Mr Consistency comes good October 19, 2009 ON THE GREENS WITHSAM TORRANCE GIVEN his ultra consistency, it’s hard to believe that Lee Westwood was celebrating a first European Tour win in two years in Portugal this weekend. Westwood has been the steadiest performer on the Tour for some time now, but has all too often fallen just short of landing the big [...]
SPORT IN BRIEF October 19, 2009 Ferguson lands FAchargeFOOTBALL: Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was yesterday charged with improper conduct by the Football Association for his comments on referee Alan Wiley. Ferguson questioned Wiley’s fitness after the 2-2 draw with Sunderland on 3 October and could face a hefty fine or touchline ban if found guilty. He has two weeks [...]
ROYAL MAIL: THE RIVALS October 19, 2009 ADAM CROZIERROYAL MAIL CHIEF EXECOnce head of the Football Association, Crozier is used to running much-loved British institutions. But the country is fast falling out of love with Royal Mail. The rise of the internet and the mobile phone means businesses and households alike are deserting the service. Crozier has been stuck between a rock [...]
TNT calls on government to deregulate postal services October 19, 2009 DUTCH-OWNED post group TNT yesterday called on the government to lift anti-competitive barriers that prevent it from launching a service to rival Royal Mail. As the state-owned postal service gears up for a national strike – set to start on Thursday – TNT wants provisions that exempt Royal Mail from paying value added tax to [...]
Royal Mail locked in last-ditch talks October 19, 2009 ROYAL MAIL was last night in eleventh hour talks with its unions in a desperate bid to avoid nationwide walk-outs which are set to cripple the Christmas post. It is the latest move from both sides to end a dispute over modernisation at the service. Tensions are running so high that there are even fears [...]
MPs to question Harman in sex in the City hearing October 19, 2009 Sexism in the City will be in the spotlight once again today when the Treasury Committee continues to take evidence for a new inquiry into the treatment of women in the Square Mile. Minister for Women and Equality Harriet Harman is scheduled to speak as well as Sarah McCarthy-Fry, exchequer secretary for the Treasury and [...]
Standard Life names Nish as its new chief October 19, 2009 STANDARD Life has put an end to months of speculation over who will take over from veteran chief executive Sir Sandy Crombie by naming finance director David Nish as his successor. Nish, 49, had been seen as the most likely candidate to take the job since it emerged that veteran Crombie was to retire from [...]
BAA: anti-trust ruling is biased October 19, 2009 A COMPETITION ruling forcing BAA to sell airports was “riven” with the appearance of bias, the airports group told an appeal hearing yesterday. BAA, majority owned by Spanish infrastructure company Ferrovial, was ordered in March to sell London’s Gatwick and Stansted, as well as either Edinburgh or Glasgow. BAA’s lawyer told the appeals tribunal that [...]
Half of all PEdeals distressed October 19, 2009 HALF of all private equity deals are now being completed under distressed conditions, according to accountants KPMG. But the firm said this is not a surprisingly high level “given the hype around distressed balance sheets”. Michael McDonagh, a partner at the firm, said there were only 17 deals above £10m over the last quarter and [...]
Yell extends due date for debt talks October 19, 2009 Debt-laden publisher Yell Group said yesterday it had extended the deadline for lenders to agree to its refinancing plans, which include a rights issue of at least £500m. The Yellow Pages publisher said it had received an initial favourable response from its creditors, but that it needed to extend the deadline to 26 October. “This [...]
