‘Whenever there’s change, whether it’s public sector cuts or interest rate changes, any sort of volatility on the whole is good for our business,’ says Paul Doughty, finance director of Moneysupermarket.com. There are few FDs who would welcome such unpredictability in their markets but for Doughty this is exactly what drives consumers to look again at their gas, insurance or credit cards and straight to price comparison websites.

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