Business information dwell: Lloyds think about hundreds of workers’ jobs, some pensioners to overlook triple lock rise

Morning all – coming up today all the latest news around Jaguar Land Rover, Topshop’s return, Lloyds cutting jobs, the latest reaction to the Budget date and plenty more besides.

We’ll look at how it affects you, the customer and consumer, as well as bring you everything regarding personal finance and how you can benefit with your money.

Last night US tech stocks rose which dragged the S&P 500 higher – the index finished 0.5 per cent up, with the Nasdaq more than 1 per cent higher.

In Asia it has been a mixed night however: up in Japan, down in Hong Kong, the Asia Dow more than 1 per cent lower and Australia’s ASX 200 up one per cent.

And in the UK, that has all come together to see the FTSE 100 flat so far.

It dropped about 0.1 per cent early on but has bounced up a little – it’s essentially back at zero for now.

John Lewis is to bring the Topshop brand back to high streets across the UK as it partners with the fashion brand in a bid to attract more young people to its stores.

Topshop and Topman clothes will be sold in John Lewis shops nationwide from February next year as part of a new partnership between the firms.

It comes amid efforts from the department store chain to drive its growth as it continues with a major transformation plan under boss Peter Ruis.

More from PA here on it:

Currys has seen a boost in recent sales, driven by consumer interest in AI computing and a rush for air conditioning during the hot summer.

The electricals giant, operating over 700 stores, reported a 3% increase in revenues across the UK and Ireland for the 17 weeks leading up to August 30, compared to the same period last year. This uplift was partly fuelled by double-digit growth in new product lines, including health and beauty like LED face masks, and pet technology such as monitors and automatic feeders.

While strong performances were noted in gaming, AI computing, coffee machines, and cooling products, these gains were offset by declining sales of televisions, tablets, and air fryers.

Currys said the use of credit among its shoppers continued to climb to make up 23.3% of all purchases.

More on the electricals firm here.

Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England’s governor, has spoken out about UK government debt levels, urging not to jump to “dramatic commentary” over fiscal policy.

“I wouldn’t exaggerate the 30-year bond rate,” he said, point out borrowing costs rising was similar to some other nations and less notable than Germany, France or Japan.

“It is important not to over-focus on the 30-year rate. It is a high number but not a number that is used for funding at all. When you look at cost of debt issuance this year, overall it is at least flat or down, because the five-year rate has gone down,” Bailey added.

Lloyds Banking Group are set to continue their push for improved performance with a review of the “bottom 5%” of staff.

While no overall job cuts are expected in number terms, there will be job losses for individuals who do not meet performance thresholds.

The Independent understands that additional coaching and training will be given to people who fall into this category, with the potential for departure without improvements.

There is no fixed target of how many will be looked at for performance reviews, we understand – and the intention is for it to impact at all levels and across all brands in the Group.

Those who do depart jobs will be replaced as part of the strategic drive to increase overall performance levels.

Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland are all under they Lloyds Group umbrella.

More than 60,000 are employed all told, meaning 3,000 could be in that bottom 5% and facing a potential loss of job.

Shares in the company rose by almost a quarter overnight (23.5 per cent), equivalent to around a $500m bump in market capitalisation value.

More here on a $500m jump overnight:

You probably pay for a lot of things on your phone these days – or your watch, or something else I haven’t heard of.

That has led to a decline in the use of cash as we know already, but also now to using physical cards – and bothering to carry a wallet around at all.

Cash network Link published results of a survey which shows less than half of people in the UK now use one regularly.

For those aged 35–44, almost a third (29 per cent) say they regularly leave home while only carrying only a digital wallet.

When we do take cash with us, it isn’t a lot – £20 is the “just in case” amount, it seems.

Britain’s construction sector has seen activity contract for the eighth month running as the industry suffers its longest downturn since the beginning of the pandemic, according to a report.

The latest S&P Global UK construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showed a reading of 45.5 in August.

This is up from 44.3 in July, which was the worst for over five years, but it yet again falls below the neutral 50 threshold, indicating that activity is contracting.

Anything above 50 suggests activity is expanding.

Holiday group Jet2 has cut its winter flight programme and said earnings will be towards the lower end of forecasts as it cautioned over a “difficult” market.

The group – which has seen the song used in its adverts, Hold My Hand by Jess Glynne, become a social media trend this summer – said it will now trim seats on sale by 200,000 to 5.6 million for the upcoming winter season, although this will still be 9% higher than a year earlier.

It flagged a “less certain consumer environment” and said holidaymakers were booking even closer to the departure date, with the trend becoming “more pronounced” since its last update in July.