YorkshirePost: Fears for 550 jobs as store quits depot HUNDREDS of jobs are being axed at a supermarket distribution centre in Yorkshire in an area already hard hit by pit closures. As many as 550 jobs will go following the withdrawal by supermarket chain Somerfield from the DHL Exel supply warehouse in Sherburn-in-Elmet, near Selby.
The supermarket sold its chain of 171 Kwik Save stores last month and announced plans to stop using the distribution centre, which serves the north of England.
The redundancies are the latest blow in the area, which has already been hit by massive job losses following the shutdown of the Selby coalfield two years ago.

TheJournal: Workers told they will lose their jobs More than 250 workers received notice that they are to lose their jobs after two North-East companies announced redundancies. Electronics company Saia-Burgess announced yesterday that 215 jobs are to go at its Gateshead factory as it moves production to Poland and China.

EADT24: Major job losses expected at firm STAFF at a Suffolk town's major employer are bracing themselves for mass redundancies after the beleaguered company went into administration. Community leaders last night spoke of their concern over the future of Workspace Office Solutions, in Haverhill, and the possibility of more than 300 jobs being axed.

BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | Job losses as company collapses Some 105 jobs have been lost after a greetings card company based in Greater Manchester went into administration. Distinctive Cards Ltd, which will cease trading on Friday, blamed the rise of a number of new card retailers selling highly discounted products. The collapse of the company, based in Bury, has led to the closure of 18 stores, mainly across the north of England and Scotland.

FT.Com: Talk of the property bubble was overblown, say house price analysts House price inflation rose back above 5 per cent in March, according to the Nationwide building society, in the latest indication that the housing market is beginning to fizz again. Even though mortgage activity fell back in February, over the past 12 months the acceleration in prices has turned sentiment in the housing market around. The air is filled with the sound of analysts performing hand-brake turns.

Reuters: Consumers surprisingly pessimistic Consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in March as people became more pessimistic about both their personal finances and the economic outlook, a survey showed on Friday. GfK NOP's monthly consumer confidence barometer slipped to -7 this month, when Chancellor Gordon Brown presented his annual budget, from -4 in February.

Independent: UK banks make £4bn a year from overdrafts Britain's biggest banks are making more than £4bn a year from interest charges and penalty fees on overdrafts, according to a report to be published today by uSwitch. The price comparison service will say that 3.5 million current account customers are permanently overdrawn, while the average overdraft among 14 million customers who are regularly overdrawn is £677.

TimesOnline: Brown blames Europe for adding £10bn to UK gas bill ANTICOMPETITIVE practices by some companies and countries in Europe were blamed by Gordon Brown yesterday for the surge in gas prices hitting Britain’s businesses and consumers. The Chancellor told the Commons Treasury Select Committee that the recent leap in the cost of gas was “the most obvious example” of the impact of this restrictive behaviour within the EU, and that it was probably boosting Britain’s gas costs by £10 billion.

BBC NEWS | Business | Gas and power prices rise again Scottish & Southern Energy (S&SE) is putting up its gas and electricity prices for the second time this year. From 1 May, its domestic customers will see their gas bills rise by 16.5% and electricity bills by 9.4%.

Telegraph: NHS advisers 'cost £200m' as key jobs go The Government has spent £52.5 million in six years on management consultants for the health service, it emerged last night. Frank Dobson, the former health secretary, who obtained the figures, said the sum was "the tip of the iceberg" because it represented only what the Department of Health had spent on outside consultants.

Guardian: TV jobs face Indian outsourcing threat Two of India's biggest corporate names launched a joint venture yesterday to offer editing, post-production and archiving services to the world's media companies. The news television network NDTV - New Delhi Television - and the huge outsourcing specialist Genpact, which was started and is now 40% owned by America's General Electric, said media groups could cut costs by at least a fifth by outsourcing the work to India.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Scottish Enterprise job cut fears Union leaders have warned of more than 100 job cuts at Scottish Enterprise as the economic development agency seeks to address financial difficulties. BBC Scotland revealed last week that Scottish Enterprise could be heading for a £60m overspend.

BBC NEWS | England | Staffordshire | Trust cuts 150 jobs at hospitals A hospital trust in Staffordshire has become the latest to announce job cuts in an effort to save costs.
Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust is to cut more than 150 jobs to make savings of £10m next year.

BBC NEWS | England | Shropshire | Jobs lost 'due to energy prices' Fifty jobs at a Shropshire aluminium rolling mill have become the latest victims of rising energy prices, according to bosses. Bridgnorth Aluminium is ceasing supplying some markets with aluminium coils as they are unprofitable.

BBC NEWS | England | London | Hundreds of council jobs are axed Some 250 jobs are to be axed by a west London council over claims of a £5.3m shortfall in asylum seeker grants. Hillingdon borough, home to Heathrow airport, has a statutory duty to care for 900 unaccompanied young people.

TimesOnline: Barratt builds an iPad for the iPod generation FIRST-TIME buyers and couples frustrated by sky-high house prices are being targeted with new mini-apartments by Barratt Homes. The “Barratt iPad” is just 380 sq ft — 25 per cent smaller than an average 500 sq ft one-bedroom flat, but larger than a studio apartment. The one-bedroom version, which includes a small lounge, dining area, fully fitted kitchen, double bedroom, fully fitted bathroom and balcony, will sell for between £80,000 and £120,000. This is below the new £125,000 threshold at which buyers must pay stamp duty.

Firstrung: High street banks and mortgage companies in responsible credit initiative High street banks and mortgage companies are to join forces with credit reference agency Callcredit to launch a responsible lending initiative which looks at consumer indebtedness. HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and RBS are involved in the initiative which is designed to improve lenders' understanding of their customers' indebtedness and ability to repay.

Firstrung: Borrowers choose discounted variable rate mortgage in anticipation of interest rate cuts The number of borrowers choosing a discounted variable-rate mortgage has increased, indicating that consumers are anticipating an interest rate cut in the near future, according to research by independent mortgage broker Hamptons Mortgages. The figures show that demand for a two-year variable-rate mortgage rose by 9.7% in a month, from 19.27% in February 2006 to 29% in March. In contrast, the number of home buyers choosing a two-year fixed-rate deal fell by 16% over the same period.

ThisisMoney: Property soars in spring boom BRITAIN'S housing market is in the grip of a spring boom, the country's biggest building society said today. Nationwide said the average price of a home has shot up by 1.1% to £162,083 in March after stagnating in February. The fresh surge has pushed the year-on-year rate of increase up to 5.3%, the strongest for 10 months.

Independent: Tax burden on working families in UK rising as it falls in Europe The tax burden on working families in the UK has risen over the past four years in contrast to a fall across the rest of Europe, new figures showed yesterday. An analysis of taxes on the earnings of an average household showed the burden had risen in the UK but fallen across the European Union.

BBC NEWS | Business | House prices see 'spring bounce' House price inflation has continued its recent pick up, according to the latest survey from the Nationwide. The building society said prices rose by 1.1% in March, pushing the annual rate of inflation back up to 5.3%. The average property now costs £162,000.

Reuters: House prices jump in March LONDON (Reuters) - House prices jumped 1.1 percent in March, taking the annual increase to its highest in almost a year, a closely-watched report showed on Thursday, suggesting a housing recovery is firmly back on track.

Independent: Housing recovery fades as retail sales and mortgage loans decline Hopes that a sustained rebound in the housing market would feed through to consumer spending faded yesterday, as figures showed a drop in retail sales and new mortgage approvals. The volume of high street sales fell for the third month in a row in March, according to a survey by the CBI, the employers' group. A balance of 16 per cent of retailers said sales were lower than a year ago, dashing hopes in February's survey of an improvement in March.

Firstrung: Why are UK savings low? Because life is so expensive The recent strong performance of UK shares is finally drawing private investors back to the stock market. The man in the street has missed out on about 80% of gains since the Footsie hit its nadir in March 2003. But small investors are now clamouring to get back into the market - sales of equity-based Individual Savings Accounts in February were up about 60% on last year at £131m.

BBC NEWS | Business | UK trade gap hits record in 2005 The UK's trade gap soared to an all-time high of £31.9bn ($55.3bn) in 2005, reawakening concerns about the health of the economy. Imports for both goods and services outweighed exports last year, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

BBC NEWS | Business | Cold snap keeps shoppers at bay High Street shops continued to struggle in March, the CBI has said, with sales down for the third month in a row. The dip in year-on-year sales in March was greater than expected and forecasts for April were no better, according to the CBI's distributive trades survey.

Telegraph: Bloom or bust? Traditionally this is the season when the housing market picks up, but do reports of rising prices in some areas really represent the green shoots of recovery, or a false dawn, asks Ross Clark. When they suffer a shortage of punters coming through their doors, estate agents usually blame "negative media comment". But they certainly won't be able to use that excuse this year, should the property market get into problems. The headlines have been anything but downbeat: "February surge in prices"; "Buy-to-let buyers back" and "City boys snap 'em up" are a few of the headlines which appeared last week alone. Either a lot of journalists must be moving - or they have tired of writing that house prices are set to crash.

BBC NEWS | England | Humber | Factory shuts with 200 job losses Two hundred people are to lose their jobs with the closure of a frozen desserts factory in Bridlington. The Global Cake Company on the town's Carnaby industrial estate has announced it is to close at midnight on Friday after failing to find a buyer. The business was put on the market last month amid tough trading conditions.

Reuters: Retail sales weaker than expected Retail sales volumes fell more sharply than expected in March, as cold weather kept consumers away from the shops, an industry survey showed on Wednesday.

The Confederation of British Industry's distributive trades survey monthly sales balance improved to -16 in March from -18 in February.

Guardian: Mortgage lending dips The number of homebuyers taking out mortgages fell in February, after a strong start to the year, official figures showed today. The Bank of England said 115,000 mortgages had been approved for house purchases over the month, compared with 122,000 in both January and December. This is the first time the number of approvals has fallen since November 2004, although it remains at the level seen in April and May that year, when the housing market was booming.

Telegraph: Job losses increase as NHS trusts cut spending Another major hospital trust announced hundreds of job losses "across the board" yesterday in its plan to cut spending by £21.3 million in the new financial year. This brings job cuts announced by NHS trusts in England to more than 4,700 as the consequences of the financial crisis in the health service bite deeper. Other trusts have yet to announce what measures they will take to cut deficits.

Reuters: Barratt says H1 profit up Housebuilder Barratt Developments (BDEV.L: Quote, Profile, Research) reported a 4-percent rise in half-year profit on Wednesday and said it has seen some improvement in buyer confidence, with an encouraging sales trend.

"Whilst the market remains competitive, there have been positive signs in the first weeks of 2006 tht buyer confidence is improving with encouraging recent sales trends," the company said in a statement.

ThisisMoney: Water bills reach 17-year high AVERAGE household water bills are set to hit their highest levels in 17 years, a price comparison service warned today. Customers in England and Wales will see above-inflation increases of around 5.5% after price hikes come into force on April 1, according to uSwitch. It will take the average household bill to £294 per year - the highest level since 1989. The price rises come as water companies lose around 3.6bn litres of water a day due to leakages, uSwitch said.

Independent: King warns of risk to inflation from surging gas prices Soaring gas prices will push inflation above the Government's target over the coming months, Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, warned yesterday. Mr King told MPs the rise in gas prices was a "concern" and launched an attack on the lack of competition in the European energy market.

BBC NEWS | Business | Woolworths sees tough times ahead Retailer Woolworths has unveiled a drop in annual profits as competition on the High Street continues to bite. The Christmas spending spree did not continue into the new year, it warned, and consumer spending was expected to remain depressed in months to come.

Reuters: Bank signals no hurry to move rates Bank of England policymakers signalled on Tuesday they are in no hurry to move interest rates in either direction as risks to inflation are balanced and the overall outlook remains benign. Governor Mervyn King said the Monetary Policy Committee expected inflation to stick close to its 2.0 percent target and growth to remain steady, even though energy prices posed the biggest risk to the outlook.

ThisisMoney: Homes boomlet may subside HERE is a puzzle. Why is the housing market looking so strong when families are weighed down with record levels of debt? What can be safely said is that residential property is in the middle of a boomlet. In the London suburbs, where I live, barely a day passes without one of those 'come on' letters from estate agents popping through the letter box temptingly telling me that the firm has a number of buyers on its books. No one apparently bothered to warn them about Terminal 5.

ThisisMoney: Fifth of bankrupts are under 30 ONE in five bankrupts is now under the age of 30 as student debt and the consumer spending splurge starts to bite. The proportion of bankruptcies among the 18 to 29-age group has jumped from 7.9% in 2001 to 18.7% last year. The average age of a bankrupt has fallen from 43 to 41 in the last four years but female bankrupts tend to be younger than male bankrupts.

TimesOnline: Mini-boom in house prices may be over THE mini-boom in property prices may be past its peak already, analysts said yesterday, after mortgage approvals data suggested the first drop in lending since the end of 2004. Figures from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) showed that the number of approvals for house purchase, which often is seen as a leading indicator of the health of the housing market, rose to 57,600 in February, from 45,000 the previous month. That represented a 22 per cent increase in the year to February.

BBC NEWS | Business | Energy hikes 'threaten inflation' Bank of England governor Mervyn King has said continuing high UK energy prices will force up inflation, and could pose a threat to the economy. He said recent rises in UK prices would push short-term inflation, erode the buying power of household incomes and slow the growth of consumer spending.

Allsopps fable of house sharing The Conservatives suggest that shared ownership is the key to helping first time buyers on to the property ladder.

BBC NEWS | Business | Dewhurst butchers shuts 60 stores Dewhurst, the UK's biggest chain of butchers, has closed 60 outlets and called in administrators to help it sell its 35 remaining stores. Administrators BDO Stoy Hayward said it had to close 60 unprofitable stores in order to try to secure a sale of the rest of the group.

Reuters: Feb mortgage approvals up The number of loan approvals for home purchase rose by 22 percent in February from a year earlier, but the rise was weaker than previous months, suggesting the housing market recovery is moderating. British Bankers Association data on Monday showed mortgage approvals -- the number of loans agreed but not yet completed -- totalled 57,585 in February. That was up from the 45,039 loans approved in January and compared with the 47,084 loans agreed a year earlier.

Guardian: Property drought drives up prices House prices in London have risen by 1.1% in March, driven by a lack of new properties coming on to the market, new figures showed today. Increases in the capital pushed the average rise across England and Wales to 0.5%, according to property information company Hometrack - the highest monthly increase since the summer of 2004 and the fourth consecutive monthly rise.

Reuters: House prices rise on year-Hometrack House prices rose on a year ago this month for the first time since January 2005, according to property consultant Hometrack's monthly survey published on Monday.

It said that prices rose by 0.5 percent in March, the fourth consecutive monthly increase, which left the cost of the average house up 0.1 percent on a year earlier -- the first annual increase since the start of 2005.

TimesOnline:US rate rise may spark sterling sell-off CURRENCY markets are steeling themselves for a threatened fall in the pound’s value against the dollar this week after warnings that a rare rise in American interest rates above Britain’s could trigger a sell-off in sterling. Tomorrow, the US Federal Reserve, under Ben Bernanke, its new Chairman, is set to order a fifteenth consecutive quarter-point increase in American interest rates, lifting these to 4.75 per cent, which is higher than the 4.5 per cent level of base rates in Britain.

Firstrung: Fifty year mortgages, could they help the first time buyer climb onto the first rung? As 40-year mortgages become common place in the US, the UK could follow suit as securities issuers are upping the ante, talking about possible amortization schedules of up to 50 years, according to industry professionals. Could these products be of particular benefit to first time buyers limiting their initial outlay in the early crucial years?

Guardian: Nationwide warns that house prices have hit 'turning point' Britain's housing market is close to a 'turning point,' as the boost from last summer's rate cut wears off and high prices begin to bite, the Nationwide warns. As the building society prepares to release its monthly house-price index this week, it says the winter mini-boom, which has seen five successive months of price rises, will fade before the summer.

ThisisMoney: Fuel bills could rise by another £200 ENERGY regulator Ofgem has warned suppliers in a confidential briefing that energy prices could go up by more than 20% next year. The stark forecast comes only weeks after record price rises sent average yearly energy bills to more than £1,000 per household. Now they may rise by a further £200.

ThisisMoney: Spanish eyes on holiday homes MANY of us love the idea of a place in the sun. And despite surveys regularly claiming that Bulgaria, Romania or Estonia are the place to be, it's Spain where most Brits still opt for a holiday home. Thanks to Spain's popularity and easy access, for many there has been the added bonus of being able to rent out the property to friends or holidaymakers and make some spare cash.

TimesOnline: More jobs in the City than during the dotcom boom years THE soaring stock market and the boom in mergers and acquisitions has pushed the number of City jobs to record levels, new figures show. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) says the number of “City-type” jobs, in financial and professional services, rose to 327,600 last year, up 11,600 on the previous year. This beat the record established at the height of the dotcom boom. The CEBR predicts a further rise this year and next. A separate CEBR report to be published this week says the jobs boom will help fuel a rise in house prices in the capital of up to 7%.

BBC NEWS | Business | Your Money | House buyers 'making sacrifices' Britons are taking on extra jobs or cancelling holidays to be able to buy their first home, a survey suggests. The research, carried out by broker Purely Mortgages, also claims more than a quarter of people are entering the property market without a deposit.

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Moneybox | Budget move imperils 2,000 jobs Two thousand people could lose their jobs after the government pulled the plug on a scheme to help employees get a home computer. The Home Computing Initiative was set up to help lower-paid workers afford their own PC and introduce them to information technology.

ThisisMoney: Campbells auctions off major brands THOSE staples of the student kitchen - Batchelors Cup a Soup, Super Noodles and Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie - were put under the hammer today. Campbell Soup has put up for sale its UK and Irish business, whose brands also include Homepride sauces, Oxo cubes and Erin soups and sauces.

YahooFinance: Calverley hints at bubble and squeak as housing market hits all-time high AFTER Bill Jamieson reported on Tuesday how the Edinburgh property market is still merrily booming, and Gordon Brown gave a boost to property investment on Wednesday, along came a man with a big bucket of cold water to throw on Bill, Gordon, and all you. John Calverley, chief economist and strategist at American Express Bank, gave the RBS (LSE: RBS.L - news) annual economics lecture. He is an expert on "bubbles" - when the price of something inflates way above realistic levels and then bursts, leaving people who bought in at the wrong time a lot poorer.

BBC NEWS | Wales | Airline to end scheduled flights Air Wales has announced it is to stop running scheduled passenger flights from next month. Up to 80 jobs will be lost as the Cardiff International Airport-based company moves to charter flights and freight transport only.

BBC NEWS | England | Hundreds of health jobs face axe Hundreds of health jobs are facing the axe because of falling patient numbers, health chiefs have revealed.
County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said up to 700 posts, including nurses, will go over the next three years. North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust revealed 74 of its jobs were "at risk."

Independent: PC sales to plummet after glitches delay Microsoft's Vista launch Microsoft's decision to delay the launch of its new Windows operating system into next year could wipe billions of dollars from global PC sales over the Christmas period, investors fear. The software giant said that it needed more time to iron out glitches in the new Vista system, sending shares in PC makers lower, and having a knock-on effect on confidence in components manufacturers.

Telegraph: Interest rates 'on hold until 2007' The Bank of England looks set to leave interest rates on hold for the foreseeable future, economists predicted after it emerged that only one member of the Monetary Policy Committee supported a cut in borrowing costs this month.

TimesOnline: NHS sheds 2,000 jobs in a week TWO more hospitals last night joined the list of NHS trusts forced to cut services because of their debts, taking the number of job cuts to more than 2,000 in less than a week. The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, North London, and Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup, southeast London, became the latest to announce cuts despite six years of unprecedented government funding for the NHS.

Reuters: March factory orders highest in a year Factory orders fell at their slowest pace in a year in March, while manufacturers' expectations for output were their most upbeat in over 12 months, a survey showed on Thursday. The Confederation of British Industry said its monthly manufacturing order books balance rose to -16 in March after -18 in February, exactly as economists had forecast.

Guardian: BBC doubles planned job cuts The pain for BBC staff will only increase in the next year, with the target for post closures as part of Mark Thompson's cost cutting drive nearly doubling to almost 2,000. As part of the director general's plan to cut or outsource up to 6,000 BBC jobs to save £355m annually by 2008, 1,045 posts are due to go by the end of the corporation's current financial year at the end of this month.

Guardian: DIY RIP We used to be a nation of avid home improvers, eager to clamber up a stepladder at the first sign of a bank holiday. But now the hardware giant B&Q has reported a huge slump in profits. Could our days of stippling the bathroom ceiling really be over? Laura Barton reports

Reuters: Next expects tough year Fashion retailer Next (NXT.L: Quote, Profile, Research) revealed on Thursday a big slide in sales in the last few weeks and said the year ahead looked set to remain very tough as it reported modest profit growth for 2005. "We believe the competitive and economic environment will remain very challenging in the year ahead," said Chief Executive Simon Wolfson. "We are still budgeting on the basis of negative like-for-like retail sales for the year."

ThisisMoney: Budget boost for new buyers A BOOST to shared equity schemes designed to cut the cost of getting on to the housing ladder was announced by the Chancellor this afternoon. Another £970m is to be made available for shared equity schemes to help an additional 35,000 first-time buyers. A pilot scheme is to be launched which will require home buyers to be responsible for financing just 25% of the cost of a property, with housing agencies providing the balance.

Guardian: Brown plans £50bn sale of national assets The government is to sell off assets including most of the state-owned nuclear industry, the Tote, public spectrum airwaves and Ministry of Defence firing ranges as part of plans which could raise up to £50bn for public spending. Chancellor Gordon Brown said he would consider the sale of the government's 65% stake in atomic generator British Energy even though this £6.5bn holding is amassing cash to pay for future nuclear liabilities.

TimesOnline: Economist who left Britain is appointed to MPC post AN ECONOMIST who left Britain for the United States 17 years ago was named yesterday as the latest member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee. David Blanchflower, an Ivy League labour market expert whose research includes the link between sex and happiness, will become a Monetary Policy Committee member on June 1, Gordon Brown announced in the Budget. Professor Blanchflower was born in Britain, but took American citizenship after securing an academic post at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire — where he is Professor of Economics — in 1989.

BBC NEWS | Business | Morrisons posts first annual loss Supermarket group Morrisons has reported its first annual loss after the costs of integrating Safeway pushed it into the red. Bradford-based Morrisons posted a loss of £312.9m ($547m) for the year to 29 January, after costs of almost £375m for the merger with Safeway.

Reuters: Borrowing forecast raised The government will borrow 37 billion pounds this fiscal year and 36 billion next, Chancellor Gordon Brown forecast on Wednesday as he presented his 10th annual budget to parliament. This year's forecast was unchanged from the estimate he made in the pre-budget report (PBR) three months ago but the forecast for 2006/07 was 2 billion pounds higher than in December.

ThisisMoney: Please release me AN Englishman's home used to be his castle. Now it has to serve as his pension. With the surge in house prices, many retired homeowners who want to maintain their lifestyle or are struggling to make ends meet are tapping into the wealth tied up in their property. Equity release allows homeowners to cash in on bricks and mortar without having to move - and the market is growing quickly. But once started, it can be difficult, expensive or even impossible to undo these plans.

Telegraph: Barker warns of inflation threat waiting in wingsA top Bank of England figure last night warned that the Bank's existing economic growth forecasts are over-optimistic, and that inflation could come back to haunt the UK in coming months.The comments from Kate Barker, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee, followed news that inflation has risen from 1.9pc to the Bank's 2pc target for the first time in eight months.

Guardian: The disappearing petrol station Oil companies are shutting petrol stations and even outsourcing accountancy services to Poland in a drive to cut costs despite making record profits. Eleven forecourts a week are now being closed and the number owned by oil companies - rather than supermarkets or other retailers - fell by more than 300 last year, figures from the Energy Institute show. Its retail marketing survey reveals that Britain now has fewer forecourts than in 1914 - even though combined diesel and petrol sales set a record last year.

BBC NEWS | Business | Profits slide at Comet owner Kesa Profits have continued to decline at Comet-owner Kesa, despite rising demand for hi-tech gadgets. Pre-tax profits dropped by almost a fifth, 19.4%, in the year to 31 January to £143.3m ($251m).

BBC NEWS | Wales | South West Wales | 250 jobs to go at car audio plant A company which makes audio speakers for cars is to shut its factory at Port Talbot with the loss of 250 jobs. Staff at the Panasonic Electronic Devices were told on Friday that increasing competition and price pressure had led to significant losses.

BBC NEWS | Business | UK inflation edges up in February UK inflation edged higher in February, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Consumer price index (CPI) inflation rose to 2.0% from 1.9% in January, hitting the Bank of England's target.

Telegraph: Soaring public debt threatens tax hike Gordon Brown has suffered a setback barely hours before tomorrow's Budget, as experts warned he is set to miss his borrowing target. The Chancellor will borrow some £3bn more this financial year than he predicted only three months ago, economists said, after Treasury figures showed the public finances unexpectedly deteriorating in February.

Guardian: Unexpected dip in mortgage lending, despite market strength Britain's housing market showed the first signs of renewed weakness last month with an easing in demand for home loans, according to figures out yesterday. Amid a spate of surveys indicating prices have started to pick up, City analysts said the unexpected dip in mortgage lending suggested that property was becoming too expensive for many buyers and that activity in the market was starting to suffer as a result.

Guardian: Brown may struggle to meet targets after shortfall hits £2.3bn Gordon Brown's budget preparations received a last-minute setback yesterday when a jump in government spending and slower growth in tax receipts led to the biggest deficit in the public finances for a February since Labour came to power. Following the record surplus piled up by the Treasury in January, the size of last month's £2.3bn shortfall surprised the City, with most analysts predicting that the chancellor would now struggle to keep the annual deficit to the £37bn predicted in the pre-budget report last December.

BBC NEWS | UK | 'Unscrupulous' estate agent probe Unscrupulous practices by estate agents, including misleading surveyors about property prices and faking signatures, have been uncovered. Agents put forward false offers to vendors and took backhanders, reporters for BBC One's Whistleblower found.

BBC NEWS | Business | Sharp UK downturn hits Kingfisher Profits at B&Q owner Kingfisher have more than halved amid a "sharp downturn" in UK spending.Pre-tax profits after one-offs sank 64.2% to £231.8m ($406m) for the year to 28 January, from £647.7m last year.

BBC NEWS | Business | Dell to double Indian workforce Computer giant Dell plans to double its Indian workforce to 20,000 over the next three years. Chairman Michael Dell said there was a "fantastic opportunity to attract talent" in India. Dell is planning to open a new production facility in India, to add to its four call centres and two testing and development units.

Reuters: Mortgage lending growth eases Underlying mortgage lending growth continued to ease in February, moving further below its recent average, the British Bankers' Association aid on Monday. Underlying mortgage lending rose by 4.4 billion pounds in February, down from a 4.6 billion pound rise in January and lower than the average of 4.8 billion over the previous six months, the BBA said.

Reuters: Public borrowing double expectations The government borrowed more than double analysts' forecasts in February as spending surged, official data showed on Monday, just days before Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown delivers his 2006 budget. The Office for National Statistics said on Monday that public sector net borrowing, the government's preferred measure of the public finances, was 2.266 billion pounds in February, above the 1.1 billion pounds predicted by analysts. That was the highest February total since Labour took power in 1997 and left the cumulative PSNB for the fiscal year, which ends at the beginning of April, at 31.737 billion pounds compared with Brown's forecast of 37 billion for the full year made in December.

Firstrung: No shock for first time buyers as house prices remain static Once again the first time buyer is faced with news that house prices have not fallen in line with their expectations. However, these very small percentage movements, which constantly stream from various data suppliers, indicate that the massive house price inflation witnessed as recently as summer 2004 and once running at 23 per cent, is now history.

FT.Com: Britain’s economic divide deepens The gap between private-sector growth in the south-east of England and the rest of the UK has grown so wide since 1997 that surging public expenditure has not stopped the overall north-south economic divide deepening.A Financial Times investigation of the latest official regional economic activity figures shows that output growth in predominantly government sectors of health, education and public administration has been much higher in poorer regions of the UK.

ThisisMoney: Stamp duty net traps 80% MORE than four out of every five home buyers face a huge tax bill on top of their mortgage, experts warn today. Research into Britain's soaring house prices reveals only 16 per cent of buyers will avoid paying stamp duty of at least £1,200. Last year, Chancellor Gordon Brown declared he intended to help first-time buyers by doubling the stamp duty threshold to £120,000.

Telegraph: Families are failing to save up Half of all UK households - 49pc - have either no savings or a maximum of only £1,500 in their savings account, the Department for Work and Pensions has found. The figure, revealed in a survey, will fuel fears about how prepared households are for financial difficulties, such as rises in unemployment. The survey coincides with figures showing that seven out of 10 families receive benefits from the government.

Guardian: House prices in the capital top £300,000 mark Average house prices in London have topped £300,000 for the first time as buyer interest has returned to push the capital's prices up for the third month running, says property website Rightmove. It says the average asking price for a house in London rose 1.7% this month, the biggest rise since November and one that takes it to £300,719. That represents an increase of 5.8% on March last year and leaves prices in London 50% higher than the average for the rest of the country.

TimesOnlin: Public’s view of inflation poses threat for rates PROSPECTS for a further cut in interest rates will be dealt another blow this morning by news that the public’s assessment of existing inflation in the economy and its likely future level has leapt upwards since November. The Bank of England’s regular quarterly survey of attitudes to inflation across Britain, released this morning, reveals that Britons believe that price pressures are running at levels much higher than the reality, and that this trend will persist over the coming year. The findings of the Bank’s poll by NOP will inflame anxieties on its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that the surge in the cost of oil and gas has triggered an excessive view of inflation among the public.

Telegraph: High street retailers' sales suffering from the cold snap The late arrival of warm spring weather has lead to a fall in clothing retailers' sales in recent weeks, according to industry figures seen by the Sunday Telegraph.For the week to last Monday, high street sales fell by 4.2 per cent compared to the previous year, according to sales figures from a group of 23 high street retailers.

Independent: Unit trusts and pensions hurt as Brown targets tax avoiders Savers are to be hit by another stealth tax from Gordon Brown, dressed up as an anti-avoidance measure. The Chancellor will remove so-called "seeding relief" on stamp duty in the Budget on Wednesday, hitting unit trusts investing in property and many self-invested personal pensions (Sipps). The relief is given so the trusts do not have to pay stamp duty when they buy commercial property. Typically, the duty is 4 per cent of the price, so on a £250m building it would be £10m.

Independent: OFT raids five building firms over price rigging Officials from the Office of Fair Trading have raided the offices of a subsidiary of Morgan Sindall in the past month as the competition watchdog widens its investigation into the construction industry. The raid follows a recent un-announced swoop on two offices of Mowlem, the construction group owned by Carillion, as part of the same investigation.

TimesOnline: Taxes hit all-time high GORDON BROWN is about to raise Britain’s tax burden to its highest-ever level, raking in nearly £1m a minute. An analysis by the accountants Ernst & Young, based on the Treasury’s own figures, shows the chancellor will match the record high for the tax burden this year and rise above it next year. That means it will be higher than in the 1970s under Denis Healey, when the top rate of income tax was 83%, and the early 1980s, when it was 60%.

Money Week: What's really going on in the property market The UK property market "has turned the corner" - or so the property Pollyannas like to imagine. But MoneyWeek economist James Ferguson has been looking at the numbers and he isn’t so sure...

Gazumping is so last year, this years fashion? Gazundering One in three people have had a property purchase fall through, with more than 3 million househunters being victims of gazumping, a recent research has claimed.

BBC NEWS | Business | FTSE breaks through 6,000 barrier The FTSE 100, London's premier stock index, has broken through the 6,000 level for the first time in five years.

What's propping up house prices? Thin air? The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says that house prices rose again in February. The gains were driven mainly by an improvement in the London market. Surveyors were at their most positive since June 2004.

ThisisMoney: The home information pack get rich quick scheme Here's a tip if you want to make some money – become a home information pack inspector. The Government has published its timetable for the introduction of home information packs, which it says will help prevent the misery of housing sales falling through and the property industry says won't.

BBC NEWS | Business | PC maker Lenovo to cut 1,000 jobs Lenovo, the Chinese computer maker which bought IBM's personal computer arm last year, is to cut 1,000 jobs. The redundancies, accounting for about 5% of Lenovo's global workforce, will affect ex-IBM employees in the US and other staff in Europe and Asia.

BBC NEWS | England | Staffordshire | Hospital to cut up to 1,000 jobs Staff at a Staffordshire hospital have been told 1,000 jobs could be lost as managers try to reduce debts of £17m. It is thought three quarters of the redundancies at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent could be compulsory.

Telegraph: Unreliable figures could rock BrownGovernment statisticians have thrown a spanner into the works for Chancellor Gordon Brown days ahead of the Budget, admitting that the public spending figures that it has been producing since last year have been considerably more unreliable than usual.

Guardian: Heavy discounting helps high street sales show modest gain Retail sales staged a modest recovery in February, official data showed yesterday, but the upturn was not enough to make up for January's sharp fall, which was revised lower. Economists said the figures, which showed the underlying pace of retail sales at its slowest for five months, meant the weakness of consumer spending would drag the whole economy back in the first quarter of the year.

Firstrung: CML "nothing dodgy with these HIPS" Perhaps the most persistent rumour constantly surrounding the imminent introduction of the HIPS initiative has been that most lenders would insist on their own valuation and report, over and above the one organised by the vendor.

Firstrung: The mis-selling scandal of the decade In the region of 85,000 people have lost a massive chunk of their savings and been condemned to an impoverished retirement. And all because of bad financial advice.

ThisisMoney: Bank warns of debt doom if rates rise BRITAIN would face a return to the debt crunch of the early 1990s when tens of thousands lost their homes if the Bank of England raised rates to 8.5%. Most economists consider that unlikely, but a hike to just 6% would result in family finances looking 'poorly,' according to a new ' borrowing thermometer' from the Alliance & Leicester.

BBC NEWS | Business | Tough start to year for retailers Growth in UK retail sales has fallen back in the early part of 2006, according to government figures. The data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) provides more evidence that the consumer slowdown of 2005 has carried over to 2006.

ThisisMoney: Lenders under debt pressure BANKS and credit card companies are being forced to write off increasing levels of bad debt because of their over-zealous lending policies.According to market analysts Datamonitor, the UK's debt mountain has increased by 20% since July 2004 to stand at £1.2 trillion - £1,200bn. Its report said that lenders are beginning to feel the strain of the high levels of debt consumers have taken on.

Independent: Homebuyers beware: the sealed bid is back The rebound in the housing market in London has led to the return of the sealed bid - a classic sign of a speculative bubble - a survey shows today. House prices rose at the strongest pace for two years in February, according to a poll of the UK's biggest estate agencies and surveyors' firms. The biggest upturn was in the capital, where more than two-thirds of respondents saw a rise in prices, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said.

Guardian: Survey eases fears of 'debt meltdown' Britain is not on the verge of a "debt meltdown" despite the fact that debt levels have trebled over the last 15 years, new research from Alliance & Leicester claims today. The report, dubbed the "borrowing thermometer", says interest rates would have to double from their present level of 4.5% to produce the same kinds of debt stress and negative equity as during the recession of the early 1990s.

Guardian: Unemployment rises at fastest rate since 1990s The number of people drawing unemployment benefit has risen at its sharpest rate since the recession of the early 1990s, figures revealed yesterday. The figures, which provide the latest indication of a softening labour market, came a week ahead of Gordon Brown's 10th and possibly final budget. They provide an uncomfortable backdrop for a chancellor who has made the restoration of full employment a key plank of policy and follow news that economic growth in 2005 came in at its lowest since 1992.

BBC NEWS | Business | Housing market 'gathering pace' The housing market recovery gathered pace in February, according to the latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). It found that 17% more of its estate agent members in England and Wales saw house prices rise last month, compared to those that reported a fall.

BBC NEWS | England | Suffolk | Hundreds of jobs go at food plant Almost 400 workers are to lose their jobs with the closure of a food processing factory in Suffolk. The 380 staff have been told Grampian Country Foods' Harris factory in Elmswell near Bury St Edmunds is to close at the beginning of June. The company blames a crowded market place and rising costs for the closure of the pork processing plant.

BBC NEWS | England | West Midlands | Jobs threat after pension failure A manufacturing firm employing 450 people has called in receivers after failing to reach a settlement over its pension fund deficit. The Armstrong Group said it inherited a debt of £36m and for the past two years has been in negotiations with the trustee of its pension fund. The firm said it was unable to pay the amount but had tried to avoid insolvency and protect jobs.

BBC NEWS | Business | Jobs hit by Lloyds TSB cost cuts High Street bank Lloyds TSB is to cut 566 jobs as it attempts to reduce costs in its back office operations. Posts will go in London and Tonbridge in Kent and will also see three offices close in Glasgow, Chorley in Lancashire and Newton Aycliffe in County Durham.

TimesOnline: Axa and Abbey cut 2,000 call centre jobs Two of Britain's biggest financial institutions are to cut 2,000 jobs in a black day for Britain's call centre industry. Abbey National and the insurance giant Axa are both moving parts of their call centre operations to India. The exodus of call centres to India has accelerated since Christmas as companies seek to take advantage of cheap labour costs.

BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | BA announces call centre job cuts British Airways is cutting 400 jobs as part of changes to its direct sales operation, the company has said.

Reuters: Unemployment shows biggest jump since 1992: The number of Britons out of work and claiming benefits in February rose by its biggest amount since the economic slump in 1992, official figures showed on Wednesday.