Tesco Planning To Create 20000 Jobs In The UK

Posted on March 5, 2012 by admin

LONDON — British supermarket giant Tesco on Monday said it would create 20,000 jobs by 2013, in a move aimed at turning around its fortunes and helping to tackle high youth unemployment.

Tesco

Tesco

The world’s third-largest retailer after US-based Wal-Mart and France’s Carrefour said that it planned to expand its British workforce by about seven percent, following a recent profit-warning.

“Tesco announced today that it will create 20,000 new jobs in the UK over the next two years through a significant investment in customer service, refreshing existing stores and opening new ones,” said a group statement.

“At the heart of this programme, Tesco plans to deliver new levels of excellence in customer service across its stores.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the announcement, which comes after Britain’s unemployment rate hit a 16-month peak in the three months to December amid the nation’s faltering economic recovery.

“This is a massive confidence boost for the UK economy,” Cameron said in the statement.

“Tesco is one of the world’s leading companies and the biggest private sector employer in this country” overseeing 293,000 staff.

“Their commitment to creating jobs and opportunities for young people at what is a difficult time for the economy is fantastic news for the UK as a whole and for those people they will help into work.”

Richard Brasher, chief executive of Tesco’s British operations, agreed that the new jobs would boost growth.

“In unprecedented economic conditions like these, major businesses have a big responsibility to step forward, invest and create jobs. Today’s announcement is a huge shot in the arm for the UK economy,” he said.

After posting poor sales over the key Christmas trading period, Tesco recently warned that its annual profits growth would be towards the lower end of market expectations owing to “challenging” conditions at home and abroad.

“In strengthening its customer service team by 20,000 new recruits, Tesco expects to focus on giving opportunities to young people currently unemployed,” the retailer added in Monday’s statement.

“As well as providing a crucial first rung on the career ladder for each individual, this move will be a major step in tackling the current record levels of youth unemployment.”

Tesco was recently embroiled in controversy when activists targeted its involvement in a government scheme in which jobless youngsters completed up to eight weeks unpaid work for the company in return for state benefits.

Opponents of the scheme accused Tesco of using “forced labour,” and the retailer pulled out of the scheme, forcing the government to rethink the initiative.

Tesco meanwhile employs almost half a million staff worldwide.

AFP

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UK Households Find Debts To Be An Increasing Burden

Posted on February 27, 2012 by admin

UK households will find it increasingly difficult to service their debts in the coming years, according to a report by debt charity, Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS).

UK Household Debt

UK Household Debt

According to the charity’s research, an average of more than 23 per cent of households’ disposable income went towards interest payments on loans at the end of 2011.

Although interest payments fell by £2 per week in the final quarter of 2011, inflation caused the cost of living to increase, further reducing disposable income for UK householders.

The CCCS warned today that the outlook remains difficult despite a recent fall in inflation because of an expected increase in unemployment.

The CCCS expects middle-aged and elderly people to be particularly prone to debt problems, with people over the age of 45 expected to account for 47 per cent of its clients by December 2014, compared with 28 per cent in 2005.

There was bad news for younger people too today, with a survey predicting that the rising cost of childcare could make it too expensive for parents to go to work, pushing more families into poverty.

According to the Daycare Trust charity, the average cost of a part-time nursery place for child under the age of two-years is more than £100 per week.

This is an increase of 6 per cent compared with childcare costs for under-2s in 2010.

However, average wages increased by just 0.3% over the same period.

The charity also highlighted that 44,000 fewer families are able to claim tax credits to pay for childcare following recent changes by the government.

Families who are still eligible to claim the tax credits are now receiving an average of £500 a year less.

In October the government announced an investment of £300m to help families on low incomes with childcare costs, through the introduction of the Universal Credit.

It is also investing more money into early years and nursery education.

financemarkets.co.uk

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British Gas Offering Customers With £50 Insulation Incentive

Posted on February 21, 2012 by admin

British Gas is offering £50 to people who refer the name of a vulnerable homeowner who needs home insulation. The referred homeowner will also receive £50.

Both the referrer and the customer do not need to receive their energy from British Gas to qualify for the offer.

British Gas insulation incentive

British Gas insulation incentive

The move is designed to help it meet government targets in home insulation and is aimed at the elderly and families on benefits.

The Energy Savings Trust says that loft insulation can save households £175 on their heating bills and £135 can be saved by installing cavity wall insulation.

British Gas is joining other companies who already run a similar scheme. Scottish & Southern Energy pay a £25 shopping voucher and E.On pays £100 for referrals.

It is estimated that a search to find qualifying customers would cost the energy firms £120, so the move is designed to save them money as well as reward consumers.

Some companies, such as EDF provide a free insulation service to customers without restrictions on their income. It is a good idea to check with your current supplier to see what arrangements they have in place for this service.

It depends on the level of insulation a home has as to whether you qualify for more free insulation, but if you are below a minimum level you should qualify regardless of your income.

To qualify for the British Gas deal the household that is referred must be either on Pension Credit, receiving child benefit with an income below £16,190 or on certain income-related benefits.

Jon Kimber, Managing Director of British Gas New Energy, said: “With household budgets stretched we know that people are looking at ways to save money. £1 in every £4 spent on heating is wasted due to poor insulation so energy efficiency can have a massive impact.

“We want to get people looking out for others who need help. That’s why we’re offering £50 to anyone who refers vulnerable family, friends or neighbours to us for free insulation. We’ll also pay the vulnerable customer £50 for having the free insulation installed”.

Energy firms are obliged to offer free loft or cavity wall insulation to vulnerable customers but households have been reticent in signing up for the deal. The energy companies have been targeted by the government with ensuring half a million of the most vulnerable homes take up the offer of free insulation.

So, British Gas has now decided to offer incentives to try and increase the take up. It is likely that the three other members of the “big six” energy firms, EDF, Npower and Scottish Power will introduce similar schemes.

myfinances.co.uk

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UK Inflation Rate Expected To Drop

Posted on February 13, 2012 by admin

The rate of inflation used by the Government is expected to drop to its lowest level in two years on Tuesday.

The consumer price index (CPI) is forecast to have dropped to 3.5% for January, from 4.2% in December, because the previous year’s VAT hike from 17.5% to 20% gets removed from the year-on-year comparison.

UK inflation rate

UK inflation rate

While the cost of living is easing, Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King will still be forced to write a letter of explanation to the Chancellor because CPI is more than a percentage point away from the Government’s 2% target.

However a lower rate of inflation will add weight to the Bank of England’s decision last week to pump an extra £50 billion into the economy through its quantitative easing programme.

Chris Williamson, chief economist at financial services information firm Markit, said: “Inflation is likely to have cooled markedly from the 4.2% rate seen in December, as the VAT hike of a year earlier falls out of the year-on-year comparison.”

The figures will be released a day before the Bank’s quarterly inflation report which is expected to predict that inflation will hit the 2% target and possibly fall further in early 2013.

Data soon to be published by the Office for National Statistics is expected to show lower prices for oil and other commodities such as food, which increased significantly in early 2011.

Some economists warned January’s CPI drop might have been limited as retailers started discounting earlier in the turn-of-the-year clearance sales than the previous year, bringing forward the impact that will have on the rate of inflation.

The British Retail Consortium reports that overall annual shop-price inflation fell to a 22-month low of 1.4% in January, from 1.7% in December.

Non-food prices were flat year-on-year in January and food price inflation fell to an 18-month low of 3.7%, reflecting heavy discounting, particularly by supermarkets.

The Press Association

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UK Energy Companies Give Away Free Gas To Get Customers Back

Posted on February 6, 2012 by admin

Britain’s largest energy companies are giving away millions of pounds worth of free gas to disgruntled customers who defect to rivals, prompting experts to question whether the firms’ profit margins are as low as they claim.

UK Energy Companies

UK Energy Companies

Rising energy bills have caused tens of thousands of households to switch their gas and electricity accounts from one of the ‘big six’ suppliers to a smaller, cheaper supplier in recent months. According to website Uswitch.com, 35,500 households switched from a big to a small supplier in January alone, a ten-fold increase on last September.

Now in a bid to lure lapsed customers back, some of the large energy companies are offering households cash incentives worth over £100 to return.
British Gas, the UK’s largest energy company with 15.9 million household accounts, is offering £125 of free gas to former customers who have recently moved to a rival supplier. Under the terms of the offer, the amount would be knocked off a customer’s bill if they returned to British Gas and remained for a year.

Meanwhile Npower, another of big suppliers, is working on a plan to offer a “monetary” reward to lapsed customers who return, a spokesman said.

MPs questioned how the companies, who claim to operate on low margins, can afford to pay such incentives, which together could amount to million of pounds of free energy.

The big six companies have argued that household gas and electricity prices are so high because the cost of energy on the world markets has increased. Last year British Gas said that it made profit of just £24 after tax from a typical dual fuel customers.

However Fiona O’Donnell, MP for East Lothian, said that the cash payments “raise questions” over whether the energy firms’ profit margins are as squeezed as they say they are.

Tom Greatrex, MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, said that the payments are another example of “predatory pricing”.

Martin Lewis, founder of Moneysavingexpert.com, said that the payments show the financial benefit of switching supplier.

“If you change yourself from a customer who is taken for granted to a customer who is on the move, you get a financial dividend,” he said.

A British Gas spokesman said that the offer of money was “not unusual” in the energy sector, however she said that the figure offered varies.

“We have a range of cash back offers which our customer service agents can use at their discretion as time-limited offers to attract customers,” the spokesman said.

Other big six companies such as SSE, EDF said that they do not offer financial incentives for customers to return.

telegraph.co.uk

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Saving Money On Insurance

Posted on January 30, 2012 by admin

Insurance policies are one of the few things we buy in the hope of never having to use – but they’re costing more than ever.The average car insurance policy rose by 15% to £971 last year while home insurance cover costs went up 6% to more than £200, according to the AA’s premium index.

Saving money on insurance

Saving money on insurance

In public, the insurers blame the usual issues – mainly the cost of personal injury claims. But in private, they admit many Britons are paying too much by over-insuring and adding extras to policies that they don’t need. Here – in many cases on condition of anonymity – they reveal how Britons can cut the cost of insurance.

ALL POLICIES
There are three crucial steps before buying. One, never accept a renewal price. Two, visit several comparison sites, including moneysupermarket.com, gocompare.com and confused.com, to price new deals. Doing so triggers an average saving of £370. Three, use a cashback site – quidco.com is a top choice – to secure up to £150 off the cost of a policy.

If possible, buy cover in full rather than monthly payments, which end up costing far more. Rising prices mean that it is a good idea to secure a cheaper price well before renewal time: quotes from Churchill, Barclays, Aviva and Direct Line remain valid for three months.

HOME
Don’t assume you need extras like legal expense cover. One major insurer admits: “It can be useful if you need legal advice, say after a dispute with neighbour, but it’s not used very often.” Play around with excesses – you might get more cover for no extra fee. “Different companies have different cut off levels for insurance,” says Ian Crowder, of AA insurance. “You may find that a £200 and £250 excess cost the same amount, so go for the lower one. Insurers use ranges to calculate prices, so playing around with your quote will ensure the most value for money.”

But make sure you’re not under-insured: with many homeowners extending properties, remember that adding a room in the loft or garage increases the value of your home for building cover and probably for the contents too. And make sure you stick to the rules: insurers are sticklers for them.

One admits that a frequent get-out for payouts is when high-value goods such as paintings and coin collections aren’t named in policies. Insurers usually have a limit of the amount of valuables they will accept of about a third of the total value. If a Persian rug costs almost the same as the rest of a home’s contents put together, go to a high net worth insurer or specialist broker.

CAR
A speedy route to major savings is by adding a friend or relative who is a low-risk driver to your policy. One reader tells of saving more than £200 by adding his dad – a sixtysomething with Institute of Advanced Motorists membership who drove another vehicle – to his policy.

Moneysupermarket says drivers are saving more by cutting mileage thanks to car pooling.

Nowadays, fully comprehensive car insurance is cheaper than third-party-only cover. Look at customer service ratings too. “Policyholders need clear, simple information about how to make a claim, precise details of telephone numbers and email addresses, and instant access to a claims handler throughout the process,” says Jeffrey Roberts of insurer Equity Red Star.

TRAVEL
“Almost 90% of all our travel insurance claims come from medical expenses and cancellation,” says Greg Lawson of insurer Columbus. “Make sure those are covered. For medical expenses, most claims are under £500,000 so if you’re looking to save money that could be enough. But more cover is required for some countries, most famously the US where healthcare is very expensive.

“Our other top countries for total claims are Spain, France, Turkey, Greece and Egypt. In non-European countries, the cost of medical expenses has accelerated.”

Check if your policy includes financial failure cover, particularly if you’re flying with Cheap Airlines R Us. But don’t over-insure for a cancelled trip. Most cancellation cover is per person, so if your family trip cost £1000, you’ll only need £200 cover each. “Personal liability or legal expenses cover also very rarely get claimed on,” Lawson adds. “Most people don’t have a legal expenses cover when they’re in the UK, so many won’t need it overseas.”

Make sure baggage cover is enough to pay out for gadgets. The average single-article limit is £300 – not enough to buy an iPad. Don’t double-insure: if valuables are covered abroad by home insurance, there’s no need to re-buy.

thisislondon.co.uk

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Ordinary Families In The UK To Face Wage Squeeze Until 2020

Posted on January 23, 2012 by admin

Low to middle income earners will not see their disposable income approach pre-recession levels until 2020 at best, a report from think-tank the Resolution Foundation has warned.

Wage Squeeze

Wage Squeeze

The Squeezed Britain study said households in this bracket, which typically bring in just over £20,000 in take-home pay a year, are also facing a 22-year wait to save up enough cash to buy their first home.

The report exposed the “daily struggle” of these families, which account for 5.8 million households and nearly one third of working age homes in Britain. It suggested that incomes for this group will decline before flattening out around 2016-17.

If this is followed by strong growth, it will take until 2020 for low to middle income households to return to the levels of disposable income they had before the recession, but if growth is stagnant real incomes could be 8% lower than in 2007.

Under both scenarios, the gap between low and middle income earners and those on higher incomes will widen, the report warned.

The study also charted the “disappearing” property ladder for these households, who typically took four years to save for a first-time buyer deposit in 1991.

By 2001 this group took eight years to raise a deposit and by 2011 this wait had more than doubled to 22 years, with those aged under 35 facing being stuck in rented accommodation, perhaps forever.

Researchers put the sharp rise down to house price rises as well as bigger deposits as a percentage of house prices needing to be raised, while wages remain flat.

They based their calculations on a deposit of around 20% currently being needed to purchase a first-time buyer house, typically costing just over £124,500.

Low and middle income earners saving around 5% of their annual wages, amounting to just over £1,000 a year in savings before interest, would take 22 years to raise a deposit of just under £25,000.

telegraph.co.uk

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Economic Forecasters: UK Back In Recession

Posted on January 16, 2012 by admin

The UK is likely to have already fallen into recession as the eurozone crisis scuppers hopes of imminent recovery, two respected economic forecasters have warned.

UK Recession

UK Recession

The Ernst & Young ITEM Club and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) both say gross domestic product (GDP) shrank in the final quarter of last year.

Both also predict it will fall again in the first three months of 2012.

That would represent a second consecutive quarter of contracting output – fulfilling the definition of a recession.

And export trade crucial to any improvement in the British economy is being hit by problems within the eurozone, according to both reports.

The warnings come shortly after France, the eurozone’s second biggest economy, had its AAA credit rating downgraded by Standard & Poor’s (S&P).

Professor Peter Spencer, chief economic adviser to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club, said: “Figures for the last quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of this year are likely to show that we are back in recession and we are going to have to wait until this summer before there are any signs of improvement.

“But it’s not going to be a repeat of 2009 – we are not going to see a serious double dip.”

The ITEM Club report forecasts GDP growth of just 0.2% this year before increasing to 1.8% in 2013 and 2.8% in 2014.

The ITEM Club said deteriorating levels of confidence will see business investment stagnate in 2012, while export prospects have already slowed.

However, the group said UK companies have stronger balance sheets than in 2009 and have built up large cash stockpiles, which will provide a useful insurance policy if the situation deteriorates further.

Meanwhile, CEBR revised down its forecast for growth for 2012 as a whole from 0.7% growth – as predicted last October – to a decline of 0.4%.

It said there was a risk of a more serious decline of 1.1% if developments in the eurozone are worse than feared.

Douglas McWilliams, chief executive of CEBR, said: “We take no pleasure in outlining such a bleak forecast.

“But the world is going through a fundamental change where previously poor economies are industrialising fast.”

A Treasury spokeswoman said: “The uncertainty in the euro area continues to have a chilling effect on the UK as well as elsewhere but there are reasons to be optimistic: business surveys showed the UK service and construction sectors strengthening at the end of 2011, and the Government’s credible fiscal plan is helping keep UK interest rates at record lows.”

finance.yahoo.com

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Tesco Expected To Post Poor Christmas Trading Results

Posted on January 9, 2012 by admin

The winners and losers in a supermarket price war are to be revealed this week amid fears Tesco has suffered its worst Christmas in decades.

Britain’s leading grocers slashed prices over the festive season in a desperate bid to tempt shoppers.

Tesco

Tesco

With competition from budget supermarkets Aldi and Lidl, analysts warned the promotions frenzy was likely to have hit profits.

Waitrose set the bar high last week when it reported a 3.8 per cent jump in underlying sales as the premium end of the market survived unscathed.

But Tesco, Britain’s biggest supermarket chain with 2,700 stores, is expected to report falling sales on Thursday.

Matthew Truman, an analyst at JP Morgan Cazenove, forecast a 1.5 per cent slide in sales over Christmas.

He said: ‘It’s clear that the retail industry has suffered a difficult Christmas and we do not believe that Tesco has emerged unscathed.’

Sainsbury’s is likely to fare better on Wednesday as it benefits from its ‘Live Well for Less’ and ‘Feed your Family for £50’ campaigns.

The City expects Christmas sales to have risen by nearly 2 per cent but Numis analyst Rod Salmon warned it may not last.

He said: ‘Longer term, we continue to believe that Sainsbury’s will be the big loser in food due to a lack of clarity in its offer.’

Morrisons has fared better than its rivals in recent months under new boss Dalton Philips, but sales growth look set to have slowed.

Justin Scarborough, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland, said: ‘We believe that while Christmas eventually arrived for the industry, it came late and since the Christmas period sales trends have reverted to more subdued levels.’

thisismoney.co.uk

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Tips To Help You Get In Top Financial Shape In 2012

Posted on January 3, 2012 by admin

Forget faddy diets and exhausting exercise – start 2012 with these financial resolutions and you could really make a difference to your lifestyle.

UK Pounds

UK Pounds

Change your current account

Statistically, you are more likely to get divorced than switch your bank account, but this hasn’t stopped banks offering all kinds of carrots to entice you to move your custom.

Santander currently offers the top prize of up to £300 for moving your main current account to its Preferred account, but you must already have a mortgage and some savings with the bank to qualify.

The Preferred account pays you 5 per cent on balances up to £2,500, as long as you deposit at least £1,000 a month into it. This is market-leading for a current account, but it only applies for a year. After 12 months, the rate drops to 1 per cent.

First Direct – voted best bank for customer service in consumer surveys – offers you £100 to switch, and if you’re not happy with the bank after six months, it will give you another £100.

Halifax offers no joining sweetener, but as long as you pay in £1,000 a month it will pay you £5 cash.

Are you energy efficient?

There’s no point in spending money heating your house if it is simply leaking into the atmosphere, so make sure your home is as insulated as possible. According to the Energy Saving Trust, cavity wall insulation is the most cost-effective measure.

By injecting foam into the gaps between the external and internal walls in your home, you could cut your bills by £110 a year.

Loft insulation is common in most homes, but by upgrading existing insulation to 270mm thick you could save an extra £25 a year.

If you are part of a low-income household or a pensioner, you can apply for grants of up to £3,500 to install insulation under the Warm Front scheme.

Take advantage of Bank Rate

Savers may rue the day the Bank of England slashed Base Rate, but mortgage owners should take advantage of the historic low.

If you are lucky enough to be on a tracker mortgage you will have seen your monthly mortgage payments halve over the past five years. As long as you can do so penalty-free, make overpayments to reduce your debt.

Your mortgage will be your cheapest debt, however, so if you have a credit card racking up interest at 18 per cent, make sure you pay this off first.

Ensure you’re insured

Seven million British households are underinsured – with a total of £200 billion of home contents at risk. Make a checklist of items in each room of your house, noting the cost of replacing each item with a new model, and inform your insurer of the total. You may find your premium rises, but it is cheaper than having to fork out the extra from your own pocket should the worst happen.

Preparation is key

If you have not done so already, make 2012 the year you start a pension.

Accountants at Pricewaterhouse Coopers recently calculated that the state pension age could rise to 70 by 2050. But even with an increased working life, our pensions will be stretched.

If you start saving at the age of 20 and put away £75 a month for your entire working life, your savings should produce an income for life of about £17,000 at retirement. Delay payments until you’re 50 and the same monthly savings would produce an income of about £2,000. Putting it off until you are 30 would cut your likely income to £8,850.

telegraph.co.uk

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