Plans for banking hub to open in Crowthorne church building
The banking hubs have become essential for areas where bank branches have closed down.More than 150 have now been opened across the UK.In a cover letter, agents Ridge and Partners LLP called the Baptist church "an important place of worship and a community facility"."For this application, Cash Access is seeking to convert a small portion of the building, currently an underused office, into a temporary cash hub located to the east of the building, away from the church itself and the community hall."This is to ensure that there is a local bank operating within the high street for all community residents, whilst Cash Access look for a more permanent building."
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The Independent
a few seconds ago
- The Independent
The Zara Black Friday deals I'm looking forward to – plus savings to shop now
Whether you're after a wedding guest dress, a pair of ballet flats that rival designer labels or a knitted jumper to complete your transitional wardrobe, Zara is arguably the best destination on the high street for affordable fashion – and its Black Friday 2025 sale is not one to be missed. As a fashion writer who leans into trends but wants to maintain a timeless feel, Zara is my go-to for capsule wardrobe staples and statement occasion-wear. I'm not alone – this summer alone has seen a white polka dot scarf top, butter yellow A-line dress and satin lace slip dress dominate Instagram feeds before selling out. As such, the Black Friday sale is a big – if not the biggest – event in my shopping calendar. The label hosts a bunch of sales throughout the year, including in its 'special prices' section – but its Black Friday bonanza is the most anticipated. There's set to be sitewide discounts on everything from party dresses and winter boots to coats and jeans. Usually, the sale is available early on the app – and owing to how fast pieces sell out, I suggest downloading it to get ahead of the game. Your chance to revamp your wardrobe at a fraction of the cost, Zara's Black Friday 2025 sale needs to be on your radar. From dates to early deals, here's everything you need to know. When is Black Friday 2025? Black Friday officially kicks off on Friday 28 November 2025, and runs through to Cyber Monday on 1 December. While other brands start dropping their deals as early as the beginning of November, Zara typically waits until Black Friday itself to kick off its event. I'll be updating this page regularly in the lead-up to the big event, so you can stay on top of the best Black Friday Zara deals as soon as they go live. What Zara deals can you expect on Black Friday? If previous years are anything to go by, I'm expecting hundreds of deals to drop on the Zara app and website during Black Friday. The high street store uses the sale to get rid of all its leftover stock from the previous season to make room for new pieces. As such, you can save on party season dresses, heels, winter coats, boots and jumpers, as well as men's and women's jeans, accessories, bags and everyday staples like T-shirts, vests and bodysuits. Landing in time to refresh your winter wardrobe for the season ahead, there's also surplus summer stock in the sale if you're looking ahead to the warmer months. What is Black Friday? Black Friday is an annual shopping event. It originated in the US to mark the start of the Christmas shopping season. It has since become one of the biggest shopping events in the calendar, not just in the United States but also in the UK and other parts of the world. Traditionally taking place on the fourth Friday of November – the day after Thanksgiving in the US – it's now evolved into a four-day bonanza, and, in some cases, it spans the entire month of November, with deals on tech, beauty, home appliances, fashion, toys and much more. It's widely seen as the best time to bag a bargain before Christmas, with deals usually running through the weekend and wrapping up on Cyber Monday. Alongside major discounts on popular products like the Apple AirPods Pro 2 and Meta Quest 3, it's also one of the best times to save big on mattresses, appliances like air fryers and beauty buys from the likes of Boots, Lookfantastic, Space NK and Charlotte Tilbury. Daisy Lester is a senior shopping writer at The Independent. She specialises in reviewing fashion, so she knows what makes a well-crafted, comfortable and on-trend garment, as well as the brands to turn to for affordable takes on trends. Zara is one of her go-to high street shops for everything from dresses and ballet flats to bags and knitwear. For this Black Friday guide, she made sure to handpick pieces that felt contemporary yet classic, so you'll get your wear year after year. The best early Black Friday Zara deals A staple top that you'll reach for again and again, Zara's bandeau style is characterised by its fitted bust and slightly flared silhouette. The linen-effect material and neutral finish lend it to everyday wear, but it can easily be dressed up for evening occasions – just add statement gold jewellery and a satin maxi skirt. A steal at just £5. Tartan has been quietly popular this year, and it's set to dominate as we enter autumn. This midi skirt is an effortless way to embrace the trend, boasting a mid-rise waist with button detailing, a contrast lining and tie fastening at the front for extra detail. Puffball skirts are the eighties trend that's taken over in the last year. This Zara take features flattering draped waistband detailing and an equally fashionable butter yellow finish. Boasting a short hemline and mid-rise waist, the skirt has been reduced to less than £10.
Daily Mail
2 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Your next parcel could be delivered by a robot DOG: Major UK courier service starts using four-legged bots for deliveries
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Reuters
29 minutes ago
- Reuters
Morning Bid: Tech angst on AI doubts
LONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - What matters in U.S. and global markets today By Mike Dolan, opens new tab, Editor-At-Large, Finance and Markets In markets, the trigger for sudden confidence swoons is often elusive, particularly when looking at periodic rotations out of high-flying U.S. tech stocks. And most signs suggest this week's tech retreat may be more about re-positioning than investors receiving some lightning bolt of tech shakeout led to a 1.5% plunge in the Nasdaq index even as the blue chip Dow Jones Industrials Average hit a record intraday high. But the tech slump dragged the S&P 500 down 0.6%, and U.S. equity futures showed little sign of a bounce early on Wednesday. * Reasons for the sudden tech angst tended to be gathered after the event, with some pointing to comments late last week from OpenAI boss Sam Altman on inevitable bubbles in the sector and others pointing to different research papers fretting variously about both the limited returns on blistering AI spending to date and also its growing jobs destruction. The jitters also come ahead of next week's earnings report from chip behemoth Nvidia, some concern about the wider implications of the U.S. government's proposed stake in ailing chip giant Intel and caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's annual Jackson Hole conference this week. * Even though Fed concerns were cited across markets on Tuesday, there was little shift in Fed futures pricing during the day - and they still show just over an 80% chance of a rate cut next month. With Fed meeting minutes due later today and 20-year bonds under the hammer too, Treasury yields were flat and the dollar firmer. An unexpected pick-up in housing starts in July was reported on Tuesday but this was offset by a drop in building permits to five-year lows. * Tech-heavy stock indexes overseas were hit by Wall Street's wobble, with Japan's Nikkei losing 1.5% and South Korea's Kospi down 0.7%. Lifted on Tuesday by Ukraine deal hopes, European stocks were flatter today, with euro inflation coming in bang on forecast and a hotter-than-expected UK inflation reading downplayed due to seasonal airfare skews. Chinese stocks outperformed, with the Shanghai main index rallying to 10-year highs, as investors rotated stock holdings and hoped for more government stimulus. Be sure to check out today's column, which looks at a particular dilemma facing the Fed: should it ease to offset weakness in the housing market if that means spurring the blistering AI infrastructure boom? Today's Market Minute * U.S. and European military planners have begun exploring post-conflict security guarantees for Ukraine, U.S. officials and sources told Reuters on Tuesday, following President Donald Trump's pledge to help protect the country under any deal to end Russia's war. * Alongside a massive build-up in conventional military firepower, China has embarked on a rapid and sustained increase in the size and capability of its nuclear forces, according to the U.S. military and arms control experts. * British inflation hit its highest in 18 months in July when it increased to 3.8% from 3.6% in June, official data showed on Wednesday, once again leaving the country with the biggest price growth problem amongst the world's big rich economies. * A glaring mismatch between benchmark oil prices and expectations of a looming supply overhang has created an imbalance that could end badly for traders, writes ROI energy columnist Ron Bousso. * Trump has faced little opposition in his drive to rip up the global economic rule book. The only exception has been "the market". But now even investors are holding their fire, claims ROI markets columnist Jamie McGeever, enabling more risk to build up in the financial system. Chart of the day Americans are deeply concerned over the prospect that advances in artificial intelligence could put swaths of the country out of work permanently, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. The six-day poll, which concluded on Monday, showed 71% of respondents said they were concerned that AI will be "putting too many people out of work permanently." Today's events to watch * Federal Reserve meeting minutes released (2:00 PM EDT); Board Governor Christopher Waller and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speak * U.S. corporate earnings: Target, Nordson, TJX, Lowe's, Estee Lauder, Progressive, Analog Devices * U.S. Treasury sells $16 billion of 20-year bonds Want to receive the Morning Bid in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for the newsletter here. You can find ROI on the Reuters website, opens new tab, and you can follow us on LinkedIn, opens new tab and X., opens new tab Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
