rise in pet thefts during pandemic as puppy demand hit … Read more

Campaigners fear surge in university exam cheating this summer

Campaigners fear surge in university exam cheating this summer due to unsupervised online tests that let students use the internet Only a small minority of subjects will have traditional ‘closed book’ exams Invigilation may involve videoing students and tracking eye and body movement A surge in cheating has been predicted this summer because of lax … Read more

Credit and debit card purchases surge after lockdown easing

Britain bounces back: Credit and debit card purchases surge after lockdown easing as almost a third of adults return to non-essential shopping while job adverts exceed pre-pandemic levels – and furlough drops from 17% to 13% of workers Credit and debit card purchases back to 98 per cent of February 2020 average Office for National … Read more

Regions drive 5.7% surge in house prices as Britain’s pandemic property boom continues 

Where is house price inflation hitting hardest? Regions are the driving force behind the surge in values as the pandemic property boom continues Homes in Wales and the North West have led Britain’s pandemic property boom Two regions saw their strongest growth in a decade between March 2020-2021 Typical British house now costs £252,765 after … Read more

Foxtons sees sales surge while stashing away Government support cash

Foxtons sees sales surge and ploughs money into Boomin – but there’s still no hint of the estate agency returning millions borrowed from taxpayers Foxtons received nearly £7m in furlough support and business rate relief Other rival firms like Winkworths have vowed to repay the Government back Foxtons saw sales revenue rocket by 60% in … Read more

Port problems and stockpiling surge costs British businesses thousands in costs

British ports under pressure from Brexit and coronavirus-fuelled stockpiling surges have caused UK businesses to face vastly higher container shipping costs than those on the continent, new data suggests. Figures from the logistics company Freightos found problems affecting some of the nation’s busiest ports has meant the average cost of shipping a 40-foot container rose … Read more

Surge in ‘pothead’ over-60s trying to kick habit as number receiving NHS treatment nearly doubles

Surge in ‘pothead’ over-60s trying to kick the habit as number receiving NHS treatment for cannabis addiction more than doubles in eight years 1,007 in over 60 age group had NHS treatment for cannabis addiction in 2020 The number has more than doubled in eight years when the number was 450 Experts fear many may … Read more