Finance
TIPS: HOW TO SAVE THOUSANDS ON YOUR GROUP HOLIDAY

If there’s one thing better than the thought of going on holiday, it’s going on holiday with friends.
What could be better than a well-earned rest, soaking up some incredible views and eating delicious food all in the company of your nearest and dearest?
The concept is nothing short of perfect, except for one thing – the cost. Unfortunately, it’s usually the case that the more people that travel, the pricier the holiday is.
Follow these top 5 tips from Matt Fox, CEO at the last minute holiday rental provider, Snaptrip, and you could save thousands on your next group trip.
- Stay in a self-catered cottage
“The UK has thousands of cottages that sleep 12 or more people. Forget hotels or youth hostels which sell rooms or beds individually, self-catered cottages are only sold as one unit. This gives large groups looking for a holiday a huge advantage. “
- Travel out of season
“For large groups especially, booking your trip outside of the school holidays can save you hundreds, if not thousands. You’ll also find that there’s a wider variety of accommodation to choose from, and you’ll get much more for your money. Travelling off-peak could be the difference between getting a hot tub or not!”
- Be prepared to wait
“Booking a trip last minute to save money can be a nervy waiting game, but it’s worth the wait. If you and your friends are flexible on where you are willing to go, then last minute deals are the way forward.”
- Don’t be afraid to make a (reasonable) offer
“For us Brits, negotiating doesn’t exactly come as second nature. But, when it comes to renting a group cottage, owners are often prepared to accept a discount price to make a sale that isn’t displayed online.
“Those who make reasonable offers will still allow owners to make a profit on a booking, and they’ll be pleasantly surprised. After all, the worst the owner can say is no!”
- Travel together
“Actually travelling together in groups rather than individually or in separate couples is a really cost effective (and environmentally friendly) way to travel, plus who doesn’t love a group road trip? Two Together rail cards are also a great option for train travel, often you will make up the cost of the card with just one or two trips.”
Finance
Daily Mail publisher posts 15% drop in quarterly revenue

LONDON (Reuters) – The publisher of Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper said that group revenue fell 15% in the three months to the end of December, dragged down by falls in print advertising revenues at its papers and by cancellations in its events business.
Daily Mail and General Trust said that group quarterly revenue came in at 304 million pounds ($416 million), down 15% on an underlying basis, but excluding the impact of cancelled events it was down 5%.
At its newspapers, print advertising revenues fell 38%, compared to an 8% rise in digital advertising. The group said that the impact of the pandemic meant it was difficult to provide short-term forecasts.
($1 = 0.7301 pounds)
(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Michael Holden)
Finance
Dollar slides vs. most currencies on optimism about Biden administration

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The dollar fell against most currencies on Wednesday, as risk appetite held up on optimism about a massive stimulus package under the new Joe Biden administration that will likely bolster a U.S. economic recovery.
The greenback slid against the yen as well as currencies tied to commodity prices such as the Australian, Canadian, New Zealand dollars, and the Norwegian crown. The U.S. dollar dropped to a three-year low versus its Canadian counterpart and sterling, while hitting a two-week trough against the yen.
The S&P 500 climbed to a new all-time peak, while U.S. crude futures gained as the risk rally carried on.
Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, vowing to end the “uncivil war” in a deeply divided country reeling from a battered economy and a raging coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 400,000 Americans.
The new government is expected to push through Congress a nearly $2 trillion U.S. fiscal stimulus plan.
“Once you are no longer uncertain about something and it materializes, the overall optimism grows and gives way to the global recovery narrative,” said Juan Perez, senior FX strategist and trader at Tempus Inc. in Washington.
“The election and the issues after — all of them played a dramatic role, but now it’s over. Joe Biden is president and stimulus hopes are, like some markets, at a record high,” he added.
In afternoon trading, the dollar fell 0.4% against the yen to 103.54, sliding to a two-week low earlier in the session to 103.45.
The U.S. dollar tumbled to a three-year low versus the Canadian currency at C$1.2607, after the Bank of Canada on Wednesday opted not to cut interest rates. The greenback was last down 0.7% at C$1.2642.
The Aussie dollar rallied 0.6% to US$0.7745, while the New Zealand currency also gained 0.6% to US$0.7167.
Sterling rose to a three-year high versus the dollar of $1.3720, but surrendered some of those gains to trade up just 0.1% at $1.3643.
A combination of heightened risk appetite in global markets and UK-specific optimism lifted the pound on Wednesday.
The dollar index, meanwhile, was up 0.1% at 90.483. Since the beginning of the year, the index has posted a modest 0.5% gain.
Futures positioning data still shows that investors are overwhelmingly short dollars as they figure that budget and current account deficits will weigh on the greenback.
The euro fell 0.2% against the dollar to $1.2106.
European countries are struggling to contain the contagion of the coronavirus amid worries that a new variant could lead to more stringent lockdowns and more economic pain.
Investors are also fretting about the slower pace of the rollout of vaccines relative to the United States and Britain, which may hobble economic recovery in the euro zone.
(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Sonya Hepinstall)
Finance
No discussion at BoE about cutting rates below zero – Bailey

LONDON (Reuters) – Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said the British central bank had not taken any decisions about whether interest rates could or should be cut below zero, and it was unclear how much that would help the economy.
“We have not taken any decision, in fact we’ve not actually discussed, whether or not to introduce negative rates,” Bailey said during an online event organised by the BoE.
He said that when interest rates were close to zero, and in particular when they were negative, the ability of monetary policy to influence the economy was much less clear and it changed the “whole calculus of how the banking system works”.
“We do not know, with any confidence, how that would work,” he said.
“However, there are experiences from other countries … and the evidence suggests it isn’t straightforward but it can work in certain circumstances and depending a bit on how your financial system works.”
(Writing by William Schomberg, editing by David Milliken)