Share Sounds related to Economics - UK

Welcome to the This is Money and Share Radio podcast, brought to you in partnership with NS&I. It’s been quite a stressful week both real and imagined. The UK banking system was put through its paces in the Bank of England’s stress test which simulated a range of disaster scenarios from crashing house prices to rising unemployment. The biggest failure proved to be the majority tax payer owned RBS, whilst it was ‘must try harder’ for Barclays and Standard Chartered. Unfortunately not all this week’s stresses have been virtual though and rising fuel prices contributed to the collapse of GB Energy affecting 160,000 customers. When it comes to finding a new supplier there’s certainly plenty of choice at least as more and more smaller firms spring up- so just what is going on with Britain’s energy market? Georgie Frost is joined by Editor Simon Lambert and Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce to find out. Also this week they look at the scams tricking people out of personal data and gig tickets as well as the meaty issue of what else is in the new plastic fiver. This is Money is presented by Georgie Frost in partnership with NS&I.

Georgie Frost is joined in the studio by Share Radio's senior analyst Ed Bowsher. On the agenda they discuss the big story of the day - Liberal Democrats’ Sarah Olney has overturned a 23,000 majority to pull off a shock win in a by-election, against former Tory MP Zac Goldsmith. Elsewhere, train fares in Britain are to go up by an average of 2.3% from 2 January. Plus Plans to save money at HM Revenue & Customs by moving more of its operations online are leading towards a repeat of a catastrophic collapse” in customer service. All these stories and more on The News Review.

Train fares in Britain will go up by 2.3%, on average, from January the 2nd. The Rail Delivery Group says the vast majority of the cash gets pumped back in to running services. But campaign groups say some passengers are "finding themselves priced off the railways". Tony Miles, Contributing Editor from Rail Business Intelligence, joined Share Radio Breakfast to offer his reaction.

Applications from foreign workers who want to work in the UK tech industry have increased tenfold over the last year. It's after the government decided to relax the rules, allowing groups of coders to apply as a group rather than run the risk of being rejected individually. Tech City UK, the organisation that processes the visa applications, says applications had spiked since the Brexit referendum. James Brydges asked Oliver Smith, tech reporter at the Memo, and Megan Caywood, Chief Platform Officer at Starling bank, about what had been driving the demand.

Hannah Kinston is student but needed help funding her degree and of course, she was not alone. So a few students teamed together to create an unusual business - a cheese making one. This is to help fund degrees in agriculture, business, and veterinary medicine at Nottingham University. She explains all to Georgie on the line.

What does it take to start up your own business? Guts determination and lots of energy. In the business world, some of the stories are truly inspirational. And in Cheryl Spain's case, it's no different. Back in 2013 Cheryl was a single parent with one dream - to create and run her own fitness studios. No money; very little and now she runs Fitness Fusions in a large building in Clapham. She joined Georgie in the studio to tell her story.

Christmas is an expensive time of year for us. And with it only round the the corner, it means spending money on gifts for many people. But what if you want to reject the pressure to splash the cash and make presents instead? Where would you start? To find out, Georgie was joined on the line by Textile artist Kate Jackson.

Are you hoping for a pay rise in 2017? New research has found 40% of us don't believe we’ll will get one. And, rather gloomy economic conditions combining with predictions British workers probably won't get a pay rise for 10 years. So how financially fit are you for the news year? To find out, Georgie was joined in the studio by Lisa Hardstaff credit expert from Equifax and Nick Hill, Money Expert from the Money Advice Service.

Georgie Frost is joined in the studio by Tom Church, Co-Founder, LatestDeals.co.uk. Today on the agenda, they discuss energy price hikes - and what they mean for millions of people, with it being estimated that four million working families are struggling to pay their energy bills right now before the increased bills. Elsewhere, it's better news for gas prices as British Gas has announced a price freeze for more than six million customers over the winter. Plus, Ofcom has announced a review of the retail market for standalone landline telephone services, to ensure that customers receive value for money. All these stories and more on The News Review.

The Mint, the only institution licensed to provide coins in the UK, has announced it will look at launching a digital gold offering, allowing users to trade the assets using a blockchain based system. So how will this new digital gold blockchain work? Share Radio's Matt Cox spoke to monetary innovation researcher Garrick Hileman to find out more.