Business news live: House prices hit record level, retail sales show autumn concerns

As Lloyds plans to chop its backside 5 per cent of employees, James Moore asks if threatening hundreds of ‘underperformers’ with the sack can have an energising impact on the workforce

Elon Musk might change into the world’s first trillionaire underneath a brand new proposed fee package deal at Tesla – if the chief govt hits a sequence of bold targets throughout the following decade.

Primarily based on present market capitalisation values, it could make Elon Musk price greater than all however the six or seven largest public firms on the planet.

Reaching the phrases of the deal would virtually actually make Tesla the largest enterprise on the earth, as one of many phrases included is to develop the corporate’s market worth to $8.5tn (£6.3tn) from the $1.1tn determine it stands out at present. Chipmaker Nvidia is presently the one agency greater than $4tn.

Interns are often recognized to take up roles for little pay within the hope of gaining expertise and getting a foot within the door of their chosen business.

However one internship has hit the headlines this week because of providing an eyebrow-raising wage of round £78,000 for about three months’ work – and it’s made accessible by a British businessman.

The place on supply is an AI researcher for XTY Labs, who goal to develop algorithms to be used in buying and selling throughout the monetary sector. However to land a spot incomes $35,000 (£26,000) a month, as you would possibly anticipate, you’ll want a really particular vary of talents.

Czech-based Allwyn – which took over the 10-year licence to run the lottery from Camelot in February final 12 months – reported a 14% soar in UK underlying fixed forex gross sales for the three months to the tip of June.

Gross sales lifted 7% on a reported foundation, serving to UK underlying earnings raise 20% to 6 million euros (£5.2 million).

The Nationwide Lottery offered 18,600 tickets a minute on June 6 on the peak of the file £208 million EuroMillions jackpot attracts.

Angela Rayner has stop as deputy prime minister and housing secretary after an investigation into her tax affairs over her buy of an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

The deputy prime minister has confronted mounting strain to face down over latest days after admitting she underpaid stamp obligation by £40,000 on the flat she purchased earlier this 12 months.

Ms Rayner referred herself to the unbiased adviser on ministerial requirements Sir Laurie Magnus who despatched his report into her conduct to Keir Starmer saying her place in authorities was untenable, in accordance with experiences.

So who’s in line to switch her?

British companies spent almost £236,000 every on synthetic intelligence (AI) up to now 12 months as they give the impression of being to get forward within the race to embrace the brand new expertise, in accordance with a report.

The newest Barclays Enterprise Prosperity index survey discovered that giant corporates with greater than 250 staff invested essentially the most – at a mean of £400,000 on AI and rising applied sciences over the previous 12 months – in contrast with £225,500 from medium corporations and £125,250 from small firms.

Greater than two thirds – 68% – of all companies are additionally seeking to enhance this spend within the coming 12 months because the AI revolution reveals no signal of slowing.

One agency is sharing with customers some ideas to save cash forward of Christmas, in terms of shopping for on-line.

Utilizing a mix of the correct Google searches and a few particular prompts with AI programs like Chat GPT can result in critical financial savings, they are saying.

Adam Collins, CEO of search advertising and marketing company Ignite search engine marketing, mentioned:

“Google’s nice for precision looking out — however AI is sort of a shortcut to the tip consequence. The neatest consumers this Christmas will use each in tandem: Google to dig into retailer websites, and ChatGPT to do the heavy lifting.

“Most consumers solely scratch the floor of what’s on-line. Google can floor outlet inventory and voucher codes if you realize the correct searches. Pair that with ChatGPT prompts that examine merchandise, spherical up offers, or uncover hidden bundles, and also you’ve mainly acquired a digital private shopper working free of charge.”

A few examples given are:

Ask AI: Discover Christmas magnificence reward units underneath £30 that embody fragrance. It may be 20–40% cheaper than shopping for individually.

Ask Google: “low cost code” + model title, eg “Boots low cost code November 2025”. It could actually get As much as 20% off magnificence and style.

You can even add browser extensions like Honey and Quidco which can discover you finest offers or give cashback for pages you’re on with out you doing any further work.

Transport for London has issued a last-minute attraction for Tube strikes to be known as off, as hundreds of staff put together for walkouts set to trigger journey chaos within the capital.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, together with drivers, signallers, and upkeep employees, are set to launch a sequence of strikes over pay and circumstances, which can trigger large disruption to companies subsequent week.

Transport for London (TfL) has warned of few or no companies between Monday and Thursday, with some disruption on Sunday.

The FTSE 100 has risen this morning, up 0.25 per cent up to now.

All informed – and if it stays the identical till closing – it could imply one other slight rise of 0.5 per cent or so in complete this week for London’s important index.

It might but change although as soon as US information and markets hearth up this afternoon.

“Fairness markets are quiet on the finish of the week, albeit there’s nonetheless an opportunity for a last-minute wobble if US jobs information delivers a shock,” says Russ Mould, funding director at AJ Bell.

“Fixed motion concerning tariffs in latest months have been a nightmare for companies attempting to plan for his or her future. Ongoing uncertainty has the potential to place a freeze on hiring, thereby miserable the labour market.

“This example isn’t ‘new’ information to buyers, however they’re watching each information level like a hawk to see if issues are getting worse or higher.

“Elsewhere, gold crept larger, fuelling the rally in FTSE 100 miner Fresnillo which has sparkled on the inventory market this 12 months.”

Tens of millions of pensioners will miss out on receiving extra money by way of the brand new state pension’s triple lock subsequent 12 months because of a key distinction between the previous and new variations.

For the brand new state pension, the triple lock ensures it goes up annually in step with whichever is larger out of inflation, wage progress or 2.5 per cent.

This 12 months, wage progress is ready to be the best of these. Inflation is ready to hit round 4 per cent late this 12 months, however wage progress is already at 4.6 per cent, which means at the least a £550 enhance to a full state pension subsequent 12 months, from £11,973 to £12,523 from April onwards.

Nonetheless, there are an estimated 8-9m folks on the previous state pension – that’s for males born earlier than April 6 1951 and girls born earlier than April 6 1953.

Right here’s the way it all performs out: