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The Sun
26 minutes ago
- The Sun
Supermarket chain selling 10ft outdoor trampoline for just £30 instead of £149 – it's perfect for kids this summer
A MAJOR supermarket chain is selling a huge 10ft trampoline for £119 less than its retail price. Asda has slashed the price of the Sportspower 10FT Quad Lok Trampoline. 2 A shopper shared their incredible find on the Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK Facebook Group. They said they picked up the trampoline for just £30 as part of their local store's clearance sale. One surprised shopper responded, saying: "No way! I paid £100 yesterday for the same trampoline." Another simply commented: "What a price." The Sportspower 10FT Quad Lok Trampoline features a galvanised premium steel frame that is rust-resistant, strong, and built to last. Its rust-resistant steel frame and special Quad Lok design keep the frame, legs, and safety enclosure securely connected for stability. For extra safety, it has an internal net to stop access to the springs and frame, plus padded poles and edges. The strong springs and durable jump mat ensure a smooth and consistent bounce. With a size of 305cm wide and 250cm tall, it offers plenty of space for fun. It's suitable for kids aged six and up, with a weight limit of 100kg. The trampoline was previously available online from Asda through the George website, originally priced at £149 before being reduced to £129. However, it is now sold out online and can only be found on clearance in selected stores. To find your nearest Asda store, you can visit Keep in mind that since this item is no longer available online, stock is limited, and there's no way to check if your local store has it in stock. How to compare prices to get the best deal JUST because something is on offer, or is part of a sale, it doesn't mean it's always a good deal. There are plenty of comparison websites out there that'll check prices for you - so don't be left paying more than you have to. Most of them work by comparing the prices across hundreds of retailers. Here are some that we recommend: Google Shopping is a tool that lets users search for and compare prices for products across the web. Simply type in keywords, or a product number, to bring up search results. Price Spy logs the history of how much something costs from over 3,000 different retailers, including Argos, Amazon, eBay and the supermarkets. Once you select an individual product you can quickly compare which stores have the best price and which have it in stock. Idealo is another website that lets you compare prices between retailers. All shoppers need to do is search for the item they need and the website will rank them from the cheapest to the most expensive one. CamelCamelCamel only works on goods being sold on Amazon. To use it, type in the URL of the product you want to check the price of. When it comes to 10ft trampolines, this is one of the cheapest we've come across. The same trampoline is still available online and in-store at Argos for £135. However, Asda also offers a more affordable 10ft option - the Plum 10ft Wave Trampoline & Accessories - for £129. Meanwhile, has a Sportspower version priced at just £99.99. How to bag a bargain SUN Savers Editor Lana Clements explains how to find a cut-price item and bag a bargain… Sign up to loyalty schemes of the brands that you regularly shop with. Big names regularly offer discounts or special lower prices for members, among other perks. Sales are when you can pick up a real steal. Retailers usually have periodic promotions that tie into payday at the end of the month or Bank Holiday weekends, so keep a lookout and shop when these deals are on. Sign up to mailing lists and you'll also be first to know of special offers. It can be worth following retailers on social media too. When buying online, always do a search for money off codes or vouchers that you can use and are just two sites that round up promotions by retailer. Scanner apps are useful to have on your phone. app has a scanner that you can use to compare prices on branded items when out shopping. Bargain hunters can also use B&M's scanner in the app to find discounts in-store before staff have marked them out. And always check if you can get cashback before paying which in effect means you'll get some of your money back or a discount on the item.
Telegraph
26 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘Clients feel safer with women in the house': Why male tradespeople are being shown the door
When Bliss Cunneen dropped out of university to become a plumber in 2020, her parents were beside themselves with worry. Cunneen, 27, had taken social anthropology at Essex University with dreams of working in human rights. But after two years, she was falling behind and decided to leave. 'I loved the course, and I loved learning about it, but I wasn't employable,' she reflects from her sofa in Clapham. ' I was due to leave with so much debt, and the thought of that was really uncomfortable.' With delicately applied make-up and freshly blow-dried hair, Cunneen looks far from your stereotypical plumber. 'I didn't want to work in a shop,' she says. ' I wanted to have a proper career so I just took up plumbing.' And so the well-spoken, former student started fixing leaks, fitting taps, mending loos and recalibrating central heating. Her parents hoped the plumbing would be a passing phase, something she would give up in a year. But then, business boomed as requests for female plumbers began to rocket. Cunneen is one of many UK tradeswomen who say that demand far outweighs supply when it comes to work. While only two per cent of 900,000 tradespeople currently operating in Britain today are female – that's around 18,000 – a growing number of customers say they would prefer a woman over a man. Trade is so good that Cunneen doesn't need to advertise and, as a result, she earns nearly £45,000 a year – more than many of her counterparts who graduated from university. 'I could work every evening and every weekend if I wanted,' she says. '[But] I can't say yes to every job, so sometimes I sub it out to someone else.' Demand for tradeswomen is now so high that there is an online directory exclusively for customers who want a woman rather than a man. TaskHer was started by Anna Moynihan, 43, a former marketing consultant, in 2022 after Moynihan renovated her house in south London. She found hiring reputable tradesmen challenging, and when they arrived at her house they 'would always start speaking to my husband', she says, despite the fact that she was their main point of contact. 'I was just like, hang on a second… I wonder if maybe a woman would give me a bit of a different experience.' In just two years, TaskHer has seen a 208 per cent rise in enquiries: from 7,985 in 2022 to 24,592 last year. Despite decreasing its marketing spend by 56 per cent, the site saw a 52 per cent rise in enquiries in the first half of this year compared with 2024. Moynihan explains that her clients, 83 per cent of whom are female, choose to hire women because they feel safer in the house than they would with a man. Other customers are often in the LGBT community and feel 'quite intimidated or uncomfortable bringing tradesmen into their homes', she says. Tradesmen, she adds, are 'raised through the ranks in this laddy culture where you get away with murder'. And then there are some clients who have strict religious beliefs that would prevent them hiring a man. Others simply feel that women are easier to work with when it comes to seeing a job through. 'Maybe as women we are better communicators,' Moynihan speculates. 'I think some people just fix it and say that's all done, I'm off now,' reflects Cunneen. 'But I tend to explain what I'm doing, what I'm going to do, how I fixed it.' She adds that some women have 'been through abusive relationships, and they feel uncomfortable having a man in their house … women protect each other and we stick together.' Michelle Bernard, a 38-year-old private landlord with a portfolio of smart properties across London, says she actively chooses women when looking for maintenance work at her tenants' houses. 'For mums at home waiting for the repair team, it felt more suitable to send a lady operative as opposed to a man,' she explains. 'A woman wants to feel safe.' Cunneen has now become Bernard's go-to plumber, with many of her tenants specifically asking for her 'over a man'. 'She doesn't scare them,' explains Bernard, 'they feel safe and assured that the problem is going to be resolved.' Bernard is now looking for 'a whole female operative team' including a female decorator, a carpenter and an electrician. She says she can often tell the difference between a wall painted by a woman and a man. 'It's just their finishing,' she explains. 'Women's attention to detail is impeccable; completely different… You'll look at a wall, and you can't see the brush marks.' Faith Jones became a painter and decorator three years ago after working in the fashion industry most of her life. The 45-year-old is currently painting the inside of a newly refurbished family home in south-west London, which dates from 1890. Jones explains that often she will notice things that men in the industry might not. 'A major thing for me is plug sockets; quite often they're covered in paint. I scrape them all back and make them look as neat and as tidy as possible.' Many of her clients also comment on how easy Jones is to have at home because she is so contained as a painter. 'When I'm in a room, I need to use dust sheets. That is obviously a bit disruptive, especially in the kitchen, but I tend to keep everything as small and confined as I possibly can, rather than spreading everything out. And I've definitely worked on sites where there've been other tradies that dominate the space.' Millie Mercedes, a 45-year-old electrician, decided to specialise 10 years ago having worked as a software engineer until the age of 35. Demand is so high for her expertise that she now has to be careful with the work she accepts. 'If I wanted, I could work every conceivable hour: that's how much work there is,' she says. 'But I need to pace myself, otherwise I will burn out.' She speculates that her popularity might be because people feel less intimidated by her. 'There's a quality a female gives where you don't feel like she's going to bully you like these big burly guys; they speak with these heavy tones,' she says. 'I think females appear to be more compassionate and caring when they come to your house.' Being a female tradesperson comes with its challenges too. Jones remembers when a man 'looked like he'd seen a ghost' at the sight of her painting on a job. 'He walked past the room really, really slowly… and checked my work a bit later on, to see if I was doing a good job,' she laughs. Cunneen recalls a man who assumed she was 'starting in the office' as a secretary on her first day at work because she was wearing jeans and a button-up blouse and had yet to put on her overalls. Not that life is much easier when she's wearing her plumbing garb; 'When I'm in my work clothes, everyone just stares,' she admits, 'and you get the odd pervy comment.' But Cunneen is confident she is in the right career. In many ways, she is the ultimate success story: the university dropout turned plumber. She is now planning to start her own business, having worked for a national energy supplier for the past two years, and hopes to be earning six figures by the age of 40. 'It's the way forward. I think more school leavers should be encouraged to go into plumbing – especially women,' she says. 'There's nothing stopping you if you've got the attitude and confidence.' '[My family] didn't think I'd follow it through, but I did. And it's been the best thing I've ever done.'
North Wales Live
an hour ago
- North Wales Live
M&S shoppers can get 'delicious' £20 afternoon tea box for £5 in limited deal
From Monday the UK will be celebrating Afternoon Tea Week (August 11-17), an event that honours a truly British tradition as well as possibly one of our biggest debates - cream or jam first? Just in time for the occasion, M&S customers can now purchase an Afternoon Tea Letterbox Gift for £5 thanks to a deal stack. The box of treats will be delivered directly to shoppers' doorsteps and includes a variety of cakes, biscuits, and teabags. The sweet goodies on offer include all-butter shortbread fingers, carrot and walnut cakes, Victoria sandwich cake, and Millionaire shortbread bars, reports the Express. While the box usually costs £20 including UK-wide delivery, savvy shoppers have spotted a way to get it even cheaper, thanks to a money-saving website. TopCashback offers a free £15 bonus to all new members when they sign up and then a percentage back on all qualifying purchases from thousands of retailers, including M&S. This means new Top Cashback members shopping at Marks and Spencer for the first time will effectively get the Afternoon Tea Letterbox Gift for £4.67 after cashback. Meanwhile, new Top Cashback members who are existing M&S customers can get the Afternoon Tea Letterbox Gift for £4.83 after cashback. M&S is not the only retailer celebrating by offering shoppers a way to get the essentials at home to mark the occasion. Artisan baker Cutter and Squidge's afternoon tea home delivery range starts from £29.99 and includes a picnic-friendly tea perfect for taking out on a sunny day. Meanwhile, if you're more a fan of biscuits than cakes, luxury hamper brand Cartwright and Butler has unveiled a £20 afternoon tea selection packed with biscuits and in an eye- catching tin. Elsewhere, home bakers looking for new inspiration - or an unusual gift - can snag Wonderbly's newly launched illustrated personalised baking book which is packed with recipes for delicious treats. But if you'd rather get out and about and let other people do the prep, Wowcher has up to 68% off thousands of afternoon teas up and down the country. If all of that feels like a lot of hard work though, M&S' Afternoon Tea Letterbox Gift can be delivered straight to the door and has garnered high praise from customers, with a satisfaction score of 4.8 based on more than 5,000 reviews. One satisfied customer hailed it as the 'perfect gift'. They added: "All the cakes and biscuits were fresh and tasty. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The box arrived on time-although the box was slightly squashed, nothing was damaged." Another buyer praised the gift but noted a concern regarding the shelf life of the cakes: "Bought for a gift, looked lovely, nicely packaged. The only drawback is the dates on the cake. When it arrived, the dates were that we only had a week to use it." A different customer said: "Bought as a present for my sister, she was very pleased with the contents, which arrived in good condition and had a good selection of cakes with plenty of time on the use-by dates. Very happy with this purchase." Yet another customer shared their positive experience: "I ordered the afternoon tea letterbox to be sent to my daughter on a specified date. The box arrived on the date, and I was kept informed regarding the delivery time. "It was well received, and the contents were delicious. The recipient was delighted." The Afternoon Tea Letterbox Gift Contents: Victoria Sandwich Cake (75g) x 2 Millionaires Shortbread Bar (50g) x 2 Carrot Cake with Walnuts (75g) x 2 All Butter Shortbread Fingers (84g) All Butter Milk Viennese Chocolate Dipped Fingers (135g) Luxury Gold Tea Bags (16 Bags) Victoria Sandwich All Butter Milk Viennese Chocolate Dipped Fingers Millionaires Shortbread Carrot Cake Walnuts All Butter Shortbread Fingers How to get an M&S afternoon tea for £5 with TopCashback:
