Welcome to Money, Sky News’ consumer and financial news hub. Today: the UK areas where homes sell in 19 days; good news for holiday money as the pound soars; our latest New Money video; and we help a reader who was seemingly ghosted by a builder in this week’s Money Problem.
Tuesday 15 April 2025 12:46, UK
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The Easter break is in full swing and if you are looking for places to take your children for a cheap meal out, look no further.
Here are some of the places offering special meal discounts over the next week…
Asda
The supermarket’s cafes are now running their “Kids Eat for £1” deal all year round.
There is no need for adults to pay for a meal in order to enjoy the offer.
The kids’ menu has dishes such as penne pasta with meatballs and a vegan hidden veg pasta meal, alongside firm favourites fish fingers, chicken nuggets and the all day breakfast. There is also the option of swapping out chips for a salad or peas.
All the hot meals also come with a free piece of fruit.
Ikea
The furniture giant is offering children’s meals starting at 95p from 11am until 5pm.
Little ones can have pasta with tomato sauce, a piece of fruit and a soft drink for less than £1.
Some stores also gave a supervised play area where your children can stay for free for an hour.
Marco Pierre White
If you dine at Marco Pierre White websites this week, children aged 12 and under can eat for free when you buy a full price adult meal.
The offer excludes Saturdays after 6pm and not all restaurants are taking part – you can check the full list of participating outlets here.
Burger King
If you use the Burger King app, you can order an adult burger meal and get a King Jr meal for free until Sunday.
You’ll find the offer in the app and it needs to be redeemed at a self service kiosk or at a till.
Morrisons
Children can eat for free when an adult spends £4.50 or more on a meal.
Until 27 April, it is also partnering with Kellogg’s to offer kids and adults a free bowl of cereal at its 390 cafes.
You will be able to choose from a selection of Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies or Coco Pops.
You will also be able to pick up a free portion of fruit.
Rick Stein
This deal is very specific, but it’s worth knowing about.
Rick Stein Restaurants (apart from The Cornish Arms) is offering children’s meals for £1 if it rains during your visit.
One adult main needs to be ordered for each discounted children’s meal.
This offer is only available until Thursday.
Toby Carvery
Kids eat for £1 when an adult buys a main meal and uses the voucher in the Toby Carvery app.
The offer is available on weekdays only and is valid for up to four adults and four children per table.
Pizza Express
Children can get a free three-course meal when you purchase an adult main meal during the Easter holidays.
You can claim the free meal by speaking to your waiter before you get the bill.
You can claim the offer every day of the week until Thursday 24 April. The only restaurants not taking part are those at airports and Pizza Express Live or Pod locations.
Premier Inn
When an adult purchases a meal and a drink, children can eat for free.
You don’t have to be a guest at a Premier Inn hotel to enjoy the deal but not all locations are taking part – you can check the full list here.
Harvester
Harvester is offering children’s meals for £1 when an adult purchases a main meal.
You need a voucher for this one, which you can claim in the Harvester app.
The deal is available until Sunday 27 April.
The Range
While it isn’t a restaurant, The Range does operate a number of in store cafes, where children can eat for free when an adult buys a main meal.
Under-16s will be able to get a range of options including fish and chips, chicken goujons, and sandwiches, with all meals coming with a drink and a piece of fruit.
The offer is available in England and Scotland until Monday 21 April and in Wales and Northern Ireland until Sunday 27 April.
Frankie and Benny’s
Kids can eat for free when you purchase an adult main meal.
No voucher is needed to claim – you just need to tell staff when you order that you would like to redeem the offer.
It’s valid until closing Sunday 27 April.
Chiquito
The Mexican restaurant chain is offering the same deal as Frankie and Benny’s but with a slight change.
It can only be redeemed against a maximum of six guests per table, including children.
It’s available at all Chiquito locations excluding airports.
Las Iguanas
Children aged 12 and under can eat for free if you’re signed up to the My Iguanas app and purchase a full-price adult main meal.
You will need to show the voucher in the app to your server to claim the deal.
Children be able to get a main, two sides and a dessert which normally costs £7.25.
Prezzo
Children aged up to 12 can eat for free when you buy an adult main meal and show a unique discount code to staff.
To get the code, you need to register with Prezzo online. You’ll then be sent the nine digit voucher, which you can use until 27 April.
Bill’s
You can get up to two free children’s meals when purchasing an adult main meal during weekdays until 25 April.
The free kids meal is only available for those aged 10 and younger and includes a main, side and dessert.
There is no code needed to claim the deal, it will just be automatically applied to your bill.
Travelodge
If breakfast is more your thing, then Travelodge’s offer might be more suited to you.
Children aged under 15 can get a free breakfast when an adult buys an unlimited cooked breakfast at some locations.
At other locations, children will be able to eat for £1.
You can see the full list of participating sites here.
Brewers Fayre, Table Table and Beefeater offer a similar deal, but for children aged 16 and under.
Dunelm
Children can eat for free when an adult spends £4 in its in-store cafes.
The offer is available in all Dunelm cafes, every day of the week.
Dobbies
Children can eat for free when an adult main meal is purchased.
Kids can choose from the breakfast and lunch menu.
The deal is available at most stores apart from Andover, Lelant, Marple, Reading York and Anchorwood.
Bella Italia
Children can eat for free when an adult main is purchased from the a la carte menu – but only on Thursdays.
Kids can also eat for £1 on Sunday to Wednesday 4pm-6pm.
Not all Bella Italia restaurants are taking part in the deal, so it’s worth checking before you visit.
Hungry Horse
Children can eat for £1 when an adult purchases a main meal – but this is only available on Mondays.
There are several options for kids to choose from including chicken burgers, lasagne, build your own tacos and chicken strips.
Up to two children can eat with one adult paying full price.
Sizzling Pubs
You can get a kids’ meal for £1 when you purchase a main meal from Monday to Friday from 3pm.
The offer is valid at all Sizzling Pub restaurants.
By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter
Stabilisation doesn’t sound very exciting, but the big rises on UK stock markets and in the pound are.
Markets now appear to be leaving the Donald Trump tariff turmoil behind.
After a near 1% rise, the UK’s benchmark FTSE 100 – the index of most valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange – is not far off the levels before Trump unleashed his import levies onto the world and sparked a trade war.
It’s currently at a high last seen on 4 April, two days after Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day”.
The same goes for the FTSE 250 – made up of the 101st to 350th most valuable London-listed companies. It is up just under 1%, also at 4 April levels.
The pound is also on the rise and is up at a six-month high against the dollar – one pound gets you $1.324, a number last seen in early October.
In a boost for holidaymakers, sterling is climbing against the euro too and now buys €1.167 after tumbling for nearly two weeks.
Oil markets are still primed for a recession in the US as prices are low, $64.60 for a barrel of Brent crude oil.
They had been below $60 for periods of time before Trump’s 90-day pause for many of his tariffs.
Maddi was unemployed when she started posting videos on TikTok about food. She wasn’t a chef, and had no background in the industry – but the videos started to take off.
Fast forward a few years, she has more than 500,000 followers, her videos have been watched millions of times, and she was just named Food Creator of the Year at the TikTok Awards.
In the latest episode of New Money, Sky’s James Lillywhite went behind the scenes as Maddi filmed some content to find out how the industry works – and how Maddi makes money.
Giffgaff is preparing to enter the broadband market – and is offering 500 customers £100 to test out its product.
The mobile provider, which is owned by O2, has announced a trial of a £10-a-month service.
Selected customers will get full fibre broadband with speeds of 500mbps for a year – they will need to pay the £10 monthly fee and provide feedback to receive the free cash.
Those taking part in the trial will be paid £50 after installation and another £50 one month after, meaning they will only pay £20 for a year of broadband.
In a message to users, posted on the GiffGaff community page, the company said: “Broadband is a natural evolution for us as a connectivity brand.
“We know people are frustrated with their current broadband offering, so we’re committed to bringing together the latest tech with the feedback of our members to build something better.”
The product will run on the established Nexfibre’s infrastructure, which is only used by Virgin Media O2.
You can register your interest for the trial here.
If you are a regular Money reader, you might remember seeing our list of supermarkets offering cheap Easter veg deals…
Well, Morrisons has undercut its competitors by reducing some vegetable prices to just 8p.
The offer includes 1kg of carrots, 500g of parsnips and swedes but it is only available to More Card holders.
Unlike the other retailers, it has not included potatoes in the deal – it has cut the price of its The Best potatoes to £1.10.
The offer is available until Sunday.
Wages continue to grow far above the rate of inflation, official figures show.
The rise in both average weekly earnings and wages excluding bonuses was lower than expected – but well above the 2.8% inflation figure for February.
There was no change at all in the pace of average weekly earnings, which remained at 5.6%, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the three months to February.
Wages excluding bonuses grew at a rate of 5.9%, the ONS said.
Economists polled by the Reuters news agency had expected average weekly earnings to rise 5.7% and for wages excluding bonuses to top 6%.
Lower wage growth – which has the potential to ease inflation – could encourage the Bank of England to cut interest rates sooner.
Read more here…
Every Tuesday we get an expert to answer your financial problems or consumer disputes. WhatsApp us here or email moneyblog@sky.uk.
Today, we are tackling this issue sent to us by Sue…
I got a quote from a builder to do some work in my house. They quoted £2,000 and asked for £500 upfront to buy the materials. Six months later he has never come to do the job or return my money. What can I do?
Consumer rights expert Scott Dixon, AKA the Complaints Resolver, answers…
I’m sorry to hear this. Although most tradespeople are trustworthy and reliable, the minority give the rest a bad name.
Whenever you get a quote from a tradesperson, always ask for it in writing and insist on a full written contract (not just a quote) before work begins.
Always get any promises or verbal confirmations put in writing. Don’t feel guilty by insisting on it. It protects both parties and eliminates any confusion over what was discussed and promised.
This creates a paper trail of evidence if you need to escalate a complaint.
If they don’t confirm what was verbally agreed, write or text them afterwards so you have that written confirmation.
If the quote was made verbally, and you have no written contract, you could try and rely on any text messages or emails as part of your evidence if you need to escalate your complaint.
A trader will often ask for a deposit to buy materials and agree staged payments in a contract to provide you with peace of mind if any issues arise before making a final payment.
Many builders and tradespeople have multiple jobs ongoing and work around the weather. Sourcing materials can also be problematic, so ensure the contract covers this and any delays completing the work and disputes that may arise on quality of work. Seek a deadline for completion in writing.
I suggest you try and contact the builder first if you haven’t already done so and ask for an explanation with any promises confirmed in writing.
If they don’t respond, write to them asking for your deposit to be returned within seven days and cite “breach of contract” under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
How did you pay for it?
If you paid by debit card, you would normally have two options.
You could either raise a chargeback to temporarily reverse and dispute the transaction as a breach of contract under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 or you can say you were scammed.
You are out of time on raising a chargeback as you only have up to 120 days from the date of payment to dispute the transaction.
You could contact your bank to say you have been scammed. There are two types of payment scams – one where you have fraudulently paid money direct to a scammer and one where your account has been hacked.
The Contingent Reimbursement Model code is a voluntary code banks have signed up to where you have fraudulently paid money direct to a scammer.
It sets out a number of circumstances in which firms are required to reimburse customers who have been the victims of certain types of scam.
You need to push hard on this and say you were scammed, as claims often fail on the first attempt with staff not fully understanding how it works.
It can and should be resolved within days, but some banks are much better than others.
If your bank refuses to reimburse you for your losses, ask them for a deadlock letter. This is their final response, so you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service for review.
Banks don’t like complaints being referred to the Financial Ombudsman as it costs them money and they risk negative publicity.
Trade associations
Check to see if the builder is a member of a trade association such as the Federation of Master Builders.
The FMB conducts a vetting and independent inspection process for prospective members to ensure they meet the high standards expected of a Master Builder company.
If they are a member of a trade association or a trader recommendation site like Checkatrade, you can contact them and ask if they can help you resolve your dispute.
Small Claims Court
If all else fails and you cannot secure a refund of your deposit and agree for the work to be completed, you could take your case to the Small Claims Court if it was England, or follow Simple Procedure in Scotland.
Prepare a Small Claim form as a draft setting your case out demanding a refund within seven days and attach it to your letter with proof of payment.
Put them on notice that if they do not refund you within the next seven days, you will proceed with legal action. Retain a copy for your records and send it by recorded delivery as proof of receipt.
Before you file a claim, send screenshots of the court papers setting your case out and demanding a refund within seven days. Tell the company that if they fail to do so, you will lodge a claim in the Small Claims Court.
This may resolve the dispute. If it does not, you can proceed and file the Small Claim papers online.
This is a last resort though if you cannot resolve your dispute.
I would also report this trader to Trading Standards and leave reviews online.
Homes in England and Wales spend an average of 36 days on the market, but the time it takes to sell in each region varies significantly.
Properties in Waltham Forest, northeast London, are selling the fastest, appearing on the market for 19 days before having a sale agreed, according to Zoopla.
This is despite homes having a high average price tag of £525,000.
Zoopla said the London borough was accessible and had good schools, green areas and low burglary and crime rates, making it a popular location for families looking to stay within commuting distance of central London.
Areas in the North West and North East made up the list of the five fastest places to sell.
You can see the top 10 below…
When it comes to the four nations of the UK, homes in Scotland tend to move the fastest, taking an average of 21 days to sell.
This is 13 days faster than the UK average of 34 days.
“It currently takes just over a month to agree a home sale across England and Wales, but this varies widely across the country and by property type with smaller family homes the fastest selling homes,” Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said.
“Households that are thinking about listing their home and moving in 2025 need to set their asking price at the right level and take the advice of local agents.
“Buyers have a lot more choice of homes for sale than a year ago. Aiming too high on the asking price is likely to impact saleability and how long you may have to wait to agree a sale.”
If you are looking for something to do with the kids on a budget this Easter, this might be an activity worth considering.
Pets at Home is offering 45-minute free pet pal workshops for children aged four and over.
During the session, your little ones will be able to meet some of the store’s animals and take part in craft activities.
They will also learn fun animal facts and the importance of being a responsible pet owner.
At the end of the session, they will be given some activity sheets to take home and a My Pet Pals certificate.
It is available until Saturday 19 April and requires you to pre-book a space.
Pets at Home also makes it clear that you must stay to supervise your children throughout the session.
You can check where your closest class is here.
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