POUND NOTES
MORE BANK ACCOUNT HOLDERS ‘SAVING EVERY MONTH’
MORE bank account holders are now saving regularly – but one in eight still do not have a ‘rainy day’ pot of cash they can access quickly, according to a Lloyds Bank Savings Report.
More than a third (37%) of people surveyed in April say they are saving at least once a month – up from 31% when a similar study was carried out last November.
More than three-quarters (76%) have saved some money in the past 12 months, and one-fifth (20%) expect to be in a position to save more in the next year.
SUNSHINE ‘BECKONED SHOPPERS OUT IN MAY’
RETAILERS saw sales bounce back during May’s better weather with the strongest growth seen in more than four years, as shoppers flocked to garden centres and splashed out on summer wardrobes.
Total sales increased by 4.1% year-on-year in May, compared with a 0.2% annual increase in May 2017.
This was the highest increase since January 2014, excluding Easter distortions, according to the findings in the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-KPMG retail sales monitor.
CO-OP LAUNCHES NEW DIRECT TO CREMATION SERVICE
CO-OP Funeralcare has launched a new direct to cremation service, providing a less costly option than a traditional funeral. Cremation without ceremony differs from a traditional funeral, with no mourners present at the cremation.
Co-op Funeralcare says the business has found that for many, the decision is not driven by price, but the service gives families the chance to remember a loved one in their own way at a location of their choosing.
FINANCIAL FACT: A record £194 million was paid out to help homeowners deal with burst pipes in the first quarter of 2018 as the freezing weather earlier this year took its toll, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).