House prices fall by 0.5%, says Nationwide Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian House prices fell in July for the first time since February, reducing the average price of a UK property to £169,347 from £170,111 last month, according to latest figures from the Nationwide building society. The 0.5% monthly fall now means the annual [...]

Emma Thompson in An Education. Photograph: c.Sony Pics/Everett / Rex Featur Trailers promoting forthcoming BBC programmes are traditionally controversial, as are promotional films extolling the virtues of the corporation. The biggest single complaint on viewer feedback shows is that some programmes are so enthusiastically previewed that the audience eventually tunes in with a sense of [...]

Final preparations to a branch of Metro Bank in central London – but the revolution could take some time. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters Is the opening of Metro Bank this morning the start of a revolution in British banking, as claimed by its intriguing founder, Vernon Hill? Metro is making some bold claims, but the high [...]

Metro Bank in Holborn, central London will open to the public today Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters Yorkshire terrier Duffy is yapping away, the silver pillars are being polished and plastic sheeting being torn off surfaces. After two years of preparation, it is a few hours before the opening of Metro Bank, the first new bank to [...]