A sneaky Peaky at the Blinders finale
WE GO BEHIND THE SCENES AS FILMING FOR SERIES 6 BEGINS
IT’S the moment fans have been waiting for.
Filming has finally resumed on the hotly-anticipated sixth series of Peaky Blinders – after production was held up for months due to Covid.
Stars of the hit gangland drama were pictured this week in Manchester, where the streets have been transformed into an elaborate set replicating Birmingham.
Arthur Shelby – played by Paul Anderson – was captured in the behindthe-scene shots taken in the centre of the city. The character, famed for his shorttemper and no-nonsense attitude, could be seen in period garb and with the 1920sstyle haircut synonymous with the show.
Other pictures show ‘The Garrison Tavern’, where the group drink, and the family name – ‘Shelby’.
It comes just days after Cillian Murphy was photographed in his flat cap in a snowy Scotland, as he filmed scenes as his character Thomas Shelby.
News that filming for season six had begun was broken by the official Peaky Blinders Twitter account on January 18.
The BBC hasn’t yet announced a release date but fans are expecting it to be aired in late 2021 or early 2022.
The smash-hit BBC drama has been running for eight years and has enjoyed huge popularity, but the sixth season has been confirmed as the final one. The period crime drama series, set in Birmingham, follows the exploits of a crime family in the direct aftermath of the First World War.
Season five ended in dramatic fashion, with main character Tommy Shelby intent on committing suicide, screaming with a pistol pointed to his head.
Creator Steven Knight said this month: “Peaky is back and with a bang. After the enforced production delay due to the Covid pandemic, we find the family in extreme jeopardy and the stakes have never been higher. We believe this will be the best series of all and are sure that our amazing fans will love it. While the TV series will be coming to an end, the story will continue in another form.”
THE current tax year end – April 5 – is fast approaching. But with the new tax year starting on April 6, there’s still time to take advantage of opportunities that will make your money work harder for you.
Restrictions around the pandemic mean some people will have spent much less during the 2020/21 tax year than they normally would.
While many people have seen finances devastated by the impact of the pandemic, a recent Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) report found that 48% of adults have not been affected financially by Covid19 and one in seven (14%) have actually seen an improvement in their situation.
The new tax year will bring new allowances, so those lucky enough to have surplus savings may want to make the most of those still available to them in the 2020/21 tax year.
Here, Laura Laidlaw, head of customer savings at Standard Life, offers some tips on what to do with any money and spare savings before the tax year comes to a close...
ISA ALLOWANCE – USE IT OR LOSE IT
With a new tax year comes a new set of annual allowances, or in other words, the limit on how much you can save into an Isa while still benefiting from tax breaks.
Currently, you can save up to £4,000 in a Lifetime Isa and £20,000 in other Isa products tax-free in any tax year, making Isas a tax-efficient option for any extra savings that some people may have acquired during the lockdowns.
PICK THE RIGHT ISA FOR YOU
With several different Isas available, it’s important to know which one is right for you, especially if you are considering putting a significant sum of money away ahead of the new tax year.
Cash Isas, which can be accessed easily, can be handy places to keep an emergency fund if something goes wrong, such as a boiler breakdown.
And Lifetime Isas come with a bonus and could be useful for those saving for their first home.
Stocks and shares Isas, meanwhile, may be useful for longerterm goals. They may potentially secure savers better returns for their money at a time when interest rates are at an all-time low.
However, this option involves actively investing, so those considering it need to be aware that it comes with a level of risk. The value of investments can fluctuate.
Remember, the £20,000 limit applies to the total amount that can be saved into Isas, across the different types, in the current tax year.
Before choosing any option, it’s wise to make sure you have some money set aside in an account that can be easily accessed, just in case, whether it’s in an Isa or elsewhere.
GIVE YOUR PENSION A LITTLE LOVE
Even if retirement seems far away, increasing your pension contributions as you approach the tax year end could pay dividends to your future. Much like your Isa allowance, you will also have an annual allowance on how much you can pay into your pension. This is generally capped at £40,000, or 100% of your earnings, whichever is lower.
If you have any extra savings to put away, you could consider setting up a private pension or upping any workplace contributions to redirect some of that additional money into your pension.
Even small boosts to your pension plan can go a long way.
Some firms will offer salary sacrifice schemes. Under some schemes, employees agree to reduce their earnings by a sum which equals their pension contributions.
The employer, meanwhile, agrees to pay the amounts sacrificed as pension contributions.
There are potential tax benefits to salary sacrifice schemes, however taking part could also affect financial applications such if you need a mortgage, for example, as the employee’s earnings will be less.
BE SAVVY WITH YOUR BONUS
In the current climate, there may be fewer or smaller bonuses this year. However, for those lucky enough to still be receiving one, it may coincide with the tax year end.
This timing can sometimes be tricky when it comes to tax planning at tax year end. For some, the extra money means they are pushed into a higher tax bracket, which could mean allowances and benefits are lost.
If they don’t immediately need the bonus cash, some people may want to consider redirecting any bonus payments into their pension, whether this is by setting up a private pension or asking their employer to direct it into their workplace pension.
Cash Isas, which can be accessed easily, can be handy places to keep an emergency fund if something goes wrong Laura Laidlaw
THE owner of Coventry’s best-loved school uniform shops said sales shot up moments after Boris Johnson confirmed schools were reopening.
The PM announced on Monday, as part of our road map out of lockdown, schools would be the first thing to reopen on March 8.
For Coventry children, that means they are likely to return to school in a phased approach from March 8, the council has said.
Following the announcement, anxious parents and carers looking to top up or replace school uniforms descended on Cat Ballou’s online shop, placing orders well into the night.
Owner Ashok Kapur told the Telegraph: “Immediately after the announcement, people suddenly realised what they needed, and within that same afternoon, we had about 30 online orders come through and that continued into the night. “They’re coming in still, and keep on coming in.”
Cat Ballou was set up in 1972 and has been selling clothes for 47 years, but this has been a year like no other for them.
Schools have always remained open to children of key workers, but some children will have not been into school since before Christmas. Cat Ballou supplies 60 primary and secondary schools across the city, and that means a lot of growth spurts.
Mr Kapur said that the shop has remained open two days a week for click-and-collect orders only, but they plan to extend that to six days a week from Monday.
He said: “Hopefully when we open up on April 12 a lot of people will want to come in, it’s still going to be a testing time, Covid hasn’t gone, it’s still there, so we just have to do what we can do for the best of our ability to keep our staff safe.
“[It’s been] difficult, because overhead expenses don’t stop whether we open the shutters or don’t open the shutters.”
And what kind of things were selling immediately after last Monday’s announcement? “Everything, shirts, PE kits, because obviously with any half term, people returning always need something, someone needs a blazer, trousers, a PE kit.
“It’s quite substantial, it has really made a difference to us right away.”
Mr Kapur has topped up the furlough scheme so his staff have had 100% of their wages throughout the pandemic.
And it isn’t only school uniform sales that were initially hit.
Workers from the city would often walk in to Cat Ballou to pick up things like hi-vis vests and work shoes.
“It’s still better than nothing, we would rather we opened up, because we lost a lot of walk-in trade because we do a lot of work wear and there’s a lot of work going on in the city centre at the moment.
“Those people would very rarely order online and would just want to walk in and pick it up,” Mr Kapur said.
Hopefully when we open up on April 12 a lot of people will want to come in, it’s still going to be a testing time.
Ashok Kapur