The great British streaming binge

Friday 3rd January 2020

Get straight to the good stuff every day with the Multiply Minute; a lightning-quick round-up of the money news and how it affects you.

No chill on Netflix

UK culture vultures splurged a record £3 billion on streaming music, films and TV last year. Services like Netflix, Amazon, and Spotify maintained their meteoric rise and continued the digital sector’s dominance over high street sales of DVDs and CDs. Total spend on entertainment in the UK was a staggering £7.8 billion and internet-based services made up 80% of that.

Fake apprenticeships

An apprenticeship scheme, which subsidises on-the-job learning with a levy on big businesses, is “descending into farce” according to the director of education think tank EDSK. The levy raised £2.7bn in its first year, but EDSK says half of the apprenticeships it’s funding are fake. It warns that £1.2 billion has been inappropriately spent on existing jobs and management training, giving a leg up to established adult workers instead of young people.

British Steel in limbo

£1 million of Government money is being pumped into British Steel each day while a deal with Chinese firm Jingye is finalised. They reached an agreement back in November, but concerns persist over pay, conditions, and workers’ rights under the new owners. The Scunthorpe site employs 3,000 people and supports a further 20,000 jobs in the area.

Travelex cyber attacked

If you've visited the foreign-currency seller's website recently you may have noticed it's a bit... not working. The company was forced to shut digital shop after a cyber attack. Travelex has fallen back on old school over-the-counter services while their team try to resolve the problem. In the meantime, they've reassured the public that no personal or customer data has been compromised.