Business

Hobbycraft to axe stores and jobs in radical restructuring

Modella Capital plans to close at least nine Hobbycraft shops, with a further 18 subject to rent talks with landlords in a CVA to be launched this week, Sky News learns.
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File pic: PA

‘Ryanair is refusing to cover all my expenses after cancelled flight – who is right?’

A Money blog reader got in touch about their rights after Ryanair refused to cover all her expenses following a cancelled flight.
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Pic: iStock

‘I gambled away £1m, two marriages and tried to take my life – but I’m still seeing adverts’

Hussain Vorajee speaks to Money about his past addiction to gambling and explains he's been surrounded with temptation ever since.
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Hussain Vorajee

Harvard University sues over $2.2bn funding freeze after rejecting demands from Donald Trump’s administration

Harvard is suing after the Trump administration blocked access to research funding, which the university has called unconstitutional and illegal.

Rachel Reeves to head to Washington amid hopes of US trade deal

The chancellor will hold her first in-person meeting with her US counterpart, treasury secretary Scott Bessent, about striking a new trade agreement, which the UK hopes will take the sting out of Donald Trump's tariffs.
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Pic: PA

Octopus to get tentacles around Hammond-backed fintech fund

The Fintech Growth Fund, which counted Barclays, the London Stock Exchange, and NatWest among its investors, is to be taken over by Octopus Ventures, Sky News learns.
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Former chancellor Lord Hammond

DHL suspends some shipments to US amid Trump tariff regime

New rules came into effect at the beginning of April, meaning shipments worth more than $800 into the US were subject to increased customs checks.
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Pic: iStock

Analysis
Analysis
Mission: Impossible? Chancellor heads to the IMF with a very big challenge – and she’s not alone

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) may this week appear more akin to the Impossible Mission Force, as finance ministers including Britain's Rachel Reeves jostle for meetings with their US counterparts in an attempt to negotiate their way out of Donald Trump's damaging tariffs.
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Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to try to talk Donald Trump out of tariffs. Pic: Reuters

Landlords of major discount retailer brace for swingeing rent cuts

The Original Factory Shop's new owner, Modella Capital, is preparing to launch a company voluntary arrangement aimed at imposing steep haircuts on store-owners within days, Sky News learns.
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File pic: PA

Analysis
Analysis
The British economy has lost out – and sucking up to Trump will only get Starmer so far

A ban on bringing meat and cheese home from Europe is said to be designed to protect British livestock, but is another reminder of the bureaucratic botheration hamstringing the economy since Brexit, says Adam Boulton.