Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is to formally launch a retail bank in the UK next month, offering easy access to online savings accounts. The lender has been named after the group’s founder – Marcus. It is currently available to employees and will be rolled out across Britain “in the coming weeks”. The lender currently offers a high yield savings rate of 1.5 percent to employees as a tester rate. This is above the national average and would be an easy access savings rate if the same rate was launched nationwide. The average interest rate in the UK is 0.55 percent, according to Moneyfacts.co.uk. On the higher end of the spectrum, Virgin Money (LON: VM) offers 1.3 percent. In an internal memo, Goldman Sachs said: “the current interest rate offered may be subject to change for the nationwide launch, depending on market conditions.” In the same memo, the bank said the rollout of the bank in the UK “represents an important milestone in the growth of Goldman Sachs’s consumer business, as well as continued diversification of the firm’s funding”. “Our initial offering aligns to one of Marcus’s core tenets, offering transparent, simple and easy to use products that provide value,” the bank added. Goldman Sachs employs over 6,000 people in the UK and employed a further 150 extra staff in London for the rollout. Marcus UK will be led by Des McDaid, who was a director at TSB before joining Goldman Sachs in 2017. In July, the veteran banker and DJ was named as the next chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs. “I don’t know whether seeing a president of Goldman Sachs spinning tunes at a club is going to change the perception of the industry. We have got a lot of work to do on that front,” he said.    

US President Donald Trump is insisting that the “hush money” he paid to two women who say he had affairs with did not break any election campaign rules. Trump hit back at his former lawyer Michael Cohen who has pleaded guilty to violating laws during the 2016 presidential election over his use of hush money. Speaking to Fox & Friends, Trump said the money was “not a campaign violation”. “They didn’t come out of the campaign, they came from me. And I tweeted about it. You know, I put – I don’t know if you know but I tweeted about the payments. But they didn’t come out of the campaign,” he said. “But they weren’t – that’s not a – it’s not even a campaign violation. If you look at President Obama, he had a massive campaign violation but he had a different attorney general and they viewed it a lot differently.” This contradicts Cohen, who in July released audio tapes of him and the President allegedly discussing one of the payments previous to the election. Cohen as admitted to passing on funds to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and porn star Stormy Daniels. He said that Trump had repaid him for the $130,000 received by Daniels. The funds were not reported to the Federal Election Commission during the campaign. Of course, Trump has repeatedly taken to Twitter to defend himself. On Wednesday evening he tweeted: “The only thing that I have done wrong is to win an election that was expected to be won by Crooked Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. The problem is, they forgot to campaign in numerous states!”    

Mobike has threatened to leave Manchester following high levels of vandalism and theft. The Chinese company, which operates in over 200 cities, has said they are losing ten percent of its fleet every month and is close to becoming unsustainable. Steve Milton, Mobike’s global communications and marketing leader, said: “This is not an idle threat. It’s not PR … The losses are not sustainable. We are going to have to draw a line under this at some point.” “Everyone is unhappy with the current situation. Users are unhappy because they can’t find bikes when they want them, the police are unhappy because they’re having to waste time dealing with petty vandalism and we are unhappy because we aren’t delivering the service we want,” he added. The group plans to monitor thefts on a month-by-month basis but if levels of theft and vandalism remain high, operations will be suspended in the city. Jan Van der Ven, Mobike’s UK General Manager said: “We are only viable if our revenues cover our costs, and that is not possible with the current levels of bike loss in Manchester.” “For that reason, we have sat down with representatives from Manchester City Council, Greater Manchester Police and Transport for Greater Manchester, and have agreed a range of measures to help protect our bikes.” Chief Supt Wasim Chaudhry from Greater Manchester Police, said: “Our officers are able to check the legitimate use of the Mobike system and we will investigate reports of suspected theft and vandalism just like we would if someone made a report about their own bike.” “We will always hold those we find breaking the law to account.” Bike-sharing schemes have proven to be an issue in Europe. The firm Go.Bee pulled out of Europe entirely earlier this year after thousands of its bikes were stolen or broken and the group went bust soon afterwards. The Santander-sponsored scheme that opened in Milton Keynes in 2016 left a repair bill of £200,000.

Laura Ashley (LON: ALY) has reported a 98 percent slump in profits following “difficult trading conditions”. The fashion and homeware retailer’s profits fell from £6.3 million the previous year to £100,000, forcing the group to write down the value of a property it sold in Singapore. Khoo Kay Peng, the group’s chairman, said he was “disappointed” by the fall in profit which he blamed on a “changing retail landscape”. He also said he was “encouraged” by online sales and reported plans to launch a new digital platform in the weeks to come. “Laura Ashley’s brand is built on beautifully designed, high quality products. Whilst the trading environment will continue to be challenging, we remain resolutely confident in the underlying strength of this much-loved brand, in its relevance for today’s consumer and in our strategies to both maintain and develop the brand and the company,” he added. The company has sold the Singapore property to SB Investment for SGD$54.5 million in cash and plans to focus on its core UK retail business. “Whereas international business continues to be important for the group, and now accounts for approximately 7 percent of total group revenue, the group’s primary market continues to be the UK,” said Laura Ashley. Laura Ashely said its expansion in Asia is still part of the group’s strategy but due to the changing retail environment it is the “appropriate time” to sell the Singapore property. Investors welcomed the move, and Laura Ashley’s shares were up 15.7 percent to 5p in early trade. UK retail sales fell to £236 million from £252 million. Online revenue increased to £59.7 million from £57.3 million. Sales in the home accessories, furniture and decorating divisions fell 3.6 percent, 8.2 percent and 13.9 percent respectively.  

Uber is paying $1.9 million (£1.5 million) to 56 current and former employees in order to settle sexual harassment claims. The victims of sexual harassment will receive about $34,000 each with an additional $11,000 each as part of a class action involving 485 people who claimed discrimination. The payouts are part of the $10 million settlement that was agreed in March. There will be a final hearing on 6 November to approve the settlement. The case is being led by two Latina engineers who said that they were paid less than their white, Asian and male colleagues. They filed their legal claim against the company in October 2017, after they claimed that they suffered harassment based on their gender and ethnicity. Jahan Sagafi, a lawyer who represented the Uber employees, said his legal firm was “happy that the settlement approval process is progressing as planned”. “So [once it is approved] we can pay class members for these discrimination and harassment claims and begin the three-year effort to monitor Uber’s implementation of the HR improvements,” he said. Uber’s chief executive Travis Kalanick stepped down in June 2017. The former chief executive faced allegations of widespread sexual harassment and gender discrimination at the company. Kalanick stepped down a 3,000-word blog post by Susan Fowler, a former engineer at the company, who described the toxic working culture in the Silicon Valley office. The ride-hailing company has faced endless controversy this year, facing a ban in London. TfL rejected the company’s application to renew its licence in June due to a “lack of corporate responsibility”. Tom Elvidge, the general manager of Uber in the UK, told the court: “I agree that Uber London Limited (ULL) and Uber generally was undergoing a period of significant change and, in light of what was available to TfL, given the mistakes that ULL made, I absolutely accept that decision in September.”

Ryanair has apologised after compensation cheques given to passengers have bounced. According to the airline, several passengers have complained after they faced extra fees when their banks declined the cheques. “We apologise again for any inconvenience caused to customers,” the group told the BBC. The airline said that a “very small number” of cheques had been sent out without a signature due to an administrative error. The cheques were reissued last week with a letter of apology. Passengers took to social media to complain for the delays in receiving compensation because cheques had failed to clear. “Ryanair sent me a cheque for compensation then bounced the cheque … ended up costing me €32 (£29) for the privilege. Shame on you Ryanair. Won’t respond to emails and operator just put the phone down on me,” wrote one customer on Facebook. “Ryanair I would love to know why the cheque you sent me for compensation has bounced … Bank assure me this is your fault, wait 1 hour 20 on hold and your ‘customer services’ can’t help and there is no number to call to those who can? Please assure me of a call to fix this asap,” another wrote on Twitter. According to the airline’s figures, over one million Ryanair passengers in Europe have had delayed or cancelled flights since April. The Civil Aviation Authority has advised passengers caught up in strikes that they should apply for compensation. Called the EU261, compensation is €250 euros for flights of up to 1,500km (932 miles), and €400 for longer flights in Europe and North Africa. The airline said: “Ryanair complies fully with EU261 legislation, under which no compensation is payable to customers when the delay/cancellation is beyond the airline’s control.” “If these strikes, by a tiny minority of Ryanair pilots, were within Ryanair’s control, there would have been no strikes and no cancellations.” Shares in the group (LON: RYA) are currently trading down 0.59 percent at 13,42 (1025GMT).

Superdrug’s tie-up with Love Island has helped drive sales of male skin-care products. Superdrug, which has sponsored the last two series of the popular TV series, launched a campaign promoting the products “the Love Island boys will be using all summer”. Last month Superdrug’s parent company, AS Watson, revealed a 16 percent increase in pre-tax profits to £93 million. The group also revealed a 2.3 percent jump in revenues to £1.2 billion last year. Peter Macnab, the chief executive of AS Watson health and beauty division in the UK, said: “We are pleased with the company’s performance, and the continued recognition of our colleague’s customer service efforts.” “This year we will continue to focus on offering customers the service and products they want, including our new Superdrug Mobile.” Website sales for Superdrug also increased by over 30 percent over the past year, helped by a new mobile app and better delivery options. Love Island has not just boosted sales at Superdrug but increased sales in the grocery market. In July, British consumers spent an extra £67 million on alcoholic drinks. Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “Love Island not only tugged on shoppers’ heartstrings but also their purse strings.” “The grocery market experienced strong growth buoyed in particular by the recent heatwave,” said McKevitt. “Consumers’ willingness to spend that little bit extra to fully enjoy the summer sunshine has helped push brands ahead of their own-label counterparts.”

House of Fraser’s flagship Oxford Street store in Central London has been saved from closure. The store was due to close before the group went into administration under a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). Now owned by Sports Direct, the group announced on Tuesday that it would remain open. “We said we would keep as many stores open as possible, and in less than a week we have saved the biggest store,” said Sports Direct’s (LON: SPD) Michael Murray. “Oxford Street was meant to close in January and now it’s safe, which is great news for all parties. Everyone must remember it was a bust business and we need landlords, councils and brands to pull together to save House of Fraser on the high street,” he added. Soon after House of Fraser fell into administration, Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley bought the group in a £90 million deal. James Keany, from CBRE, the real estate services and investment firm advising Sports Direct on House of Fraser said: “This deal only happened because all parties realised it was better to keep the store open and fully operational.” “It was a real case of landlord and tenant genuinely working together and at great speed. Everyone was sensible about the terms of the transaction.” Mike Ashley has said he hopes to transform House of Fraser into the “Harrods of the high street”. On Monday, Mulberry (LON: MUL) warned that it was expecting to take a £3 million hit to its profits after the collapse of the department store. Following the news, shares in Mulberry plunged 30 percent after the profit warning. “Since the group reported in June 2018, the UK market has continued to remain challenging and sales in House of Fraser stores have been particularly affected,” said the group in a statement. “If these sales trends in the UK continue into the key trading period of the second half of the financial year, the group’s profit for the whole year will be materially reduced.” “Trading in the rest of the world continues to develop broadly in line with management’s expectations. The group is in a strong cash position and continues to follow its strategy to develop Mulberry into a global luxury brand.”