Welcome to the Money blog, Sky News’ consumer and personal finance hub. Today, we report on the owner of Mangal 2 saying modern diners are killing the hospitality industry. We also have news of what to do (if anything) to get the warm home discount. Leave your thoughts in the box.
Thursday 14 August 2025 14:20, UK
Congrats on getting your A-level results!
If you’re planning to celebrate – or commiserate – but don’t want to break the bank, several restaurants are offering discounts to students today.
We’ve rounded up all the places where you can use your results to eat for free…
Nando’s
Its results day deals are back for another year, with students offered a free quarter chicken or starter when they show their ID and results at the till.
You’ll need to spend a minimum of £7 to claim the deal.
Frankie and Benny’s
By purchasing a soft drink, you’ll be able to claim a free margherita pizza that usually costs £11.75.
You’ll need to show your results to a server and they might need to see your ID.
Not all restaurants are taking part in the deal, so it’s worth checking before you go.
Pizza Express
You can get a free portion of dough balls when you buy a main meal, and 25% off your bill.
You need to show a copy of your A-level results letter and a valid UNiDAYS offer code.
Banana Tree
You can get a free chicken or tofu pad Thai when ordered with a drink – including tap water.
You need a voucher to claim the deal, which you can get here by using your email address.
The offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer, set menu, voucher or discount.
You’ll need to show your results, and tell your server you want to use the voucher when you order.
Ask Italian
You can get a free dessert when showing your results and ordering a main.
You can get up to six desserts for free per adult main you pay for.
Unlike the other offers, this one lasts a week from 14 August until 22 August.
Bill’s
You can get a free dessert when you show your physical A-level results to a server, and you order a main course or a brunch.
You can only claim this deal in person.
TGI Fridays
Between Sunday and Thursday throughout August, you’ll get a main for free when you purchase one.
You need to show your results and say the password – GRADSEATFREE.
Zizzi
Students with their A-level results will be given an envelope with a mystery freebie inside.
It might be free mozzarella and garlic bombes, starters, desserts, drinks or a meal worth up to £150.
The deal is running today [Thursday] and tomorrow [Friday]. You cannot claim the prize in conjunction with another offer.
Côte Brasserie
You can get a free dessert when you order a main meal and show your results to a server.
You’ll also get a £10 voucher to use at your next visit.
If you’ve got an A-level in French, you’ll also be able to get free steak frites or a vegan burger.
Las Iguanas
You’ll be able to enjoy a free portion of churros without spending a penny.
You just need to show your A-level results, or a photo of them, to your server and let them know that you would like to claim the deal when you order.
Byron
Celebrate with a mate with Byron’s 2-for-1 deal.
Order a burger and show your results and you’ll get a second burger for free.
Bella Italia
Students with their results in hand will be able to enjoy a free starter and dessert when they order a main.
Your family can join in with the celebrations as well because the deal can be claimed for up to six people per table.
Showcase Cinemas
If a restaurant isn’t the vibe you’re looking for, maybe heading to the cinema is.
Showcase is giving students a free small ICEE frozen drink when they buy a ticket and show their results.
Lloyds Bank has launched a new app feature that allows customers to pay cash into their accounts using a barcode in shops.
Customers will be able to deposit up to £300 a day, with the money appearing in their accounts within minutes, at more than 30,000 stores using PayPoint.
The function will be rolled out on 26 August.
How does it work?
Customers will go to the “Everyday” section of their bank account to generate a barcode, which will be available to use for two hours.
A “deposit cash” page will appear, and you’ll enter the amount you would like to deposit.
Once the barcode appears, you’ll show it to the person behind the till, who will scan it and deposit your cash.
You can often find PayPoint available at multi-purpose counters, like in petrol stations, supermarkets, and where you can collect parcels from.
It means you will no longer have to visit a bank branch if you would like to make a deposit.
“We’re always looking for smart ways to make banking more flexible and give customers more choice,” Gabby Collins, payments director at Lloyds, said.
“Our latest app feature now allows customers to pay in cash at their local PayPoint in just a few minutes – ideal if they are popping in for milk or dropping off a parcel.”
The flow of new rental properties coming to market has fallen at its fastest rate since 2020, according to a report by the Royal Institution of Surveyors (RICS).
More than 30% of surveyors saw new instructions from landlords fall in July – the weakest reading on the RICS report since April 2020.
A total of 25% of professionals surveyed in the report said rental prices are expected to continue to rise over the next three months.
Alongside the “firmly negative trend” in landlords making their property available for rent, tenant demand held steady in the three months to July, the report added.
Too many diners are becoming “insufferable pricks”, the owner of a renowned London restaurant has said.
Ferhat Dirik, of the upscale Mangal 2 Restaurant in northeast London, wrote a newsletter venting his frustrations with diners, saying the hospitality industry had become the “nation’s punching bag”.
“What happened?! When did an unbearable percentage of the general dining public become such insufferable, entitled, unforgiving pricks? At which point did it become socially acceptable for the hospitality industry to become the sponge which soaks all of the nation’s vomit; its punching-bag?” the note said.
Last-minute cancellations, complaints, unrealistic allergy demands and “loudness” were just some of the gripes that made up his list of issues with customers.
‘It’ll be the death of hospitality’
Dirik said customers who booked a group sitting but failed to show up with all their guests without telling the restaurant beforehand were “rude” and “financially damaging” to the hospitality industry.
“If you make a commitment with your circle to dine somewhere, make sure it’s with people you trust to not be flaky. If something comes up and some can’t make it, let the restaurant know. It takes a single phone call/email. It’s rude, it’s inconsiderate, it’s financially damaging, and frankly, it’ll be the death of hospitality,” he added.
He complained that reviews were “unforgiving” and “dramatically extreme” with customers giving one-star feedback for dishes being salty, waiting 15 minutes to be seated and a drug addict storming into the restaurant.
‘Go elsewhere if it doesn’t work for you’
To people with allergies, Dirik said: “If you go to a restaurant and expect every human’s dietary need to be met, you will be gravely disappointed. The fact that this can lead to vocal dissatisfaction by the guest, and demands that certain dishes be made a certain way, is grossly unfair.
“Eliminating a simple element of a dish – sure. Changing a dish’s entire make-up to accommodate a person as if they have a private chef at the helm on their super-yacht, no. That shouldn’t happen. Do your research before booking and go elsewhere if it doesn’t work for you.”
‘Keep it down’
He went on to moan about people being “louder than ever before” and using restaurants as a “substitute for the need to release a lot of noise”.
“Restaurants should be intimate, curated spaces designed to bring people together to bond and love through the channel of food and conversation. Keep it down,” he said.
‘I know why people are rude – we’re angry at the government’
Despite the frustrations with diners, he said he knew why people have “lost a lot of common courtesy” – it’s because “we’re all really angry at the government”.
“We’re all poorer than ever before. We’re all more frustrated with life than ever before. Living standards have dropped. Our voices are constantly ignored,” he continued.
“We expect the world, we feel we deserve the world, and we will be furious if things do not turn out perfectly. I get it, I’m just as pissed off (did you read this newsletter; could you tell?). But your intolerance, your annoyances are misdirected.”
Let us know what you think – use the comments box at the top of the page.
By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter
For the first time in two weeks, a pound will buy you €1.16.
It’s hardly good news for sterling-using travellers to euro states, but it’s certainly better than €1.14 rate you could have got last week.
The reason it’s hardly good news is down to the sharp falls in the pound’s value against the euro in the last six months.
Back in February, a pound went significantly farther, buying €1.21.
Against the dollar, sterling also rose and is hovering just below $1.36, a level not seen since last month.
It’s thanks to latest data on the health of the UK economy, which showed slowed but also better than expected growth from April to June this year.
But the economic growth figures didn’t stop a slight drop in the UK’s benchmark stock index. The FTSE 100 index of most valuable companies dropped 0.16% after reaching another all-time high yesterday afternoon.
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Millions of people have been urged to check their energy bills to make sure they get a £150 discount automatically this winter.
Every household where a billpayer claims any means-tested benefit is eligible for the warm home discount.
This covers people in England and Wales receiving:
But if the person claiming the benefit isn’t named on their electricity bill before 24 August, they risk not getting the discount automatically.
What you need to do
As long as your name is on your bill, and you are eligible for the help, you’ll get a one-off £150 discount automatically this winter.
For many people, there won’t be anything to change, but if you have recently moved or changed supplier, your name might not be on your energy bill yet.
Last winter, 96% of eligible households received their discount automatically through this route, making it the easiest and quickest way.
What happens if you miss the deadline?
If you haven’t managed to add your name to your energy bill before Sunday and you are eligible for the help, you will still be able to claim it.
But, instead of the discount being automatically applied, you’ll need to wait to receive a letter later this year.
If you haven’t received the letter before January 2026, then you will need to contact the government.
Pre-pay or pay-as-you-go
If you use a pre-pay or pay-as-you-go electricity meter, you can still get the discount.
Your electricity supplier can tell you how you’ll receive it if you’re eligible. You might get a voucher you can use to top up your meter.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has just been reacting to today’s GDP data…
She said that the figures are “positive” but there is “more to do to deliver an economy that works for working people”.
“I know that the British economy has the key ingredients for success but has felt stuck for too long,” she added.
“That is why we’re investing to rebuild our national infrastructure, cutting back on red tape to get Britain building again and boosting the national minimum wage to make work pay.
“There’s more to do and today’s figures only fuel my ambition to deliver on our plan for change.”
Growth in the second quarter of the year was driven by services, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Services grew by 0.4% in the three months to June, boosted by computer programming, health and vehicles leasing growing.
Construction also increased, while production fell back slightly
ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: “The economy was weak across April and May, with some activity having been brought forward to February and March ahead of stamp duty and tariff changes, but then recovered strongly in June.
“Services also drove growth in June with scientific R&D, engineering and car sales all having a strong month. Within production, which recovered, manufacture of electronics performed especially well.”
The latest GDP figures are “better news than anticipated”, our business and economics correspondent Paul Kelso says.
In the three months to June, the economy grew by 0.3%, while economists had widely expected a rise of 0.1%.
Looking at the figure just for June, the economy grew by 0.4%, up from -0.1% in May, and still more than analysts had expected.
Monthly figures tend to be more volatile, so quarterly figures are viewed as giving a clearer picture of the state of the economy.
He says Chancellor Rachel Reeves will welcome the more positive figures, but her opponents will be sure to point out that this is still a slowdown from the first quarter of the year.
“What happened at the beginning of the second quarter? The new employment she introduced in the budget came in and businesses have consistently said they have constrained growth,” Kelso adds.
“So while this is better than expected, it’s still tough question for the chancellor to answer.”
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