Matt Sanders, Gocompare.com's banking expert, said: "These figures make interesting reading and it's clear that customers have been enticed by incentives and cash back deals. The figures show that the biggest winners are Santander with its 123 account, which offers varying amounts of cashback, and Halifax with its £100 payment for those who switched to its Reward account, as well as the £5 per month in credit incentive.
The University of the Highlands and Islands has announced the establishment of its new Archaeology Institute. Centred in the heart of the rich and diverse archaeological heritage of the region, the Institute aims to advance our understanding of the historic environment through the creation, interpretation and dissemination of archaeological knowledge.
In the most comprehensive analysis of the cash savings market ever, Which? reveals the full extent of how some providers are failing consumers and leaving them with next to no return on their money. While there have been improvements from a handful of providers, our new report - The Savings Trap - is a damning indictment of the systemic failings and poor practices in this market that distort competition and make it difficult for people to know whether they are getting a good return on their savings.
The Highland Council's Trading Standards is alerting consumers to be on their guard if they receive a ‘Final Award Notification' letter address from "Euromillions FIFA World Cup Super-Lottery". Letters are being sent out by fraudsters claiming that people have won £725,000.
Works to install twelve storage lockers for electric bikes have started this week in Inverness - six at Falcon Square and a further six at Glenurquhart Road. The public are advised that contractors McGregor Construction and SSE will be on site at both locations.
A progress update has today been published by the Independent Project Board responsible for overseeing the audit of charges and benefits in legacy defined contribution workplace pension schemes. View the full update at - http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/docs/dc-audit-charges-benefits-legacy-report-2014.pdf .
Keith Wade, Chief Economist at Schroders, comments on yesterday's US GDP figures, which far outstripped expectations with growth of 4%. "Within the details, consumer expenditure was the largest contributor to the quarterly figures (+1.7 percentage points) as households took advantage of the continued improvement in real disposable income.
More and more people are taking action after receiving support from the Money Advice Service. New figures reveal that in the year from April 2013 to March 2014 its customers took 653,000 positive steps to manage their debt better, save regularly, prepare for retirement, protect their assets or provide for their dependants.
The preliminary estimate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) indicated that the UK economy grew by 0.8% in Q2 2014. This is the sixth successive quarter of output growth, contributing to annual growth of 3.1% - the highest rate since Q4 2007.
Ofgem has today set out its proposed price control settlements for five of the six companies that run Britain's local electricity network, which transports energy into homes and businesses. www.ofgem.gov.uk/press-releases/ofgem-announces-£17-billion-electricity-network-and-cuts-bills-consumers Ecotricity founder Dale Vince wrote to Ofgem over 18 months ago highlighting the incredible profits being made by these electricity distribution companies that operate as a monopoly.
Just three per cent of the UK see saving for their retirement as a top priority. One in three people have no pension provision at all.
MoneySuperMarket Comments on Ofgem's Announcement That the Big Six Energy Firms Will Double Profit Margins Over the Next Year. Commenting on Ofgem's announcement that the Big Six energy firms will double profit margins over the next year, Stephen Murray, energy expert at MoneySuperMarket, said: "This news from Ofgem is yet another example of a failing energy market, at a time when UK households are still feeling the squeeze from high bills.
New research from Lloyds Bank reveals that Britons are letting the pennies slip when it comes to looking after their cash. Overall, men have £20 and women have £10 unspent change each month, meaning we could be sitting on over £0.7bn that is left in our back pockets, houses, cars and offices.
Driving licence fees are set to fall by up to 32% under plans announced today by Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, and Transport Minister Claire Perry. The proposals are contained in a public consultation on driver licensing fees.
Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (BOWL), a joint venture partnership formed between SSE Renewables (75%) and Repsol Nuevas Energias UK (25%), has announced that Wick Harbour is likely to become the future location of the Beatrice offshore wind farm Operation and Maintenance base (O&M). A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been finalised with Wick Harbour Authority and BOWL this week.
Entrepreneurs in Highland and Moray are now able to access personal loans to help start their own business thanks to the new government-funded Start-Up Loans scheme which is locally delivered by Business Gateway and Highland Opportunity. For Moray businesses, this is an especially important development.
J B Tiles & Mobility Solutions are proud to announce the opening of their new tile and bathroom showroom at 58 Henrietta Street in Wick. John Budge said, We aim to supply and fit affordable quality tiles bathrooms and showers with assurance in a quality service from start to finish with over 15 years experience in bathroom design and fitting.
Highlands and Islands (Scottish Labour) MSP, Rhoda Grant is calling time on land banking by Tesco in Thurso on the Auction site development. Mrs Grant visited the site with local Thurso Councillor Roger Saxon, a long term critic of the supermarket giant, to see first hand the lack of progress being made at the site.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (July, 29th) sold 27 prime cattle. Prime bullocks (7) averaged 200.2p (-4.7p) and sold to 219p per kg and £1,479.00 gross.
The Environmental Closure & Demolition department at Dounreay have found elevated levels of radioactivity in a manhole in a redundant offsite drainage system. Samples of sludge were taken from the manhole which indicated elevated levels of alpha activity.
