Money blog: 'I've created something the world's biggest drinks companies are fighting over' (2025)

Aldi has introduced free period products in customer and colleague toilets as part of a charity campaign in a UK supermarket first.

All in-store toilets will be fitted with fixtures providing free period products by the end of May.

Aldi released research showing 41% say they are unable to afford period products, with 30% forced to decide between them or other essential items like food or clothing.

Aldi has also partnered with leading menstrual equity charity Bloody Good Period to donate more than one million products to support the charity's fight against period poverty.

"We never want our customers to have to choose between buying the period products they need and feeding themselves or their families," Julie Ashfield, chief commercial officer at Aldi UK, said.

"For millions of people across the country, having access to period products is a basic and essential need, and we believe the provision of these in public toilets is as vital as toilet paper and soap."

Has Topshop given the biggest hint yet that it could be returning to the high street after five years?

Speculation has been growing after its owner ASOS said in November that Topshop.com would be relaunched in the next six months, "giving the brand an opportunity to further expand its customer base".

But Jose Antonio Ramos Calamonte, head of ASOS, also said the option to grow the "physical presence" of Topshop would not be ignored.

Now, a video posted on the Topshop and Topman Instagram accounts contains the message "we missed you too", with captions spaced out across three posts adding "we've been listening".

Take a look at the video below...

Its parent company Arcadia Group went into administration in 2020, largely due to the COVID pandemic's impact on sales.

The brand's clothing is sold exclusively through ASOS after it acquired Topshop in February 2021.

There were more than 500 Topshop and Topman stores around the world at its peak, while 300 of them were located in the UK.

A Gordon Ramsay Michelin-starred restaurant in London has launched a new four-course weekday set menu for lunch at £45 per person.

The set menu at Petrus in Belgravia is available between 12pm and 2.15pm from Tuesday to Friday and has been crafted by executive head chef Orson Vergnaud.

It adds Petrus to this list we compiled last month of every Michelin-starred restaurant offering lunchtime or early evening deals...

Guests can expect to find cured salmon on the menu - served with nori, horseradish and tapioca - as well as chicken breast with cabbage, miso and jus gras.

For those after something a little different, there's also a truffle linguine served with parmesan foam.

Diners can choose between two dessert courses to make up the four courses - sorbet with rhubarb and champagne, or black forest with white chocolate and clementine.

Co-op has extended its partnership with Uber Eats for three years, meaning customers can continue to shop online and have their items delivered to their door.

The number of stores where delivery is available courtesy of Uber Eats has increased to more than 1,300 under the partnership, which began in 2022.

Co-op will extend its work with Uber Direct as part of the deal on deliveries via its Peckish app, which is dedicated to supporting independent local grocery retailers across the UK.

Uber Eats users will also continue to be offered member price deals from Co-op, with savings on almost 200 products through the delivery app.

"Innovation is fundamental to our approach, whether extending reach and choice, creating value through member price savings, or, delivering the Peckish app to give independent grocery retailers a voice online," Co-op quick commerce director Chris Conway said.

"We see consumer appetite for quick, easy and convenient grocery delivery continue to grow and the agreement with Uber Eats marks the start of a new chapter where we will work together to meet the evolving needs of shoppers and, to grow Co-op’s leading q-comm channel."

BySarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

A full ceasefire was not agreed to by Russia but the news of a halt to hits on energy infrastructure has brought down the cost of oil to a noteworthy low.

The benchmark oil price - a barrel of Brent crude - fell below $70 to $69.99. It's a drop on the average $80 price for a barrel last year.

Meanwhile, the rally on the UK stock market has come to an end after four days of rises.

The FTSE 100 dropped 0.31% while the larger FTSE 250 - comprised of more domestic businesses - shed 0.19%. The rises had come thanks to a sell-off of US stocks in favour of UK assets.

The pound was hitting the comparatively high $1.30 mark in the early hours of this morning and has hovered around the level as the day wore on. Against the euro, sterling is just below €1.19.

Farmers have criticised Asda after it rowed back on its commitment to sourcing 100% British chicken across all fresh poultry lines.

Citing "current supply challenges", the supermarket giant said its Just Essentials line would be sourced from both EU and UK farmers "temporarily".

The decision has been branded "disappointing" by the National Farmers' Union. "At a time when farmers are faced with a number of challenges, it is vital that sourcing commitments are upheld to give confidence to the British poultry sector," poultry board chair James Mottershead said.

The supermarket said: "Asda's priority is to ensure our customers can buy their favourite products every time they visit our stores.

"We continue to source all our other fresh primal chicken from UK red tractor assured farms."

Hotels and serviced accommodation in Liverpool will vote in a ballot this month over whether to introduce a night tourist levy.

The ballot on the £2 charge will open on 27 March, with results expected to be announced four weeks later.

If the charge is to be introduced, it will come into force on 1 June and last until at least 2027.

It's been estimated the levy could see £6m invested into the city's visitor economy and events calendar.

The chief executive of Liverpool BID Company said the proposed investment could "turbo-charge" the city's economy.

Edinburgh and Bristol are also considering various levy and tax schemes on hotels and serviced accommodation.

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

Up to 750 jobs are at risk at Santander bank under plans to close nearly a quarter of its high street branches.

The high street lender has announced plans to close 95 of the bank's existing 444 UK branches.

Of the remaining branches, 36 will operate on reduced hours branches and 18 will be "counter-free".

By Jess Sharp, Money live reporter

Nobody likes taking a sip from a can to discover their drink has gone from refreshingly cold to disappointingly warm.

It's an issue many businesses have sought to fix, but now a 31-year-old from a council estate in Wales believes he has the answer - and some of the biggest drinks companies in the world are after it.

James Vyse has created a self-cooling can that he says brings the temperature of a drink down to 7C in minutes.

The dad-of-four entered the drinks market with a canned cocktail brand, but quickly saw that they lost their appeal as soon as they got warm. He decided to leave the company to focus on creating a solution.

For almost two years, he has been working on the Delta H Innovations Cool Can, chucking his ideas on a wall in his bedroom covered in blackboard paint.

He started with a crowdfunding campaign to back the idea, raising £150,000 within a few hours. Now the business has an estimated value of around £30m.

And the likes of Coca-Cola, Carlsberg, Red Bull, Monster and other huge brands are all bidding to get a limited exclusivity deal on the product.

"The excitement is there. The hype is real. Cans are actually outdated in terms of modern technology. This is a breakthrough. Some say we could be the next Tetra Pak," Vyse told Money.

'I was the underdog - now I want this to be a billion-pound business'

His aim is to sell the can to drinks brands and manufacturers, which would then fill it, seal it and send it out to the public.

But although some of the biggest businesses are knocking on his door, Vyse said he wanted to remain "quite independent" for the time being.

"I want to build this to become a billion-pound business. This is a legacy thing for me. I've got kids, I'm from very humble beginnings from a council estate in Swansea. I was the underdog and I've worked really hard," he said.

"We had our first baby living in a bedroom in my partner's parents' house because we couldn't afford rent. This is all about the vision and where we want to be.

"We're kind of letting the horses race, I suppose, to see who we can kind of leverage potential exclusivity with. We feel like once we have struck that partnership, the business's curve is going to be quite dramatic. We're holding out for the highest bidder."

So how does the can work?

Drinks taken from the fridgecanwarm up in as little as 10 minutes, reaching room temperature within 15 minutes in moderately warm conditions.

Vyse's solution claims not only to maintain cold temperatures but also to cool drinks down to 7°C and keep them that cold for up to 45 minutes.

At the base of the can is a mechanism that hosts a salt-based component. You press a button at the bottom of the can, which activates the component, frosting the walls and ultimately cooling the drink inside.

"It's totally different from any previous attempts that there have been. We took a fresher approach and we've done something that these billion-dollar giants couldn't. This is Welsh engineering at its finest," Vyse said.

"The can is simple to produce, it's scalable and it actually works."

Previous inventions used an aerosol model, which made the cans heavy, costly and not very environmentally friendly, he said.

"So, who wants to make history? Who is going to be the first brand to commercialise the self-cooling can? We are all ears."

We'll be speaking to Vyse live in Business Live from 11.30am today

For this week's guide, Anna Bowes, savings expert fromThe Private Office,looks at what's going on with cash ISAs...

More than £49bn was stashed into cash ISAs in the 12 months to January this year, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England.

Only three years ago, in 2022, that figure was just £1.5bn - the huge rise underlining how important these accounts have become again as interest rates have risen.

And although the latest data is yet to be confirmed, the fear that Rachel Reeves could cut the cash ISA allowance - coinciding with the ISA season - means that more cash than ever has been squirrelled away into these valuable tax-free savings accounts in the past couple of months.

Top picks for easy access cash ISAs

Much of this "flight to safety" could be due to a combination of economic uncertainties and market volatility.

In the UK, the economy experienced an unexpected contraction of 0.1% in January, driven by declines in manufacturing and construction sectors.

Globally, geopolitical tensions and unpredictable trade policies have contributed to a climate of uncertainty. These factors have led to increased demand for traditional safe-haven assets like gold and cash.

With all this volatility in the stock markets, it's a relief to hear that Reeves has said she will not be making any changes to the cash ISA allowance in the spring statement next week, though this doesn't rule out some serious tinkering later on.

The increased demand for cash and gold in the UK is an indicator of investor anxiety, which could have mixed effects on inflation. On one hand, the shift into cash might suggest that people will be spending less, which could reduce demand-driven inflation. However, the surge in gold prices and the broader uncertainty in the economy might indicate fears of future inflationary pressures.

Ultimately, inflation in the UK depends on whether reduced consumer spending cools price growth faster than external factors (such as a weaker currency or rising global costs) push it back up.

The Bank of England will need to balance these forces carefully when setting interest rates.

But for savers, this is good news, as it means that the Bank is likely to be slower to cut interest rates and therefore the rates of the top savings accounts are likely to remain higher for longer.

My mantra continues - lock in while you can, to protect against future interest rate cuts, when they inevitably happen.

Some of the rates available on the fixed-rate ISAs have even increased recently, particularly on the longer term accounts - so they could be worth a look, if you are happy to tie your money up for the term.

Although you are allowed early access to fixed rate ISAs, a hefty penalty will normally apply, which means you could get back less that you deposited!