Money blog: Subway drastically changing how you order (2024)

Customers of Loveholidays have had their travel plans thrown into chaos after the parent company of two of its partners unexpectedly went bust.

In a post on Facebook, the holiday firm said FTI Group, which owns YouTravel and Meeting Point, had filed for insolvency.

As a result, the accommodation and transfer arrangements of some travellers have been affected.

A "small number" of hotels have already started contacting Loveholiday travellers, asking them to pay for their rooms again.

In the comments of the post, one person said they had been "threatened to be removed by police" for refusing to pay again.

"We are supposed to go home Thursday evening and worried our transfers and flights might be affected because we are refusing to pay again," Scott Love wrote.

"Shambles this and has ruined our holiday for me, my partner and three children."

Several other people commented, asking the provider to tell them if their trip had been impacted.

Loveholidays said it was "working hard" to honour its customers bookings and "minimise disruption" to any holiday.

It also said it was "absolutely committed" to covering costs and was working with affected customers, and the hotels involved, to make sure that happens.

Those who are on holiday and need support have been advised to contact the holiday support team by calling the number on their booking documents.

"If you're travelling with us soon and are wondering if your holiday is affected: Please don't worry. There is nothing you need to do - our team is working hard to honour any impacted bookings with another partner," Loveholidays added.

Sky News has contacted the company for comment.

Chef Tom Brown has announced he is closing his high-end Hackney restaurant Cornerstone due to high costs of the tasting menu format and changing diner preferences.

The seafood-focused restaurant first opened in 2018 and earned a Michelin star in 2021.

In a statement, Brown said Cornerstone had been his "proudest moment" and his "home for the last six years", and added that his focus would now be on his nearby Pearly Queen site.

First Direct is ending its text message banking service after 25 years, according to a report.

An email seen by This Is Money said the service - which texts customers mini bank statements and alerts them to their balance dropping below a certain amount - will be stopped on 10 August.

First Direct told the outlet that customers could get "more detailed and up-to-date information" by logging onto its app or online banking.

Tesco has partnered with Virgin Red to offer Clubcard holders the chance to turn points into experiences.

Those signed up to the supermarket's loyalty scheme will get twice the points value when they turn points earned on their shopping into Virgin Points.

A bonus 5,000 points is available for anyone who signs up to auto-exchange all their Clubcard points to Virgin Points for the first time.

McDonald's has lost the EU trademark for "Big Mac" when it comes to chicken sandwiches after a long-running dispute with an Irish restaurant chain.

The European Court of Justice upheld a complaint from Galway-based Supermac's against the US fast food giant.

The trademark for the words "Big Mac" was initially registered with the EU International Property Office (EUIPO) in respect of meat, fish and chicken sandwiches as well as a range of restaurant services by McDonald's in 1996.

Generally, the rights of a holder to an EU trademark are revoked if it has not been put to genuine use within a continuous period of five years.

Supermac's argued McDonald's had insufficiently used the contested trademark in relation to "chicken sandwiches".

McDonald's and the EUIPO put forward examples of advertisem*nts and display boards relating to "Grand Big Mac Chickens".

However, the court found the evidence was not sufficient to prove McDonald's had used the contested trademark enough in relation to poultry products.

Supermac's complaint was upheld and McDonald's protection of the phrase for such purposes was overturned.

Rishi Sunak's claim in last night's debate that Labour will raise everyone's taxes by £2,000 comes from a "dossier" published by the Tories last month, which purported to calculate their tax and spending plans.

The headline "finding" was that over the course of the next four years, Labour had roughly £59bn of spending plans but only £20bn of revenue-raising plans.

That leaves a £39bn hole. Divide that by the number of households in the country (18.4m) and you get a figure of just over £2,000.

Now, there are all sorts of objections to the way the Conservatives have carried out this exercise.

For one thing, they deployed a weapon Labour don't have: because they're the party of government, they were able to ask Treasury civil servants to cost some Labour policies.

Today there has been a backlash - including from the Treasury's permanent secretary himself - about the way the Tories have portrayed these sums.

The £2,000 figure isn't really a Treasury calculation or an "independent" one, as Mr Sunak called it last night. It's a Conservative figure - but it was put together in part with figures commissioned from civil servants.

Labour also says many of the policies in that Tory dossier won't cost half as much as the Conservatives claim.

Regardless, while £2,000 sounds like a big number, it's actually a cumulative total from four years. A far more representative figure to take from the dossier is £500 - the annual figure.

And while that's not to be sniffed at (if you believe it - which you probably shouldn't) it's far, far smaller than the tax rises we've all experienced under this Conservative government since 2019.

They amount, all told, to an average of around £3,000 a year per household or, if we grit our teeth and tot it up as the Tories did in their dossier, over £13,000 over the course of the parliament.

Which rather dwarfs that £2,000 figure.

Current account holders looking to make a quick bit of cash can benefit from a flurry of new switching incentives being offered by banks at the moment.

Several providers are fighting for new custom with offers ranging from £100 to £200 upfront plus other rewards.

Now is actually a good time if you're considering switching - as everything should be wrapped up in time for payday at the end of the month, when many people also have bills coming out of their account.

Anyone looking to make the move to a new provider and qualify for the switching offer will need to do so through theCurrent Account Switch Service.

The latest data from CASS found Nationwide set a record for UK current account switches in the last three months of 2023.

Santander

Switchers can get £175 by opening up a Santander Edge current account. The incentive also offers 1% cashback on household bills paid by direct debit and 7% AER on a linked savings account.

To get the bonus, you'll have to complete the full switch, set up two active direct debits and pay in £1,500 within 60 days of telling Santander to switch your account.

The offer is only available to those who've never had a switching bonus from Santander.

Lloyds

Similarly to Santander, Lloyds is offering £175 for people who switch to its Club Lloyds, Club Silver or Club Platinum accounts.

Customers can also choose an extra reward of a year's Disney+ subscription, six cinema tickets, a Coffee Club and Gourmet Society membership or magazine subscription.

The switch has to include the transfer of at least three direct debits, and you won't be eligible if you've switched to Lloyds, Halifax or the Bank of Scotland since April 2020 or the switch occurs after 30 July.

Nationwide

Existing Nationwide current account holders can make £200 by switching a non-Nationwide current account with at least two direct debits to a new or existing FlexDirect account.

To be eligible, you'll need to have held an eligible Nationwide account on 31 March, and you can't have received a switching bonus from the building society since 18 August 2021.

TSB

Those who choose to switch to TSB will get a £100 bonus and up to £60 in cashback, plus a reward if they stay until January 2025.

To qualify for the £100, switchers will need to make a minimum of five debit card payments before 5 July. For up to £60 cashback, you'll need to make at least 20 debit card payments each calendar month.

Eligible customers can also choose an extra reward in January, such as a night away, monthly cinema tickets or a NOW Entertainment membership.

Similarly to previous offers, you can't have benefited from a TSB switch bonus since 1 October 2022.

First Direct

Customers will get a £175 welcome bonus if they switch to a First Direct 1st Account, including access to a linked 7% AER regular saver account and a possible interest-free £250 overdraft.

You can't have had any account with the bank before or have opened a current account with its partner company HSBC since 1 January 2018.

To get the bonus you'll have to pay in £1,000+ within 30 days of opening the account and use the debit card five times.

The shelf price of popular German biscuits Choco Leibniz will stay the same despite manufacturers Bahlsen choosing to remove one biscuit from each pack.

The old 125g packs - available in milk chocolate, white chocolate, orange chocolate and dark chocolate - contained nine biscuits, with the new 111g packs containing eight.

Despite this, prices have remained at £1.85 at supermarkets including Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's, according to Assosia.

Speaking to the Grocer, a spokeswoman for Bahlsen claimed that rising input costs were to blame for the shrinkflation, adding that shelf prices were at the discretion of the retailer.

"Bahlsen is a mid-sized family-owned manufacturer, and along with the entire industry has been, and continues to be, under enormous cost pressures," she said.

"Prices for essential raw materials, such as cocoa, have risen significantly and recently reached unprecedented highs in Europe. Labour and energy costs have also been rising continuously over recent years.

"We therefore made the decision to adjust the pack weight from 125g to 111g, which is clearly labelled on pack."

Sky News have approached Bahlsen for comment.

Aldi has come out on top again as the cheapest supermarket - by £3.32 for a shop.

The discount chain claimed first place in the latest Which? analysis, once again above rival Lidl, with a 69-item shop costing an average of £121.56.

It was found to be £36.57 cheaper than Waitrose, which was the most expensive, with a trolley shop averaging £158.13.

Of the "big four" supermarkets, Asda was the cheapest at £137.91.

The shopping list used by Which? is made up of the country's most popular and widely available products. It includes branded items like Dolmio sauce and Heinz baked beans, as well as own-brand products.

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business reporter

The fight against the cost of living crisis could have another familiar target - the cost of shipping.

Regular readers of Sky News may remember the attacks on ships in the Red Sea around Christmas and the associated extra expense of getting goods from A to B which can in turn influence how much end goods cost.

The issue has reappeared - the average cost of a 20ft-long container being shipped from Shanghai to Europe was $3,740 (£2,927),up from $2,300 (£1,800) at the beginning of the month.The latest costings will come out on Friday.

WH Smith posted positive results today. Strong performance across its UK and international travel business led to an overall sales rise of 4%.

New Toys "R" Us shops within stores have been opening and 25 more are in the works, the company said on Wednesday morning.

The London Stock Exchange index that it is a part of - the FTSE 250 of the valuable companies - is up 0.36%.

Oil prices are remaining at two-month lows with a barrel of benchmark Brent crude oil priced at $77.51.

The pound buys $1.2666. Sterling is still doing well against the euro - good news for those going on holidays to eurozone countries - as £1 equals €1.1738.