Business News
Local news websites end charges
One of the UK’s biggest local newspaper groups has stopped charging readers to read news articles on six of its websites after a four-month trial. Johnson Press was the first regional newspaper to introduce a fee to read full articles. It cost £5 for a three-month subscription. Sites in the pilot scheme included the Worksop... »
Virgin Blue to buy new aircraft
Australian airline Virgin Blue says it will buy up to 105 new aircraft from manufacturer Boeing in its biggest single order. »
Moomin profits
You might think Finland’s greatest export success is made by Nokia, or that it consists of pulp and planks made from its vast forests, but Sanna Jukantupa knows better. As the temperatures drop to minus 19 degrees Celsius, she rushes, flask in hand, across the bridge that leads into Moomin World, home to the peculiar... »
Carbon emission scheme starts
A new scheme to cut carbon emissions from big businesses and other organisations has come into effect. The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) initiative will require large firms and public sector bodies to buy allowances to cover their energy use. About 5,000 organisations are having to participate in the scheme, which will see the most efficient... »
Big job cuts at troubled Jarvis
About 800 job cuts are to be cut at Jarvis by the administrators who are now running the rail maintenance firm, a union official has said. Stan Herschel, regional organiser at the RMT union, said the cuts would be made in Jarvis’s rail renewal division, based in York. Last week Jarvis, which employs 2,000 people,... »
Icy weather costs FirstGroup £16m
Transport firm FirstGroup has said that the disruption caused by the snowy weather during winter hit its operating profits by £16m. However, the firm, which has operations in the UK and North America, said it still expected to meet full-year earnings targets. In the UK, FirstGroup’s rail franchises include Great Western and ScotRail, and it... »
CBI urges police pay bill freeze
The pay bill of police officers and staff in England and Wales should be frozen to protect frontline services, business organisation the CBI has said. The recommendation – one of a series in a report on policing – would help maintain the fight on crime at a time of shrinking budgets, it says. The CBI... »
Call to clean up cash Isa market
A watchdog wants an Office of Fair Trading investigation into the use of temporary headline interest rates to attract savers to cash Isas. Tax-free Individual Savings Accounts (Isas) were introduced in the UK 11 years ago to encourage people to save. The average interest rate stands at 0.41%, Consumer Focus said, with many banks and... »
Legal action to stop rail strike
Network Rail is taking legal action in a bid to avert planned strikes by signallers, the company has said. The RMT and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) is planning a four-day strike from 6 April, which it says could hit 80% of services. The dispute centres on Network Rail plans to cut 1,500 jobs... »
Irish banks to get more state aid
The Irish government is expected to announce plans to invest even more money in the country’s struggling banking sector later. The plans are expected to include increasing the government’s stakes in Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks, in which it already holds shares. Bad loans worth billions of euros will also be moved from... »
Call for rules on letting agents
Letting agents should be regulated to protect both tenants and landlords, the Property Ombudsman has said. In his latest annual report, Ombudsman Christopher Hamer said disputes with letting agents rose from 28% to 49% of his workload last year. He predicted that problems over lettings would make up two thirds of his workload this year.... »
Chancellors square up in debate
Alistair Darling is going head-to-head with his Tory and Lib Dem counterparts George Osborne and Vince Cable in the first ever "chancellors’ debate". The trio will face questions on their parties’ central economic proposals on Channel 4 ahead of the expected start of the election campaign next week. The state of the economy is likely... »
Falklands oil search disappoints
Shares in Desire Petroleum have almost halved after the oil explorer said a well being drilled off the Falkland Islands may not be economically viable. Shares in other companies operating off the Falklands also fell amid fears that the region’s reserves may disappoint. The well is the first to be drilled off the islands for... »
US Treasury plans Citi share sale
The US government is preparing to sell its 27% stake in Citigroup, in what would be one of the largest share sales in history. »
Unite criticises use of BA pilots
The Unite union accuses BA of using the world’s most expensive cabin crew, after drafting in pilots to replace striking staff. »
Employment tribunals strengthened
People who win awards against their former employers at employment tribunals have been given new powers to get their money. From next month they can use High Court enforcement officers to do the job. They will be available to chase employers who may have sacked staff unfairly or discriminated against them. The Ministry of Justice... »
Lloyds boss sees bonus increase
Lloyds Banking Group has announced plans to pay its chief executive, Eric Daniels, a bigger bonus. The bank said it planned to give Mr Daniels up to £2.83m in shares as a long-term bonus – equivalent to 275% of his £1.03m salary. That is up from the previous cap of 200% of his salary –... »
Peru’s trees
Nestle Waters France wants to offset emissions from its factories in the west by buying trees in a rainforest thousands of miles away. It is not the first and it will not be the last time a multinational company publicly declares its green intentions. But the public has come used to greeting such announcements with... »
Green promise
By Dominic HughesEurope reporter, BBC News When the financial crisis first hit about 18 months ago, many politicians claimed "green jobs" would be the answer to reviving economic growth. In January, President Obama pledged to create 17,000 green jobs – those linked to new environmentally friendly technologies. In the UK, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said new... »
PM ‘weakness’ blamed for strikes
The latest strike by British Airways’ cabin crew has entered its second day, with both sides claiming an advantage. On Saturday, the airline cancelled a third of departures – about 90 flights mainly out of Heathrow – but said it operated a full service from Gatwick. But the union, Unite, said BA was wasting millions... »
Tory attack over strike response
The latest strike by British Airways’ cabin crew has entered its second day, with both sides claiming an advantage. On Saturday, the airline cancelled a third of departures – about 90 flights mainly out of Heathrow – but said it operated a full service from Gatwick. But the union, Unite, said BA was wasting millions... »
World trade to recover, says WTO
After the sharpest decline in more than 70 years, world trade is set to rebound, according to economists at the World Trade Organization. In 2009, the volume of world merchandise exports fell 12%, mainly because of the global financial crisis. Now the WTO predicts world trade will bounce back and record growth of 9.5%. The... »
Hewitt on Europe
Relief of Athens – eurozone rides to Greece’s rescue »
US economic growth revised down
US economic growth has been revised down, but remains comparatively strong at an annualised rate of 5.6% for the fourth quarter of 2009. This is the rate of economic growth for the three months that assumes the same level for a full 12 months. It was revised down by 0.3%, according to the US Commerce... »
Talks due over rail strike threat
Talks between unions and employers in a bid to avert the threatened national rail strike will begin on Monday, the conciliation service Acas has said. The RMT and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) are planning four days of action from 6 April in a row over jobs and working practices. If it went ahead,... »
Second BA strike disrupts flights
More British Airways flights have been cancelled as a second strike by the firm’s cabin crew gets under way. According to live departure boards, 29 scheduled flights due to depart London airports on Saturday morning have already been cancelled. However BA has said it expects disruption to be less than last weekend’s strike, when cabin... »
Business leaders criticise Budget
More than two thirds of business leaders think Chancellor Alistair Darling is doing a bad job, a survey by the Institute of Directors suggests. The poll of 1,200 members suggested 45% thought Wednesday’s budget would damage the economy, while 16% said it would be positive. The rest were neutral. Respondents were also sceptical about government... »
BA’s second strike gets under way
More British Airways flights have been cancelled as a second strike by the firm’s cabin crew gets under way. According to live departure boards, 29 scheduled flights due to depart London airports on Saturday morning have already been cancelled. However BA has said it expects disruption to be less than last weekend’s strike, when cabin... »
City trader denies insider deals
A hedge fund trader arrested this week as part of a probe into insider dealing has pledged to clear his name. Lawyers for Julian Rifat, a trader at Moore Capital, say he is "deeply distressed" by accusations made against him. Mr Rifat was arrested in a joint operation by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and... »
Heathrow opponents win case
Campaigners have won a High Court battle for further consultation into plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport. Councils, residents and green groups had said the government’s approval of the runway was flawed by "conspicuously unfair" public consultations. The group argued that the expansion decision was at odds with the UK’s overall climate change... »
FSA to ban commission sales
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is banning financial advisers from receiving commission payments for selling financial policies. The decision is a revolutionary change for the financial services industry. Commission payments have been at the heart of mis-selling scandals involving policies such as mortgage endowments and payment protection insurance. "New rules… will remove commission bias from... »
Euro strengthens on Greece deal
The euro has strengthened against the dollar and the pound after eurozone leaders agreed a financial aid package to help debt-laden Greece. The leaders agreed to provide 22bn euros (£20bn) should Greece run into difficulties borrowing money to service its high debt levels. The euro rose by more than half a cent, or 0.5%, to... »
BA’s Walsh ‘wants to break union’
Ninety-five employment relations experts have written to a national newspaper accusing British Airways boss Willie Walsh of union-busting. They tell the Guardian that they can find no other reason for his stance over the airline’s industrial dispute with the Unite union. The academics come from a range of universities from the UK and elsewhere, including... »
Chinese Googlie?
By Russell HottenBusiness reporter, BBC News Google’s move into China four years ago was billed by some people as a battle between the irresistible force and the immovable object. The inexorable expansion of the internet – epitomised by Google – would never exist happily in a command economy like China, said critics. By taking its search... »
EU-US airline deal on ownership
A new agreement between the EU and the US to further liberalise trans-Atlantic air travel paves the way for foreigners to take major stakes in US airlines. EU airlines will allow US investors to take majority stakes in themselves. Foreign control of US carriers is currently capped at 25% – US airlines could gain ownership... »
Airline goes into administration
A Scottish airline is understood to have gone into administration. Inverness-based airline Highland Airways is thought to have called in PricewaterhouseCoopers on Wednesday night to take over the running of the business, which also operates in Wales. All its Thursday flights have been cancelled and no further bookings are being taken. The airline’s problems came... »
Parties draw Budget battle lines
The political parties are drawing up their election battlelines around the economy following the Budget. Chancellor Alistair Darling cut stamp duty for first-time buyers but unveiled tax increases for the better off. The Tories said Labour has made a "mess" of the economy and "bold action" was missing but the Lib Dems said both parties... »
Staff on first Budget Day strike
About 30,000 civil servants in Scotland are due to take part in the first ever strike on Budget Day, in a dispute over cuts to redundancy pay. The 24-hour national stoppage has been called by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). It comes after a two-day strike earlier in March saw up to 200,000... »
Budget says bank accounts for all
UK banks will be legally obliged to provide a basic bank account to all under plans unveiled in the Budget. The move was one of several supposed to tighten the way in which banks conduct their business after a year of unprecedented criticism of the sector. Other changes included new targets for lending, with the... »
Trust status for canals network
The body in charge of England and Wales’ 2,200-mile long canal network will become a mutual organisation, the government has announced in the Budget. British Waterways, which runs the system, welcomed the move, which it has been pressing for for some years. Details of the switch have not yet been released, but British Waterways could... »
B&B and Rock ‘bad banks’ to merge
The so-called "bad banks" of Northern Rock (now NRAM) and Bradford and Bingley (B&B) plan to merge. The move is designed to cut costs and bring greater efficiencies for the taxpayer, who owns both businesses. They are set to be brought under one holding company with a single management team, although there is no firm... »
SAIC to build new Roewe in UK
China’s Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) has said it will build its new Roewe 350 hatchback model at its Longbridge plant in the UK. SAIC did not confirm when production would begin, or what the new models being built in the UK would cost. The 350 will be sold in Europe through existing MG and... »
Darling in stamp duty Budget move
Chancellor Alistair Darling is preparing to give his third budget, the last before the general election. He is expected to describe it as "a Budget to secure the recovery and invest in our industrial future". It is thought stamp duty on house sales of up to £250,000 will be scrapped and a planned rise in... »
Japan exports to Asia and US rise
Japanese exports rose 45% in February compared with the same month a year ago. Exports to Asia, which make up more than half of Japan’s total exports, rose more than 55% in the same period. Car shipments to the US more than doubled, despite huge recent recalls by Toyota due to safety problems. Japanese imports... »
India appeal
Shilpa KannanIndia Business Reporter, Delhi The lights and the smoke machines are turned on as a model walks down the ramp wearing a pair of glowing neon headphones and a bright futuristic dress. The crowd enthusiastically cheers a young designer who comes forward to take a bow. High Fashion has never been in so much demand... »
National strike staged in France
French public sector workers are holding a day-long, nationwide strike to protest against the government’s social and economic policies. The strike was causing some transport disruption, French media reports said. The protest comes two days after regional elections in which President Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-right UMP party suffered a heavy defeat. Resistance to Mr Sarkozy’s economic... »
Building societies agree merger
The Coventry building society, the UK’s third largest, is taking over the loss-making Stroud & Swindon society. The deal will mean the closure of the Stroud & Swindon headquarters in Stroud with likely job losses. The merger will complete on 1 September and there will be no bonus payments to members of either society. But... »
UK inflation rate starts to fall
The UK inflation rate fell to 3% in February from 3.5% the month before, official figures have shown. The drop in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation rate was greater than the sharp drop analysts had expected. Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation, which includes housing costs, remained unchanged at 3.7% in February. The CPI inflation... »
BA services resume after strike
British Airways is trying to resume normal services following the end of a three-day strike by cabin crew. The airline says it has reinstated a number of flights over the next four days that were previously cancelled. BA is reviewing its schedule for a strike between 27 and 30 March which is again about pay... »
Banks ‘to change lending targets’
Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds-TSB will be told in Wednesday’s Budget to change their lending targets, according to Whitehall sources. The move will increase the amount the two banks are required to lend to businesses, a move designed to help firms as the economy recovers. It should make it easier for the two majority... »