Tuesday newspaper round-up: Savers, Arcadia, Olympia
Millions of UK savers are currently on the hunt for a better deal, but the bad news is that savings rates are in turmoil. The government-backed NS&I is seeing an exodus of savers after cutting returns last week – prompting a domino effect among other providers. Financial data website Moneyfacts.co.uk said that over the past fortnight there had been a string of rate cuts to sought-after instant access accounts. - Guardian
Punters lost £700m less on gambling machines in the year after fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) were reined in but industry predictions of more than 20,000 job losses if ministers went ahead with the policy have not materialised. As the gambling regulator released fresh data charting the impact of curbs on the roulette machines, campaigners said the figures showed that ministers poised to launch a wide-ranging review of gambling laws should beware industry forecasts. - Guardian
Sir Philip Green's stricken retail empire crashed into administration on Monday evening, leaving thousands of pension savers at risk of a brutal hit to their retirement income and putting 13,000 jobs at risk. Administrators at Deloitte were formally appointed after last-ditch efforts to save the business failed in the most high-profile corporate collapse to hit the British high street since Covid-19 struck. - Telegraph
HM Revenue & Customs missed out by a matter of hours from becoming a key creditor in the collapse of Arcadia. A change in the rules coming into force today will see the partial return of “crown preference”, in which HMRC moves up the repayment queue in insolvencies. Under the new system, which took effect shortly after Arcadia had collapsed into administration, VAT and payroll taxes will sit above “floating charge” creditors and unsecured creditors, such as suppliers and pension funds, in the repayments queue when companies fail. - The Times
Fifty-three years ago this month Olympia put itself firmly on the live music map when it hosted a now-legendary all-night event starring, among others, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and the Who. Today the west London venue will be the headline act in its own right when AEG, operator of the O2 Arena in Greenwich, southeast London, is announced as one of the first tenants of the £1.3 billion redevelopment of the 14-acre Olympia site. - The Times