Money blog: Greece introduces six-day working week (2024)

Hawksmoor is reportedly looking at funding options which could see the steak restaurant chain valued at around £100m.

Investment bank Stephens has been hired to run the process for the business, which is currently seeking opportunities to expand outside the UK.

Hawksmoor currently has three restaurants outside the UK, which are located in New York City, Chicago and Dublin. It has 10 other sites, including seven in London.

Private equity firm Graphite Capital owns 51% of Hawksmoor. If new investment comes in, co-founders Will Beckett and Huw Got are expected to retain their minority stake and continue to run the business.

Beckett said: "We've got a great relationship with Graphite, and together we are getting to know the US investment community in more depth. As that continues, an opportunity may emerge that we wish to explore together."

The Co-operative Bank is withdrawing its switching deal this week, leaving people just days to get £150 for free.

New customers, who switch using the CASS system, can bag £75 upfront for opening a standard current account or an Everyday Extra account.

They can then get paid £15 a month for five months if they also open a Regular Saver account.

Anyone making the switch will receive the initial £75 within seven days of meeting all the qualifying criteria.

This includes setting up two direct debits, depositing at least £1,000, making a minimum of 10 card transactions and registering for online or mobile banking.

All of these tasks need to be completed within 30 days of making the switch.

To qualify for the extra £75, you have to open a Regular Saver account before the last day of the month you receive the free cash incentive and deposit £50.

The offer is due to be withdrawn on Friday 5 July.

The average monthly rent being asked outside London has hit a record high of £1,316, according to Rightmove.

The new record across Britain means that average advertised rents outside the capital are around 7% higher than a year earlier, the property website found.

London has the highest rent prices in the country with an average of £2,652 per month, it said.

The South East has the second highest at £1,836, which is a 6% rise since last year.

The cheapest region is the North East, which typically costs £894 a month.

Rightmove has urged the next government to accelerate housebuilding and incentivise landlords to invest in more homes for tenants.

A budget supermarket chain has announced higher welfare standards for its chickens.

Aldi has said it will introduce improved stocking density requirements for its fresh chicken suppliers, which will mean the birds have 20% more space than the industry standard.

The extra space will let the chickens engage in "natural behaviours" such as stretching their wings, dust bathing and roaming, it said.

"Animal welfare is of paramount importance to us," said Aldi's managing director of buying, Julie Ashfield.

"We're already one of the UK's largest providers of responsibly farmed chicken and we've been working hard with our suppliers to reduce stocking density to help us improve the living conditions of these animals even further."

The move is due to be completed by October 2024.

Younger adults find financial jargon harder to learn than a foreign language, according to new research.

A survey of 2,000 adults by Klarna revealed that 64% of Gen Z (people born from 1997 onwards) consider picking up basic foreign words easier than understanding terms such as "APR", "capital gains" and "compound interest".

When it came to millennials (people aged between 28 and 43 in 2024), 57% said learning a new language was harder.

Survey respondents said the top three most confusing finance terms were "AMC" (asset management company), "IFA" (independent financial adviser) and "adverse credit".

"AER" and "compound interest rate" also made the list of the jargon people find most baffling.

Klarna is now calling for the winner of Thursday's election to "prioritise financial inclusion" in the school curriculum.

A spokesperson for the buy now, pay later service said: "Whilst foreign languages of course open up opportunities and cultural experiences, financial inclusion is just as important."

We're aiming to help you bust the jargon of complex financial terms through our Basically... series. Here are just a few examples...

Marks & Spencer is offering 20% off its new school uniforms to help parents get ready for the new school year.

The average cost of school uniform in England has dropped by 4% in 2024, according to a survey by The Schoolwear Association.

However, the average cost of compulsory secondary school uniform and sportswear items for a child starting secondary school in England is still £92.35 per pupil.

That can be a big expenditure, especially for families with multiple children.

M&S's discount excludes footwear, hosiery, underwear, outerwear, accessories, school bags and lunch boxes.

Asian-inspired eatery Itsu is looking at plans to double the number of its stores in the UK.

The chain is considering opening 80 new restaurants and has appointed Savills to advise on its expansion plans.

Itsu is looking to strengthen its foothold in London, where the majority of its restaurants are based, as well as growing its presence in new locations with flagship stores in big cities.

Liverpool, Birmingham, Cardiff, Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow, and Belfast are among the UK cities currently without an Itsu store.

Kate Thompson, property director at Itsu, said: "At Itsu, we are focused on making the joy of delicious, health[ier], Asian-inspired food available to everyone across the UK and beyond.

"We look forward to working with Savills to help us deliver on our plan for growth."

A motoring research charity says a case should be made for raising driving test fees for learners who repeatedly fail.

The RAC Foundation said this would encourage prospective drivers to wait until they are ready to pass, easing the "unacceptable" backlog of tests in the UK.

Last month, AA Driving School said it obtained Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) figures suggesting the average waiting time for a test at the start of February was more than 18 weeks.

A ban on driving tests during COVID lockdowns plus a driving examiner strike has led to a bottleneck of demand.

Before 2020, the average wait time was six weeks, from booking online to turning up at the test centre.

One way of addressing the issue, according to RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding, is to consider additional fees for those with several previous failures and even to offer a rebate to first-time passers.

"Forget about all the traffic jams out on the road, there is now an unacceptable amount of congestion in the test system with learners often waiting many months for a slot," he said.

"In part these jams are being caused by people who have failed multiple times and come back to take a test that might be their fourth, fifth or sixth attempt, or even greater."

Government figures show 93,204 practical car driving tests taken in the year to the end of March were at least the candidate's sixth attempt at passing.

Under the current pricing plan, practical driving tests cost £62 during weekday daytimes and £75 during evenings, weekends, and bank holidays.

Marks & Spencer's title as Britain's grocer of the year was taken away yesterday as Sainsbury's took the crown for the first time in nearly two decades.

At a lavish ceremony held at the Royal Albert Hall, Sainsbury's took home the top prize in the Grocer Gold Awards ahead of M&S, Tesco, Lidl, Aldi and social enterprise The Company Shop.

The supermarket was praised for being the only "big four" supermarket (Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons) to have gained shopper spend from both Aldi and Lidl amid the cost of living crisis.

"Restoring growth while increasing profits is not an easy thing to do at the best of times, but especially with the highest inflation in decades, and the discounters - and other rivals - also opening a significant number of new stores," said Adam Leyland, chair of the judging panel.

"But Sainsbury's has given shoppers permission to enjoy its wide range of food and drink through much more competitive pricing, most notably the launch of Nectar Prices last April, and its impressively rapid rollout."

Other awards handed out on the night included Britain's favourite supermarket, which was won by Tesco for the 10th year in a row.

Tesco also took home the award for employer of the year for its "pioneering" work in supporting diversity and inclusion as well as its support to young people, competitive pay, and step up in maternity and paternity benefits.

The award for customer service was won by Waitrose, while the Grocer Cup went to Greggs CEO Roisin Currie, recognising the success Greggs has had going from a high-street bakery chain into the UK's biggest fast food chain.

Santander has become the latest lender to announce cuts across a range of its mortgage products.

The high street bank has said selected residential fixed rates will be reduced by up to 0.16% on election day.

The move, which comes after three other banks cut rates this week, could "ramp up the battle" between the UK's biggest lenders.

Halifax and NatWest slashed rates by up to 0.23%, and Clydesdale Bank by 0.38%, earlier this week.

"This is Santander reacting to its competitors and joining the rate reduction party," the managing director of Yellow Brick Mortgages, Stephen Perkins, told Newspage.

"This move from Santander has the potential to ramp up the rate battle between the UK's biggest lenders."

He said more cuts were likely, ahead of the expected base rate reduction in August.

"Things are really hotting up now in the mortgage market," he added.

Simon Bridgland, director of Release Freedom, was less impressed by the move, saying it they are "abysmal rate reductions".

"Any poor soul wanting a remortgage or existing Santander borrowers in need of a new deal will just have to stay on the higher existing rates," he said.

"Residential lenders need to jump to it and drop rates further."

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business reporter

The index that tracks the share price performance of the 500 largest companies listed on US stock exchanges reached a new high last night.

The rise followed comments on lowering inflation from the head of the US central bank, known as the Fed, which sparked market optimism.

Some of the world's biggest companies make up the index, Microsoft and Amazon being two prime examples.

Tesla's comeback in the form of a more than 10% share price rise will also have helped the new S&P 500 record.

Its shares were at a five-monthhigh after the electric car maker beat Wall Street expectations as price cuts helped stimulate demand.

Here in the UK, both the FTSE100 and 250 indexes are up 0.49% and 0.47% respectively.

The biggest faller on the FTSE 100 list of most valuable companies was JD Sports which has had a run of losses for more than a week. Today its share price was down 3.61%.

Bad news for motorists continues as the oil price tipped higher again today, reaching $86.64.

Anyone going on holidays to a country using the euro or importing goods from the continent can get €1.1797 for their pound.

Sterling has crept up against the dollar this month with a pound buying $1.2691.

Oreo has released a new limited edition vanilla latte flavour.

The product is already available in select supermarkets and combines a double cream vanilla filling with a vanilla latte one.

Each pack comes with 16 biscuits included and has a recommended retail price of £1.39.

Becky Latcham, brand manager for Oreo, said: "We're absolutely thrilled to introduce Oreo's latest innovation.

"We know Oreo fans love to be playful with the way they eat their cookies so we couldn't resist putting our own spin on the original cookie that people know and love."