RBS and Natwest apologise for payment chaos on Cyber Monday December 3, 2013 RBS and Natwest have apologised on social media service Twitter for the failure of the giant bank's payment system last night. Hundreds of thousands of customers couldn't make online purchases, as well as being unable to use physical debit and credit cards. We are very sorry for the issues that have affected customers tonight. — [...]
Betfair targets Italy and US for expansion December 3, 2013 Internet betting company Betfair has announced profit before tax of £31.7m in the six months ended 31 October and reported that it's been making "good progress" on a new exchange in Italy, along with the launch of a new online casino in New Jersey. Chief executive Breon Corcoran said that cost reductions over the past year [...]
Greene King serves up healthy profits as sales rise December 3, 2013 Pub retailer Greene King has posted solid profits and rising sales for the six months to 13 October. The company recorded a rise in pre-tax profit of 5.7 per cent to £85.6m while total revenue rose 5.2 per cent to £595.4m. Strong growth in key areas such as food helped drive like-for-like retail sales up 3.5 [...]
What you need to know before the open – 03/12 December 3, 2013 European bourses will open weaker this morning, as investors await UK construction data. This follows a disappointing market reaction yesterday, despite several economic reports being better than expected. The Dow fell sharply at the end of Monday trading, although the S&P 500 did stay above 1,800. Chinese November purchasing managers' index has shown a continued [...]
Npower apologises to customers over billing process December 3, 2013 Npower will be apologising to its 5.4m domestic customers for problems associated with its billing process. In November, figures from the regulator Ofgem found that Npower was receiving five times more complaints than the highest performing energy company. The company has promised to correct issues over setting up accounts and billing as well as promising [...]
France is the weakest link December 2, 2013 THE FRENCH economy is becoming a major drag on the Eurozone, with yesterday’s abysmal figures from its factory sector throwing fresh light on the country’s bleak political and business climate. French factories confirmed yesterday that their activity fell in November for the 21st month in a row – despite manufacturers across the Eurozone reporting the [...]
Amazon floats plan to use drones to deliver packages December 2, 2013 AMAZON is preparing to make next-day delivery obsolete by using unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, in an audacious plan to introduce 30-minute home delivery. The online retailer hopes to revolutionise online shopping by delivering directly from its warehouses to customers’ homes using autonomous drones that can carry small packages weighing up to five pounds (2.3kg). [...]
RBS and Natwest hit by new IT failures on Cyber Monday December 2, 2013 CUSTOMERS at RBS and NatWest were frozen out for at least four hours last night as the giant bank’s payment system crashed for the third time in 18 months, and on the busiest shopping day of the year so far. Hundreds of thousands of transactions were blocked by the fault yesterday evening, stopping customers making [...]
Treasury insists Britons benefiting from growth December 2, 2013 THE TREASURY insisted yesterday that compensation for workers in the UK is still closely linked to output, adding to debate over the cost of living in the lead up to the Autumn Statement. A new paper seen by City A.M. yesterday suggests that in the years since the crisis, the share of output going to [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 03 December 2013 December 2, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Osborne under infrastructure pressure Work on infrastructure projects fell 13 per cent last year, despite the ongoing Crossrail project George Osborne will come under renewed pressure to prove the coalition is delivering its infrastructure promises after a Financial Times analysis showed slow progress on many schemes. PC sales headed for worst year PC [...]