Titan Wealth has entered into an agreement to acquire Channel Islands-based Ravenscroft Investments Limited.

The deal takes Titan Wealth’s total assets under management/advice to £27.2bn.

Ravenscroft Investments Limited is a wealth management services business operating in both Guernsey and Jersey.

It provides a wide range of services to clients, including discretionary investment management, fund management and advisory investment services.

The firm employs around 100 staff to manage private and institutional clients and is one of the largest wealth managers in the Channel Islands.

The acquisition is part of Titan Wealth’s attempt to grow its international advice proposition, both organically and through further acquisitions.

Ravenscroft Investments Limited will rebrand as Titan Wealth International next year to provide key operating capabilities offshore.

The business also complements Titan Wealth’s own institutional dealing and wealth platform services in the UK.

Last year, Titan also acquired Ravenscroft’s UK investment management business.

However, the corporate finance and property management businesses of the wider Ravenscroft group are not included in the transaction.

Founder Jon Ravenscroft will remain with the business, which will retain the Ravenscroft name. He will also be a significant shareholder in the Titan Wealth group.

Titan Wealth joint group CEO and head of M&A, Andrew Fearon, said: “The acquisition of Ravenscroft Investments Limited in the Channel Islands is a significant milestone in our strategy to deliver Titan Wealth’s unique client to custody offering to clients and advisers in multiple international jurisdictions.

“Closely following our acquisition of Dubai-based planning firm AHR, we have now made significant progress in expanding our differentiated and integrated proposition for international clients and advisers.

“With investment management and investment funds in both Ireland and the Channel Islands, offshore platform and custody solutions in the Channel Islands and the ability to provide financial advice in both the UAE and Europe and other jurisdictions, we can service our clients wherever they may choose to live.”

Ravenscroft MD of operations, Robin Newbould, added: “The time is now right for Ravenscroft’s wealth management business to become part of a bigger company and have a strategic role in its future expansion.

“Titan Wealth was impressed with the skills and expertise of our team and its commitment to clients and it is exciting for the Channel Islands that we will become the hub for Titan’s international growth.”

SHOPPERS have been left bewildered after M&S axed a key delivery service ahead of Christmas.

Eagle-eyed customers have spotted that you can no longer buy cases of wine from the upmarket grocer’s website.

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Curious fans of the service took to X, formally known as Twitter, to find out why they could no longer purchase cases of wine from its online store.

One said: “@marksandspencer Are they not selling cases of wine online anymore, I can’t find any?”.

Previously, households could order cases of six or 12 bottles of wine and get them dropped off at their house.

The retailer stocked a range of different flavours and ranges including, packs of entirely white, red or a mixed selection.

Customers loved the service, with one describing it as “absolutely fabulous” and “such a good buy”.

In reviews left on the M&S website shoppers also shared how the large selection of wine was great to order over Christmas and the festive season.

One user wrote: “Delicious, well worth the money. Ideal for Christmas dinner table.”

While another said: “Really nice wine, great value. I bought it to give out as Christmas gifts and tried a bottle.”

However, shoppers will no longer be able to purchase the cases from the retailer’s website anymore.

M&S has confirmed to The Sun that the option has been axed.

Representatives for the retailer said: “Cases of wine are no longer available on the M&S website; we do have a brand-new selection of drinks gifting online for customers sending to loved ones.  

“For those looking to order wine online, please check out our offer on Ocado. When shopping in-store customers will also have a buy four save 10% offer”.

The Percy-Pig maker owns 50% of Ocado retail and uses the online grocery store to sell its food items online.

It then has a separate website, M&S.com. where customers can shop for clothing, makeup and homeware.

On the Ocado website, customers will have to add six bottles individually, they can not be purchased as a case.

The price will still be the same as what M&S charged for a case, so if you bought six bottles of a £7.50 wine it will cost £45.

If you would prefer to shop in person you can head to your nearest M&S and buy a case of wine at one of its stores.

You can find the closest one to you by visiting https://marksandspencer.com/s/communications/MSResStoreFinderGlobalBaseCmd.

It is not unusual for M&S to switch up its product ranges.

Last week, The Sun revealed its vegan range was undergoing a major revamp, which would see meat alternatives sold alongside traditional meat products.

As part of the change, products such as the Plant Kitchen Margherita Sourdough Pizza will not return to stores until January.

This has not impressed some customers with one describing it as a “terrible” idea in a Reddit post.

Earlier this year the store said it would axe some of the treats from its Colin and Connie sweet range as part of a product relaunch.

Over the summer, M&S scrapped its Colin and Connie “Together Forever” sweets.

M&S also confirmed that it is quietly axing the Colin The Caterpillar Fizzy Rainbow sweets.

The sweets were rainbow in colour with a sour sugary coating.

The retail also quietly axed its beloved pre-mixed cans of Pink Gin and Tonic, leaving customers devasted.

What else is new at M&S?

Thankfully, it is not all doom and gloom for M&S shoppers as the retailer confirmed it will bring back an iconic drink this Christmas.

The supermarket’s original snow globe gin liqueur will make a return for the holidays after a hiatus.

Previously, the gin came in two flavours – Clementine and Spiced Sugar Plum – but this year, only the Clementine one will be sold.

The store has started rolling out its entire Christmas range to shoppers, which includes hot honey over halloumi in blankets brie brulee, and Turkey Feast dip.

M&S’s food-to-order range for the holidays is also now open for online orders and collection between December 22 and December 24.

Why are products axed or recipes changed?

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ANALYSIS by chief consumer reporter James Flanders.

Food and drinks makers have been known to tweak their recipes or axe items altogether.

They often say that this is down to the changing tastes of customers.

There are several reasons why this could be done.

For example, government regulation, like the “sugar tax,” forces firms to change their recipes.

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Some manufacturers might choose to tweak ingredients to cut costs.

They may opt for a cheaper alternative, especially when costs are rising to keep prices stable.

For example, Tango Cherry disappeared from shelves in 2018.

It has recently returned after six years away but as a sugar-free version.

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Fanta removed sweetener from its sugar-free alternative earlier this year.

Suntory tweaked the flavour of its flagship Lucozade Original and Orange energy drinks.

While the amount of sugar in every bottle remains unchanged, the supplier swapped out the sweetener aspartame for sucralose.

The government appears to have four key objectives ahead of its first Budget next week:

• Cover the £22bn black hole it has uncovered
• Make the UK pension system less or non-dependent upon state support
• Encourage the UK population to become more financially self-reliant
• Encourage investment in UK business

With these in mind, here are my big four predictions for the day.

1. Pension scheme to provide a side-car cash account

According to the Financial Conduct Authority, one in three UK adults have either no savings or less than £1,000 accessible. This means they are ill-equipped to respond to cashflow shocks, such as an unexpected bill.

Workplace pension provider Nest has, for some time, been running its side-car initiative, combining a savings account with its pension scheme. This creates three benefits the broader population could also benefit from:

• Budgeting and cashflow management
• Building emergency savings
• Working towards a near-term savings goal

This appears to have been a great success, so it would be sensible to extend the benefit to the 12 million-plus pension holders in the accumulation phase.

2. Make better use of tax-free cash allowance 

Most of us can take tax-free cash equivalent to 25% of the value of our accumulated pension savings, up to a maximum of £268,275.

Ultimately, this allowance encourages one in four pounds saved tax efficiently to fund retirement to instead be spent on whatever the owner likes. This gives the UK economy and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) a boost, as the likes of cars, kitchens and holidays are often purchased.

That said, taking the cash results in a smaller income for the owner for the rest of their life, and potentially their dependents too. This makes both more likely to become reliant upon the state to financially support them later in life.

Could the allowance be restructured to encourage saving and for the average retiree to see more value in boosting their income in retirement than taking the tax-free cash?

This could be done by retaining the 25% allowance but setting a threshold at which it becomes available. A minimum level of secure income required before tax-free cash becomes an option.

We can use the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) annual Retirement Living Standards report to help us set the threshold. This states a minimum level of income required in retirement – £14,400 for a single person in 2024/25, excluding rent/mortgage costs.

With the state pension currently providing £11,502, this leaves those without an alternative income source some £2,900 below the PLSA minimum level. To put it another way, the state provides only 80% of the income needed.

To buy a secure inflation-linked lifetime income to make up the shortfall would currently require around £70,000 for a single person, non-smoker, in good health.

For someone on a UK average salary of £35,000, this would take about 15 years to accumulate. Bearing in mind the average working lifetime is 45-50 years and we have auto-enrolment with a compulsory 8% contribution rate, this seems realistic.

Looking at this from a consumer’s perspective, hardly anyone knows how much they need to save. The £70,000, therefore, becomes a minimum goal, while also making it clear they will be rewarded for exceeding it through the 25% tax-free cash allowance.

This incentive works just as well for the self-employed as it does the employed. This is important, because, currently, some four million self-employed individuals are not saving for their retirement.

Further consideration needs to be given to how the system would work for:

• Couples, who, according to PLSA, require a minimum income of £22,400.
• Those with protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010 – i.e. women and the disabled. This is because they are more likely to be earning lower amounts and therefore may find the £70,000 parameter the hardest to reach.

3. Replacing tax relief on pension contributions with a flat rate top-up

Currently, savers can benefit from tax relief on their pension contributions at their highest marginal income tax rate.

There are two ways this is administered: relief-at-source (RAS) and net pay. Neither works for every employee, so could create claims of indirect discrimination brought under the Equality Act.

For example, non-taxpayers currently saving in a scheme that uses the net-pay system do not receive the relief to which they are entitled.

HMRC will start inviting those affected to receive correction payments from April 2025 – however, only for contributions made in 2024/25 and using a system fraudsters will recognise. Crucially, these payments will have limited appeal as they are relatively small in value, will be subject to income tax and, for those in receipt of Universal Credit, a further 55% clawback.

Looking at the bigger picture, tax relief currently costs the government somewhere in the region of £60bn. According to the Office for National Statistics, most of this value goes to higher and additional rate taxpayers.

This means removing the additional benefit for higher and additional rate taxpayers could save more than £30bn. Which is clearly more than sufficient to cover the £22bn black hole.

Replacing RAS and net pay with a flat rate of at least 20% will also remove the connection to the tax system.

From a consumer’s perspective, most savers will experience no difference. All non-taxpayers will receive the benefit they are entitled to. Higher and additional rate taxpayers will receive less, but, importantly, the same as everyone else as a percentage of their salary.

Further consideration needs to be given to defined benefit pension schemes. This is because they are dependent upon higher earners attracting the additional tax relief to meet their future liabilities.

However, this change may also create the environment in which the new style of pension, called collective defined contribution, can become a potentially viable alternative.

The decision for our new government is whether to continue with a complicated and expensive system that fosters inequality or move to a cheaper one that treats everyone the same.

4. Simplify Isas and encourage investment in the UK

Today, we can each place £20,000 per annum into an Isa and benefit from tax-free income and growth.

However, a large percentage of the £750bn in Isas is held in cash-based assets and international funds. This means they are benefitting from the UK tax system, while contributing very little to the economy.

We report on 775 different Isas, distributed through five different types of Isa. With so many options, the decision to drop the idea of a British Isa is welcomed.

That said, our new government still has the desire for invested wealth that attracts UK tax benefits to be benefitting the UK.

Therefore, I suspect Isas may be replaced or at least given a makeover, such as introducing a compulsory 20% investment weighting towards UK registered equities and UK-based infrastructure projects. Changes that are simple to understand, incentivise regular savings and ultimately drive investment in the UK.

While I would like to see the end of different types of Isa, within their replacement I can see value in offering cash bonuses for those saving to:

• Buy their first home
• Buy insurance against care costs
• Make regular income payments to charity

Richard Hulbert is insight analyst at Defaqto

A HOMEOWNER was slapped with a huge £4,000 bill after discovering an invasive plant had spread across her garden.

The costly plant, which’s not to be mistaken with Japanese knotweed, was completely missed by her surveyors.

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Leah Jones bought her terraced home unaware that the bamboo plant growing in her back garden was a ticking time bomb.

It had spread underground, crisscrossing beneath her patio and artificial lawn, with new shoots emerging metres away.

The bamboo plant has now left Leah with a massive bill just months after moving in.

Leah said: “When we bought the house, we had no idea of the problems bamboo can cause, and our surveyor didn’t mention it.

“It’s going to cost us several thousand pounds to have it removed next month, and the disruption to the garden will be huge.

“Knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t buy a property with bamboo – I’d insist the seller have it removed first.”

Leah’s situation appears to be a growing issue for UK homeowners – the hidden threat of bamboo infestations.

Unlike Japanese knotweed, which is subject to strict legal requirements during property sales, there is no obligation for sellers to declare the presence of bamboo.

This means home buyers like Leah are often left to deal with the problem themselves after moving in.

Bamboo can be extremely invasive and damaging.

The plant spreads through long underground rhizomes that can travel up to 10 metres, potentially causing harm to lawns, patios, and even neighbouring properties.

Plant specialist and Environet Director, Emily Grant, said: “Nobody wants to inherit a stressful and expensive issue when they buy a property.

“This is frequently happening with bamboo as there is no legal framework to protect buyers, as there is for Japanese knotweed.”

Experts claim to have seen cases where homeowners have “barely unpacked their bags” before discovering the bamboo infestation in their new home.

Emily added: “In addition to potential damage to their own property and garden, buyers need to consider the risk of a legal case from a neighbour if the bamboo encroaches into their property.”

Because Leah was unaware of the infestation, by the time the family noticed the shoots spreading, it had already taken over much of the garden.

The removal process will require digging up large sections of the patio and lawn, as well as excavating the root systems to prevent the bamboo from returning.

Leah’s fear is that if left untreated, it could encroach into neighbouring gardens, potentially sparking legal disputes.

With 8% of UK homes now estimated to be affected by bamboo, and a 50% rise in bamboo removal enquiries related to property sales in the last six months, awareness is starting to grow.

But many home buyers are still caught off guard, like Leah, by the extent of the damage it can cause.

It typically costs around £3,500 +VAT to remove bamboo from a residential property.

As she prepares to have her garden excavated, Leah hopes that other home buyers will be more vigilant and avoid being left with a nasty – and expensive – surprise.

She said: “I hope by raising awareness we can prevent this from happening to other home buyers who may have no idea what they’re taking on.”

Home buyers should be aware of the plant and take necessary precautions, ensuring thorough checks are made before completing a purchase, as the consequences of ignoring it can be both financially and structurally devastating.

It comes as another Brit has revealed her bamboo “nightmare” after a neighbour has insisted she pour diesel over her plants. 

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories

TRAINLINE has issued a huge warning to passengers that must be followed or could risk being hit with £100 fine.

The digital platform, which allows customers to book travel online, is reminding users they can not use their Railcard on every train journey.

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A railcard is a discount card for young and retired people which helps them shave around a third off their travel costs.

However, Trainline said some Railcards can only be used on fares that are above a certain price, at a certain time. 

While others have specific restrictions on the times you can travel. 

For example, if you’re travelling between 4:30am and 10am, some Railcards can only be used on fares that cost £12 or more.

If you do not adhere to these rules you could face a £100 fine for not complying with the ticket rules.

A Trainline spokesperson told The Sun it is changing how it presents information to make the rules more easy for customers to understand.

They said: “While we have always applied railcards correctly and presented the right fees to our customers, recent events highlighted a sense of confusion for passengers around rail industry terms and conditions.

“And so, we have changed how we present this information in the booking flow, as well as adding information to our website, to give customers clarity when buying their tickets”

Travel cards have been in the spotlight recently after it was reported that Northern Rail passengers could be entitled to compensation.

The travel giant said it was dropping cases of people accused of wrongly using a 16-25 railcard to get discounted travel at the wrong time of the day, The Telegraph reported.

It was said that Northen was breaking a rule whereby passengers with a railcard travelling on the wrong train must be offered the chance to pay back the difference “on the spot”.

Instead, the travel giant was accused of whacking travellers with a find on the spot

A Northern Rail spokesperson told the outlet: “We are withdrawing any live cases and will also look to review anyone who has been prosecuted previously on this specific issue”.

The Sun has contacted Northern Rail for a comment,

How to avoid a fine when using your Railcard

Railcards are available to a number of different age groups, including students, young professionals and the elderly.

You have to pay for the card with the price usually working out at around £30 for a year or £70 for three years.

A number of different companies issue Railcards, such as Trainline which is the official retailer of Railcards by National Rail.

Trainpal is another option but the price remains the same.

Using the discount can help you save around a third on your travel costs.

However, it is important to note that you could be fined if you travel during peak time or pay a certain amount for your ticket.

This is especially important when you buy Anytime tickets or other flexible tickets.

For example, if you travel on a train before 10am and have used your Railcard to buy your ticket, make sure you didn’t pay less than £12.

This is because the ticket won’t be valid before 10am – even though it’s an Anytime ticket.

To avoid fines make sure that if you end up travelling on an earlier train, make sure to double-check any restrictions. 

You can read about the restrictions surrounding Railcards by visiting, https://www.railcard.co.uk/help/railcard-terms-and-conditions//