Money blog: Interest rate on Treasury-backed savings hiked - is it now the best place for your money? (2025)

Less than 20% of all active UK companies are led by women, and the pace of new business registrations is slowing down.

That's according to analysis of Companies House data by Prowess, which also found women-led companies receive only 5.8% of all investments.

In this series, we hear from women who are bossing it in their respective fields as they tell us how they've overcome challenges and how others could do the same.

This week,live Money reporter Jess Sharphasspoken to Abigail Tan, chief executive of St Giles Hotels Group...

"I loved the smell of a hotel. Everything about it interested me."

That was Abigail Tan's first memory of a hotel. She was a young girl in Malaysia and had been taken on a trip by her parents.

"Instead of spending all my time out in the beach or in the pool, I liked to jump up on the housekeeping trolleys to see what I could steal. Shampoo really interested me," she laughs.

In hindsight, her seemingly odd interest turned out to be a good thing.

With her grandfather running one of Malaysia's real estate dynasties and her father now the managing director of the IGB Corporation, the parent company of St Giles, her path into the hotel business was almost fated.

But that doesn't mean it's been easy.

Along the way, Abigail has dealt with racism, conflict and still managed to grow St Giles into a company that operates eight hotels in five countries - and has two more in the pipeline.

She says her first "adult experience" of the business was during her summer breaks, when she would travel from Exeter, where she was studying at the time, to London, to sit in on meetings.

"That's when I started work here at the hotel, and realised that it wasn't time for me to go back to Malaysia yet. 20 years later, I'm still here."

'The baptism of fire'

One of her first projects involved the buying and rebranding of one of their hotels in New York, which she describes as her "baptism by fire".

Thrown in the deep end, she was 24 having to rebrand an entire hotel, working to find suppliers, hiring a new general manager and replacing everything inside the former W hotel.

"I was still very junior... and it was challenging because New York is a completely different animal, different culture and a different way of hospitality," she says.

One of the most difficult situations in the American city was with labour unions.

"We shut one hotel down for renovations and they didn't like that we weren't using union staff. For about seven months, they camped outside our operating hotel," she recalls.

Some of them inflated three-storey high rats bearing her father's face, while others covered the ground in messages that told her family to "go back to Malaysia".

"They would sound horns and shouting in the streets. It was very chaotic for me, for staff and for customers. It was quite intimidating," she adds.

"They really tested my boundaries as a woman in the industry. There was a lot of conflict."

'I'm not the perfect leader but I want to make a difference'

For the rest of her 20s, she spent almost six months of the year travelling back and forth between London and New York to work on the hotels, before becoming chief executive in 2018.

"It's like being the conductor in a big orchestra, which means I needed to I know who I am as a leader and how the movements I make impact the team," Tan says.

"I'm not the perfect leader. We all make mistakes. We are only human."

Despite being part of the minority of female Asian chief executives, Tan says she doesn't view herself as such and has tried to carve the way for other women to follow in her footsteps.

Sixty percent of St Giles's executive board and 80% of its department heads are women.

"Women need more of a voice and more representation. I went to a hotel conference many years ago and it was just all middle-aged white men in suits. I was just like, 'how can we create more inspirational experiences?'"

Throughout the industry as a whole, she says, there should be more Asian representation.

"Having a mix of experiences and cultures is always a good think. There are lots of brands here now that are from Asia but we need to have more Asian leaders here in Europe."

Her mission to help the homeless

Tan's aspiration to make change doesn't stop with inspiring women, she has also launched a charity initiative to help homeless people enter the workforce.

Hotels with Heart provides rough sleepers with a place to stay, access to a four-week training programme and guaranteed job interviews once they complete it.

"The future is not about me, it's about who comes after me and who comes after that. I'm really proud of the academy. Everyone deserves a chance to grow and find a livelihood," she says.

"You can see all their confidence come back. It's like seeing a flower bloom."

'Learn to navigate conflict and read this book'

One of the keys to Tan's success is being authentic and she says you have to set out your values and stick to them in every situation to be a great female business leader.

"If you are being your true self, it's easier to run a business because people can feel if you are being authentic," she says.

She also advises that you learn how to navigate conflict and communicate through it effectively.

"A really powerful book about this is called the Culture Map. It showed you how different cultures communicate so differently.

"Some cultures want you to be more direct, some indirect and you don't want me to end up making someone angry."

A key part of this, she explains, is learning to apologise if you have made a mistake and holding firm if you believe you are right.

"If you think you have done something wrong, face it and lead with humility and kindness... but also if someone has done something wrong, you must be able to face the person and say that don't think it is right."

For this week's guide, Anna Bowes, savings expert fromThe Private Office,looks at what's happening with savings bonds.

Earlier this month, NS&I increased the interest rates on some of its savings bonds and relaunched two popular products.

It upped the rate on its two-year bonds and three-year bonds to 4% and 4.1% respectively, and brought back its one-year bond paying 4.05% and a five-year bond paying 4.06%.

Bowes said the state-owned savings bank's decision to hike rates is presumably a response to the government's decision in the Spring Budget to raise NS&I's net financing target - the amount it needs to raise for 2024–25 - from £9bn to £12bn.

"With a higher fundraising target, it's not surprising that NS&I is stepping up efforts to attract savers' money," she explained.

NS&I often has competitive rates, but how is it stacking up against its competitors?

Here's how its products look against the best rates currently on the market...

Even though these new rates are an improvement, Bowes said savers can still find better returns elsewhere, especially if you're happy to look beyond high street names.

"There are many providers, albeit lesser-known, offering more competitive rates on fixed-term bonds, notice accounts and easy access options," she said.

NS&I's unmatched and unique advantage

It's worth noting, though, that NS&I products do offer a unique advantage - all of the funds deposited are 100% backed by the Treasury.

This means they are not limited to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme's usual £85,000 limit per person, per institution.

"This security is unmatched and gives real peace of mind, especially for those with large sums to put away," said Bowes.

What matters most to you?

When deciding what sort of product you want to go for, she said it's all based on what matters most to you.

"If absolute security is your priority and you have a large cash holding, NS&I is a useful option. But if maximising your return is the aim, and you're willing to split your savings between different providers, there are certainly stronger rates out there," she explained.

Cash platforms are another valuable tool worth considering.

"They allow you to manage savings across multiple banks with just one login, often making it easier to stay within protection limits and to switch between products when better rates become available," Bowes added.

"This can be especially useful for those with larger cash holdings who want both convenience and competitive returns."

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

Earlier, we told you about contactless payment glitches at Marks & Spencer and problems with click and collect (see 9.45am post).

This evening, M&S chief executive Stuart Machin wrote to customers telling them the department store had, over the "last few days", been dealing with a "cyber incident".

In-store changes were needed "to protect you and the business", Machin said in the email, seen by Sky News.

The website and app are operating as normal, he added, but there may be "some limited delays" to click and collect orders.

The business is working hard to resolve the problem, he said.

Gatwick is the UK's worst airport for flight delays for the second year running, according to new data from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

After suffering from continued air traffic control (ATC) disruptions, departures from the West Sussex airport were delayed by more than 23 minutes on average in 2024.

A spokesperson said the airport had a "robust plan" to improve things further in 2025, including a new method to separate arriving aircraft, and trialling the co-ordination of connecting jet bridges to planes remotely.

Birmingham Airport was second on the list, with average delays of 21 minutes and 18 seconds, followed by Manchester Airport in third with average delays of 20 minutes.

We love going through your comments, and there is one story that has got lots of you talking...

It's this piece by our Money features writer Brad Young, who spoke to a former gambling addict who explains how he's been surrounded by temptation since his last bet six years ago.

You can read it here:

Some of you agreed and thought adverts for gambling are too prevalent across the UK...

I gambled away £300,000 in a few years. I have so many friends who have done the same.Gambling is everywhere and the government does nothing to limit it. How can someone stop when it's constantly flashed in their face during every single advert and sporting event?

Anonymous22

The repeated television adverts for gambling should be banned. Cigarette advertising has been banned, and gambling addictions bring as much misery and poverty as ever smoking did.
Redeye

I completely agree. Gambling on football shirts isn't a great example to your kids attending the matches and it legitimises it at every opportunity. The people in power care not, it manifests as an addiction and ruins lives for so many taken advantage of by a quick fix to happiness.
Gary Turley

I have never been a gambler. But I estimate that more than half the adverts I see on YouTube are for gambling, despite my constantly blocking them. It is too easy for people to gamble online and get addicted.
John B

I hate the constant onslaught of ads for various types of gambling. Apart from an occasional lottery ticket, I don't gamble. But as a non-gambler it's really noticeable to me just how intrusive and endless the ads are on radio and TV and all before 9pm. It should stop.
PieRSqueezed

I agree. I have a gambling problem and every time I see advertisements it makes me want to play, it needs to be banned.
Doddy

See Also

Voters deserting Labour and Tories for Reform, top pollster says

Others saw similarities in other industries...

It sounds the same as alcohol. I drank away money, lost friends and opportunities because of alcohol addiction. It almost cost me family and my life, but I am still seeing adverts.I say ban both!
Alec

Why is it we can ban advertising on smoking and drinking but not gambling?
Je Jules

While some of you said the government should step in to help gambling addicts...

Gambling is out of control and is the scourge of society. The government should double tax on advertising. Increase taxes on ALL UK bets and profits regardless of where the company registered. A new 10% tax on winnings. The extra revenue should go to the NHS to treat addicts.
TJ

I have a friend who is addicted to gambling. He is an intelligent person, but it has cost him two marriages and jobs, and he continually gambles. Gambling is the scourge of society, why is the government not increasing the tax on all companies operating in the UK?
HJ

But there were also plenty of you who thought it was down to the individual, not the government, to create change...

Why do we have to be such a nanny state, if people can't stop gambling it is not everyone's problem, they have to take action themselves and not expect everyone to be put in the same category as them.
Baggy1970

Why is it always someone else's fault? Take personal responsibility and stop blaming everyone else!
Spoons

Try taking responsibility for your own actions instead of blaming others.You wanted to gamble, you had a choice. Stop looking for others to take up your problem.I once smoked, it was my choice, no one forced me to do it. I stopped eight years ago, my choice.
Springbok66

What's wrong with self-discipline?
Curmudgeon

It's called taking ownership, responsibility, of your own actions. It's having willpower. You cannot blame society for your actions or habits.
Raibeart

Asda is due to open 25 convenience store locations this year as part of its strategy to grow its smaller shop formats and reach more local shoppers in towns and city centres.

The renewed expansion comes as part of a broader turnaround effort under the leadership of chairman Allan Leighton,who returned to the business in November.

He said last month that he would be driving change at the supermarket, including a "substantive and well-backed programme of investment".

Asda'smarket share has been under pressuresince its 2021 acquisition by private equity group TDR Capital and the Issa brothers, falling from 14.8% to 12.5% in recent years.

On ramping up its convenience footprint,Leightontold The Telegraph the new stores will be a "crucial part of our strategy to regain market share and deliver a better service to local communities".

The new stores will include former Co-op locations, with Asda havingacquired 470 sites from Co-op and EG Group over the past two years.

By Gurpreet Narwan, business and economics correspondent

Britain's economy will be among the hardest hit by the global trade war and inflation is set to climb, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned – as it slashed its UK growth forecast by a third.

In a sobering set of projections, the Washington-based organisation said it was grappling with "extremely high levels of policy uncertainty" - and the global economy would slow even if countries manage to negotiate a permanent reduction in tariffs from the US.

Echoing earlier warnings about the risks to the global financial system, the IMF said stock markets could fall even more sharply than they did in the aftermath of Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement, when US and UK indices recorded some of their largest one-day falls since the pandemic.

It comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to meet her US counterpart Scott Bessent at the IMF's spring gathering in Washington this week.

She is hoping to negotiate a reduction to the 10% baseline tariff the US president has applied to all UK goods.

Steel, aluminium and car exports face an additional 25% tariff.

The first free school breakfast clubs will be opening across the country today as part of the government's plan for change.

Ministers expect the scheme to save parents of primary-aged children £450 a year in childcare costs.

They say breakfast clubs are central to school readiness - but teachers warn the education sector will continue to struggle without more funding.

Following on from our last post about Britons facing extortionate demands due to faulty parking machines, we're resurfacing our guide to appealing private "fines".

We teamed up with consumer expert Scott Dixon, AKA Complaints Resolver...

Private companies cannot 'fine' you

First, it's worth outlining that there is a big difference between parking infringements against councils and against private parking companies.

Councils can fine you for infringements on public highways (like parking on double yellow lines or in a bus lane) and issue penalty charge notices - these must be paid, or you can appeal it with as much evidence as possible. You risk bailiffs, clamping, your vehicle being towed away and a court order (which could impact your credit score if you lose) if you do not pay, though never pay a council or private parking ticket if you intend to appeal, as payment is considered an admission of liability.

On the other hand, private parking operators, which this post will focus on, cannot clamp you and they can't fine you as such - they issue parking charge notices, which are invoices for an alleged breach of contract for parking on private land.

Dixon says: "They look the same, and there's a reason for that. A private parking operator's business model is to extract money from you, and it's estimated that 80% of motorists pay straightaway due to the legalese jargon."

Of course, landowners should reasonably be able to charge people to park on their land, so if you're at fault it might be that the right thing to do is pay up.

But if you think what they're charging you in their "invoice" is unfair, Dixon says you could appeal.

Some advice online suggests you can simply ignore these "invoices" - Scott doesn't recommend this, but we'll cover this in more depth shortly.

Is the private company operating the car park on behalf of a business?

It's always worth speaking to the business itself - if you have reasonable grounds, they may be able to cancel the "fine".

"Ask for proof in writing that they will cancel it so you can advise the parking operator to cease and desist harassing you," Dixon says.

Collect evidence for appeals

This will be key to any appeals or court action - so take photos, get witness statements, keep all correspondence and get proof of any mitigating circumstances. Other sources of evidence might be shopping receipts, dashcam footage or a mobile phone with Google location tracker.

Another tool is Google Reviews: are others having a similar issue to you?

"You may find a common theme from what other users say, which can reinforce your points and case on appeal," says Dixon.

Dixon also suggests submitting a data subject access request to the private parking operator and DVLA to access all of your personal data that's being used in the case.

Appealing private tickets

A ticket might be considered unfair if you didn't actually break any rules, the machine was broken, the signage was poor or unclear, you didn't park on private land or there being some mitigating circumstances.

The starting point is exhausting the private company's own appeals process.

After that, there are two parking trade associations in the UK and have a code of practice for their members to abide by.

First, the British Parking Association. You can checkits websiteto see if an operator is a member. The BPA set up theParking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) service.

Dixon says: "Roughly one in four parking charges are cancelled due to the operator not responding to POPLA and over 40% of appeals made to POPLA are upheld, which evidences my suspicions that private parking operators play the percentages game knowing that many motorists simply pay up even if they believe that they have done nothing wrong."

The International Parking Community is the other trade association and operates theIndependent Appeals Service.

Dixon adds: "First stage appeals are often rejected regardless of any mitigating circumstances, so you could have escalated your appeal to the second stage and it should have been upheld."

You gave 28 days to do this.

If you lose the appeal, you can either pay or defend it if it goes to court.

If the company is not part of a trade organisation

If the operator is not part of a trade body, it can only access keeper details from the DVLA if you respond to appeal one of its "invoices".

If you have responded without realising and divulged keeper details, keep in mind that firms that aren't part of trade organisations may have dubious appeal policies.

Instead of appealing, consider writing to them explaining why you think the parking charge notice is unfair, with evidence to reinforce your case.

Doing nothing

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence online that private firms don't always consider it worthwhile going to court for small amounts - but there is no guarantee you'll get lucky,

Dixon says: "I recommend you don't ignore these 'invoices', as these private parking operators pursue alleged debts through the courts and you risk incurring a county court judgement which can impact your ability to get loans, mortgages, mobile phone contracts and any credit for many years.

"Trivial amounts quickly escalate into hundreds of pounds when court fees, solicitor fees and debt recovery fees are added."

It's important to stress there are some types of letters you could consider ignoring - and some you should definitely not.

"You can safely ignore any debt collector letters," says Scott, because unlike councils, private parking firms or the debt collection companies they employ cannot use bailiffs.

"These debt collectors are 'strangers to the debt' and don't own the debt or have any powers to enforce it. This means that they are third parties to the alleged debt and have as much power as I do to enforce a private parking ticket.

"The letters use legalese jargon to intimidate and coerce you into paying up with threats of escalating costs and county court judgements. It's a tried and tested business model and usually works."

However, Dixon says, it is essential you respond to any "letter before claim" or "letter before action".

"This is the final stage before a case goes to court and needs to be completed prior to a court hearing."

Court

Statute limitations for bringing a case to court are six years in England and Wales and five years in Scotland from the date of the parking event.

It would be a civil action - there is no guilty or not guilty, and you can't get a criminal record.

You will be issued with a county court judgment if the court rules against you. You will have to pay the parking charge notice fine plus some costs, and failing to do so could impact your credit rating.

A private parking operator cannot send bailiffs to your home. Bailiffs are only sent to your home to pursue court orders for non-payment of penalty charge notices issued by councils.

One potential "ace card" that Dixon says often succeeds in these kinds of court case is this...

"Ask their solicitor on the day if they have a 'right of audience'? Basically, do they have the right of audience to represent their client?

"Many solicitors are self-employed and do not have the right to represent these private parking operators. They just turn up on the day they are asked to. If they do not have a right of audience in court, the case should automatically be dismissed."

Campaigners believe "thousands" of drivers across England are being fleeced by parking machines "set up to trap people".

Motorists have said they're being sent parking charge notices (PCNs) from private parking companies demanding £170 which they claim are unfair because of faulty machines.

Many car parks require drivers to input their vehicle registration when purchasing a ticket from a machine. This is supposed to stop them being sent a PCN when their vehicle is detected by number plate recognition cameras.

But many motorists insist they entered their registration correctly but still received a fine.

Campaigner Lynda Eagan, who assists almost 50,000 drivers in a private parking tickets Facebook group, says most machine faults involve "sticky keys" - when the buttons pressed are not correctly recorded - or devices that "encourage you to pay" before the full registration has been entered.

The latter machines are "set up to trap people", she claimed, as they accept payment even if only the first letter of a registration is entered.

Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, described the issue as one that "needs to be tackled", while the RAC has called for a government-backed code of conduct to be reintroduced.

A bill to enable the introduction of a government-backed code for private parking companies received royal assent under the Conservative government in March 2019, but was withdrawn in June 2022 after a legal challenge by parking companies.

It included halving the cap on tickets for most parking offences to £50, creating a fairer appeals system and banning the use of aggressive language on PCNs.