Don’t let the sunshine ruin your holiday July 16, 2008 Too many people still don’t understand the damage sunburn can cause, says Zoe Strimpel The sorry English weather has most of us giddy with excitement at the prospect of our August holiday somewhere sunny and hot. And though we all know that baking in the sun is bad for us, many of us are going [...]
Maternity law reform fuels an old debate July 16, 2008 Zoe Strimpel talks to employment lawyers about the impact of the new rules If you’re an employer, or a woman of childbearing age, your ears may have pricked up at the comments made this week by Nicola Brewer, CEO of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. Brewer said that new legislation that extends paid maternity [...]
Brown’s latest bid to curb knife crime July 16, 2008 Up to 20,000 families will be given intensive support to help get their wayward children back on track as part of a £100m government plan to curb youth crime, the Home Office has announced. The widely trailed programme was unveiled amid mounting concern over knife crime following a spate of stabbing deaths in London. Opposition [...]
Capital & Regional set to sell fresh assets after its funds slump in value July 16, 2008 Co-investing property fund manager Capital & Regional hinted yesterday that further sales of its assets were likely, as it moves to cope with the slump in the property market. The company, which is one of the biggest property asset managers in the country and owns a number of large shopping centres and out of town [...]
BA warns it will cut flights as prices rise July 16, 2008 British Airways told investors yesterday it would raise prices, cut flights and would do well to break even in 2008. Speaking at the annual shareholders meeting in London, chairman Martin Broughton said: “It will be a considerable achievement for BA to break even this year.” He added: “With oil at $85 a barrel – a [...]
UK ready to comply with US oil rules July 16, 2008 The chairman of Europe’s top oil exchange said yesterday he is ready to provide American regulators with “whatever they want” to close the industry’s governance gap dubbed ‘the London loophole.’ Sir Bob Reid, who leads ICE Futures Europe, the owner of the old International Petroleum Exchange, was responding to the call from US regulator the [...]
BT is right to take a risk on faster broadband network July 16, 2008 BT’s announcement that it will spend £1.5bn upgrading Britain’s broadband network has unnerved investors, especially as it is funding the investment by suspending its shareholder buyback programme. But it’s important to remember that, in the long term, delaying this decision would have been worse for the company. Falling Behind The firm is falling behind its [...]
BT gambles on need for speed July 16, 2008 Telecoms firm BT yesterday announced it was suspending its shareholder buyback scheme to invest £1.5bn in faster broadband for 10m homes by 2012. The programme will be Britain’s largest ever investment in fibre optic cabling, which can deliver potential speeds up to 100Mbps, compared to the UK average of 4Mbps. But some analysts questioned whether [...]
Kazakhmys dismisses reverse takeover talk July 16, 2008 Copper mining giant Kazakhmys, which is in talks with fellow Russian miner Metalloinvest, has denied a deal would involve a reverse takeover. A reverse takeover would have involved privately owned Metalloinvest acquiring the FTSE 100 Kazakh miner and keeping the list on London’s benchmark index of leading shares. But yesterday Kazakhmys rejected this. One of [...]
Bush calls for quick action on bank plan July 16, 2008 US President George W Bush urged Congress to act quickly on the government’s plan to shore up housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac yesterday. Speaking at a White House press conference as share prices across the world gyrated wildly, the President said of the two mortgage giants: “We must ensure they can continue [...]
