Business
Rising cost of school uniform is scary, says mum from Luton
Julita WaleskiewiczEast of England
Lauren Barford-DowlingA mother-of-three said she has found it “scary” trying to keep up with the cost of sending her children to school.
Lauren Barford-Dowling, 27, from Luton, described the price of uniforms, shoes, meals and trips as “daunting”.
Level Trust, a Luton-based charity that provides free school supplies to families, said demand for its services had risen by up to 20% compared with last year.
“You want them to look their best, but it’s hard to keep up,” Ms Barford-Dowling added.
Kerri PorthouseMs Barford-Dowling has three children aged 10, six and five – and a fourth on the way.
She said branded jumpers and tops have risen in price, adding: “I worry about having enough money for all the essentials like shoes, trainers, trousers, dresses, tops.
“Three pairs of trainers cost over £100 – and they’ll be ruined in a couple of months. It’s scary.”
School meals also add to the pressure, she said, and her eldest child’s lunches cost £44 a month.
“When all three move up to Key Stage 2, I’ll be paying nearly £100 a month just so they can eat,” she added.
Dawid Wojtowicz/BBCMs Barford-Dowling said the Level Trust provided her children with free school shoes and trainers for PE.
Kerri Porthouse, the deputy chief executive of the charity, explained demand for the organisation’s services have risen.
“We’ve already seen an increase of between 15% and 20% compared with last year.
“That’s 200 more families in July and August alone. It’s a huge increase for a charity to cope with.
“Parents with children moving into reception or secondary often don’t realise how much uniform is needed until school begins. Then they come to us in a panic,” she said.
Research by the Child Poverty Action Group found it cost £1,000 a year to send a child to primary school and £2,300 for secondary.
Kate Anstey, the group’s head of education policy, said children from low-income families were dropping subjects because of the price of trips and equipment.
“Too many children are growing up in poverty, and it’s having a stark impact on their school day,” she said.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “No child should face barriers to their education because of their family’s finances.
“We are capping the number of branded uniform items schools can require, and from 2026 all children in households on Universal Credit will be entitled to free school meals.”
Business
Spirit starts monthslong process of dismantling airline after biggest collapse in a generation
Spirit Airlines‘ more than three-decade run ended over the weekend, but on Tuesday it was just starting the monthslong process of dismantling the company after the biggest U.S. airline collapse in a generation.
Spirit and its stakeholders were in bankruptcy court in White Plains, New York, to start that process, which will take months. The hearing included discussions about airport landing fees, aircraft and staffing.
The carrier filed a cumulative wind-down budget of around $217 million, though that number could change.
The budget went out to February 2028. It included more than $52 million in employee costs through July and another more than $52 million for aircraft-related expenses.
The airline had 59 Airbus A320s in service and 63 in storage, as well as 37 of the larger A321s in service, and 13 of them in storage, according to aviation data firm Cirium. More than three-quarters of its fleet was leased.
Spirit shut down operations after years of struggles, most recently from heavy debt loads and a surge in costs.
Spirit’s lawyer, Marshall Huebner of Davis Polk, told a bankruptcy court on Tuesday that the jump in jet fuel prices following the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran in February left the carrier with no choice but to shut down. That added $100 million in incremental costs for Spirit in March and April, he said.
U.S. bankruptcy court in White Plains, N.Y.
Leslie Josephs/CNBC
Talks for a potential government bailout in the form of a $500 million loan that could have given the government an up to 90% stake in Spirit fell apart late last week, and the carrier officially shut down at 3 a.m. ET on Saturday.
Spirit passengers scrambled to rebook reservations. American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and others said they have flown tens of thousands of Spirit customers who were stranded by the collapse.
Spirit had flown about 50,000 people in the day leading up to its closure. The airline said about 17,000 direct and indirect employees lost their jobs.
“The closing of Spirit Airlines is a sad and unfortunate event that adversely affects many parties, and that’s particularly true for the thousands of folks who are Spirit employees and families who depend on them,” the presiding judge, Sean Lane, said at Tuesday’s hearing.
“The stress level for these employees and affinities is very high, and they likely have many questions,” he continued. “Hopefully there’ll be some information discussed today to provide some answers to some of those questions, or provides information about where to get those answers. Bankruptcy can be a very difficult process, and today is a sad example of that.”
Under the changed system customers collect points rather than reward coupons, with £1 spent equalling one point.
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There have been extra jitters in UK government debt markets ahead of Thursday’s local and national elections.
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Spirit starts monthslong process of dismantling airline after biggest collapse in a generation
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