Ireland under fire over EU laws February 20, 2014 The European Commission yesterday referred Ireland to Europe’s highest court for failing to comply with EU laws ensuring competition and fair distribution of energy supplies, and is demanding a daily penalty of more than €20,000 (£16,400). Ireland’s Department of Energy said it expected to have most of the technical provisions of the law in place [...]
EE targeting six million 4G users by end of 2014 February 20, 2014 BRITAIN’S biggest mobile operator EE said rapid 4G customer growth during its fourth quarter meant it now had two million customers using its super-fast data service. Chief executive Olaf Swantee told City A.M. that the network is targeting six million 4G customers – that EE makes an extra £2 per month from compared to customers [...]
Snoozebox starts to stir from its slumber February 20, 2014 SNOOZEBOX, the pop-up hotel provider which trades under the stock market ticker ZZZ, yesterday said revenues had recovered substantially after it briefly flirted with bankruptcy last year. The business, which will be running its hotels at this year’s Glastonbury music festival, said revenues grew 80 per cent to around £6.5m for the year ending December [...]
Europe starts lawsuit against Britain over pollution failings February 20, 2014 EUROPE is taking Britain to court for failing to tackle unacceptably high levels of pollution. The European Commission has complained that the UK has not set out a plan to improve levels of toxic nitrogen dioxide in its cities, despite being granted an extension until 2015 to sort out the problem. London will not be [...]
Promethean pens the biggest whiteboard deal in its history February 20, 2014 INTERACTIVE whiteboard maker Promethean World has won a deal to supply 10,000 classrooms in the US district of Miami-Dade with its equipment, boosting the embattled firm’s shares 11 per cent yesterday to their highest level in more than a year. The Blackburn-based company said the deal was one of the largest classroom contracts in its [...]
UK’s first cinema to be restored February 20, 2014 Plans to restore a cinema that showed the first publicly screened films in Britain were given the go-ahead by Westminster Council last night. The Regent Street Cinema, which is part of the University of Westminster’s main building, was used by the Lumiere brothers, to perform their first ever moving picture show in the UK in [...]
US Treasury on track for tax law February 20, 2014 The US Treasury Department said that the largely technical reporting changes released yesterday are “the last substantial package of regulations” needed to implement a new law set to take effect on 1 July that is meant to fight offshore tax evasion by Americans. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) was enacted in 2010 and [...]
JP Morgan’s commodity sales fall February 20, 2014 JP Morgan Chase’s commodity revenues fell 12 per cent last year, the bank said in a filing yesterday, shedding new light on the unit as the bank prepares to sell its physical trading arm to Swiss-based trader Mercuria. It said principal transaction revenues in commodities were $2.073bn in 2013, down from $2.363bn the previous year [...]
Flybe to raise £150m to fuel its turnaround February 20, 2014 FLYBE is tapping investors for £150m to help fund its recovery plan under new chief executive Saad Hammad. The regional airline said the share issue – worth nearly twice the firm’s market value – will fund plane purchases to keep its rental costs down and allow the firm to revamp its routes. Flybe has been [...]
New year drop in commercial vehicle output February 20, 2014 COMMERCIAL vehicle production fell 14.6 per cent in January due in part to dwindling European demand and new green regulations, industry figures out yesterday showed. In the month, 6,681 units rolled off production lines, with home and export markets both seeing falls, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). “New Euro-6 engine [...]