Tesco sheds its value stripes in UK rebranding April 4, 2012 TESCO has scrapped its blue-and- white striped Tesco Value range of products in favour of a new updated brand, as chief executive Philip Clarke continues to shake up the business in an attempt to revive UK sales. The Everyday Value range, made up of 550 products, will feature more colourful and “softer” packaging compared with [...]
Clarke makes a play to show investors he means business April 4, 2012 PHILIP Clarke’s power grab for Tesco’s UK business last month was a bold move by the flailing supermarket’s chief executive. It left analysts predicting a crunch year for Clarke – who took over from Terry Leahy in March last year – with a clear case of sink or swim on the cards should he fail [...]
Hays predicts strong 2012 growth in Asia April 4, 2012 BRITISH recruitment firm Hays expects strong double-digit growth in its Asia business this year on strength in the resources and information technology sectors, and is more optimistic about the global outlook, its top executive said yesterday. Chief executive Alistair Cox said that while consumers, companies and employees seemed paralysed last year by uncertainty over the [...]
Yahoo cuts 2,000 staff… April 4, 2012 YAHOO yesterday began notifying 2,000 of its staff that their jobs no longer exist, as the internet company embarked on its sixth major round of jobs cuts in the last four years. Yahoo said it expects to realise $375m (£235.7m) of annual savings from the restructure, but it could incur a one-off charge of $125m to [...]
…But Skype hires 400 and puts 100 workers in new London hub April 4, 2012 SKYPE yesterday unveiled an expansion plan that will see the online phone group increase its European presence and hire 400 extra people across five cities worldwide. The Microsoft-owned company, which already has an office in the West End, is upping its London workforce by 100 and opening a new technology centre in the city. Skype [...]
Amazon picks up Tech City offices April 4, 2012 PUSHBUTTON is relocating from its current 2,000 square foot digs to an office 25 times the size as Amazon shows its support for London’s flourishing Tech City. The ten year old company, which was bought by Amazon last year, designs tools that allow TV viewers to watch and interact with media across a range of [...]
Competition commission set to investigate private healthcare April 4, 2012 THE OFFICE of Fair Trading (OFT) has asked the Competition Commission to investigate whether Britain’s £5bn private healthcare market needs reform. Following a public consultation the regulator decided that aspects of the industry “could work better for patients” and that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that aspects of the market prevent, restrict or distort [...]
Greek suicide over financial crisis April 4, 2012 A cash-strapped Greek pensioner shot and killed himself outside parliament in Athens yesterday, saying he refused to scrounge for food in the rubbish, touching a nerve among ordinary Greeks feeling the brunt of the country’s economic crisis. The public suicide of the 77-year-old retired pharmacist quickly triggered an outpouring of sympathy in a country where [...]
Willie Walsh’s bonus cut after Iberia troubles April 4, 2012 WILLIE Walsh picked up a £1.155m pay package for last year but missed out on £1.35m of bonus payments after International Airlines Group (IAG) failed to hit some performance targets. The group chief executive received a base salary of £825,000 and a £302,000 bonus, according to the annual report of the owner of British Airways [...]
RBS investment chief Hourican nets £4.8m in options sell-off April 4, 2012 JOHN Hourican, the head of RBS investment banking division, yesterday pocketed £4.8m after selling shares in the state-backed bank. Hourican, who heads its global banking and markets (GBM) division which has had to slash thousands of jobs, sold 17.6m shares at a price of around 27p per share, after exercising lucrative share options, a regulatory [...]
