Both my partner and myself received fantastic letters from Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs this morning, to notify us that they were stopping paying us the zero tax credits that they’ve been paying us for the last couple of years. Yes, that’s right, two letters to let us know we weren’t going to receive anything, when we already hadn’t been receiving anything for the last few years.
Further 2,100 Barclays Jobs To Go
Following on from yesterday’s announcement of 2,100 job losses worldwide, of which it now appears that 500 will be in the U.K., Barclays has announced another 2,100 job cuts, this time in its retail and commercial banking divisions, all of which will be from the U.K..
Barclays Planning 2,100 Redundancies
It looks like Barclays is planning at least 2,100 job cuts worldwide, equating to 7% of its workforce.
The details are a little sketchy at the moment, so it’s unclear how many of these jobs will go from the U.K., but these job losses join the 400 redundancies announced by Barclays a couple of weeks ago.
Keep Your Eyes Open For These 2 Scams
There are a couple of scams to be on the look out for, with fraudsters attempting to steal bank and credit card details and empty accounts.
Recession Watch: JCB, Wedgwood, Land of Leather & Wincanton
More depressing news on the job front, with JCB and Wedgwood confirming many job losses, and more redundancies likely at Wincanton and Land of Leather.
Recession Watch: Nissan Redundancies, Zavvi Store Closures
More bad news on the job front today, as Nissan has announced it is getting rid of 1,200 jobs from its Sunderland factory, and Zavvi shuts 22 of its stores with immediate effect.
A Positive View Of Today’s Interest Rate Cut
A lot of media analysis of today’s interest rate cut to 1.5% has been negative, focusing on the fact that it won’t mean the banks will lend more to businesses and consumers or get more foreign investment in. But what positives can be take from today’s announcement?
Interest Rates Cut To 315-Year Low
As expected, the Bank of England has cut the UK interest rate to a 315-year low of 1.5%.
This is the first time that rates have gone below 2% since the BoE was founded back in 1694, and reflects the fears of slowing inflation and possibly even deflation.
Credit Crunch Piggy Bank
Here’s a useful new piggy bank, designed especially for the credit crunch.
Recession Watch: M&S, Barclays, Car Sales and Cattles
There are four interesting stories to do with the recession today, concerning Marks and Spencer, Barclays, UK Car Sales and sub-prime lender Cattles.