Money blog: Teachers now qualify for Blue Light discount card - but not everyone is happy about it (2024)

Teachers and school support staff can now apply for a Blue Light discount card - but the sudden surge in demand has caused the official website to temporarily crash.

The Blue Light card is a discount provided to emergency services, NHS workers, social care staff and members of the armed forces, and provides thousands of offers and discounts online and on the high street.It costs £4.99 to register for two-year access to more than 15,000 offers from large national retailers and local businesses.

But it seems demand was so high, with teachers rushing to grab the card, that it promptly crashed the website.

"Due to the high demand we've seen over the last 24 hours we experienced some issues with our website and app," the organisation wrote on X.

"Please accept our apologies for this error. We are in the process of refunding any duplicate payments and you should receive an email in the next 24 hours with more information."

However, the move to accept teachers into the scheme has been met with some criticism.

One A-level maths teacher wrote: "I'm not sure how I feel about this. Teaching can be hard, but we're not an emergency service, and our work isn't really in the same category as "blue light" jobs. If they're going to widen the eligibility criteria, it needs a name change, at the very least."

Another X user wrote: "This is precisely why fewer and fewer businesses accept the BLC. You really ought to rebrand to something like 'Key Worker Card'. The majority of jobs which meet your eligibility criteria are not 'blue light' roles -- the name 'BLC' is misleading now."

But Blue Light Card hit back, saying: "Teachers are not just educators; they are mentors, guides and inspirations that are helping shape the future for our children. They are fully deserving members of our blue light community."

What kind of offers can a Blue Light card get you?

Among the offers is 12% off at Fenty Beauty and 15% off at Bose.

Users can also get a £30 gift card if they spend more than £1,000 at British Airways or a £110 voucher if they sell their car via Carwow.

Or if getting fit is more your thing, you can get 50% off an annual subscription to the Body Coach.

The summer holidays are in full swing, with children facing an exciting six weeks off school in the sunshine (or the rain, it is the UK after all).

Many supermarkets and restaurants have deals available during the holidays to take some of the pressure off parents needing to feed their hungry youngsters.

Here are some of the supermarket offers out there:

ASDA

Children can eat for £1 at Asda cafes all day, every day - not just during the summer holidays.

There's no minimum adult spend or purchase required with this one.

Options include penne pasta, fish fingers and chicken nuggets.

Morrisons

Children and adults can grab a free bowl of cereal every day at Morrisons cafes.

No minimum spend is required but the offer is limited to one bowl of cereal per customer, per day. The offer is only on until 4 August, so you'll need to get in there quick!

As well as this, Morrisons is also offering children a free kids meal when they're with an adult spending at least £4.50 on a meal.

Tesco

Kids can eat for free at a Tesco cafe when an adult makes a purchase and scans their Clubcard.

The offer is available on weekdays until 30 August in England and Wales and until 16 August in Scotland.

There is no fixed minimum spend required.

Sainsbury's

Children can grab a hot main meal or lunch bag for free when accompanied by an adult buying a hot meal from £5.50 in its cafes during the summer holidays.

The offer is valid until 3 September.

According to the supermarket, its kids meals are suitable for youngsters aged five to 10.

IKEA

At Ikea, children can get a meal of pasta with tomato sauce, or mac and cheese, with a soft drink for 95p.

Other kids meals are priced at a reasonable £1.50.

This one's available every day from 11am, except for Fridays.

As well as supermarkets and stores, some restaurants are offering cheaper meals for children during the summer break.

Here are a few of the best offers we've found...

Bella Italia

Kids eat for free all day on Thursdays and for £1 between 4pm-6pm Sunday to Wednesday at Bella Italia restaurants.

The offer is available with the purchase of any adult main.

Beefeater and Brewers Fayre

Two children can get a free breakfast every day with one paying adult.

The Real Greek

Children can get a free meal on Sundays with an adult spending more than £10.

The offer is available to all children under 12, and is only valid for dine-in.

Pizza Hut

Kids can help themselves to a free kids buffet every day until 3pm when quoting the code SUMMERKEF.

They have to be with an adult spending at least £10 on other food to get the unlimited pizza, pasta and salad offer.

The buffet can be upgraded to include a bottomless soft drink and unlimited ice cream for an extra £2.

Yo! Sushi

Children are offered a free kids' bento box all day at Yo! Sushi restaurants when dining with a full-paying adult spending at least £10.

The offer is available until 30 August. A maximum of three children per booking can eat for free.

Las Iguanas

Children can get a free meal from the kids' menu with an adult ordering a main course.

The offer, for children up to 12 years old, excludes the lunch menu and is only available for customers with the My Iguanas app.

TGI Fridays

Children eat free with every adult main meal purchased.

The offer is available all day every day for members of its Stripes Rewards scheme.

The coffee shop chain has revealed it is giving bodyworn cameras to staff following a spike in shoplifting and attacks on retail workers.

It told The Telegraph it had launched a trial across six shops in London and had put up signs to let customers know.

The cameras are only being worn be team leaders and managers and will only be turned on in specific circ*mstances, a Pret spokesperson said.

The footage will only be accessible to Pret's security team.

Companies have reported increasing cases of shoplifting and aggressive behaviour towards staff in the years following the pandemic.

Record levels of shoplifting were reported in England and Wales last year, according to government figures.

Lidl recently spent £2m on body cameras for staff in all of its UK stores, while English Heritage - which manages historic sites across the country - has also deployed a similar tactic.

Vinted has made a U-turn on its delivery changes after it was met with a backlash from sellers.

The mobile app, where users can buy or sell new or secondhand items, had this month trialled removing sellers' ability to pick and choose the couriers they could send parcels through.

But the move caused confusion and anger among sellers, who argued that not being able to pick and choose shipping options would mean some people would have to cancel orders.

Some shipping options require sellers to be able to print shipping labels, while others may have drop-off points far away from the seller's location.

On X, one seller wrote: "This will ruin your platform if it doesn't get fixed quickly."

While another asked: "On what planet was that a good idea?"

In response, Vinted has now reverted back to its previous setting.

The company told the BBC that the change was made on Monday.

"We heard the feedback and can confirm the shipping options have returned to their previous settings. There are no further actions needed from the members," the company said.

The stock market slump at the start of this week, and fears of a US recession (as of yesterday, JP Morgan was putting the chances at 35%), prompted questions from readers on the important issue of what it all means for their holiday money ahead of US trips.

I am going to the USA in September for a holiday. Will the fear of a US recession mean that I will get more or less dollars for my British pound?

James

If the USA enters recession does that mean you will get a better exchange rate from GBP?

Sharon392

We asked business reporter Daniel Binns to take a look...

First, the current situation, and if you're heading to the US, unfortunately the pound has recently weakened against the dollar, so you will get less bucks for your bang, Binns writes.

The stock market turmoil has affected markets around the world, but it was the Bank of England's decision to cut interest rates last week that has had a big impact on the value of the pound.

Higher interest rates tend to attract foreign investors looking for a higher return on their money - and so lower rates are unappealing and can therefore decrease a currency's value.

At the start of the week, £1 could buy you $1.2811, but that slumped to as low as $1.2675 by Tuesday.

In the past few days the pound has recovered a little, and is back up to $1.2764 - but still down overall.

What will happen to the value of the pound if the US enters recession?

A recession in the world's largest economy will have a global impact – even fears about the possibility sent global markets from Tokyo to London into a mini-meltdown on Monday.

However, currency markets are influenced by a range of factors, including important domestic aspects such as interest rates.

It also depends on how a US recession affects the UK economy – it may not cause much damage here.

If America does experience a downturn, investors could flee the US dollar towards "safe" currencies such as the Swiss Franc or Euro. Whether they turn to the pound will depend on the amount of confidence they have in the UK economy.

The strength of the pound against the dollar is more likely to be affected by which out of the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England makes quicker and deeper interest rate cuts.

There's a lot of unknown factors at play, so it's hard to make any firm predictions – a US recession, which is by no means a given, may not happen until much later next year, when the economic climate may have changed a lot.

You may remember last week we reported Asda was embarking on a £30m "reset" after a decline in sales and market share - and now we have more details.

Michael Gleeson, the retailer's finance chief, said it was investing heavily into improving its store standards, product availability and staffing hours in order to address concerns over customers' shopping experience.

One particular area of focus is cleanliness of stores since the break with Walmart over the last few years.

"Fromtimeto time it'sright to standback and reassess," Mr Gleeson told The Grocer.

On the question of cleanliness dipping, he added: "It does partly reflect the level and scale of change the companyis goingthrough in terms of separation.

"We recognise it's the right thing to do to put those hours in."

Last month's industry data from Kantar found that Asda had 12.7% of the UK grocery market over the three months to 7 July, shrinking from a 13.6% share of the market a year earlier.

Major rivals including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons all gained customers, according to the research.

By Daniel Binns, business reporter

After a wobbly week on the global stock markets, the Footsie appears to be on the up this Friday.

The FTSE 100 has gained 0.3% in early trading, while the FTSE 250 has risen more than 0.5%.

Ladbrokes owner Entain Plc is still doing well after it upped its forecast for the year yesterday following a betting boom on the Euros and Premier League.

Following gains on Thursday, the company is up another 4% on Friday, making it one of the top gainers.

Leading investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown is another riser, with its shares climbing more than 2%.

It comes after the company initially agreed to a £5.44bn takeover from a consortium led by CVC Capital Partners, which includes the Abu Dhabi wealth fund.

At the other end of the scale is British multinational healthcare firm Haleon, which dipped by 0.8% in early trading, and Tesco, which slipped by 0.7%.

Investor jitters over Tesco come after Asda reported a 5.3% drop in second quarter like-for-like sales on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the recovery of oil is marching on this morning following falls last week.

A barrel of the benchmark Brent crude is currently priced at $79 (£62), up from $78 (£61) this time yesterday.

On the currency markets, £1 buys $1.28 US or €1.17 this morning, a slight rise from yesterday.

A fifth of house hunters spend less than 20 minutes looking at a home before deciding to make an offer, according to a new survey.

Zoopla also found viewers were more likely to focus on artwork and furniture than structural features - and more than one in 10 people tested out the owner's bed and sofa.

The average time for looking around a property before settling on buying it was about 49 minutes, Zoopla said, drawing on data calculated from people who have attended viewings in the past five years.

Nosy viewers

Some worrying stats for people offering their house out to viewings...

A quarter of people admitted to looking at pictures of the family that live there, while 24% checked out their technology.

Nearly two-fifths admired their furniture - and one in seven peeked into drawers and cabinets.

Meanwhile, 13% tested how comfortable the owner's bed and sofa are, according to the survey carried out by Mortar Research in June.

What are people looking at?

Zoopla also trialled eye-tracking technology to indicate where house hunters focus their attention during a viewing.

This experiment involved five people wearing eye-tracking glasses during viewings.

The property website said that people spent just 34 seconds viewing a bedroom, and just over a minute in the kitchen.

The property website also said the research indicated that people's attention was captured by items that would no longer be there if they moved in.

And when it comes to the really important stuff, the research showed people did not tend to look at radiators for more than half a second in any room.

The home's structure - including flooring and ceilings - generated 38% of the share of attention, with cosmetics and furnishings earning 54% and fixtures receiving 8%, according to the research.

What are the easiest ways to increase the value of your home, without splashing out on an extension or a new kitchen?

Property solicitors at Jones Whytereveal five tips on how to add value without hurting your wallet...

"The key is to think like a buyer and make improvements that you would look for when buying a house for yourself," they say.

1/ Outside

"First impressions matter, and improving the exterior of your home is one of the most cost-effective ways to boost its value," the experts said.

This could include mowing the grass, trimming hedges and removing weeds.

"A fresh coat of paint on the front door is also a cheap yet effective way of making your home look more appealing."

This can be done for as little as £50 if you do it yourself.

Outdoor lighting can also make a difference.

"Depending on the look you're going for, you can find exterior lights for as little as £15."

2/ Small, smart upgrades

In the kitchen, consider giving the cupboards a coat of paint, or even replacing their handles.

"Installing a new backsplash can also contribute to giving the kitchen a fresh new look."

In the bathroom, you can replace old lighting fixtures, re-caulk the tub, or add a new shower curtain and rug.

"A clean, updated bathroom is always a huge selling point for any property and these small upgrades can have a big impact."

3/ Energy efficiency

Energy-efficient homes are increasingly attractive to buyers due to potential long-term savings.

One study says 35% of prospective buyers are more likely to make an offer on a home with eco-minded installations.

You could replace iridescent light bulbs with LEDs, install a smart thermostat, and seal any gaps around windows or doors to improve insulation.

"If your budget is slightly higher, consider investing in extra insulation or a more efficient heating system."

4/ Storage solutions

"By making use of every corner of your home, you can create a modern and less cluttered feel that will appeal to buyers," the experts say.

Install shelves in small spaces, or take advantage of vertical space in smaller rooms by using taller bookshelves and storage units.

With a slightly higher budget, you can add built-in furniture and storage around the house, starting from a few hundred pounds.

5/ Home staging

"Home staging is an effective way of presenting a property to appeal to a wide audience of potential buyers, and there are many budget-friendly ways it can be done."

Try to create a spacious, open feel by moving furniture around.

"Adding subtle accessories such as artwork or greenery will add warmth and style to your home and by keeping it simple and cohesive, you can increase appeal without overwhelming the space."