Money: Toblerone axes popular flavour - fans aren't happy (2025)

ByJess Sharp, Money live reporter

Firstly, bear with us, but we're going to tell you why you shouldn't pay much attention to the biggest money news of the week.

Inflation data for March was released on Wednesday. Ostensibly, it was good news: the pace of price rises had slowed more than expected to 2.6%.

But here's the thing: none of the bill hikes in April, or the rise in the national minimum wage, will be reflected in the data until next month.

Also, Easter means a big rise in airline prices - last year Easter fell in March, this year it's in April. That skewed March's inflation data downwards... and will have the opposite impact in April.

All of which means we can expect a leap in the headline rate of inflation next time around - though falling oil prices over the last few weeks could ease some of the pain.

Our business correspondent Paul Kelso produced this short video to explain what all of this means for you...

Hope on interest rates and mortgages

The drop in inflation, even though it's likely to be temporary, has combined with the global economic uncertainty brought on by Donald Trump's tariffs policy to heighten expectations for interest rate cuts.

This week, the markets upped their forecast from three to four cuts this year - if they're right, the base rate will be 3.5% when we enter 2026.

As we outlined in our weekly Mortgage Guide this morning, there's more positive news for first-time buyers in the shape of product availability, too.

The number of products available for those hoping to get on the property ladder reached a 17-year high, according to Moneyfacts.

Many brokers suggested this could be the start of a price war between some of the biggest lenders.

You can read more about that in this week's Mortgage Guide...

Trump's golden touch

Trump's trade war has had another impact: driving investors to traditional safe havens such as gold.

The price of spot gold (also known as the live price or market price, for gold for immediate delivery) hit a record $3,357.40 (£2,532) per ounce on Wednesday.

While prices have cooled slightly now, they're still higher than before the US president's tariffs were announced.

You can read more about why we are seeing the record highs here...

A comedian, complaints and comments aplenty

Away from all of that economic news, the topic that got you talking the most this week was how Britons complain.

Comedian John Bishop sparked a lot of comments from our readers after he praised easyJet for its great customer service.

While some of you welcomed his friendly feedback, others thought it showed a "sad reflection of the world today"...

Your Easter money highlights

Other highlights here in Money included our Monday feature, What It's Really Like To Be A...

This week, Caroline Wood spoke about the realities of working in HR, including sacking people and dealing with bosses having affairs...

Our round-up of all the places where children can eat for £1 or less this Easter might also be worth checking before you head out this weekend...

We will be back with live updates on Tuesday, but our Money features writer, Brad Young, has been speaking with a former gambling addict who lost £1m for our Saturday long-read. So look out for that this weekend.

Have a great Easter!

We've been sifting through your comments on the day's top stories - and it seems Asda's decision to introduce face recognition technology in a bid to stop shoplifters has got you talking.

Many thought the move was a breach of privacy...

Any store operating biometric harvesting of customers' unique identifiers must be forced to vividly display that they do so. Clear signing before you enter a building must be shown. Websites must show this too. I for one will either shop elsewhere or cover my face.

Scinna

Before long you will be watched in everything you do and everywhere you go in the name of security. Little did George Orwell know he was writing the truth.

Derek

See Also

Katy Perry back on Earth after reaching space

[I'll] wear a mask, hat and sunglasses in Asda from now on.

Lemmy

Others said it raised questions...

When the system "works by scanning images and comparing the results to a known list of individuals" - what happens to these scans? Are they discarded immediately, within 24h, or could they be retained indefinitely and available to track innocent people in future?

Chris

But others thought it was a great idea...

Good idea this face recognition - I suppose those against it are the ones committing the crime and don't want to get caught.
Mouse

My husband and I wholeheartedly support facial recognition, it is NOT breaking our right for privacy. Once you leave your home, you are automatically presenting yourself to the world and if you are doing nothing wrong you have no need to shy away from being recognised.

Rosieglow 15

Go for it Asda, about time they're stopped.
Fed up Freda

If you're not going to do anything dishonest then what’s the problem? I was a store manager for Asda for 20 years, the theft and threats from people was horrendous. [It's] only [a matter of] time before someone is badly injured by these people.

Phil

Is a Birkin bag about to get even more expensive?

It certainly seems that way. Hermes has confirmed that it will be hiking its prices to deal with the impact of Donald Trump's tariffs.

The luxury French fashion brand said it will fully shift the burden of the tariffs to its wealthy clientele after its first-quarter sales showed a rare sign of weakness.

"We are going to fully offset the impact of these new duties by increasing our selling prices in the United States from 1 May, across all our business lines," said finance chief Eric du Halgouet.

The brand is known for its Kelly and Birkin handbags, which sell for at least £7,500.

In the three months to March, it reported sales of €4.1bn (£3.4bn).

If you've got a Money-related story you think we should investigate, we want to hear from you.

You can emailmoneyblog@sky.uk and our team will get back to you.

We're also always really keen to hear any money-saving tips, discounts or hacks you swear by - and we'd love you to send in any pearls of financial wisdom you think we should be passing on to our readers. It could be advice you wish someone had told your younger self, or a great way to save, or... you get the picture.

The email address is monitored throughout the day and by sending us content you're giving us permission to use.

Toblerone has risked upsetting fans by discontinuing one of its flavours.

Sweet giant Mondelez has confirmed that the 360g dark chocolate version of the bar is being axed.

A spokesperson for the firm said it was a "difficult decision".

"We continuously adapt our product range to ensure it meets changing tastes whilst supporting growth for our customers and business, and as a result made the difficult decision to discontinue our Toblerone Dark (360g) bars in the UK," they told Money.

"While we understand that this may be disappointing for some consumers, we continue to invest in Toblerone."

The original Toblerone bar was invented in 1908, with the dark chocolate version launched in 1969.

One X user wrote: "First they came for Bounty, now Toblerone...💔"

Another said: "No... it was my favourite."

A third fan wrote: "Does anyone know anywhere in the UK I can get a bar of Dark Toblerone? I've spoken to Toblerone who said its not been discontinued but I've been looking for absolutely ages and can't find them anywhere."

By Sarah-Jane Mee, lead UK news presenter

Not all heroes wear capes… some just provide carpets.

Did you know many local councils and housing associations across England provide homes with no flooring?

I spent the day in St Albans with Pia Honey from NoFloorNoMore.org rescuing carpets destined for landfill to give to families living in substandard homes.

Pia first found out about this problem when she gave away her own carpet on a freecycle website - and the response was overwhelming.

"I helped three families with carpets from my home, but there were so many more. One woman told me that she had nowhere to open presents at Christmas, so I ripped out more carpets from my home."

Pia had so many enquiries, she started to ask questions. The answers shocked her into action.

Tenants told her that when a council property is reissued it is required to be stripped bare.

Properties are stripped no matter the condition of the existing flooring.

Tenants are often unable to afford new flooring, which can leave their homes cold and miserable to live in.

The issue is country wide - Pia gets enquiries from all over the UK.

We met Sophie, who had contacted Pia for help. Sophie had waited more than a decade to move from a two-bed flat to a house big enough for her five children to have their own beds - she felt she couldn't refuse, despite the substandard condition of the floors.

Pia used carpets destined for landfill from a film studio to kit out the entire house and make it a home.

"No Floor No More" is what's known as a Community Interest Company. It's currently unfunded and relies solely on donations from carpet manufacturers and big companies looking to dispose of flooring sustainably - and Pia's own savings.

Pia's aim is to support the community as best she can and eventually bring about a change in policy.

The Local Government Association told Sky News that councils across the country are fully committed to providing quality social housing but "local government is under mounting pressure to find suitable homes for an ever-increasing number of people, and there are currently over 1.3 million families in England on waiting lists for social housing".

The response went on: "This means councils are having to make impossible decisions about maintaining existing housing stock and building more homes that the country seriously needs.

"Government needs to use the upcoming spending review to ensure that councils are sufficiently resourced and empowered to deliver the homes that the country desperately needs."

Right of reply:St Albans City & District Council

Chris Traill, strategic director for community and place delivery, said: "We are committed to ensuring our social housing properties are in the best possible condition for new tenants when they move in.

"In doing so, we provide all tenants with our flooring policy and our team are happy to discuss any issues they may have.

"As part of their tenancy agreement, tenants are asked to remove all flooring such as carpets and grippers before the property is handed back.

"This is because the flooring may be in a poor condition and unpleasant for the incoming tenants and because pets may have been in the house, posing a risk of flea infestations.

"However, exceptions are made where the flooring is in a good enough condition to be 'gifted' to the incoming tenant.

"Gifting is welcomed if the carpet is newly laid and where there is confirmation that there have been no pets and the carpet was treated for fleas as a precaution.

"We also allow for gifting where the flooring is suitable for new flooring to be laid on top.

"Recently, we have left flooring down in three properties that met the criteria."

Topshop has hinted that its stores could be coming back to the high street this summer.

In several Instagram posts, the clothing brand said: "We'll see you IRL in August."

It has been teasing its millennial fan base with a return since March, posting a number of cryptic messages on social media such as "we missed you too" and "we've been listening".

Websites for Topshop and Topman went live last month, both with a holding page that reads "coming soon".

The retailer disappeared from high streets in 2021 after its owner, Arcadia Group, fell into administration.

Asos quickly acquired it for £265m and has been selling its products on its online fashion site since then.

Last year, it sold a huge 75% stake of Topshop to Danish firm Heartland for £135m, which opened the possibility for a high street relaunch.

The number of people who stream sports illegally has gone "through the roof", the head of Britain's intellectual property crime unit has said.

Emma Warbey said people were largely able to use illegal fire sticks or TV media boxes without the risk of being caught, with officers instead focusing their attention on organised crime groups.

According to the Financial Times, she said her team at the City of London Police force were tackling "resellers and the people at the top of the tree", given that it's "really hard" to stop people from illegally streaming content.

Illegal firesticks and boxes can be preloaded with software that can stream sporting events and channels that owners would otherwise have to pay for.

Broadcasters have said the devices cost the industry hundreds of millions of pounds and called for more to be done to tackle pirated content.

Forgot to pick up Yukon Golds for your roast lunch this weekend?

Not to worry - here's every major supermarket's opening hours over the Easter holiday weekend.

This is for "big shops" (not smaller Tesco Express-style shops), though many in Scotland are open on Easter Sunday - so it's worth checking if you live there.

Morrison's

• Good Friday:7am-10pm
• Saturday:Open as normal
• Easter Sunday: Closed
• Easter Monday: 7am-8pm

Tesco

• Good Friday: 6am-10pm
• Saturday: Open as normal
• Easter Sunday: Closed
• Easter Monday: 8am-6pm

Waitrose

• Good Friday:8am-8pm
• Saturday: Open as normal
• Easter Sunday:Most stores closed
• Easter Monday:8am-8pm

Asda

• Good Friday: 7am-10pm
• Saturday: Open as normal
• Easter Sunday: Closed
• Easter Monday: 7am-10pm

M&S

• Good Friday:8am-7pm
• Saturday: Open as normal
• Easter Sunday:Closed
• Easter Monday:8am-6pm

Aldi

• Good Friday: 8am-10pm
• Saturday: 8am-10pm
• Easter Sunday:Closed
• Easter Monday:8am-8pm

Lidl

• Good Friday: Open as normal
• Saturday: Open as normal
• Easter Sunday:Closed
• Easter Monday:8am-8pm (til 10pm in London)

Every Friday, we take an overview of the mortgage market with industry experts and round up the best rates withMoneyfactscompare.co.uk.

There was some positive news for first-time buyers this week with data showing the number of low-deposit mortgages had reached a 17-year-high.

There were 442 mortgage deals available for buyers who can put down a 5% deposit on a home, according to Moneyfacts.

For buyers with a 10% deposit, it counted 845 available deals.

It means that both are at the highest point since the 2008 financial crisis, when banks were forced to tighten their lending rules.

Lenders have been under pressure to better cater for people trying to get on the housing ladder, and many have been rolling out low-deposit deals in a bid to stimulate activity in the housing market.

On Wednesday, Santander lowered first-time buyer rates by up to 0.21%.

Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts, said: "The flourishing choice of low deposit mortgages will no doubt be welcomed by borrowers who are either looking to remortgage or are a first time buyer.

"The government has been clear that it wants lenders to do more to boost UK growth, and so a rise in product availability for aspiring homeowners is a healthy step in the right direction.

"However, there is still much more room for improvement, particularly as the choice of deals at 95% loan-to-value represents just 6% of all deals available to borrowers across fixed and variable mortgages."

Here are the top first-time buyer deals on the market...

Moneyfacts also rounds up what it calls "best buys", which look beyond the lowest rates and take in incentives and fees...

Overall, fixed rate mortgage reductions outweighed rises this week.

With inflation coming in lower than expected, analyst predictions for base rate cuts by the Bank of England this year rose from three to four, giving lenders more encouragement to make reductions.

HSBC reduced rates by up 0.24%, The Mortgage Works by as much as 0.25% and NatWest and RBS made cuts of up to 0.13%, resulting in more deals priced below 4%.

"Borrowers are the winners here as the market becomes more competitive, giving them more options and encouraging more people to jump into the market rather than sitting on the fence, trying to time the market," said Pete Mugleston, managing director at Online Mortgage Advisor.

What's going on in the housing market?

Official figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed house prices jumped by 5.4% in the year to February - the fastest rate in more than two years.

House price growth has been accelerating since last summer, and activity has picked up this year as buyers rushed to beat stamp duty increases.

From April, first-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland started paying stamp duty on properties costing more than £300,000. They were previously exempt from paying the tax on properties up to £425,000.

"Official house prices will be boosted for at least another two months by the flurry of activity ahead of the stamp duty changes," Elliott Jordan-Doak, senior UK economist for Pantheon Macroeconomics, said.

"But there is genuine strength in the housing market."

We also got data from Rightmove showing asking prices rose by more than £5,000 to an average of £377,182 in April, despite less generous stamp duty discounts taking effect.

Rightmove property expert Colleen Babcock suggested people putting their homes on the market should be careful considering the number of homes for sale is at a decade high.