Damian Wilson
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Now HMV is the go-to place for music and fashion... of sorts
Filed under: Fashion
The last time I was in HMV it was full of kids playing Guitar Hero and the racks were stacked with video games and DVDs, leaving little space for the music section was tucked away on the second floor at the back of the store.Clearly, the retailer has realised that its traditional core product of music is simply not enough to survive in an age when so many of us buy CDs and download songs and albums online.
Fame doesn't necessarily mean fortune
Filed under: Budgeting & Planning
They were some of the biggest names in their time. Sportsmen, explorers, authors, politicians and scientists.But as a record of more than 6 million Victorian and early-20th Century wills made public this week shows, a big name did not necessarily mean a big bank balance. Reading through the list is a humbling experience and shows we can still learn from these famous dead people. Particularly about how important it is to leave a will.
Not all high earners are greedy fat cats
Filed under: Work & Careers
There seems to a bit of hot-weather hysteria over what people are being paid at the moment, with a new survey naming a shaming a bunch of Britain's big earners simply for the fact that they are paid well in salary and bonuses.That's hardly a hanging offence, but it seems the new thinking is that anyone who earns more than the average basic wage is somehow an evil, tax-dodging fat cat.
Benefits cheats: still the scourge of Britain
Filed under: Fraud
There's nothing more certain to rile the passions than the latest newspaper story on benefits scroungers.Now news of the breakdancing disability claimant appearing on Simon Cowell's Britain's Got Talent and a couple claiming single parent allowances featuring on reality show Wife Swap there is a groundswell from campaigners for a clampdown on these lowlifes. I couldn't agree more.
City Spotlight: Airline profits crash, TalkTalk busy and beer sales boost
Beleaguered British Airways' announcement loss of £164 million for the three months to June shows just how much damage the volcanic ash cloud and cabin crew strikes affected the airline's business.But at least BA managed to claw back some of the £250 million loss resulting from a financial quarter hit by that bitter strike with the Unite union combined with the closure of most European air space for a week in April.
Katie Price No 1 again. Who said we're dumb?
Filed under: Entertainment, Weird and Wonderful
Is Britain becoming a dumber place to live? Well if news this week that Katie Price's new novel Paradise, like those before it, will be released straight into the number one slot on the Sunday Times bestseller list is anything to go by, then we are indeed becoming thicker by the minute.
Easyjet passengers have had enough
Filed under: Travel
The never-ending row between airlines is sort of funny when viewed from the sidelines. If easyJet and Ryanair were humans instead of airline companies, you would expect to see them on Jeremy Kyle, screaming insults at each other and scrapping while the audience brayed and hooted.
British Gas profits not just a rip off
Filed under: Economiser, House and Home
While we were all freezing during the coldest winter for 30 years, Centrica bosses were rubbing their hands together, not to keep warm, but in glee as their company's profits soared.Centrica is the parent of British Gas which posted a surplus of £585 million – 98% ahead of last year – as shivering households cranked up the heating and gas usage rose 8%.
House prices peak at Shakira's hip level
Filed under: Property, House and Home
Pint-sized Colombian warbler Shakira, partnered by Wyclef Jean, dominated the charts in summer of 2006 with Hips Don't Lie as she topped the pops for five non-consecutive weeks.If you can remember back that far, which even I can, then that is when average house prices last achieved the same level at which they currently sit. And while that slice of Latino rubbish plays on a loop in your head, I can also tell you that June's Land Registry data revealed the average price of a property in England and Wales stood at £166,072 in June, which is 8.4% higher than a year ago.
City Spotlight: Five's new owner, Macca's profits rise
Filed under: City Spotlight
Richard Desmond's purchase of Channel Five has been completed for just over £103 million. Now the hunt starts for viewers, and for programmes that they will watch.Already he's saying that he might buy Big Brother from Channel Four to add to the wall-to-wall CSI and Neighbours. Memo Richard Desmond: No-one watches Big Brother. If he wants to build on the paltry 5% of audience share that Five presently enjoys, he's gonna have to do better than that. A lot better.
