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Never Knowingly Undersold pledge wipes out John Lewis profits

The department store revealed that half-year profits were likely to plunge to close to zero, while full-year earnings are expected to be 'substantially lower' than last year. Experts warned the firm's lauded price promise was at the root of the problem as the chain had been forced to slash prices to keep up with budget rivals.

Overall, 61 per cent of all speeding offences - which account for more than 700,000 cases in the last two years - were recorded in the zone where most drivers are caught over the limit.

How to find the best company shares to invest in

'It's a question of working out who's got a good business model, who makes a profit, who's borrowed too much money and has a balance sheet that will evaporate at the first sign of trouble.' David Miller, investment director at Quilter Cheviot, and a committed stock picker with decades of experience gives us his tips on buying shares..

In his final speech as a member of the rate setting monetary policy committee, Ian McCafferty warned more aggressive rate hikes would be needed in future unless the central bank acts now.

In a scheduled strategy update, the retailer said earnings for the full year will likely be 'substantially' lower than last year too, when it reported a 77 per cent fall in pre-tax profit to £104m.

Back in the Nineties, I bought a fund called Jupiter Income. I'm sure many of you bought it, too. It was at the top of the performance tables by some distance.

The price of the average UK home rose 2 per cent in the year to June to a new record of £215,444, according to Nationwide, but this masks a continuing slowdown.

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MARKET REPORT: Office business IWG not showing its best side

The Regus owner, which has received takeover approaches from private equity firms Terra Firma and TDR Capital as well as US property investors Starwood Capital and Prime Opportunities, fell by 2.81 per cent after a profit warning. The firm said it now expected profit for 2018 to be up to 20m lower than had previously been guided, as its UK business 'is not performing to management expectations'. In an effort to keep its head above water in an increasingly competitive sector, IWG said it would ramp up its growth efforts and spend £230m on new locations as opposed to £200m.

Professional activities such as lawyers and
wealth managers are key generators of the
UK's surplus on service earnings, the second
largest in the world.

They want the UK Takeover Panel to impose a minimum bid for the broadcaster that is above Fox's offer of £11.7bn. Sky is at the centre of a bidding war that has sent its shares soaring.

A deal could value the Spanish car hire business at around £617m. The whole of Northgate is currently trading at a value of just £547m.

A budget airline founded by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is set to go bust unless investors bail it out. Shares in Fastjet plunged 70 per cent as it revealed urgent talks with shareholders.

The TSBU union, which the bank does not recognise, told bosses that work on the IT upgrade was behind schedule, and that the new system was unstable and needed further testing.

Man loses savings on a luxury Manchester flat that is never built

Angelgate, near Manchester, was part of a drive to bring high-end housing to cities in the North. Some 320 buyers handed over £33m but the plot pictured yesterday(bottom right) is an abandoned building site. Among the victims were Gabriel Ward, bottom, who paid a £3,000 reservation fee for his Angelgate flat in January 2015 and Mehdi Sadeghian spent £5,000 to reserve a £150,000 two-bedroom flat.

The government agency, which raises money for HM Treasury, wants to attract less from savers this year. NS&I; has been set a target of raising £6bn between April 1 and March 31 next year.

The tumultuous collapse of BHS in 2015 marked the beginning of a grim episode, during which Debenhams' market value crashed to just £218m and House of Fraser has decided to axe 31 stores.

Holidaymakers evicted from Airbnb villas by foreign police

Airbnb, the home-sharing website, is allowing properties to be listed in places such as New York, Singapore, Japan and parts of Spain, where many short-term holiday lettings have been restricted or banned. Tourists are arriving at properties to find 'No Airbnb' signs posted inside the buildings, security guards who want to interrogate them and a hostile reception from other residents.

The chain has teamed up with network Three to offer unlimited calls, texts and 4GB of data. The sim-only contract is a monthly rolling deal you can cancel at any time.

I've been running a graphic design business as a sole trader long before meeting my partner and she has not contributed a single penny to it, could she still get some of the assets?

Aston Martin DBS Superleggera is a £225K revival capable of 211mph

The new lean and mean £225,000 DBS Superleggera accelerates from rest to 62mph in just 3.4 seconds and takes its inspiration from Aston Martin's beefy long distance cruising models which over nearly fifty years have been driven on the big screen by British secret agent 007.

In a victory for Money Mail's Pay Back Fraud Victims campaign, new rules from the City watchdog should help protect the thousands who fall victim to bank transfer scams each year.

With all the cyber security that big firms have at their fingertips and the mountains of online reviews at ours, you'd think the internet would have become a safe place to shop.

Can my wife claim some of her late ex-husband's pension?

During the divorce the assets except his pension were amicably split 50/50. As this was his only income my wife agreed that he could keep the pension. But this was a private agreement and was made without any expectation that he would be diagnosed with cancer and die only a few years later. Does my wife have a legal claim on the pension?

Insurer Zurich found two in five retirees have not adjusted the amount they take from nest eggs in line with dips in the stock market, and may end up with an empty pot.

Fears are growing that unscrupulous firms are targeting customers with final salary pensions that pay a guaranteed amount, to encourage them to move out of the scheme in exchange for a lump sum.

Eye-opening statements culled from focus groups reveal that understanding of how pensions work is poor, levels of mistrust are high, and many people plan to rely on their homes to fund retirement.

Moves to beef up sanctions follow the BhS and Carillion scandals, where savers ended up in the official pension lifeboat scheme with reduced payouts in retirement.

Virgin Money launches one-year fixed savings account

Virgin Money has today launched a savings account which offers its interest in air miles with the Virgin Atlantic airline. The bank hopes to lure savers into the one-year fix with 1,400 Flying Club miles for each £1,000 saved, instead of traditional interest.

It has been two years since the vote to leave the European Union and Richard Buxton is bullish on the UK economy, despite what he sees as a less than satisfactory handling of Brexit talks.

A massive 129 modern cars reviewed by Which? exceed the standard limit of a parking bay. It suggests the UK parking space is no longer sufficient for today's cars.

10 cars most likely to be listed for sale under £1k

Everyone remembers their first motor - they're usually old, well used and flirting with the big scrapyard in the sky. These are the 10 models you're most likely to find if you are searching for a car for less than £1k. From top, left to right: Ford Fiesta, Renault Clio, Nissan Micra, Vauxhall Corsa, Renault Megane, Ford Ka.

James Hawken, 49, wants to rally support among pension savers left out of pocket, pile pressure on politicians to investigate and potentially launch legal action against providers.

Kibo Mining aims to be a leading regional player in addressing that need, a strategy that is just emerging after a rethink about the company's mining assets.

Marston's enjoys soaring sales after spending £55m bringing American craft beers to

The group, which owns pubs and breweries across the UK, has enjoyed soaring sales of Founders All Day IPA after it won distribution rights to the beer following its £55m purchase of Charles Wells last year.

The Bank of England governor said the EU had given no indication how it would handle the upheaval when the split comes.

The website stated that customers could 'instruct us to sell for £849'. The small print added that the fee rose to £1,199 in London and surrounding areas.

UK Asset Resolution, which is winding down the mortgage books of failed lenders Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, said it was 'probable' it could complete the sell-down by 2021.

A spokesman for Wetherspoons said some pubs would be without John Smith's and Strongbow but said the supplier Heineken would be available in a couple of days.

A 1,000ft-long tent has suddenly risen from the car park of the electric car maker's factory. It houses another production line for the Model 3 sedan.

The bosses of ITV and Sainsbury's, as well as leading figures from across British business, broke their silence on the tactics used by the titans of Silicon Valley to demand a government crackdown.

Paris-based Eutelsat yesterday said it was not going to make a bid for the British business after it was asked to clarify its position by the UK Takeover Panel.

Matt Chapman - former head of the anti-bribery and corruption team at the bank - was reportedly quizzed over claims he changed a review by the woman's manager to give her a higher mark.

Sainsbury sales slide as it battles to secure £14.1bn merger with Asda

Britain's second biggest supermarket was the only major name to record a drop in the three months to June 17. The overall grocery market, however, chalked up two years of continuous growth.

The boss of Disney Bob Iger may oust Kathleen Kennedy, president of subsidiary Lucasfilm, which made Solo: A Star Wars Story, after the film's poor box-office performance.

Carpetright made a loss amid 'tough trading conditions'. It has been granted permission to close 81 shops after claiming the portfolio was unsustainable.

Single first-time buyers need over a decade to raise a deposit - and Londoners could take

A single first-time buyer who started saving up for a deposit earlier this year will not be able to buy a home until 2028 in certain parts of England and Wales. To raise enough money for a 15 per cent deposit on a first home, a single first-time buyer will need to save for just over 10 and a half years, new figures by Hamptons International show. With pay packets gradually creeping up and house prices cooling off in areas like London, the amount of time it takes for a single first-time buyer saving up for a deposit to get on the housing ladder has dipped slightly from the 11 year mark seen a year ago.

With Brexit looming, the capital's prowess as a hub for finance and culture shows no signs of slowing down, the Boston Consulting Group's survey suggests.

The Financial Conduct Authority has outlined plans to introduce a new signposting system designed to push people with long-term health conditions away from mainstream insurers.

How to escape the higher household bill trap - and save £2,000 a year

Millions of households are routinely overpaying or losing out by hundreds of pounds a year by falling victim to the 'default penalty' sting - one that shunts people into poor financial deals and costs £8 billion a year. Households are being caught in four key areas - energy, mortgages, savings and home communications. Here we show how you can escape these traps - and boost your annual household budget by £2,000 by switching deals.

High street beauty chain, Superdrug, has stepped up to take on the likes of EE and Vodafone with its first Sim-only rolling contract. The £10 deal earns you loyalty points. Is it any good though?

Britons warned of dangers of driving dehydrated in heatwave

Scorching temperatures of up to 90F have been predicted this week, which will see Britons bathed in hotter conditions than Tahiti. And this poses a risk to motorists who don't consume enough water, studies have shown. A Loughborough University study showed a similar decline in reactions to being over the drink drive limit.

Garden waste being processed near Stirling

Increasing numbers of local authorities are making money from the service, which used to be included in council tax, according to BBC consumer series Rip Off Britain: Live.

Lloyds Bank is slashing the interest it pays Club Lloyds current account customers from 2 per cent on the first £5,000 to 1.5 per cent, at the start of next month. So should you switch to a better deal?

TONY HETHERINGTON: Time is money... the £9,000 Rolex I purchased online is a counterfeit

I purchased a Rolex online for £9,000. The seller had arranged payment through PayPal so we were both protected, he said. I called PayPal and it confirmed I would be fully protected if anything went wrong. The watch turned out to be counterfeit and the seller immediately went to ground. PayPal said it had frozen the payment, but demanded proof from Trading Standards or Rolex that the watch was fake. I supplied both, but got no refund.

How keying in the number '0' instead of letter 'O' can cost hundreds in parking penalties

Getting the letter 'O' mixed up with number '0' is an easy mistake to make. But get it wrong when using a car parking machine and it can end up costing you hundreds of pounds in fines. Personal trainer Danni Crawford faces such a demand from debt collectors after failing to key in correctly her car registration number on four separate occasions - tapping in a zero rather than the letter O. She says the first she learned about the errors was when details of the fines arrived in the post.

Would you pay more tax to save the NHS? Listen to the This is Money podcast

The National Health Service is 70 years old this year and most of us are proud of the British institution, leaning on it in our times of need. However, we're living longer with more complex problems and the service keeps crying out that it needs more money. Should we pay more tax for it?

The UK's biggest supermarket argued that less than one in eight transactions receives a refund under the scheme and said the 'majority' of customers would prefer lower everyday prices.

How to keep your pet premiums on a tight leash

Thousands of pet owners are being forced to ditch insurance for their dogs and cats because of rocketing premiums. Around 12 million households have a pet but as many as eight million are uninsured, leaving them at risk of hefty bills should they have to visit a vet. Here we look at the options available, how to keep costs down and the key facts pet owners need to know about their insurance cover.

Peer to Peer lending offers an alternative way to invest, particularly in the property space, as a viable, high return option that offers a good level of security for their funds.

Liane Katz, 40 and a mother of two, runs MAMA.codes, a business that teaches school children aged between three and eight in London the basic principles of computer coding.

Is Nationwide Building Society boss REALLY worth £2.3m a year? Customers cast their vote

Customers of Nationwide are being urged to vote against the fat-cat pay being enjoyed by the board's 'gang of four' executives at next month's annual general meeting. The call to action has been made by the Building Societies Members Association, a longstanding organisation that passionately believes mutuals such as Nationwide should be run primarily for the benefit of those who own them - savers and borrowers - and not for the personal gain of top executives.

SUNDAY NEWSPAPER SHARE TIPS: PTSG, Sirius Minerals, Bank of Georgia and Serco

We round up the Sunday newspaper share tips. Joanne Hart and her Midas column in the Financial Mail on Sunday takes a look at PTSG, a company that provides specialist services for buildings across the UK and updates on mineral firm Sirius. Meanwhile, the Sunday Telegraph runs the rule over the Bank of Georgia while the Sunday Times delves into outsourcing giant Serco.

Which car brands are most - and least - likely to knock money off a new motor?

The average discount on the list price of vehicles between March and May was £2,581. However, of the 7,500 purchases reviewed, 218 customers couldn't get a single penny off the retail price of a new car. These are the brands providing the most wiggle room and the ones who don't want to haggle on price at all.

Location, Location, Location's Kirstie and Phil's tips for buyers and sellers

There's nobody better to ask for advice if you want to sell your home - now or in the future - and would like to get the best possible price than Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer (inset). Allsopp and her co-host on Location, Location, Location have been helping people move since 2000. They give us their tips and Kirstie casts her eye over a selection of houses pictured.

High property prices are putting home owning out of reach for many. According to a recent study by HSBC, only 31 per cent of young people said they were able to buy a home.

Following 13 years on BBC1's Homes Under The Hammer, Lucy Alexander is showing viewers how to achieve luxury interiors for less in her new show, Bang On Budget (Sundays at 5.35pm on Channel 4).

Invest your money in a second holiday home

There are so many ways to make it work to your advantage through buying property, whether it be a holiday home for you and your family, a house or flat you can rent out, or somewhere for one of your children to live, possibly when they are a student. A holiday home in the sun is possibly the most immediately appealing option, with many places in the Mediterranean still surprisingly inexpensive. Pictured left: This three bedroom semi-deteached villa in Davutlar, Turkey, is £99,950. Bottom right: Various flats are for sale at Bath's Riverside development. Top right: A three-bedroom apartment in this block in Ibiza is selling for £481,000.

Retirement shouldn't mean retiring from the finer things in life - it should mean having a chance to enjoy them. Now, thanks to the very latest in retirement developments, this possible.

At some point, most of us reach a stage when we want to put our feet up. Maybe the way to do that is to buy a smaller home, so we don't have to look after all those empty rooms.

When will UK interest rates rise?

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee kept interest rates on hold at 0.5 per cent, in spite of forecasts of a 90 per cent chance of a rise just three weeks ago. Policymakers voted 7-2 for a hold, with the two members who called for a rise saying that they believed there were 'upside risks' for inflation.

We tend to put ambitious targets on our hoped-for income in retirement and then underestimate how much we will need to set aside to achieve that. So how much should you save?

Pick the best (and cheapest) investment Isa platform

Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and changes to charges have left many investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best. We also highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense, as it should protect your hopefully growing investments from tax forever.

We asked trusted experts to recommend the best funds that cover different investment sectors - and included This is Money's selection of active and passive options too.

Rightly or wrongly, some people simply want a quick, straightforward route map to investing in an Isa. To that end, this is our distilled guide to getting started.

What next for mortgage rates?

Borrowers are being offered a raft of cheap fixed rate mortgages as lenders attempt to lure them into remortgaging or buying a home. But HSBC has decided to buck the trend and launch a new rate mortgage that is a tracker instead. We pick out the best fixed and tracker rate mortgages and look at what next for rates.

Ten tips for buy-to-let: Essential advice for property investment

Buy-to-let is much tougher than it once was. A tax crackdown on buying properties and a tax raid on the rental income from owning them has seen to that. But for many Britons the idea of investing in property still appeals, as they trust bricks and mortar and may feel that they can add value to a property. Read our top ten buy-to-let tips

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