BT has today announced plans to become involved in the UK smart energy meter market via a partnership with Arqiva and Detica. This will be via a bidding process which the UK government is administering at the moment in relation to a radio network which would allow companies to communicate with 28 million homes and small businesses in the UK which will have smart energy meters installed over the next decade.
Families and businesses around the UK are today looking at a 10% increase in the cost of telephone calls due to inflation busting price rises by BT. It has been revealed that the minimum cost of a standard call using the BT network will be 17.3p after taking into account connection charges and call rate increases. So why has BT decided to increase charges?
Despite the fact that the Scottish government has promised a "unique solution to Scottish further education fees" the SNP has been warned not to rule out tuition fees north of the border. The warning comes from the UK government which has for many years operated at a disadvantage to its Scottish counterpart in relation to tuition fees. The tuition fee system was abolished in Scotland some time ago and indeed the country has benefited from a massive influx of students from all around the world.
Anthony Ward, the UK financier, this week moved the cocoa market single-handedly with a deal worth in excess of £650 million. He now owns enough cocoa to produce 5.3 billion quarter pound chocolate bars and could single-handedly force chocolate bar manufacturers around the world to increase their prices. So who is Anthony Ward and why has he taken such a gamble?
UK holiday company Goldtrail collapsed yesterday with 16,000 customers left stranded overseas and future holidays under threat. There is also anger regarding the fact that many customers were left waiting with no news at various airports around the UK, despite the fact that the company had collapsed hours earlier. So what next for stranded holidaymakers?
It has been revealed that United Utilities, the parent company of Northwest water, has today issued 90 warning letters to customers who are believed to be flaunting the hose pipe ban. It would appear that the company is acting upon information obtained by employees and from complaints by the public although it is unclear whether there is some kind of "big brother" situation materialising. Is it fair for members of the public to be reported for using water?
From next year supermarkets customers in the UK will be able to pay for their goods via a contactless payment system with the Co-op the latest major UK supermarket to sign up to the program. These cards, which are issued by Barclaycard and Visa, simply allow customers to pass their card across a sensor which will take their details and automatically deduct money from their accounts. No PIN numbers will be required for sales under £15 although sales in excess of this figure will need to go through the "normal channels".
Despite the fact that a number of reports on both off-line and online fraud in the UK have shown a significant rise in victim numbers, there is growing concern that the vast majority of frauds are never reported to the authorities. Recently we saw the announcement that 15,000 frauds have been reported to the National Fraud Centre in the first quarter of 2010 which is a significant increase on previous quarters. So what is holding back reporting of fraud in the UK?
Those at the very bottom of the UK income spectrum are being hit disproportionately hard when it comes to investment in green technology and green energy. This is the conclusion of a report produced by the government's Fuel Policy Advisory Group which will force the UK government to think again about the green energy policies which are currently in place. But why should green energy cost more?
The UK's National Fraud Reporting Centre has today revealed that upwards of 15,000 people contacted the centre in the first six months of 2010 to report that they had been victims of fraud. While this in itself is a very distressing number the fact is that the 15,000 reported victims are literally just the tip of the iceberg. This comes at a time when fraud in the UK has increased remarkably due to the recession and the need to make household budgets stretch further and further. So how can you protect yourself from fraud?
