Share Sounds

On Track Record with Sue Dougan today is the CEO at EQ Investors and the EQ Foundation, John Spiers. He started his career with British Airways pension fund in the mid 1970s, before founding Bestinvest in the late 1980s. He sold Bestinvest in 2007, then set up the Spiers Family Foundation. He later took over EQ Investors and now runs that, and the relatively new EQ Foundation.

Today on the agenda, Sue Dougan and Personal finance expert Kevin White discussed the latest inflation figures. Plus they look into why drivers are paying over 100 pounds more for their car insurance on average this year - compared with 2016. All these stories and more on The News Review.

Boris Johnson has asked G7 to consider fresh sanctions against Russia and Syria, claiming Putin is ‘toxifying’ Russia’s image and says Kremlin has to choose between withdrawing support for Assad or facing penalties. And Theresa May and Donald Trump have agreed a "window of opportunity now exists" to persuade Russia to drop its links with the Syrian government.

Joining Sue Dougan for the latest market headlines was Nigel Cassidy, starting with some inflation figures this morning. Plus, JD Sports has reported record profits with an 81% increase in pre-tax profits last year to £238.4m. And around 700 jobs are under threat at luxury fashion chain Jaeger.

New research from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG suggests that retail sales for March are 'underwhelming'. What does this mean for retailers and the high street? Nigel was joined by Paul Martin, UK Head of Retail at KPMG, to discuss further.

Fresh details on price rises and wage growth this week are expected to underline the rising pressures on UK household budgets as the pound’s sharp fall since the Brexit vote continues to stoke inflation. The Bank of England has warned the economy’s main engine of growth, consumer spending, will lose momentum this year as rising living costs eat into people’s budgets. Economists expect official figures on Tuesday will vindicate those worries, with inflation forecast to have reached its highest level for more than three years in March.

Today: Barclays and its chief executive are being investigated by regulators over their handling of a whistleblower; fashion house Jaeger collapses into administration.

It's time to talk politics. Today: pressure is expected to be put on Russia over its relations with the Syrian government by G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy; the French Communist-backed presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon is closing in on the frontrunners Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, according to new polls.

Technology is changing almost every aspect of daily life and business and finance is no exception. Share Radio's Simon Rose and Steve Caplin, Share Radio's technology editor, look at the big technological changes that impact on the world of business, finance and money as well as some of the gadgets that help make everyday life a bit easier. On today's programme - fancy pizza delivered by drone?

For what's happening on stock markets across the pond, Share Radio catches up with the Motley Fool Money team.