Money

They are agile, tech-savvy and making the best of being British. The country's new breed of exporters has discovered you do not need decades of international experience to set up successful global businesses. New figures show that growing numbers of individuals are making a living by selling goods all over the world thanks to technological advances, the internet and reliable delivery networks. Trevor Ginn set up Hello Baby Direct ten years ago, and now makes 55 per cent of his sales overseas.

As more and more companies get in on the Black Friday action savvy consumers can now find deals that won't just pay today, but could save you money all year round. From discounted broadband deals to cheap flights, we have scoured the web for the top deals to help your personal finances rather than those that drain your bank balance.

This family hatchback is reliable, great to drive and easy to get your hands on. In fact, it took the crown as the best used car because the market is flooded with low-mileage examples with full service histories and barely a scratch on the paintwork. So can you guess which model it is?

It is aimed at those who enjoy a tipple but also want to limit their intake of calories. SlimLine Wine is launching sparkling, red, white and rose wines in the UK next month. As well as having no sugar, the wines are also carb-free.They range between 10 and 11 per cent in alcoholic strength, and have around half the number of calories contained in a typical bottle. The sparkling and rose wines cost £10.99, while the red and white are £8.99 each.

Lars Kroijer has become a leading proponent of passive investing - and as a hedge fund manager is a man you might consider to know what he is talking about. We ask Lars to explain his thinking and how investors can build a simple passive investing portfolio that lets them sleep at night.

Many with certain investment policies or endowments could lose between £20 to £25, but some could lose 'a lot more than this', Royal London Insurance group claims. The Chancellor is abolishing Corporate Indexation Allowance, which allows insurance firms to reduce the tax they pay and in turn, reducing costs for policy holders.

NatWest has today launched a fully regulated robo-advice proposition charging £10 for customers seeking to invest sums as low as £500. The new online investment advice service will pit the bank against the likes of Nutmeg, MoneyFarm and Scalable Capital in the battle to win funds from individuals with modest sized nest eggs.

Know a good carpenter? Got a decent plumber? Used a speedy removal firm? We tend to rely on word-of-mouth to find reliable professionals, but what if your friends and associates don't come up with the goods? The increasingly popular route is to check out customer review websites. But how do you know which to trust? Major sites such as Trustpilot and Feefo carry large numbers of reviews, including hundreds of estate agents, conveyancers, mortgage companies and removal firms, with customer experiences, good and bad. Both sites say they take exhaustive measures to ensure accuracy.

If you have a dash cam fitted you will have solid evidence of what actually happened in an accident, it won't simply be your word against theirs. This evidence can be used by the insurance companies or the courts to ascertain the truth and apportion blame, something which could be very beneficial to you. Here are 7 of the best devices for capturing footage for under £150.

Stamp duty should be taken back to a flat 1% across the board, but if we won't do that and give up the revenue maybe it is time to charge the seller. Stamp duty has effectively become a capital gains tax, paid by the buyer rather than the seller. It seems completely bizarre that in stamp duty we have created a high tax system, where you foot a bill based on the other party's profit.

Love it or loathe it, Black Friday is now a huge annual event which sparks a shopping frenzy both in stores and online - and is an extravaganza that rivals Christmas for spend. Mail Online/This is Money consumer affairs editor Lee Boyce goes behind the scenes at Argos to see how it is gearing up for the challenge and just how its Tardis-like stores operate.

Stanley Gibbons has been the respectable face of the highbrow world of philately - stamp collecting to you and me - since it was founded back in 1856, but its trustworthy reputation has come into question this week. On Tuesday the AIM-listed company confirmed its postage stamp investment business had gone into administration, leaving hundreds of investors who bought rare stamps with the promise of a 'buyback guarantee' in limbo. The Guernsey-based subsidiary is in possession of £12.6million worth of rare stamps but has about £54million of liabilities relating to the buyback guarantees, plus a further £11million in undefined liabilities and another £6.5million which it owes to the parent company.

Higher rate taxpayers earning £50,000 a year will get a £236 tax cut next year, while those earning £30,000 will benefit to the tune of £101. The rise in the amount workers get to keep from their pay came as the Chancellor lifted the tax-free personal allowance to £11,850 and partially reversed years of fiscal drag by lifting the higher rate tax threshold to £46,350. Check what you will save.

Pension savers will keep their tax breaks after Chancellor Philip Hammond resisted butchering the popular incentives to raise cash for other pet projects. It was feared a major overhaul was on the cards - which could penalise older or richer savers or both - to fund a giveaway to young people.

Having popular fictional characters wear branded clothing might seem novel, but for Matchless's new owners, the Malenotti family, it is underpinned by a serious want to kickstart the heritage brand back into gear.

In November 2014, on reaching 65, I deferred receiving my state pension. With the government scheme promising a return of 10.4 per cent on the accumulated amount and a weekly pension, it seemed a 'no-brainer'. I am also receiving a local education authority and teacher's pension. Could you advise me whether to take the three years' accumulated amount as a lump sum or to start taking my state pension at the new rate. Which would be the most advantageous?

Dozens of travel companies, insurers, car dealers and even local councils are charging rip-off fees for paying by credit card - even though the Government says this is unacceptable. Our investigation found customers are having to fork out as much as 3 per cent extra to pay by credit card. In some cases, they are being charged £150 more than they would if they paid by debit card.

Isas used to be so simple. Now there are new Isas popping up all over the place with ever-more complexity. So we go back to basics and explain what they are and what they're good for. In this episode of the Big Money Questions, senior investment planner at Vanguard James Norton goes through what you need to know, and how you can get started if you are saving for the long term and want to open a stocks and shares Isa.

Even before it was off the design board, the dramatic face of the new Vantage became the inspiration for the DB10 - of which only ten were made for use in the Bond movie Spectre and driven by Daniel Craig. That's because Bond movie bosses preferred it to the looks of Aston's DB11. Now the real-life Vantage has been revealed and here are the first images of the 195mph 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 sports car.

The idea is simple - using a reflective foil behind your radiator will bounce heat back into the room, rather than letting it seep out through the walls of your home. So how much does it actually save? And is it worth buying special radiator reflectors or will tin foil work just as well? We find out.

To clear the average national household debt of £13,000 at 6% interest with a monthly repayment of £100 will take around 17 years. There are, however, plenty of simple ways to make significant savings on your regular spending that could clear your debt - or boost your savings - in less than a year. This is Money's top 50 - updated - money-saving tips may appear light-hearted but are deadly serious.

Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and changes to charges have left many investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best. We also highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense, as it should protect your hopefully growing investments from tax forever.

The amount you can save into a pension ultimately depends on what you can afford - but the longer you leave it the more you will need to save. We tend to put ambitious targets on our hoped-for income in retirement and then underestimate how much we will need to set aside to achieve that. So how much should you save?

The Bank of England has raised the base rate back to 0.5 per cent. The move up from 0.25 per cent is accompanied by an Inflation Report, which will outline where the bank sees things moving next. Expectations are that rates will not move up swiftly after this first rise, This is Money will bring you the details of the Inflation report and analysis imminently.

Compare your pay to the national average and see whether your employer treated you to a pay rise in line with the the rest of your profession. Farmers, care and air travel assistants were big winners on the pay scales in 2016. Travel agents, careers advisers and probation officers lost out.