Kesa to update on future of struggling Comet unit September 11, 2011 KESA Electricals will flesh out its plans for its struggling Comet business when it unveils what are expected to be a woeful set of results on Thursday, sources close to the company told City A.M. The group had hoped to auction off the business but has seen its plans dented by a string of poor [...]
HAYWARD TO FINALLY QUIT BP September 11, 2011 TONY Hayward is set to finally sever his 29-year relationship with BP. The decision comes after the announcement last week he will take the helm at Genel Enerji following its takeover by Vallares. It is understood Hayward will resign his non-executive post at Russian joint venture TNK-BP. Hayward quit as BP chief executive after its [...]
Job vacancies in City slump by 20 per cent September 11, 2011 THE parlous state of the City jobs market has been underlined, after a new study revealed the number of vacancies in the City slumped by a fifth in August compared with a year ago. City employers created a thousand fewer jobs last month compared with August 2010, recruitment company Astbury Marsden said, following a torrid [...]
Pay packages for top British executives to start growing September 11, 2011 THE PAY packets of Britain’s top executives are set to start growing again after two years of stagnation, according to a survey released today, with almost 80 per cent of companies in the FTSE 350 saying they plan to increase payouts this year. Main board directors at FTSE 100 firms can expect their salaries to [...]
Number of legal positions falls but engineers still in demand September 11, 2011 NEW jobs in the UK’s legal sector dropped markedly in July, with new vacancies down 18 per cent year-on-year. Just 8,070 new legal jobs were advertised in July, down from 9,606 in the same month in 2010, according to figures from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (Apsco) monthly trends report. Engineering and manufacturing remained [...]
McCluskey in call for direct action on cuts September 11, 2011 THE head of Britain’s largest trade union has said workers should be prepared to engage in a campaign of civil disobedience against coalition cuts – just weeks after Britain was gripped by the worst riots in a generation. Len McCluskey, the firebrand leader of the Unite union, refused to rule out so-called “direct action” and [...]
IDS defends plans to reform welfare September 11, 2011 IAIN Duncan Smith, the welfare secretary, yesterday insisted the government would press ahead with its radical welfare reforms, including plans to cap benefits at £26,000 and raise the pension age. Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, Duncan Smith said “the cap will stand – and I’m not unhappy about defending it”. He was speaking [...]
Number of maths-illiterate teenagers doubles in 30yrs September 11, 2011 THE number of GCSE students with almost no mathematical ability has doubled since the 1980s, with inflated grades hiding a growing problem among British teenagers. The level of knowledge required to get an A grade at GCSE now would only have resulted in a C grade 30 years ago, according to research submitted to the [...]
City backs plans to boost housebuilding September 11, 2011 THE GOVERNMENT is right to try to boost housebuilding but local communities should get more of a say when it comes to new developments, according to the City A.M. / PoliticsHome.com Voice of the City Panel. Almost two thirds of panellists (61 per cent) said they approved of government plans to more than double the [...]
Mining giant Anglo mulls Walter offer September 11, 2011 ANGLO American is understood to be mulling a multi-billion dollar bid for miner Walter Energy, as it looks to expand amid a boom in commodity prices. The blue-chip commodities giant is thought to be considering a £4.7bn bid for the New York-listed coal miner, sending shares in the smaller company rocketing by a third last [...]