6:52 am, November 20, 2021
Children in Need raises more than £39 million
BBC Children In Need has raised more than £39m following its annual fundraising show.
The 41st year of the appeal show featured appearances from stars including pop group Abba, actor Stephen Fry, Strictly professional dancer Oti Mabuse, Olympian gymnast Max Whitlock and broadcaster Clare Balding.
Ed Sheeran, Tom Grennan and RuPaul’s Drag Race stars were among those to provide musical entertainment during the programme.
Fuel retailers urged to cut petrol by 6p per litre
Record fuel prices should be slashed to reflect a drop in wholesale costs, a motoring services firm has claimed.
The RAC called on retailers to ‘play fair with drivers’ by reducing the price of a litre of petrol by 6p and diesel by 4p.
Average pump prices for petrol have risen by 3p per litre since the start of the month, reaching 147.27p despite a recent reduction in wholesale costs.
The failure to pass on savings is costing drivers around an extra £3.50 every time they fill up a typical 55-litre family petrol car.
Rioting in Rotterdam after increased restrictions
An unknown number of people were injured in downtown Rotterdam as police fired warning shots during a demonstration against plans by the government to restrict access for unvaccinated people to some venues.
Police said in a tweet that ‘there are injuries in connection with the shots’ during the violent unrest, while riot police used a water cannon in an attempt to drive hundreds of rioters from a central street in the port city.
Video from social media shown on Dutch broadcaster NOS appeared to show a person being shot, but there was no immediate word on what happened.
Ban on single-use plates, cutlery and cups is a step closer
The government is a step closer to extending a ban on single-use plastic items to plates, cutlery and polystyrene cups in England with the launch of a public consultation.
A separate call for evidence will also investigate how to limit other polluting products such as wet wipes that contain plastic, tobacco filters and sachets.
Possible options include banning plastic in these items and mandatory labelling on packaging to help consumers dispose of them correctly.
Christmas shopping starts early for many
Shoppers started Christmas shopping early as sales at clothes stores came within touching distance of pre-pandemic levels but online sales fell to lows not seen since the start of the pandemic, according to official statistics.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said it helped push overall sales volumes up in October by 0.8% – ending a five-month run of falling or flat volumes.
Last month’s sales fall of 0.2% between September and August was revised up to 0%.
Seat registers one millionth UK car
Seat has just hit a major milestone in its UK sales, having registered its one millionth vehicle on these shores.
The Spanish car manufacturer has been selling cars in the UK since September 1985, with 405 examples of the Ibiza hatchback and Malaga saloon being registered in its first full year.
Figures have increased dramatically as the firm’s range has expanded, with the UK now the firm’s third-largest market after Spain and Germany.
Friday’s Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Sandown Motors acquires Emsom dealership from Mercedes-Benz Retail Group
- Sign in for early access: Car Dealer issue 165
- Motorpoint is feeling festive as it turns forecourts into ice rink this winter
- Apple could launch first autonomous car as early as 2025, reports say
- SsangYong confirms addition of Balmer Lawn to growing dealer network
- Arnold Clark CEO Eddie Hawthorne on leading Car Dealer Top 100 and why 2021 will be even better
Six million Sky broadband routers had security flaw
Around six million Sky broadband routers contained a software bug that could have allowed hackers to take over home networks and access devices and personal data, a security company has said.
The flaw has been fixed, but the security researchers said it took the company nearly 18 months to fix the problem.
Sky said it took the security of its customers “very seriously” and had begun working to fix the problem as soon as it was made aware of it.
FTSE finishes week down as European restrictions are tightened
London’s markets finished the week with their fifth consecutive day of decline as concerns over Covid curbs in Europe weighed on investors across the continent.
Travel and leisure stocks were impacted by the downturn in sentiment – although some firms which have broadly benefited from Covid, such as health, saw stocks take a much-needed boost.
The FTSE 100 closed 32.39 points, or 0.45 per cent, lower at 7,223.57 on Friday.
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said: ‘After four days of declines it finally looked like the FTSE 100 might finish the week on the up, but unfortunately the news flow from Europe had other ideas.’
Winter is coming
In the north today there will be light rain moving southwards towards central areas by the end of the day, while in the south it’ll be fairly dry and cloudy.
Showers will follow in the north and northwest with some snow falling over hills.
Tonight the rain will clear in the south and and there will be a cold northerly wind following across all parts.
