Share Sounds

Joining Georgie Frost to discuss the latest market headlines was Share Radio's very own Nigel Cassidy starting with Lego. Their success has been quite remarkable. But the big market story of the morning is BT and Ofcom. They've reached an agreement on future governance of Openreach. Nigel explains what has been decided.

New research conducted by Halifax has found that 'homeowners in one in three UK areas earn more from bricks and mortar than the day job'. Halifax suggests that average house prices have increased by more than the total average of employees' net earnings. So what impact does this have on homeowners and potential buyers? Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax joined Nigel Cassidy to give his analysis.

The anti-secrecy website Wikileaks has published thousands of the CIA's secret documents, including what it says are it's hacking tools. Founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange said that, after some thought, he will give technology companies exclusive access to these cyber-weapons, so that they can be defended against. This has caused quite some embarrassment for the CIA, as the agency who is supposed to protect us, is somewhat unprotected. Joining Nigel Cassidy is Jason Murdock, Technology and Cybersecurity reporter with the International Business Times to discuss further.

British citizens should be able to keep various benefits of EU membership including freedom of movement after Brexit, the European parliament’s chief negotiator has said. Guy Verhofstadt said Britons could be allowed to keep certain rights if they applied for them on an individual basis. “All British citizens today have also EU citizenship. That means a number of things: the possibility to participate in the European elections, the freedom of travel without problem inside the union". Joining Nigel Cassidy is Chris Bailey, Founder of financial orbit to discuss today's top finance news.

In his first spring Budget, Philip Hammond declared war on the UK's productivity gap. And his first front: Britain's classrooms. Alongside an expansion of technical education, the Chancellor pledged more cash for free schools. Some see this extra money as heralding a new generation of grammars. These new free schools could later decide to become selective if the Government repeals the ban on new grammars. Is No 10 preparing for more grammars? Share Radio's Alex Clark spoke to Neil Carmichael, Conservative MP for Stroud and Chair of the Education Select Committee.

This is Share Radio's weekly travel show - The Share Radio Travel Guide. Simon Rose is joined by travel journalist and author Sarah Tucker. They look at why complaints about holidays and flights have hit record levels, Caroline Morrone of De Vere Wotton House reveals why your next romantic weekend break should be in Surrey and there's an insider's guide to Venice. Also, we're in the grip of a caravan and motorhome boom - you find out why with TV presenter and campervan enthusiast Martin Dory and Antonia Mariconda, the Cosmedic Coach talks about cosmetic surgery abroad.

It's time to talk politics. On today's programme: the Chancellor's first Spring Budget is still reverberating around Westminster - Simon gauges the mood of Tory backbenchers and hears what the Institute of Fiscal Studies made of Spreadsheet Phil's maths; and the Lords has called on the Prime Minister to offer Parliament a meaningful vote on her final Brexit deal.

Share Radio's Simon Rose brings you Market Wrap, a roundup of what's been happening in the businesses of Britain and the world. To help rattle through the day's events, Simon was joined by Share Radio's Senior Analyst Ed Bowsher. They discussed: Morrisons has reported a rise in sales and profits thanks to the positive performance of its turnaround strategy; Shares in Domino's Pizza ended the day down almost 15%; The price of oil has dropped over 2% for the first time since December.

Our Apprentices are four members of the Share Radio team who've each been given fifteen thousand pounds of virtual money to build their own share portfolios. They have a minimum of eight stocks, which they've been buying and selling through The Share Centre for the past couple of years. Today's Apprentices are Alexi Phillips and Olivia Demetriades, while standing by with advice and useful observations is Share Radio's Senior Analyst Ed Bowsher.

Tom Carroll, Director at Sanlam FOUR, joined Share Radio's Ed Bowsher to look at today's most important economic stories. They talked about Chancellor Hammond facing criticism from Tory MPs over a planned national insurance rise for self-employed; the ECB leaving interest rates and QE unchanged; UK pay growth being at its worst level since the Napoleonic Wars; Pret A Manger facing a staffing crisis because of Brexit.