Money blog: Two London hotels named among best in world - here's how much they'll cost you (2025)

The Post Office and Western Union have announced a long-term exclusive deal for cross-border money transfer services at all Post Office branches in the UK.

This means that Western Union will expand beyond the current 4,000 Post Office locations which offer its money transfer services and be the sole provider of international money transfer services at all Post Office branches.

Western Union is a global financial services company that enables customers to send money to more than 200 countries and other territories worldwide.

The deal for money transfer services follows the Post Office's agreement with 30 banks and building societies, signed in April, to protect access to cash on the UK high street until December 2030.

Two London hotels have been namedamong the best in the world.

The Connaught in Mayfair and The Savoy in the Strand have been listed in La Liste'stop 1,000 World's Best Hotels and Special Awards 2025.

In their assessment of The Connaught, the judges said the hotel "balances storied tradition with bold innovation".

They also said the hotel was notable for its "legendarily attentive service, helmed by the world's finest butlers".

When it came to The Savoy, judges said the hotel was "an enduring icon of British cultural identity".

The hotel, which dates back to 1889, also "transcends mere hospitality to embody an entire era of sophistication", judges said.

So how much will the hotels set you back?

A stay at The Connaught can range from around £930 to more than £4,000 a night.

Meanwhile, prices at The Savoy range from around £633 for a deluxe king room to nearly £3,000 for a suite with a river view.

The chancellor has announced winter fuel payment changes will be implemented in time for this winter and more pensioners will get it.

The government has partially U-turned after facing backlash against means-testing the previously universal £300 payment.

The now-scrapped plans would have reduced the number of pensioners receiving it by around 10 million, from 11.4 million to 1.5 million.

Rachel Reeves said: "The economy is in a better shape, but we have also listened to the concerns that people had about the level of the means test.

"And so we will be making changes to that. They will be in place so that pensioners are paid this coming winter.

"We'll announce the detail of that and the level of that, as soon as we possibly can.

"But people should be in no doubt the means test will increase, and more people will get winter fuel payment this winter."

Tom Selby, director of public policy at AJ Bell, said the government "now faces a dilemma in determining exactly who should be eligible".

He suggested that one option could be to award the payment to everyone receiving a state pension, clawing the money back from higher-income households, potentially through their tax returns.

Rizzle Kicks's Jordan Stephens has condemned new London's Blackwall Tunnel toll as "illogical".

The toll came in last month - read more about that here...

Stephens suggested it was unfair that residents in east London were being charged when there were far fewer bridges than in the west of the capital.

"£4 a pop for Blackwall Tunnel, who do you think that's going to disproportionately affect?" said a frustrated Stephens on TikTok.

"What kind of working person do you think is going to be driving through Blackwall Tunnel, or going out to Kent, or coming in from Kent?"

He continued: "It's illogical. I can afford to pay £4 every time I go through Blackwall Tunnel, but it pains me how ridiculous it is.

"Just put a toll on two bridges in West London. Funnily enough, there are spots in west London where I feel people are doing alright."

There are 33 bridges across the Thames within London, with justRotherhithe Tunnel, Blackwall Tunnel and Woolwich Ferry between Tower Bridge and Dartford.

A return journey at peak times costs car drivers £8 at peak times in the Blackwall Tunnel, jumping up to £13 for large vans.

Watchmaker Cartier and outdoor retailer The North Face have today become the latest retailers to be hit by cyber attacks.

Cartier told customers in an email that "an unauthorised party gained temporary access" to its system and "obtained limited client information" - these included names and email addresses.

Owned by Swiss-based Richemont, the company said the hacked information did not include any passwords or banking information.

Elsewhere, fashion brand The North Face told customers it discovered a "small-scale" attack in April this year.

The retailer said the stolen information could include shipping addresses, purchase history, email addresses, names, phone numbers and dates of birth.

However, it added that financial information had not been accessed.

The incidents follow a cyber attack on Marks & Spencer in late April, which the supermarket has said will cost £300m. Seven weeks later it still cannot take online orders.

The supermarket chain at the time said information stolen could include people's names, home addresses, phone numbers or email addresses, as well as dates of birth and online order history.

Children can watch theatre shows for free with the return ofOfficial London Theatre's Kids Week.

Any child aged 17 and younger can attend performances with a fee-paying adult between 21 July and 31 August.

Another two children can join them for half price.

You're not missing a trick here - Kids Week used to run for just a week but has grown with its popularity to cover most of the summer holidays.

Some shows will run activity sessions and interactive curtain calls.

Tickets go on sale at 10am on 10 June. Here's a full list of the shows on offer:

• 101 Dalmatians
• The Three Musketeers
• Alice in Wonderland
• Back To The Future The Musical
• The Baddies
• The Boy With Wings
• The Choir Of Man
• Clueless The Musical
• The Comedy About Spies
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Daughter of Time
• The Devil Wears Prada
• The Dinosaur That Pooped
• The Lion King
• The Elves And The Shoemaker
• The Enormous Crocodile
• Evita
• Fawlty Towers
• Fireman Sam: The Great Camping Adventure
• The Great Gatsby
• Hadestown
• Hamilton
• Harry Potter And The Cursed Child
• Hold On
• Hold On To Your Butts
• Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain - The Best Bits
• Just For One Day - The Live Aid Musical
• The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
• Mamma Mia!
• Matilda The Musical
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Ministry Of Science Live!
• Les Misérables
• MJ The Musical
• Monopoly Lifesized
• Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• The Mousetrap
• My Neighbour Totoro
• Natural History Museum: Dinosaurs Live!
• Oliver!
• The Phantom Of The Opera
• The Play That Goes Wrong
• Rough Magic
• Showstopper! The Improvised Musical
• Sing Street
• Six
• The Smeds And The Smoos
• Spot's Birthday Party
• Starlight Express
• Stranger Things: The First Shadow
• The Tiger Who Came To Tea
• Tina - The Tina Turner Musical
• Tom Gates Epic Stage Show
• Wicked
• Witness For The Prosecution

By James Sillars, business and economics reporter

The UK's exemption from a doubling of duties on most US steel and aluminium imports is dependent on the ratification of May's trade pact between the two countries, the White House has warned.

Tariffs of 50% were imposed on all shipments from early on Wednesday morning, except those arriving from UK shores, which will still be subject to the previous 25% rate.

Donald Trump decided to "provide different treatment" to the UK as he doubled down on the rates that had been in place since March as part of his early trade war salvoes, which are designed to encourage more domestic production.

The decision to spare UK products from the hike currently amounts to a reprieve of just over a month, however, as the clock ticks down to a US deadline of 9 July.

By James Sillars, business and economics reporter

Discount retailers have been having a tough time.

I'm not talking about the grocery chains Aldi and Lidl here, but the likes of Poundland and B&M.

You'd think that, as consumer budgets remain squeezed, particularly among the less well off, these retailers' offerings would be proving more attractive compared to pricier goods elsewhere.

B&M's full-year results this morning showed a weaker-than-anticipated performance by its UK arm, which meant that group revenues missed expectations.

The company reported a 3.1% decline in UK like-for-like sales over the 12 months to 30 March.

The measure strips out the impact of new store openings, so it's the best way of comparing performance.

B&M blamed poor operational execution - that's corporate speak for mistakes - but also listed further reasons for the dip.

They included a "very subdued garden season, heightened consumer caution, limited real wage growth (especially for our core lower-income consumer groups who also faced the end of direct government 'cost of living' payments), and the timing of Easter".

It's a hefty list.

Remember, too, that since April, the company has been facing increased employer national insurance contributions and national living wage demands.

Its shares were 3.6% down in early deals.

Meanwhile, Poundland is up for sale.

It has also been struggling under inflation-linked headwinds.

Sky News reported just over a week ago that parent firm Pepco had shortlisted two prospective buyers for Poundland, which has more than 800 stores and 16,000 staff.

My colleague Mark Kleinman said they were understood to be Hilco, the former owner of HMV and Homebase, and former Laura Ashley-owner Gordon Brothers.

There are no guarantees that the workforce and store base will remain intact under the sale process, as underperforming sites could be shuttered in a bid to get a deal over the line.

Topshop will return to the high street, its managing director has confirmed.

Michelle Wilson said the company will be launching permanent, standalone, brick-and-mortar shops.

The news comes after the brand teased the return on social media and announced it would be featuring products inside other retailers' stores.

"We will have a permanent store presence at some point," Wilson told fashion magazine Drapers.

"That's something that we're working on all the time.

"In the shorter term, that will be something with partner support, and in the longer term, we will do something standalone."

She said the company wasn't trying to "recreate what Topshop was" but instead "taking the best of Topshop and then bringing that into today".

"So it's hard to say exactly what it would look like."

In April, Topshop hosted a pop-up shop at Defected Records in east London, generating snaking queues and a sale every three minutes, Drapers reported.

Almost half of landlords plan to raise rents ahead of reforms introduced by the Renters' Rights Bill, according to a survey.

Lender Landbay found 44% of landlords will add £74 on average to their tenants' monthly bills, industry outlets report.

Landlords with four to 10 properties are most likely to increase their rent (32%), followed by those with between 16 and 30 properties (28%), Landbay says.

The Renters' Rights Bill will introduce more protections for renters from evictions and rent hikes, limiting increases to one per year to the market rate.

It will also abolish no-fault evictions and turn all tenancies in the private rented sector into rolling contracts with two-month notice periods.

It is expected to become law later this year.