Borders files for bankruptcy February 16, 2011 Bookshop chain Borders has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and said it would close about a third of its shops yesterday. Continued sales decline has left its $1.29bn (£800m) debt load unmanageable, while online rivals such as Amazon have cut its market share.
Icesave deal gets final approval February 16, 2011 Iceland’s Parliament is to approve a deal to return about $5bn (£3bn) of bailout money for failed bank Icesave to the UK and the Netherlands. The payout, which should be approved next week, represents about 86 per cent of the amount the government had to pay depositors in Icesave, which collapsed in 2008 at the [...]
Seymour deal in doubt as Gerova tanks February 16, 2011 THE future of a £40m deal to take over City stockbroker Seymour Pierce suffered a blow last night amid a botched management overhaul at its US buyer. Gerova Financial Group, a New York-managed reinsurance company, had engineered a reverse takeover of Seymour Pierce that would have seen its chairman Keith Harris become chair of a [...]
Google ups heat on Apple February 16, 2011 GOOGLE chief executive Eric Schmidt stole Apple’s thunder yesterday by launching a well-received online content subscription service just a day after its rival unveiled its own. Google’s One Pass payment model, which will allow publishers to charge for content viewed on computers and mobile devices, was praised as more flexible for users and a better [...]
Glitch hits trade just days after LSE upgrades February 16, 2011 CONFUSION reigned last night after a second consecutive day of technical glitches hit traders. Technical errors hit brokers, allegedly as a result of data provided by the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Zeroes intermittently appeared on some shares displaying LSE bid and ask prices, just one day after the auction close was delayed. Data provider Thomson [...]
Pietersen thrilled at the opportunity to act as England’s emergency opener February 16, 2011 ENGLAND batsman Kevin Pietersen insists he is ready to embrace the role of emergency World Cup opener. Pietersen, who has played the vast majority of his 110 one-day internationals at No4, was promoted to the top of the order as England struggled to a narrow warm-up victory over Canada yesterday. The South African-born star made [...]
Coalition has done little to cut red tape February 16, 2011 THE coalition government has done little to cut costly red tape since it came to power, according to a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) – despite promising to slash burdensome regulation. The report from the NAO, published today, found “ no attempt has been made to review the total number of regulations that [...]
Report says public service reform slow February 16, 2011 THE government’s public service reforms are “all over the place”, according to a scathing report out today. Reform, a think-tank focused on overhauling public services, said the pace of change in education and health was too slow and not radical enough. Although education secretary Michael Gove is introducing more academies and free schools – which [...]
Tribunals cost firms £1.6bn February 16, 2011 EMPLOYMENT tribunals cost UK businesses a staggering £1.6bn in 2010, according to new figures released today. According to Ambition, the global recruitment firm, just one in twenty HR professionals fully understands the employment tribunal process. That means the majority of firms – one in five – settle every single tribunal case before they get to court, even if [...]
Heidfeld given Renault drive February 16, 2011 FORMULA ONE: Nick Heidfeld will drive for Renault for the foreseeable future after it was announced that the German is to replace the injured Robert Kubica. “I’m motivated and can’t wait for the season to begin,” said Heidfeld.
