Why it must be made much easier to switch bank accounts July 8, 2012 FOR once, Labour has got it half right. It will confirm today that it wants to make it much easier for current account holders to change bank, in a bid to empower consumers and to drastically improve competition in retail banking. The idea is to make switching bank as easy as it is changing mobile [...]
Smaller rivals pick up business after rates scam July 8, 2012 SMALLER banks and building societies are benefiting from increased current account business as consumers become disillusioned with big banks. Metro Bank saw a 30 per cent increase in new account enquiries last week, and has increased call centre manpower by 13 per cent to cope with demand. It typically opens 1,500-2,000 new accounts each week. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 8, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Call for French business boost French business urgently requires shock treatment to cut labour costs and boost its flagging ability to compete on international markets, top economists and business leaders have warned Francois Hollande. ArcelorMittal refuses to rule out EU steel closures as demand falls ArcelorMittal has refused to rule out further site [...]
Greek government wins approval July 8, 2012 Greece’s new conservative-led government today won parliamentary approval, but faced the much tougher task of convincing European partners and the IMF to give it more time to meet the terms of its bailout. There had been little doubt the government would sail through the confidence vote after a heated three-day debate in which it pledged [...]
Egypt to reconvene parliament July 8, 2012 Egypt’s new president yesterday ordered a parliament dominated by his Islamist party to reconvene, challenging the authority of the generals who had dissolved the assembly in line with a court order. President Mohammed Mursi’s decree appeared to catch off guard the generals who handed power to him on 30 June. State media said the army’s [...]
Permira plans £400m Birds Eye refinancing July 8, 2012 Private equity house Permira is considering a refinancing of frozen food firm Birds Eye, which would land the firm a €500m (£397m) windfall. Under the terms of the refinancing, the level of Birds Eye’s debt would expand to almost €2bn from €1.4bn. Permira, which bought the UK-based frozen food producer from Unilever for €1.6bn in [...]
Firms more cautious on profits July 8, 2012 THE NUMBER of profit warnings issued by UK businesses fell 18 per cent in the second quarter of 2012, according to figures out yesterday from Ernst and Young – but only because firms are more cautious in their initial predictions, not because profits are improving. Sixty warnings were issued in the quarter, down from 73 [...]
Debenhams launches website in German to lure shoppers July 8, 2012 DEBENHAMS, Britain’s second largest department store group, revealed yesterday it is launching its first foreign language website in Germany as part of its ambitions to expand overseas. The retailer, which runs 164 stores in the UK and Ireland and the Magasin du Nord chain in Denmark, also plans to expand its international delivery service to [...]
M&S expected to reveal weak non-food sales July 8, 2012 RETAIL giant Marks & Spencer (M&S) is expected to announce weak first-quarter sales at its annual meeting tomorrow, after clothing sales were hit hard by the poor weather. A consensus forecast of 12 analysts compiled by the company predicts a 6.7 per cent drop in clothing and homeware sales compared to the same period last [...]
It’s not just any sales fall, it’s an M&S sales fall July 8, 2012 MARKS & SPENCER’s trading update tomorrow is likely to suggest that the high-street stalwart has been particularly weather-beaten in the first quarter of the year. Not only in the face of the wettest spring on record – which it is expected to blame for a 6.7 per cent decline in non-food sales – but also [...]
