Junk mail crackdown hits Royal Mail revenue, Poundworld shuts another 40 stores, and more top news

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The number of letters delivered by Royal Mail has fallen at a record rate, after new data privacy laws deter businesses from sending junk mail. Royal Mail reported volumes of addressed letters fell 6% in the three months to 24th June, with revenues down 7%. It blamed the introduction of sweeping EU data privacy rules, known as GDPR, which had left some companies uncertain about sending marketing letters by post. Introduced in May, GDPR is designed to give the public more control over how their personal data is used.

Poundworld is set to close a further 40 stores, bringing the total number of redundancies by the embattled retailer to 1,800. Outlets to close on 24th July include stores in Doncaster, Swindon and Newcastle. The latest announcement brings the total number of store closures to 145. The discount retailer went into administration last month, putting more than 5,000 jobs at risk. Administrators for the beleaguered retailer are still looking for a buyer of all, or parts, of the Poundworld business.

The price of petrol rose 2.7 pence per litre between May and June 2018, making prices at the pump their highest since September 2014. The increase, which is a result of steadily rising oil prices, caused consumer inflation to remain level at 2.4% in June, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed. "Consumers have been feeling the benefit of the summer clothing sales, and computer game prices have also fallen," said Mike Hardie, head of inflation at the ONS, said.

Black male graduates in the UK earned ￡7,000 a year less from 2007 to 2017 than white males. That's according to a report by the Resolution Foundation, which highlighted that this discrepancy in pay exists despite the proportion of black men with bachelor’s degrees increasing 24 percentage points over the past two decades, compared to a 15 point increase for white men. The think tank also revealed the average pay gap between white and Pakistani and Bangladeshi non-graduate men is more than ￡4 an hour.

UK holidaymakers are being charged ￡1bn a year for using their debit and credit cards abroad. The BBC reports that Britons are falling victim to bank charges by using their credit or debit card while overseas. Customers are being charged around 3% on all credit and debit card spending, with additional costs applied to cash machine withdrawals. According to foreign exchange specialists FairFX, UK holidaymakers are spending more than ￡32bn on their cards overseas every year.

Idea of the Day: Rent the Runway CEO and co-founder Jennifer Hyman believes that policy makers and business leaders should recognise the “hidden costs” of depriving employees of paid leave.

“To deny [workers] time to celebrate the birth of a newborn, to grieve the death of a loved one or to care for a sick family member is to rob them of their humanity.”

This article has been updated. From earlier: The UK will be under strong pressure to replicate a trade deal between Japan and the EU in order to protect British jobs, according to analysts. Also: Video streaming services like Netflix have more subscribers than traditional television providers in Britain for the first time. Also: United Utilities – the company ordering England’s first hosepipe ban since 2012 – loses the equivalent of 175 swimming pools of water a day to leaks.

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— Natalie MacDonald