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Blue badge holders should not pay airport drop-off fees, charity says

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Blue badge holders should not pay airport drop-off fees, charity says


Mitchell Labiak

Business reporter, BBC News

Getty Images Wheelchair user photographed from behind looks at a large departures board in an airportGetty Images

All UK airports should stop charging blue badge holders for being dropped off close to terminals, a disability charity has said.

Several people with blue badges got in touch with the BBC following news that more than half of the busiest airports had raised the so-called “kiss-and-fly” fees to as high as £7 in some cases.

Many airports already offer discounts or waive the fee for disabled drivers, but blue badge holders say the system is complex and inconsistent.

Graham Footer, chief executive of Disabled Motoring UK, said some airports have “allowed greed to cloud their judgement”, and argues people with disabilities should not have to pay the charge at all.

“Disabled customers deserve to be treated with respect and dignity and not fleeced as soon as they arrive,” he said.

Free drop offs

The BBC contacted the 20 busiest airports in the UK to confirm their policy on drop-off charges for blue badge holders.

London City does not charge drop-off fees for any kind of passenger.

Gatwick, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Heathrow, Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester all charge a drop-off fee, but blue badge holders do not have to pay it.

Luton, Glasgow, Belfast International, Belfast City, East Midlands, Aberdeen, and Southampton all charge blue badge holders the same as other passengers for using the drop-off spaces closest to the airport. But they also all offer separate free drop-off parking specifically for blue badge holders elsewhere.

For Glasgow and Aberdeen, this parking is only free if blue badge holders are being dropped off by family or friends – not if they are dropped off by taxi.

All airports offer free drop-off options further from the terminals for all passengers – not just blue badge holders – such as “park and ride” facilities where people can leave their car and take a bus to the airport.

Bristol, Leeds Bradford, and Bournemouth all charge blue badge holders for drop off but allow them to stay for longer than other passengers at a lower fee.

Bristol charges £7 for 40 minutes, Leeds Bradford charges £7 for 60 minutes, and Bournemouth charges £5 for four hours because it said disabled passengers “may require more time”.

Only Cardiff, Newcastle, and Stansted charge the same fee with no discount at all.

Cardiff charges £3 for 10 minutes, Newcastle charges £5 for 10 minutes, and Stansted charges £7 for 15 minutes.

Airports UK, which represents the industry, said that the best accessible drop-off for blue badge holders depends on the layout of the airport.

“No one option is ideal at all airports, so to optimise access at each airport the offer will necessarily be different,” it said.

It advised passengers to check the airport’s website before travelling to identify the best drop-off location.

‘You have to jump through hoops’

Most of the airports that waive drop-off fees do so if a disabled driver shows their blue badge at the airport on the day.

However, for Heathrow and Liverpool, the exemption needs to be claimed online or on the phone either before or after travelling. Heathrow says its online process for confirming blue badges can take five days to complete, though it told the BBC it usually takes 48 hours.

James Williams, 67, from London finds these services difficult to use.

“I am a blue badge holder and I have to pay because I am not computer literate,” he says, arguing that “you have to jump through hoops to get this discount”.

James Williams A medium close up of James Williams wearing a grey top and glassesJames Williams

James Williams, a blue badge holder from London, says he ends up paying drop-off fees because he’s “not computer literate”

Jonathan Cassar, 51, from London says the complex nature of online registration means that “disabled people who need to be dropped at terminal cannot be spontaneous as others can”.

Heathrow said it had tried to make the blue badge registration process “as simple as possible” and advised anyone who needs registration urgently to get it approved over the phone.

Liverpool said it had introduced online confirmation “to minimise abuse of the blue badge system”.

‘Not against principle’

Not all blue badge holders feel being charged for airport drop off is unfair.

Gordon Richardson, chair of the British Polio Fellowship Board, is a blue badge holder but says he is “not against the principle” of disabled people paying the same as non-disabled people.

He says what is most important is that the space is accessible and easy to use.

He urges blue badge holders to contact airports before travelling so that the airports can have the staff ready to help them and ensure they get their discount or free parking.

Many of the airports the BBC contacted said their blue badge policies had been drafted in consultation with disability groups and with special consideration for their needs.



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Dick’s Sporting Goods raises guidance after second-quarter earnings beat

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Dick’s Sporting Goods raises guidance after second-quarter earnings beat


A Dick’s Sporting Goods store is shown in Oceanside, California, U.S., May 15, 2025.

Mike Blake | Reuters

Dick’s Sporting Goods raised its full-year sales and earnings guidance after delivering fiscal second-quarter results that beat expectations.

The company is now expecting comparable sales to grow between 2% and 3.5%, up from a previous range of 1% and 3% and ahead of analyst estimates of 2.9%, according to StreetAccount. 

Dick’s said its earnings per share are now expected to be between $13.90 and $14.50, up from a previous range of $13.80 to $14.40. Analysts were expecting $14.39 per share, according to LSEG.

Here’s how the company performed compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

  • Earnings per share: $4.38 adjusted vs. $4.32 expected
  • Revenue: $3.65 billion vs. $3.63 billion expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Aug. 2 was $381 million, or $4.71 per share, compared with $362 million, or $4.37 per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items related to its acquisition of Foot Locker and other costs, Dick’s posted earnings per share of $4.38.

Sales rose to $3.65 billion, up about 5% from $3.47 billion a year earlier. During the quarter, comparable sales also grew 5%, well ahead of expectations of 3.2%, according to StreetAccount. 

“Our performance shows how well our long-term strategies are working, the strength and resilience of our operating model and the impact of our team’s consistent execution,” CEO Lauren Hobart said in a news release. “Our Q2 comps increased 5.0%, with growth in average ticket and transactions, and we drove second quarter gross margin expansion.”

While Dick’s comparable sales guidance came in ahead of expectations, its full-year revenue outlook was slightly below estimates. The company said it’s expecting revenue to be between $13.75 billion and $13.95 billion, below estimates of $14 billion, according to LSEG.

Dick’s said its raised profit guidance includes the impact of tariffs that are currently in effect. In an interview with CNBC’s Courtney Reagan, Dick’s executive chairman Ed Stack said the company has implemented some price increases to offset the impact of higher duties but has been “surgical” in its approach.

“We’ve been able to do what we need to from a pricing standpoint, whether that’s from the national brands or from our own brands, and then other places where we’ve held price, we’ve been able to do that, and we’ve offset it someplace else, which is what you have to do in these in these situations, and the team’s done a great job doing that,” Stack said.

Hobart said during Thursday’s call with analysts that the retailer hasn’t seen its shoppers balking at the “small-level” price increases that have gone into effect.

Hobart said broadly Dick’s hasn’t seen any signs of a consumer spending slowdown as a result of tariffs. She said Dick’s saw growth across all of its key segments during the quarter.

Foot Locker tie-up

The company said its guidance doesn’t include any potential impact from its acquisition of Foot Locker, such as costs or results from the planned takeover, which is expected to close on Sept. 8. 

In May, Dick’s announced it would be acquiring its longtime rival for $2.4 billion, giving it a competitive edge in the wholesale sneaker market, most importantly for Nike products, along with a bigger global presence.

Nike is a critical brand partner for both Dick’s and Foot Locker and, at times, their performance is reliant on how well the sneaker brand is doing. During the quarter, Stack said new drops from Nike’s revamped running portfolio, including the Pegasus Premium and the Vomero Plus, are performing so well, it can’t keep the shoes in stock.

“Anything that’s new, innovative and kind of the cool factor, is blowing out,” Stack said.

However, the acquisition also comes with risks. Foot Locker’s business has been in the midst of an ambitious turnaround under CEO Mary Dillon but the company is still struggling.

In the quarter ended Aug. 2, Foot Locker’s sales fell 2.4% and it posted a loss of $38 million. The company faces a range of existential challenges, including its heavy mall footprint, its small online business and a core consumer that often has less discretionary income than the core Dick’s consumer. 

Once the businesses are combined, Foot Locker’s struggles could ultimately weigh on Dick’s overall results. On the other hand, the combined company will become the No. 1 seller of athletic footwear in the U.S., which will allow it to better compete against its next biggest rival, JD Sports. 

Stack acknowledged to CNBC that Foot Locker’s earnings “were not great” but said the company has a strategy.

“We have a game plan of how to turn this around,” Stack told Reagan. “We think that we can return Foot Locker to its rightful place in the top of this industry and we’re excited to roll up our sleeves and get started with that.”

Dick’s plans to operate Foot Locker as a separate entity. Moving forward, Stack said the company plans to break out details on how each brand is performing when releasing quarterly results. It’ll provide separate details on how Dick’s performed and how Foot Locker performed so investors can get a sense of what’s going on in each part of the business.

Hobart said during Thursday’s earnings call that as part of the acquisition, Dick’s plans to invest in Foot Locker stores and marketing. She also said Dick’s sees opportunities in merchandising and bringing in a new assortment of products.

“As Foot Locker becomes part of the Dick’s family, we are an even more important brand to our wholesale partners, and that’s part of the thesis,” Hobart said.

Earlier this week, Dick’s said it had received all regulatory approvals associated with the transaction. It’s unclear if it had to divest any stores to satisfy the FTC’s requirements.

— CNBC’s Ali McCadden contributed to this report.



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Ex-WH Smith finance boss delays Greggs board appointment amid accounting probe

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Ex-WH Smith finance boss delays Greggs board appointment amid accounting probe



Greggs has delayed the appointment of incoming board director Robert Moorhead due to a review into a major accounting error at his previous firm, WH Smith.

The high street bakery chain said Mr Moorhead – the former finance chief at WH Smith – had asked to delay his appointment until a review by Deloitte into the blunder at WH Smith is completed.

He had been due to start at Greggs on October 1 as an independent non-executive director and chair of the audit committee.

Mr Moorhead left WH Smith in 2024 after more than 20 years at the chain.

The delay to his appointment comes after WH Smith saw nearly £600 million wiped off its stock market value last week when it revealed a review of its finances had discovered trading profits in North America had been overstated by about £30 million.

It warned that annual profits would be lower than expected as a result, sending shares down by more than 40% at one stage during the day.

WH Smith said it had found an issue in how it calculated the amount of supplier income it received – leading it to be recognised too early.

It means the group is now expecting a trading profit for the US of about £25 million for the year to August – a cut from the previous £55 million forecast.

As a result, the company lowered its outlook for annual pre-tax profits to around £110 million.

Greggs said Kate Ferry will remain as a non-executive director and will continue as chair of the audit committee in the interim.



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Electric cars eligible for £3,750 discount announced

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Electric cars eligible for £3,750 discount announced


Pritti MistryBusiness reporter, BBC News

Ford A bright yellow Ford Puma parked beside a street. A person in a red jacket, black shorts, and white sneakers walks on the pavement in front of a green building with horizontal white slats. The car faces right, and its license plate reads 'HOI108'.Ford

The first electric vehicles (EV) eligible for the £3,750 discount under the government’s grant scheme have been announced.

The Department for Transport confirmed Ford’s Puma Gen-E or e-Tourneo Courier would be discounted as part of plans to encourage drivers to move away from petrol and diesel vehicles.

Under the grant scheme, the discount applies to eligible car models costing up to £37,000, with the most environmentally friendly ones seeing the biggest reductions. Another 26 models have been cleared for discounts of £1,500.

Carmakers can apply for models to be eligible for grants, which are then automatically applied at the point of sale.

More vehicles are expected to be approved in the coming weeks and the DfT said the policy would bring down prices to “closely match their petrol and diesel counterparts”.

The government has pledged to ban the sale of new fully petrol or diesel cars from 2030.

But many drivers cite upfront costs as a key barrier to buying an EV and some have told the BBC that the UK needs more charging points.

According to Ford’s website, the recommended retail price (RRP) for a new Puma Gen-E starts from £29,905 while a petrol equivalent is upward of £26,060. With the reduction applied, buyers would be looking in the region of £26,155 for the EV version.

The grants to lower the cost of EVs will be funded through the £650m scheme, and will be available for three years.

There are around 1.3 million electric cars on Britain’s roads but currently only around 82,000 public charging points.

Full list of EVs eligible for the £1,500 discount

  • Citroën ë-C3 and Citroën ë-C3 Aircross
  • Citroën ë-C4 and Citroën ë-C4 X
  • Citroën ë-C5 Aircross
  • Citroën ë-Berlingo
  • Cupra Born
  • DS DS3
  • DS N°4
  • Nissan Ariya
  • Nissan Micra
  • Peugeot E-208
  • Peugeot E-2008
  • Peugeot E-308
  • Peugeot E-408
  • Peugeot E-Rifter
  • Renault 4
  • Renault 5
  • Renault Alpine A290
  • Renault Megane
  • Renault Scenic
  • Vauxhall Astra Electric
  • Vauxhall Combo Life Electric
  • Vauxhall Corsa Electric
  • Vauxhall Frontera Electric
  • Vauxhall Grandland Electric
  • Vauxhall Mokka Electric
  • Volkswagen ID.3

The up-front cost of EVs is higher on average than for petrol cars.

According to Autotrader, the average price of a new battery electric car was £49,790 in June 2025, based on manufacturers’ recommended prices for 148 models.

The equivalent for a petrol car was £34,225, but the average covers a broad range of prices.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the grant scheme was making it “easier and cheaper for families to make the switch to electric”.

Edmund King, president of the AA, said drivers “frequently tell us that the upfront costs of new EVs are a stumbling block to making the switch to electric”.

“It is great to see some of these more substantial £3,750 discounts coming online because for some drivers this might just bridge the financial gap to make these cars affordable.”



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