When the chips are down, use a ‘frork’

In numbers: Bank of Mum and Dad

9

If the Bank of Mum and Dad (BoMaD) was a mortgage lender, it would be the ninth biggest in the UK, according to research by Legal & General and the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

£6.5bn

Sum that parents in the UK will advance to children for mortgages this year, a jump of £1.5 billion up on last year. This puts BoMaD lending almost on a par with that of the Yorkshire Building Society.

20

Percentage of Irish home-buyers who reported receiving an inheritance in the years before making a house purchase, according to recent research published by the Central Bank.

Image of the week: Mrs Chippy

Despite – or perhaps because of – British prime minister Theresa May's best efforts at press control, images of her eating chips in Cornwall made a few front pages on Wednesday, although while the digital London Independent reckoned "the chips are down" for May thanks to her more upmarket meal with Jean-Claude Juncker last week, the Daily Express reckoned May's message to Jeremy Corbyn was "you've had your chips". The Guardian, meanwhile, ran a sequence of three pictures and called it a "chiptych" – which is very Guardian. It also wondered if this was prime minister's "bacon sandwich" moment, in reference to the Sun's treatment of Ed Miliband's consumption of a "helpless sarnie". At this point, it might be simpler just to call off the whole voting thing and challenge May, Corbyn and whoever else wants to join in to a series of Bushtucker trials.

Irish services sector growth rebounds to 10-month high

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Central Bank governor rejects idea of new property bubble

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Mortgage approvals surge 62.% in first quarter of 2017

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Shortfall in tax revenue threatens spending increases

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The lexicon: Frork

All credit to McDonald’s for an excellent publicity stunt in which it “invented” a French fry/fork combo called the “frork” – an “easy-ish to use” fork handle with chips for tines. As well as being a rare foray by the fast-food chain into the world of cutlery, the “frork” is the “ludicrous” star of a funny mock-infomercial, which doubles as an ad for a new range of burgers and chicken sandwiches it has just launched in its US restaurants. McDonald’s said this “supremely superfluous” tool would “maybe” help customers mop up the gunk (“topping dropping”) from these new “Signature Crafted Recipes”. Did it mention it has some new items on the menu? Here’s another close-up of a burger to make the weak salivate.

Getting to know: Jill McDonald

Jill McDonald is the chief executive of British motor accessories and cycling retailer Halfords, but from the autumn, she’ll be getting on her bike and joining Marks & Spencer as the latest in a long line of people charged with improving the sales of its clothing, home and beauty division. McDonald called her transformation strategy at Halfords “moving up a gear”, which is exactly what she will have to do at M&S’s struggling women’s wear division. Although McDonald made sure to note she had “long been an M&S customer”, retail analysts pondered what she might know about the business of shifting clothes. Oddly, sales of women’s clothes may be about to improve for the retailer anyway, as asymmetric skirt hems have come back in fashion, and M&S has been trying to flog those this whole time.

The list: Grounded airlines

Italian flag carrier Alitalia is bankrupt again, having slid into special administration for a second time in less than a decade. Its fate is now uncertain. If there are no takers in a sales process, it may simply join the long list of airlines obliged to head for the emergency exit.

1. Pan Am: Pan American World Airways flew from 1927 to 1991 and it remains synonymous with the so-called jet age.

2. Continental Airways: Since 2012, Continental has been part of United Airlines for its sins.

3. Ansett: “No one aims higher” was the slogan of this Australian airline that was part-owned by Rupert Murdoch for a time. It collapsed under the weight of competition in 2001.

4.Trans World Airlines: Founded by famous aviator Howard Hughes, TWA expanded in the post-war years but after a decade of heavy turbulence it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001.

5. Trump Shuttle: Donald Trump bought the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle (part of one-time “big four” airline Eastern, also defunct) in 1989. But he was not in it for the long haul, his involvement ceasing in 1992.