Pensioners in Britain suffer the worst poverty rate in western Europe, new data reveals on Tuesday. According to FairMoney.com, nearly one in five pensioners have said that financial stress is causing them to lose sleep at night. Moreover, one in ten pensioners said that financial issues have caused strain in their marriage and 9% would never publicly admit that they are struggling with poverty. The data shows that 10% have experienced issues with their mental and/or physical health as a result of financial stress, with 7% saying that money is the main source of conflict in their family. In the mid-1980s, roughly 1% of citizens in the UK aged 65 and over lived in severe poverty. This figure has jumped to almost 6% today, meaning that pensioners in the UK suffer the worst poverty rate in western Europe. “Something has to change. The economic crisis of 2008 has continued to have knock-on effects, with banks not lending at a fair rate and many being forced to turn to payday lenders, making their future ability to lend much more difficult,” Dr Roger Gewolb, Executive Chairman of FairMoney.com, provided a comment. “This has happened across the board and the research today from FairMoney.com demonstrates that pensioners are trying to help out their children while battling with poverty themselves. This is not fair and if we don’t do anything, this situation will continue to cause financial and health issues for millions of British pensioners,” Dr Roger Gewolb continued. Last week, it was reported that almost half of adults turn to their parents for financial support. Among the categories that parents help their children with lie paying for holidays, clothes shopping and university fees. But what about when parents themselves face financial difficulty? The research from FairMoney.com shows that 6% of pensioners haven’t alway been able to afford a roof over their head.

Carpetright said on Tuesday that Meditor has agreed to purchase its £40.7 million revolving credit facility directly from the company’s current lending banks. Shares in Carpetright were up almost 10% following the announcement. Meditor is a substantial shareholder of Carpetright, owning just under 30% of the carpet retailer. The £40.7 million facility was recently reduced after the sales of two Amsterdam properties. “In connection with the arrangements Meditor did not seek any assurances from the Company, did not propose board representation and did not request structural changes in the business. Meditor has confirmed it now intends to engage with the Company with a view to providing a more stable and longer-term funding platform,” Carpetright said in a company statement. In June, Carpetright posted a narrower loss in its full year results, returning to like-for-like sales growth in its new financial year. Just over a year ago, its shareholders supported a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) restructuring plan which closed 80 underperforming stores. Over the past year, several retailers across the UK have struggled for survival amid the challenging trading environment to hit the retail sector. The carpet seller lies among these retailers, issuing its fourth profit warning in five months last year. Shares in Carpetright plc (LON:CPR) were trading at +9.31% as of 10:08 BST Tuesday.

A small fire broke out at Ocado’s customer fulfilment centre in Erith on Wednesday evening, causing disruption to customer orders. Shares in Ocado were down by over 1% on Thursday. According to Sky News, four fire engines and roughly 25 firefighters were sent to the scene, spending three hours trying to control the flame. This is Ocado’s second fire this year after the fire at its Hampshire warehouse back in February. Ocado said in a statement that the fire occurred outside of the building in a hopper containing waste packaging. The fire has now been extinguished with the help of the London Fire Brigade, Ocado added. “Given that the facility was evacuated, as required whenever a fire is reported, there was some disruption to picking and some customer orders have had to be cancelled,” Ocado said in a statement. “We sincerely apologise to those customers affected for the inconvenience this causes. All customers will be offered a re-booking for tomorrow.” the UK based company added. “The fire suppression measures in place performed as intended and the fire did not spread. We would like to thank the London Fire Brigade for their assistance.” Earlier in February, Ocado experienced a fire at its Andover facility in Hampshire. Roughly 200 firefighters and 20 fire engines were sent to the scene, taking over a day to control the blaze. Just last month Ocado revealed the impacts of the Andover fire on its business, reporting a loss before tax of £142.8 million. Retail revenue growth was also hit by the blaze and it is estimated that the fire had a 2% impact on sales in the half. Shares in Ocado Group plc (LON:OCDO) were trading at -1.09% as of 11:49 GMT +1 Thursday.

Almost half of adults have said that they still rely on their parents for financial support, according to a new study. Over the last year, adults have borrowed a total of £708 from their parents to assist in the costs of university fees, bills and home improvements, with some admitting to using the cash to fund coffee pods, contact lenses, mobile phone bills and dog food. Out of the 2000 adults polled, three in five said that they would struggle to cope without financial support from their parents. The research was commissioned by Virgin Media to mark the launch of its new Family Plan offering. It also found that four fifths of adults feel more secure knowing that they can turn to their parents if they are financially struggling. “Our research shows that ‘The Bank of Mum and Dad’ is still very much in business, with Brits depending on their parents even when they’re grown-up,” Annie Brooks, executive director of broadband and mobile at Virgin Media, commented on the research. “Balancing finances, family life and everything else in between can be a challenge so Virgin Media’s new Family Plan was created to take some of the pressure off parents, making their family’s mobile services simple, affordable and safe, and giving them one less thing to worry about,” Annie Brooks continued. Paying for holidays, clothes shopping and university fees are the top three financial areas that parents assist their children with, according to the research. One in five of those polled said that they use their parents’ support to cover the costs of holidays, and 13% turn to their parents to make car payments.

Laura Ashley (LON:ALY) posted a statutory loss before tax on Thursday as it battles against the difficult trading conditions that have hit the UK high street. Shares in the company were down almost 5% during Thursday morning trading. The homeware and clothing retailer said that, for the 52 weeks to 30 June, statutory loss before tax amounted to £14.3 million. The primary causes for the year-on-year drop in profit are the underperformance of Home Furnishing and its website after a re-platforming exercise last November. Earlier this year, the retailer warned on annual profits, citing a “turbulent market” in its interim results. Total like-for-like retail sales were down 3.5%, whilst total group sales reached £232.5 million, down from the £257.2 million figure recorded for 2018. “The last twelve months have proved to be a difficult trading period for the Group and indeed for the retail sector as a whole,” Andrew Khoo, Chairman, commented on the results in a company statement. “We have focussed on the reasons why Home Furnishings have underperformed and have taken necessary steps to mitigate this, including adding new contemporary product to our ranges,” the Chairman continued. “We have taken active steps to listen to our customers and now believe that we are on an appropriate recovery path. We continue to invest in our website and are working with our online service providers to ensure that it is optimised to deliver an enhanced customer experience and to achieve the desired growth.” “We are pleased with the continued resurgence of our fashion business, achieving like-for-like growth of 9.2%. This is the result of the improved design of our ranges.” Over the past year, the UK’s retail sector has been battling amid difficult trading conditions, with staff cuts and store closures widely reported. Last December, Laura Ashley announced plans to close 40 stores in the UK, focusing instead on growth in Asia. Shares in Laura Ashley Holdings plc (LON:ALY) were trading at -4.91% as of 10:54 GMT +1 Thursday.