Call for RBS to drop fees on small business loans October 9, 2011 FORMER chancellor Nigel Lawson has called on the Treasury to force Royal Bank of Scotland to offer loans to small businesses on a not-for-profit basis. Lord Lawson of Blaby yesterday said increased lending to small businesses by RBS and, to a lesser extent, Lloyds – both state-owned – would boost the economy alongside Bank of [...]
Women start to make their presence felt on the board, says Lord Davies October 9, 2011 THE BOARDROOMS of Britain are becoming more female, says former trade minister Lord Davies, with recent appointments such as Karen Witts to the board of Wolseley helping to meet his target of 25 per cent female FTSE 100 boards by 2015. The full figures will be revealed at a Downing Street event on Wednesday, where [...]
Metro boss says he won’t renew his contract despite shareholder support October 9, 2011 ECKHARD Cordes, chief executive of German retailer Metro, has said he no longer wishes to renew his contract, just weeks after winning support from the group’s top shareholder. Cordes had seemed in danger of losing his job last month after reports that he had fallen out of favour with some supervisory board members, who were [...]
Business jet industry is hoping for 2012 revival October 9, 2011 THE business jet industry is expecting 2012 to mark its first year of growth in deliveries since the financial downturn, but more pain could still be ahead for the low end of the segment that has been hardest hit. “2011 did not play out as we expected to see the growth and orders being placed, [...]
Sainsbury’s to join price match battle October 9, 2011 SAINSBURY’S will turn up the heat this week in the price war between the UK’s leading supermarkets with a pledge to match thousands of prices at rivals Tesco and Asda. The supermarket announced yesterday that it will start its “brand match” campaign this Wednesday, just two weeks after Tesco launched a £500m “Big Price Drop” [...]
Time for bank bondholders to face the sword October 9, 2011 EUROPE has too many broken banks and the time has come to fix them. With Dexia’s woes laid bare, it must now be apparent to even the most myopic politician that the European Banking Authority’s 2011 stress tests were a failure. The phoney war is over; we need decision making. With sovereign stress showing no [...]
Vodafone weighs into 4G row October 9, 2011 Vodafone yesterday launched a broadside against 3, its smaller rival in the British mobile market, over the increasingly controversial auction of next-generation 4G mobile spectrum. Vodafone’s UK chief executive Guy Lawrence told the Sunday Telegraph 3 was “running around the playground complaining that they’re being bullied by the older boys,” when in fact 3 sold [...]
Blackstone eyes Iceland bid October 9, 2011 Private equity firm Blackstone has held talks with Malcolm Walker over a bid of up to £1.5bn for supermarket Iceland, it was reported yesterday. The US firm, which could not be reached for comment, is believed to have had conversations with Iceland’s chief executive, who has a 23 per cent stake. The remainder is being [...]
German airports face strikes October 9, 2011 Air passengers in Germany may face delays this week due to separate actions by ground handling staff and possibly by air traffic controllers. At 10 German airports, including major hubs Frankfurt and Munich, several thousand ground handling staff will hold meetings on Monday afternoon to discuss European Commission plans to boost competition among ground handling [...]
ROAD BLOCK AGAINST HEALTH REFORMS October 9, 2011 Block the Bridge, a pro-NHS demonstration against the Coalition’s Health and Social Care Bill organised by UK Uncut, took place on Westminster Bridge yesterday. The House of Lords will debate the health reforms – which have prompted a debate about commercialisation within the NHS – tomorrow. Health secretary Andrew Lansley has said he would never [...]
