Supermarket bosses blame cheap food culture for horsemeat fiasco February 17, 2013 MALCOLM Walker, the chief executive of frozen food supermarket chain Iceland said yesterday local councils are to blame for driving down food quality with cheap food contracts for schools and hospitals. Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, Walker said supermarkets should not be held responsible for the horsemeat crisis, arguing that they had become [...]
New tie-up for mobile security February 17, 2013 FTSE 100 giants Vodafone and BAE Systems yesterday announced a five- year strategic partnership to safe- guard mobile phones. The tie-up is part of BAE Systems’ push to grow its cyber and security arm BAE Systems Detica and will also help Vodafone’s business customers fight against the growing threat of cyber attacks. The initiative between [...]
Conservative wins first round of Cyprus vote February 17, 2013 CONSERVATIVE leader Nicos Anastasiades easily won the first round in Cyprus’s presidential elections yesterday, but failed to avoid a runoff vote, reflecting deep divi- sions among Cypriots on a bailout deal to save the island nation from bankruptcy. A financial crash in Cyprus could reignite the Eurozone debt crisis and investors are keen to see [...]
Rail directors receiving £100k February 17, 2013 The state-owned railway company East Coast Main Line has paid eight directors salaries of £100,000 or above, according to Freedom of Information figures. The highest-paid director, believed to be Karen Boswell, is on a salary package worth £161,000 to £180,000 a year, figures released to the Press Association showed. Seven other executives at the government- [...]
The French bank chief fighting back against hostile politicians February 17, 2013 FRANCE has never been the friendliest country for bankers to work in. Its suspicion of capitalism and enduring official support for a short working week don’t make for a natural fit with the fast-paced world of high finance. Hence many of the country’s best and brightest have moved to more welcoming shores. But Société Générale’s [...]
Lib Dems may vote with Labour on mansion tax February 17, 2013 VINCE Cable yesterday suggested the Lib Dems could join Labour and vote in favour of a so-called mansion tax on £2m homes, saying it was an “an idea whose time has come”. However the business secretary was forced to talk down internal party suggestions for a wealth tax on personal items such as jewellery, saying [...]
Royal Mail staff on track to take 10pc of shares February 17, 2013 THE COALITION is pushing ahead with plans to hand employees at least 10 per cent of the shares in Royal Mail, with Britain’s biggest privatisation in two decades lined up for this year. Although the government is continuing to explore all options for the state-owned postal service – including the sale of a stake to [...]
Laudrup sorry for Swansea’s horror show February 17, 2013 SWANSEA boss Michael Laudrup issued an apology to the club’s travelling fans yesterday, after his team were hammered by Liverpool at Anfield. Steven Gerrard opened the scoring from the spot on 34 minutes, before a flood of second half goals from Philippe Coutinho, Jose Enrique, Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge secured the rout. “It was [...]
Bumi battle hinges on key investor February 17, 2013 THE CITY takeover watchdog could decide the fate of troubled coalmin- er Bumi as soon as tomorrow after a key stakeholder moved to offload a decisive voting bloc in the company. Former Bumi non-executive direc- tor Rosan Roeslani, who owns 13 per cent of the company through his firm Bukit Mutiara, is thought to be [...]
Benitez slams Terry rift talk as Blues progress February 17, 2013 CHELSEA manager Rafael Benitez labelled reports of a rift with defender John Terry as “total rubbish” after seeing his skipper score in yesterday’s FA Cup fourth round replay at Stamford Bridge. A national newspaper claimed the pair had fallen out over Terry’s lack of playing time since the Spaniard’s arrival on 21 November. But Benitez [...]
