Money blog: Nesquik apologises and abandons 'vile' new recipe (2024)

HSBC is the latest lender to announce a wide range of mortgage rate cuts as swap rates improve.

While the details of the changes won't be published until tomorrow, brokers believe the move will prompt more reductions from other high street banks.

And if a Bank of England rate cut comes in August, "all bets are off", Katy Eatenton, mortgage specialist at Lifetime Wealth Management, told Newspage.

"Summer is here and the sun is finally shining over borrowers, who have been in the swap rate shade for too long," she said.

While the market has been lethargic over the election period, these reductions could "be the starting pistol to a campaign of 'summer sizzlers' from lenders", said Andrew Montlake, managing director at Coreco.

He said the period could be a "good time to bag a deal" before a new government is elected.

HSBC is following in the footsteps of Barclays and MPowered Mortgages, which cut their rates yesterday.

Justin Moy, managing director at EHF Mortgages, said: "Rate cuts across the majority of their range will be welcome by all types of borrower, and will accelerate the reaction from other high street lenders."

But a broader market shift is still needed to truly spark the housing market, said Ranald Mitchell, director at Charwn Private Clients.

ByJames Sillars, business news reporter

We're going to start with some more big movements for Nvidia's share price.

The AI-leading chipmaker claimed the crown from Microsoft last Wednesday to become the world's most valuable listed company.

The stock was going great guns and up by 170% in the year to date at that point.

However, the stellar rally stopped in its tracks, and Nvidia's shares have since entered so-called correction territory, according to analysts.

Nvidia's market value was, at one stage, more than 10% below its peak, losing around $430bn over three days.

It's now worth $2.91trn, according to LSEG data.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, wrote this morning: "The selloff hit suddenly, right after the company stole the status of the world’s most valuable company from Microsoft.

"There has been no bad news regarding the company's fundamentals on the newswire, no analyst downgrades, no soft forecasts, no rumours of slowing sales.

"It's just that the end of last quarter and the first half may have brought some investors to take some profit and go to the sidelines."

Nvidia currently stands at number three in the value table behind Microsoft and Apple.

Elsewhere this morning, the FTSE 100 has opened flat following a 0.5% gain on Monday.

It is trading at 8,287 - up just five points.

We are still keeping a close eye on the oil market as costs climb. A barrel of Brent is $1, up on yesterday at $86.

The latest increase was attributed to new forecasts of strong demand during the traditional US summer vacation (forgive the Americanism) season.

The number of job vacancies across the country has marginally increased this month, but there are areas where companies appear to be hiring more.

Research by Adzuna found London has the most job vacancies, with 154,506 roles being advertised, followed by the South East with 131,973 - an increase of 1.2% since April.

In Northern Ireland, the number of opportunities has fallen by 1.5% to just 7,790.

In terms of cities, Cambridge offers the most chance of finding a job with just 0.34 unemployed people per role and 7,276 jobs available.

This is followed by Guildford (0.49) and Exeter (0.63).

Bradford remains the hardest city to find a job, with 7.94 jobseekers per role.

Rochdale and Middlesbrough also have high jobseeker-to-role ratios, at 4.86 and 4.57 respectively.

Monthly advertised salary figures have also fallen for the first time since October 2023, down 0.11% to £38,765.

This is despite the recent National Living Wage hike to £11.44 per hour.

While slightly weaker salaries could help relieve some tightness in the labour market, it may also suggest increasing vacancies for entry or junior-level roles with lower salaries.

In comparison, annual salaries are still up 2.69% compared with May 2023.

Unsurprisingly, London was found to be offering the highest average salaries at £44,863, which is up 1.47% on last year.

Wales was the region with the lowest typical salary at £34,048.

Basically… a guarantor is someone who agrees to cover another person's bill in the event they can't pay it.

Guarantors are sometimes required when taking out a loan or mortgage, or moving into a rented property, if the person responsible for the bills doesn't meet income requirements.

For renting, a landlord might also request a guarantor if the tenant has limited renting history, a low credit score or other factors that would deem them at risk of missing payments.

Who can be a guarantor, and what are they responsible for?

The simple answer is - almost anyone.

Often it'll be a parent - especially for young people renting for the first time or taking their first steps onto the property ladder - or a spouse.

But friends and other relatives can be guarantors too.

The basic requirements for being a guarantor are:

• Aged over 18, or over 21, depending on who is making the request
• Good credit history
• Financial stability - a certain amount of savings or income

Being a homeowner will also make you more desirable as a guarantor, as it shows that you have a way of covering costs if you need to. You usually have to live in the UK too.

What the guarantor is legally responsible for can vary depending on what's written in the guarantee.

In the case of renting, the guarantor is usually responsible for paying rent if the tenant can't for any reason. They might also have to cover repairs if the tenant damages the property.

In extreme cases, the guarantor might be called on to cover legal costs faced by the landlord due to the tenant.

What happens if the guarantor can't pay?

If you can't pay the lender or landlord what you owe, they may turn to your guarantor at this point, if another agreement can't be worked out.

In the rare event that the guarantor can't - or even won't - pay, they could be taken to court. It's likely that remediation action would be taken before it gets to this point, but the guarantor signs a legally binding contract, so it can happen.

Not paying the debt could also impact the guarantor's credit history.

Read other entries in our Basically series...

PrettyLittleThing has started deactivating customers' accounts for returning too many items.

The online fashion giant sent out emails over the weekend, telling customers they had been banned from placing orders due to their "unusual high returns activity".

It comes just days after the company introduced a £1.99 fee for every item sent back.

Several angry customers posted screenshots of the email online.

Many complained they had already paid £9.99 for PrettyLittleThing's royalty service, which gives them unlimited next day delivery for a year.

Others hit out at the brand, saying it should improve the quality and sizing of its clothing.

"Maybe if your clothes weren't so s***, people wouldn't have to send them back," one person said.

"If your clothes sizing were actually what you stated, then surely you wouldn't be getting so many returns. Don't even get me started on the quality of some items," said another.

Social media marketing specialist Katy said she didn't remember sending back any items so far this year.

Some customers pointed out that PrettyLittleThing doesn't have physical stores, so people can't try items on.

A spokesperson for PrettyLittleThing said: "Where we notice unusual patterns of activity on customer accounts, we do investigate.

"In some incidences, this results in us applying our terms and conditions, and this type of action would only affect a tiny percentage of our customer base."

Taylor Swift fans have taken to social media to complain at paying hundreds on tickets for her Wembley shows only to end up with a restricted view.

While the reviews of the show have been glowing, many were less than impressed with ticket sellers failing to say whether certain seats had "restricted" views - which usually makes a ticket a bit cheaper.

One said...

Another fumed at the blocked view despite the £200 price...

It comes after a fan who saw Swift in Glasgow at the start of the month complained after parting with £680 only to have "a lovely view of a tent"...

Betting tips scrapped on flagship BBC show

BBC Radio 4's Today programme has scrapped its daily horse race betting tips, its host has announced.

Amol Rajan said the "break in tradition" would not affect major race days, with the broadcaster still set to offer tips for the biggest events in the calendar.

"We will very much continue to cover horse racing, as we do so many other sports, not least through interviews with leading lights in the racing world," Mr Rajan said.

"And we will sometimes continue to broadcast from the big ticket events like the Grand National festival, or Cheltenham Gold Cup week."

Want to earn triple Nectar points?

Sainsbury's is offering the incentive for customers with electric vehicles who choose to charge up with them via their new "Smart Charge" bays.

From today until 31 August, Sainsbury's customers can collect 3x Nectar points on Smart Charge transactions when they add their Nectar account number before purchase.

To do so, customers need to scan the QR code on the Smart Charge charging unit after they pay and add their Nectar card number on the web page provided. Points will be added to customers' accounts once they have paid.

Getir shareholders back break-up of food delivery group

Investors in Getir, the food delivery group that is abandoning its UK operations, have approved a break-up of the company that will trigger a fresh capital injection of up to $250m (£197.5m).

Sky News has learnt that Getir, which is based in Turkey, held an extraordinary general meeting yesterday at which shareholders backed plans to split it into two independent companies.

Read more of our city editor Mark Kleinman's exclusive here...

Restaurants, cafes and hotels have been told to immediately withdraw meat products dubbed "unsafe" by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Hospitality operators in London and South East England were issued the food safety alert for meat supplied bya cutting plant in Swanley, Kent.

"We have alerted Environmental Health, Trading Standards Services and Official Veterinarians to take action to remove meat and meat products manufactured by Block and Cleaver from the market," the FSA said in a statement.

"These products... may not have been produced in accordance with GB food law requirements and therefore may be unsafe."

These products may have incorrect use by dates, are subject to traceability breaches and should not be eaten as they were not prepared in line with food safety and hygiene legislative requirements.

All of the following products should be withdrawn immediately:

Over the weekend, hundreds of flights from Manchester Airport were cancelled due to a major power cut.

Passengers flying from Terminals 1 and 2 were told not to go to the airport, while those already inside faced huge delays.

Flights finally started departing this morning, but what are your rights if yours has been cancelled?

Watch: Travel disruption after Manchester Airport power cut

Here's what you need to know

Your flight is covered by UK law if it departs from a UK airport, arrives at a UK airport on a UK or EU airline, or arrives at an EU airport on a UK airline.

Under UK law, if your flight is cancelled, the airline must either give you a refund or book you on an alternative flight - either with them or a rival airline.

It is up to you whether you still want to travel at that time - or reschedule your holiday for a later date.

If another airline is flying "significantly sooner" than yours is able to offer, you may have the right to be booked onto a rival flight, but this has to be negotiated with the company.

What are the airline's policies?

As well as being covered under UK aviation law, each airline has its own cancellation policy for customers.

EasyJet allows customers to either switch to another flight for free, choose a voucher for the full value of the booking, or request a refund.

Ryanair passengers can either claim a full refund or change to an alternative flight, while TUI passengers with cancelled flights should receive a full refund within 14 days - and you may also be entitled to compensation.

British Airways passengers are offered a full refund, while Wizz Air allows passengers to request a refund or rebook onto the next available flight.

If you have booked through a tour operator or travel agent, they will have their own policies.

What if you've booked a package holiday?

If your flight is cancelled, and you've booked a package holiday, you have the same rights as any other passenger, according to trade association ABTA.

You also have additional rights regarding the rest of your holiday.

Typically, your travel company will contact you in advance to re-arrange your flights.

But, if you're at the airport when the flight is cancelled, you should contact your travel company to talk through your options, ABTA said.

If your flight can't be rearranged and your holiday has to be cancelled, or new arrangements are made that result in a significant change to your holiday, then the travel company must offer an alternative holiday if they can.

If not, they must offer a refund of the full package price, not just the flight part.

Generally, a change of more than 12 hours on a 14-night holiday is considered a significant change.