Bitcoin smashes through $80,000 barrier as records tumble

Amex launches referral offer worth £500

American Express has launched a suite of its "biggest deals ever" - including one referral offer worth more than £500. 

That deal is available only to users with a Gold or Platinum card. 

For Platinum card members, there are 18,000 points now available if a friend signs up on your referral - a rise from 12,000.

The referred new customer will receive 100,000 points, which equates to £500.

However, the new user must spend £10,000 in the first six months to claim the bonus - and the scheme is only running until 14 January. 

Similarly, members with a Gold card see the incentive rise from 9,000 to 14,000 points, with the referred friend offered 40,000 points, so long as they spend £3,000 in the first six months. 

Bitcoin rises above $80,000 for first time after Trump's decisive victory

Bitcoin is starting the week in record territory.

The cryptocurrency exceeded the $80,000 mark for the first time over the weekend as holders eagerly anticipated Donald Trump's return to the White House in January.

Trump, a big crypto sceptic ahead of his first term as US president, has since become a champion of digital currencies.

He's tipped by analysts to unwind regulation of the sector imposed during the Biden administration, declaring during the election campaign that crypto could "define the future".

There is also talk surrounding the position of the architect of the US crypto curbs under Trump. US Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler is under pressure to resign or face being pushed out, according to Bitcoin.com.

Bitcoin is up by more than 80% in the year to date - largely on hopes of a Trump win over Kamala Harris.

Other cryptocurrencies are trading higher too.

Elsewhere, there is a more positive open for the FTSE 100 after the falls of last week on the back of the US election result.

Fears of a new wave of Trump tariffs have hit values this side of the pond but the FTSE was trading at 8,134 - a rise of almost 0.8%.

It was a broad rally, led by financial and aerospace stocks.

Interest rates up in the air after Trump election

Donald Trump's re-election to the White House has left the prospect of further Bank of England interest rate cuts uncertain, according to the bank's chief economist. 

Huw Pill said that future interest rate cuts would depend on the UK economy avoiding "big new disturbances" after Trump's win raised the threat of a global trade war.

"[Shocks] can have very big effects on the economic performance here, including crucially for us the outlook for inflation," he is quoted by Bloomberg as saying.

"There may be some things to which we need to respond quickly and I think dislocations in financial markets and so forth are a good example of that."

He added that the UK is particularly vulnerable to external shocks given that it is a "small open economy".

The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee next meets in mid-December to decide on the base rate. 

Markets are pricing in just a 21% chance of a cut, with BoE governor Andrew Bailey last week repeatedly emphasising that rate cuts will be "gradual".

Two big boosts for Britons hoping for four-day week

The government has dropped its concerns about councils adopting a four-day week for the same pay.

The move, which could pave the way for councils across the country to make a significant cultural shift, coincides with TfL drawing up plans to allow Tube drivers to also condense their week to four days.

Councils

South Cambridgeshire district council has for several years defied opposition to a four-day week from the previous Tory government.

A 15-month trial of 450 desk workers and refuse collectors there suggested worker performance either improved or didn't change.

At the same time, the council saved more than £370,000 in a year as staff turnover fell by 39%.

Rishi Sunak's administration twice warned the Lib Dem-run council, with "best value notices" issued that required it to submit about 200 pieces of raw data to government every week.

Labour has now dropped this objection.

The government has insisted it is not its policy to support a "general move" to a four-day week, but said councils are "rightly responsible for the management and organisation of their own workforces".

What did the trial find?

Independent analysis by two universities found 11 of the council's 24 key performance indicators improved during the trial. Another 11 showed no significant change. 

Just two areas saw a drop in performance - housing rent collection and average days to re-let housing stock. 

Daiga Kamerāde, professor in work and wellbeing at the University of Salford, said: "The trial suggests that a four-day work week maintains the quality of public services as measured by key performance indicators, while attracting new staff and improving workers' wellbeing. The pioneering trial can inspire evidence-based innovations in local councils and other organisations."

Tube workers

Transport for London has told the Aslef union it is drawing up a proposal to allow employees to work an average of four days a week, according to a letter seen by the BBC.

TfL has said there will be "no reduction in contractual hours".

It appears the change would be dependent on workers accepting a 3.8% pay rise and calling off all pending strike action.

Nigel Farage isn't a fan

Nigel Farage attacked the concept of a four-day week during a speech at a Reform conference in Wales on Friday. 

They talk about four-day weeks, work from home, life-work balance. 'Oh, we're so much more productive at home, darling.' It's all nonsense.

'A dry cleaners ruined my sofa and won't replace it'

Every Monday we get experts to answer your financial problems or consumer disputes. WhatsApp us yours here. Today's question is...

I have had half my sofa covers cleaned by Johnsons, the cleaners. They have been ruined as the Belgian linen was hand washed and the care instructions not followed. This happened in July. I have been in communication with customer services who finally agreed that half a sofa could not be reupholstered - and, verbally, said they'd cover the whole suite. Last week I received an email from management now reneging on the offer and instead offering a small amount of money that will deem my sofa unfit to use as it won't cover either a reupholster or new sofa. Where do I stand? Thank you.

You sent me further details of your complaint, including photographs and your correspondence with Johnsons (the bits that have been in writing).

I can see in your email correspondence with Johnsons that they will not pay what you say is required to reupholster the whole sofa. They say their liability to you extends only to the actual covers that were submitted for cleaning.

The original sofa cost you £2,400 eight years ago, and you also have a quote for completely reupholstering it, which comes to £2,560. You (rightly) argue that it's not really possible to reupholster half a sofa.

'I had a bad haircut - what are my rights?'

Regarding the verbal offer you say was made, Helen Dewdney, a consumer expert at The Complaining Cow, says she always tells people to put everything in writing because there is no evidence when you make phone calls - so bear this in mind going forward. 

As for your rights now, your issue falls under the Consumer Rights Act 2005, she says.

"If services are not undertaken with reasonable skill and care and your items get damaged or lost then you have the right to claim compensation," Helen says.

This can include claiming for the cost of replacing a damaged or lost item, although there may be a reduction for wear and tear of the original item.

Johnsons has already offered some compensation to you (£800). They claim that the age of the sofa means it "holds no residual value" but offered 25% of the original price, an additional £200 as a gesture of goodwill, and a refund of the original cleaning charge.

However, you are not happy with this because you say it is not enough to either fix or replace your "ruined sofa". 

I reached out to Johnsons, and they did not reply, but you told me that two days after I emailed them, they almost doubled the amount of compensation on offer (to £1,500). 

You went back to them with a counter-offer of £1,700, they agreed, and you are now finally able to bring the saga to a close (and get your sofa fixed).

Had they not agreed, you could have considered these next steps...

Membership of the Textile Services Association is available to laundries, dry cleaners, textile renters and their suppliers, Helen says.

"If the company you are using is a member, then the TSA offers a conciliation service. You may be asked to prove your claim and, on a loser-pays basis, use the association's testing service. It also offers an arbitration service if the matter still cannot be resolved."

However, if the firm is not a member of the TSA - and it looks like Johnsons is not - then you have the option of taking the matter to the small claims court - or equivalents in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

"If a company provides no information whatsoever regarding what you should do if you have a complaint, this is a red flag," Helen says.

"If a company does not recognise that mistakes happen and outlines what it will do if a problem occurs, it cares little for customer service or reputation."

Cheap Eats

On Wednesday, one of the best British chefs of his generation, Sat Bains, will reveal his budget eats at home and around Nottingham - including a great weeknight recipe.

How to get a mortgage if you're self-employed

Look out for this piece in the coming days, with advice from industry experts.

Money Problem

Every Monday, we ask experts to answer your submissions. This week's is: "A dry cleaners ruined my sofa and won't replace it - what are my rights?"

Rent controls

The rent control battle has comes to the UK - but does it work? We tackle this question in our Saturday long read.

Savings and mortgages advice

Every Thursday, Savings Champion founder Anna Bowes offers advice for making the most of your spare cash and reveals the best rates on the market right now. On Fridays we do similarly with mortgages, hearing from industry experts on what anyone seeking to borrow needs to know at the minute before rounding up the best rates with the help of the guys from Moneyfacts.

We've got lots of others tips and features planned for this week, so bookmark news.sky.com/money-live and check back from 7am each weekday - or 8am on Saturday for our weekend feature.

The award-winning Money blog is produced by the Sky News live blogging team Jess Sharp, Bhvishya Patel, Katie Williams, Brad Young, Ollie Cooper and Mark Wyatt, with additional reporting from cost of living specialist Megan Harwood-Baynes and sub-editing by Isobel Souster. It is edited by Jimmy Rice.

Not 'a woman's place'? Why there are so few female chefs in top kitchens

During a busy lunch shift, when chef Sally Abe was asked to replace her male colleague cooking the aged beef fillet, he responded by pouring a pan of scalding oil on her hand. 

The man claimed it was an accident, something "we all knew was a lie", Sally wrote in her memoir, A Woman's Place is in the Kitchen.

The book lifts the figurative saucepan lid on what it is like being a woman in male-dominated professional kitchens. With 16-hour days, rare toilet and food breaks, and a culture of not calling in sick unless you're on your deathbed, the story she tells is a brutal insight into the hospitality industry. 

The book goes some way to explaining why just 17% of professional chefs in the UK are women and only 8% of Michelin-starred restaurants are female-led. Despite the playground insult telling women and girls to "get back in the kitchen", when they try to do just that as a career, they face almost non-existent maternity leave, chef whites not made for a woman's body and a culture of hypermasculinity. 

Starting at the Savoy Grill, before moving to Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at Claridge's, Sally was often the only woman working behind the kitchen pass. She was also the only woman (that she knows of) to ever work the meat section at the latter. 

It was often a "toxic working environment".

"I think it's quite shocking for people who don't have any idea what hospitality is like," Sally tells Money. "If you told someone to f*** off in a regular office, you would get sacked.

"But it's just day-to-day in the kitchen."

'They christened me Tit-rat'

The assault by her colleague was a rare moment when the mental insults tipped over into physical.

"I think that particular person was just a really awful human being - and luckily you don't encounter too many of those along the way," Sally says.

But what is all too frequent are the barriers women face when working in professional kitchens.

Sally was christened "Tit Rat" by her male counterparts. 

"There was no real explanation as to why. I was the only woman working in one of the best restaurants in the whole of the UK and I was surrounded by men: it was hypermasculine, super fast-paced and I was holding my own," she wrote in her book.

'My colleague told me to stay in the kitchen'

TV chef Judy Joo, who co-owns the popular Seoul Bird in London, was steered away from the industry - she went to engineering school and later worked in finance before making the career shift into cooking. But working in these male-dominated industries prepared her for what was to come. 

"During my internship at Bell Laboratories, on my very first day, I asked where the ladies' room was, and no one knew. I had to walk to another building with the auditorium just to find the only one - that was wild," she tells Money.

Then, working on the trading floor, she was the only female professional at her desk.

"While I never doubted my ability to do the job, it would've been great to have more female role models," she says. "Seeing women in leadership makes it easier to imagine yourself there."

Sexism in the culinary world is "almost expected", she says, and as a result, "it's incredibly frustrating and belittling".

"Sometimes it doesn't even hit you until later, and then you find yourself angry, wishing you'd responded differently in the moment. As women, people tend to second-guess our abilities, while men - especially a white male - wouldn't face the same scrutiny over their experience or skills."

She recently had a colleague telling her to "stay in the kitchen".

"He told me I had 'no business making any commercial business decisions for my company'. I am the CEO! 

"I have an engineering degree from Columbia University and worked at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley for five years before becoming a chef.  My business and financial training is probably more rigorous than his! The nerve... so insulting!  He is no longer working with me, to say the least."

'Where are all the women?'

Dipna Anand was born and raised in the kitchen - her grandfather opened the first Brilliant restaurant in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in the 1950s. The Brilliant in Southall was established in 1975 and is now run by Dipna and her father. The restaurant was once declared the King's favourite curry house (by the man himself). 

"I grew up behind the counter, trying to see over and make myself useful while my parents ran the restaurant," she says. "My brother and I would stack cans under the counter, and we would wait for customers to leave to go and lay the tables."

She knew from a very young age she wanted to be a chef. 

"My family would ask me what I was going to do, and I would say I wanted to be a chef, but they would say, 'Don't you want to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or an accountant?' In my culture, it was not seen as the right thing to be," she says. 

When she first entered the industry, she says, she was "shocked" by how many men there were: "Where are the women?"

For the most part, she has more than held her own, but cooking is a physical job.

"I would need help carrying the crate of onions, or the masala, and the male chefs would be more than happy to help me. But that's the only difference between me and a male chef."

She says traditional gender roles still influence professional kitchens, particularly in the Asian community, with the long hours, weekend work and late nights a barrier (she makes a point of asking female colleagues how they are going to get home if their shift finishes late at night). 

"Even today, when it comes to family-work life balance, women do have more responsibilities and it is hard for them to choose between their career and family," she says. 

Women 'pushed away from the heat'

Starting as a commis chef in the banqueting kitchens of St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, Neuza Leal has risen to the role of executive chef across two restaurants in London.

She says female chefs are often pushed towards working in the pastry and salad sections, "to get away from the heat". 

"They don't think you are strong enough, and you then want to prove them wrong," she says.

At the start of her career, a senior colleague told her: "Just because of who you are, you will have to work harder than most people in the kitchen, because you are female, because you are black and because you are young."

Even now she is senior, "people won't assume I am head chef - they always go to the male colleague who is near me". 

'They ask to speak to my husband, not me'

For Anya Delport, issues in the industry stretch beyond the kitchen doors. The 34-year-old from South Africa set up the Interlude, a Michelin-starred restaurant in West Sussex, with her husband, who is the executive chef. 

"One of the biggest things I have faced is customers reacting differently towards me because I am a woman," she tells Money.

"There have been times I have had to send certain staff members to a table instead because I felt like guests would have a better experience."

On occasions, customers have asked to speak to her husband, instead of her.

She recently lost a pastry chef who moved to be closer to her husband: "I think society sometimes thinks a woman's career in a relationship is the one that needs to be sacrificed."

But she remains hopeful that things are changing, and more women will come up through the industry: "You do not have to conform to what society thinks you should be.

How Gordon Ramsay helped Sally past burnout

During Sally's time at Claridge's, she reached the brink of burnout, with Gordon Ramsay stepping in to get her therapy - something she describes as "life-changing". 

She paid this back by creating her own employee assistance programme when head chef at the Harwood Arms. 

Sally is now executive chef at the Pem, a kitchen staffed by women, where just one chef is a man.

"There's no ego, nobody is competing, and everybody just wants to do a good job," she says.

"If you want to, it's really not that hard and I start at the top. If you are a respectful boss and lead with love, guidance and empowerment, then it just filters down. It is probably easier to do that than it is to stand and shout at people all day.

"I've tried that and it's exhausting and I went home at the end of the day and I felt like a horrible person."

Judy, like Sally, is also optimistic about the future: "We all have to help each other and lift one another up and be each other's advocates. We will rise together.  This is so important. I am huge on mentorship; it is so important."

-SKY NEWS