Sunday newspaper round-up: Bank of England, BT, Channel 4, Daily Mail and General Trust
By Josh White
Date: Sunday 20 Aug 2017
(ShareCast News) - A boom in cheap loans provided by the Bank of England is fuelling Britain's consumer debt bubble. High street lenders have ramped up their use of a special lending facility created by Mark Carney, the Bank governor, after Britain's vote for Brexit. They have now borrowed more than £72bn from the Term Funding Scheme (TFS), an analysis of public disclosures reveals - a 30% jump since the end of March. - The Sunday Times
BT's mobile arm EE is preparing to go into battle with rival operator Three over billions of pounds worth of airwaves, amid fears of delays to 5G network upgrade plans. EE will tomorrow formally threaten the telecoms regulator Ofcom with a High Court challenge over the planned auction of radio spectrum. - Sunday Telegraph
Silver Reel, the Swiss finance and production company behind films including the upcoming Breathe, Andy Serkis's directorial debut featuring Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy, is launching a €50m (£45.6m) fund to make TV drama in Britain, taking advantage of the weakening of the pound since the Brexit vote. - Observer
Sandra Martin, the outspoken star of Gogglebox, has earned so much money since she became a celebrity she feels overwhelmed. The 55-year-old grandmother and car boot seller was living on benefits when a Gogglebox researcher happened to meet her in a pub in Brixton, South London. Channel 4 then hired her for the show, and sent her annual income soaring to around £100,000. - Mail on Sunday
The publisher of the Daily Mail is preparing to sell the Metro newspaper for up to £35m. DMGT, which is ultimately controlled by Viscount Rothermere, has appointed boutique advisory firm Cardean Bell to work on a strategic review of the free newspaper, City sources said. - The Sunday Times
A property company which provides logistics and warehouse space for Argos, Boots and Amazon is to float part of its business on the London Stock Exchange in order to raise up to £150m. Warehouse Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is a new company spun off from existing industrial property business Tilstone with a seed portfolio of 27 industrial buildings. - Sunday Telegraph
Plans to hit rail commuters with the biggest fare rises in five years will force many key workers, including nurses and teaching assistants, to quit their jobs, the biggest public-sector union Unison warned on Saturday. Anger at the 3.6% increase to regulated fares, including commuter fares and season tickets, spilled over last week after it was revealed that the rises would come into effect in January. - Observer
Motorists are being fleeced out of hundreds of pounds by apps that claim to make parking easier by using a mobile phone. The apps offer the convenience of helping motorists find spare car park spots and then taking payment online rather than finding and queuing at a ticket machine to pay with a card or loose change. - Mail on Sunday
Rathbones, the wealth manager whose founding family helped to abolish slavery, is in talks over a £2bn merger with rival investment house Smith & Williamson (S&W). The 275-year-old business confirmed yesterday that it was in "exclusive discussions" on an all-share tie-up with the smaller firm. - The Sunday Times
Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline faces mounting questions over shortages of its vaccine for the deadly liver disease hepatitis B that have led to rationing in the UK, at a time when its supplies to the US appear to be unaffected. The disparity has led to suggestions from liver disease campaigners that GSK may be "prioritising" the massive American market. - Sunday Telegraph
A ban on cold-calling by pension companies will include texts and emails, the government has announced, as it cracks down on scammers who target savers' retirement funds. Almost £5m was lost to fraudsters in the first five months of 2017, said the government, and it was estimated that since April 2014 a total of £43m had been taken. People targeted by scammers lost an average of £15,000 each. - Observer
American tourists are pouring into Britain on an historic spending spree as a result of the pound's slump since June last year. The US currency has reached historic highs against sterling, making it far cheaper for Americans to stay in the UK, eat in expensive restaurants and buy luxury goods. - Mail on Sunday
Mario Draghi could pile more pain on to British holidaymakers if he fails to talk down the euro this week. The president of the European Central Bank (ECB) is set to deliver a speech on Friday at a high-profile conference in the Rocky Mountain resort of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. - The Sunday Times
Bank of England workers are considering another strike after their demands for a pay rise were not met following a walkout earlier this month. The workers' union, Unite, is consulting with staff on how to react following a series of talks at mediation service Acas at the end of July and in the second week of August. - Sunday Telegraph
McDonald's could face its first strike on British soil after workers at two of the fast-food chain's outlets backed a call for industrial action. Staff at restaurants in Cambridge and in Crayford, south-east London, have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike amid concerns over working conditions and the use of zero-hour contracts. - Observer
FamilIes know all too well that taking children to a major attraction for the day can be an expensive business. But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Merlin Entertainments - the UK's biggest owner of theme parks - is charging almost seven times more for tickets to venues here than identically branded sites abroad. - Mail on Sunday
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