Top news
- People are leaving cash hidden among baby items in shops
- Britons maxing out pension pots as budget tax rumours swirl
- Domino's dips appear on eBay for £100 after recall
- Petrol prices drop to lowest for three years
Tips and advice
- Savings Guide:'Now is the time to lock away your cash'
- What are your rights if your takeaway order arrives and it's wrong?
- All benefits and entitlements available to pensioners
- Energy companies providing £150 discount for your electricity bills
Essential reads
- Top chef reveals his cheap weeknight pasta sauce recipe
- The two women trying to transform supermarket shelves and how menopause is perceived
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Iconic London nightclub 'one step closer' to reopening
After seemingly closing for good in 2023, London nightclub Printworks looks set to return after receiving planning consent for redevelopment.
Announcing "Printworks is back!", the Night Time Industries Association said the news that redevelopment consent had been granted by Southwark Council this week was an "extremely positive moment for London's nightlife and the entire cultural ecosystem of the city".
The venue held what was believed to be its final event on 1 May last year ahead of plans to transform it into an office block, as part of a planned regeneration of the area approved by Southwark Council.
Though Printworks's closure was not a result of financial struggles, it stands among a large number of nightclubs lost in recent years amid a decline in UK nightlife, spurred on by the COVID pandemic and the rising cost of living.
The Money blog previously looked in depth at whether we are heading towards the death of the big night out in Britain...
Cheltenham Festival cutting prices after people stay away
By Rob Harris, sports correspondent
Financial hurdles facing racegoers have led to Cheltenham discounting tickets and trying to persuade hotels to cut prices for the 2025 Festival.
The festival earlier this year saw its lowest attendance across the four-day, flagship jump-racing event in at least a decade.
Now the Jockey Club has announced that ticket prices will be frozen for the 2025 event and racegoers will get 20% off attending on an additional day apart from Gold Cup day.
There are already cheaper tickets for those booking before June. From now the price range is £57 to £131 ahead of the festival.
A discount of 10% will also now apply to groups of six rather than 15 people or more.
And organisers are working with a sports tour operator to offer discounted "Room to Race" packages including tickets, hotels and travel.
Spiralling costs of hosts in the Cheltenham area have deterred people from attending multiple days.
When Sky News checked price comparison sites, the cheapest hotel option in Cheltenham worked out at more than £400 a night for three nights at a 3* property covering a trip to the Festival next year.
Ian Renton, The Jockey Club's managing director of Cheltenham Racecourse, said they were "working hard to find solutions to the increasing cost of accommodation".
The ability to stay further away and travel in will be enhanced with a National Express partnership seeing direct travel to the racecourse from more than 20 locations as well as a new park and ride system.
Why people are leaving cash hidden among baby items in viral social media trend
People have been placing money inside baby food and nappy boxes in supermarkets as part of a social media trend aimed at helping struggling mums.
The viral "She Deserved The Purse" trend began in the US when TikTok user Danesha Gonzalez found a purse with the tag still on abandoned in the baby section of a store.
She uploaded a video of the scene to social media with the caption "she deserved the purse" to highlight the sacrifices mothers make to raise their children.
The video has garnered more than four million likes - and sparked a new global trend among other social media users where they place cash within baby items in the hopes of supporting new parents.
UK social media influencer Liana Jade filmed herself putting £5 and £10 notes in items in a Sainsbury's store, accompanied by notes saying: "You are so loved" and "you've got this".
"This is the sweetest trend to ever circulate," she said.
Washout June hampers H&M sales
H&M has reported slower sales after miserable weather affected trading in the UK in June.
The clothing chain said its global net sales fell by 3% in the three months to the end of August, compared with the same time last year.
In western Europe, which includes the UK, net sales fell by 4%.
"The quarter started with slow sales in June due to cold weather in many of our key European markets," said H&M chief executive Daniel Erver.
"In July and August we saw sales pick up, with even stronger sales development in September."
Guinness and Smirnoff owner warns of tough trading despite strong market showing
BySarah Taaffe-Maguire, business reporter
The company behind Guinness, Johnnie Walker whisky, Gordon's gin and Smirnoff vodka issued a rather downbeat update to the market but is this morning one of the strongest performers of the UK's benchmark stock exchange index.
Its share price is up more than 4% despite saying the global environment remains challenging for both the industry and Diageo.
"Consumers continue to be cautious," the statement said.
News of "good progress" on US and Nigerian "strategic initiatives" may be behind the rise, as could the chief executive's comments that the business will outperform the market when consumer confidence returns.
The FTSE 100 index which it is a part of was up 0.24%, while the larger FTSE 250 rose 0.95%.
Despite the exchange of fire between Israel and Lebanon, the oil price is back down. Earlier today it reached a low of $70.72 for a barrel of the benchmark Brent crude oil and currently sits at $72.41 having been up around $75 earlier this week.
The pound is still high against the dollar at $1.3361 but eased off the $1.34 high seen yesterday. It's the same against the euro - the pound is high at €1.199 but below the €1.20 point seen earlier this week.
Jump in savers maxing out pension pots as budget rumours swirl
There's been a jump in the number of savers maxing out their pension contributions amid reports Labour is planning to cut how much can be paid in tax-free.
Currently, the most you can save in your pension pots in a year before paying tax is £60,000.
But speculation is mounting that chancellor Rachel Reeves could target pension tax relief in her autumn budget next month as one of several measures aimed at balancing the books.
Figures from investment platform Interactive Investor, reported by the Telegraph, show the percentage of savers contributing the £60,000 maximum into their pension pots has risen by 64% since the start of the tax year in April, compared with the same period last year.
There's also been a 58% annual rise in the volume of tax-free cash withdrawals from self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) since the start of the month, according to the figures.
The platform said "pre-Budget pension jitters" were a driving force behind the figures.
430 pharmacies shut their doors last year
Pharmacy closures are having a "huge impact" on those who need them as figures show more than 430 permanently shut their doors last year, the nation's patient champion has warned.
Healthwatch England, a committee of the Care Quality Commission, added that older people and those in rural areas are worse affected by the widespread closures.
It has issued the warning as pharmacy leaders say that "pharmacy deserts" around the country could put more pressure on GPs and leave patients having to travel further to access care.
Read the full story here...
Domino's dips appear on eBay for £100 after allergy recall issue
Pots of Domino's beloved Garlic & Herb dip have started appearing on eBay after the pizza chain withdrew them over allergy concerns.
Traces of peanut were found in batches of both the Garlic & Herb and Honey & Mustard dips recently, posing a risk to some customers.
A quick look on the Domino's website shows that while others such as the BBQ and Frank's Red Hot Sauce dips are available, the two recalled products still are not, more than a week after being withdrawn from sale.
Some people have now begun putting their unused dips on eBay with asking prices of as much as £100 in the hopes they'll be snapped up by desperate pizza lovers.
Last week a Domino's Pizza spokesperson told Sky News it took food safety "very seriously" and was working "urgently" with its supplier to understand how the allergen issue happened.
It warned of disruption to the supply of the dips "in the coming days" - but as yet does not seem to have returned them to sale.
The Garlic & Herb dip is such a staple product for the takeaway chain that some social media users have vowed not to order with Domino's until it returns.
The Money blog has contacted Domino's Pizza for an update.
What are your rights if your takeaway order arrives and it's wrong?
Takeaway delivery problems are common and it's frustrating when either someone else's food turns up, or it's not quite what you ordered.
Often, it seems easier just to take the hit rather than go hungry - but what are your rights if what's arrived just won't do?
Takeaways fall under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. This says that your food must be as described, of satisfactory quality and the delivery service must have been carried out with due skill and care, within a reasonable timeframe.
Consumer champion Which? says the best place to start is by complaining to both the delivery food app and the restaurant, explaining what's gone wrong and including any photos that might support your case.
If your complaint is not resolved, check the T&Cs of the delivery food app to see whether they or the restaurant is likely to be responsible.
You can then try complaining again, explaining why you believe you're owed a refund in accordance with the Consumer Rights Act and the T&Cs.
If your complaint is still unresolved, you can try to use a chargeback claim if you paid with a debit card, or a Section 75 claim if you paid by a credit card (and spent more than £100).
'Now is the time to lock away your cash'
For this week's Savings Guide,Savings Championco-founder Anna Bowes has a round-up of the top fixed-rate bonds. She writes...
Savers breathed a sigh of relief earlier this month, as the Bank of England voted to keep the base rate at 5% - rather than cutting it again.
At the beginning of August, the base rate was cut by 0.25%, the first time we've seen a cut since its meteoric rise from December 2021.
However, although we have seen some respite, it's unlikely to be for long. Analysts expect there to be at least one more cut this year, and they have predicted that the base rate may fall to as low as 3.25% by the end of next summer.
Although the cuts to the best savings rates have slowed a little, the market is still looking forward and with a downward trajectory very evident, so we will see rates continue to fall.
The good news is that if you don't need short-term access to all your cash, you could lock some of it away in a fixed-rate bond or ISA, to hedge against these future rate cuts.
Although the rates on offer have been falling a little recently, there are still some competitive rates available...
If you've not yet done it, now really is the time to lock away some of your cash if you can, even in the lower-paying longer-term accounts. This could help your cash earn more for longer.