UK consumers ‘despondent’ ahead of the budget; pound heads for worst month in a year; Russia hikes interest rates – as it happened

Shoppers on Oxford Street in London. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

4.21pm BST

Closing post

Time to wrap up… Here’s today’s main stories:

4.20pm BST

EasyGroup moves into online sports betting

Stelios Haji-Ioannou has stamped the Easy brand on everything from aeroplanes to pizza joints, with varying degrees of success.

Now the billionaire entrepreneur is taking a punt on online sports betting, the Guardian has learned, through a partnership with an offshore gambling firm that is on the comeback trail after having its licence suspended in 2020.

EasyBet is a joint-venture with Matchbook, a trading name of Triplebet, which is based on the Channel island of Alderney.

The Guardian understands that Triplebet is owned by Zeljko Ranogajec, an Australian-born multimillionaire who has been described as the world’s most successful gambler and by the nicknames of the “Loch Ness monster”, because he is rarely spotted, and “The Joker”.