Wednesday newspaper round-up: Household finances, Sky News, Hobbs
MPs have launched a formal inquiry into household finances, as personal debt hits levels unseen since the financial crisis. The Treasury select committee will examine the debt levels of UK households as well as whether consumers are saving adequately as Britain leaves the European Union. Problem debt and the treatment of low income families by banks will also form part of the inquiry. - Guardian
Working families on low incomes will be among the biggest losers when the next recession hits, after their finances were weakened by welfare spending cuts in the wake of the 2008 financial crash. The Institute for Fiscal Studies, a leading tax and spending watchdog, said plans for a reduction in tax credits – which boost the incomes of low paid workers – will take a particularly large toll on households where one or more adults face cuts in hours or lower wages. – Guardian
Sky has warned it could close down Sky News if it proves a sticking point with regulators in its £11.7bn takeover by Murdoch-owned 21st Century Fox. The threat to review the future of the news channel if a deal is blocked was made in a submission by Sky to the UK Competition and Markets Authority. The body is undertaking a six-month investigation into whether Fox's purchase of the remaining 61pc of Sky it does not already own would limit media plurality and affect broadcasting standards. – Telegraph
Twitter is giving all of its users the ability to post 280-character tweets, double the length of the 140-character limit that has defined the social network since its inception. The company provoked a fierce backlash from its famously vocal user base when it started to test the change in September. – Telegraph
The hotel company behind the Principal and De Vere brands has appointed advisers to look at a sale valuing the business at more than £1.2 billion. Starwood Capital Group, the American investment firm, is understood to have taken on UBS to advise it on strategic options for the Principal Hotel Company ranging from a refinancing to an outright disposal. – The Times
The fashion among South African buyers for snapping up British retailers has reached Hobbs, the upmarket women’s clothing chain favoured by the Duchess of Cambridge. The Foschini Group, already the owner of Hobbs’ high street peers Phase Eight and Whistles, has bought the business from 3i, the listed private equity firm; 3i had bought Hobbs for £111 million in 2004 and was understood to have been marketing it for £80 million this year. – The Times