…while his younger brother is appointed to the government September 5, 2012 DAVID Cameron yesterday concluded his first cabinet reshuffle as the government announced a new committee of top-level ministers who will help drive through growth measures across Whitehall. The confirmed list of new ministers contains many new appointments at junior ministerial level, with 29 MPs leaving the government. One surprise inclusion was Jo Johnson, younger brother of Mayor [...]
Britvic and AG Barr gear up for £1.4bn deal September 5, 2012 TANGO soft drink maker Britvic yesterday revealed it had been approached by AG Barr, maker of Scottish staple Irn-Bru, in a plucky bid to merge the two beverage firms. AG Barr, which is much smaller than Britvic with revenues of £237m versus £1.3bn, said yesterday there was a “compelling industrial logic” for the plan. The [...]
Choosing the right person to mix the drinks September 5, 2012 OTHERS may be busy discussing plans for a referendum on Scottish independence, but there are signs of a fresh cross-border union between Hemel Hempstead-headquartered Britvic and AG Barr, maker of Scotland’s other national drink, Irn-Bru. If this new act of union goes ahead, it looks good for AG Barr – its revenues are almost five [...]
Man United’s stock dives again September 5, 2012 MANCHESTER United’s share price tumbled further in New York yesterday, after investors took in a range of analysts’ research notes. The stock fell out of bed as soon as the Nasdaq opened, plummeting around three and a half per cent. Despite recovering slightly, the price was down 2.2 per cent at the close of play [...]
Bonuses cut at News Corp but Rupert still gets $30m packet September 5, 2012 NEWS Corp executives, including Rupert and James Murdoch, had millions cut from their annual bonuses last year because of the phone-hacking scandal. But the two Murdochs were still paid a combined $47m (£29.6m). Rupert Murdoch was paid just over $30m, down nearly $3m on the previous year, while James was paid $16.8m, more than $1m [...]
US accuses BP of negligence over Gulf spill September 5, 2012 BP is facing a multi-billion dollar lawsuit from the US government for gross negligence relating to the Macondo oil spill. The Deepwater Horizon disaster, which happened in April 2010, caused BP’s share price to plummet to almost half its value. In a filing to the Department of Justice (DoJ), the US government yesterday accused BP [...]
More than 3,000 miners strike again at Lonmin’s Marikana September 5, 2012 MORE than 3,000 striking South African miners launched a fresh attack on London-listed Lonmin’s Marikana mine yesterday, as peace talks between the company’s management, unions and the government continued. It marked the largest protest at Marikana since 44 mine workers were killed during recent clashes with police. The majority of the arrested miners were freed [...]
Shell charges ahead with its CCS project September 5, 2012 ANGLO-DUTCH oil giant Shell said yesterday it will go ahead with its $1.35bn (£840m) carbon capture and storage (CCS) project for an oil sand operation in Canada. The flagship Quest project is designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at its 255,000 barrel a day Scotford oil sands project in Canada. It is to be built [...]
UK eighth most competitive in global survey September 5, 2012 THE UK jumped two places in this year’s global competitiveness report, released yesterday by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Britain placed eighth in the world for competitiveness, leapfrogging Denmark and Japan, based on marginal improvements across the board – except its macroeconomy. The macroeconomic environment worsened by 0.5 points according to WEF’s index, as the [...]
Allocated seats for all Easyjet flights for a fee September 5, 2012 TRAVELLERS flying EasyJet will soon be spared of lengthy queues and scrambling to secure a good seat after the budget airline announced yesterday it is to introduce allocated seating on all flights. The company said passengers will have the option of choosing from three brands of pricing depending on where they want to sit – [...]
