BAA appeals to airlines to slash passengers as Heathrow strike looms November 25, 2011 Heathrow airport operator BAA has asked airlines to halve the number of international passengers arriving into the UK on 30 November, when border staff strike over pensions. BAA, owned by Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial, on Friday warned of significant disruption to passengers arriving at Heathrow next Wednesday with delays that could last up to 12 [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 23, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BOSTOCK IN TALKS TO QUIT M&S FOR ASOS Kate Bostock, the head of Marks and Spencer’s clothing and homewares business, is in advanced talks to take up a senior role at Asos. People familiar with the situation said Bostock was talking to the online fashion retailer about becoming its managing director. Losing Bostock, [...]
FTSE slumps to seven-week low on further euro unease November 22, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares index hit a seven-week closing low yesterday, led lower by energy stocks on worries slower US growth would crimp demand for crude while Commerzbank’s funding concerns hit Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. The US economy grew more slowly than previously expected in the third quarter, and the news hurt [...]
FTSE bounces but travel firms suffer November 22, 2011 Stability in Eurozone bond yields and short-term bargain-hunting gave London stocks some momentum today but investors remained wary after six previous sessions of losses. US markets closed down last night after the bipartisan committee nominated to find $1.2 trillion (£764m) of government spending cuts admitted it could not agree on a plan. Asian markets also [...]
MEGA-BRAND ADDS BANKING TO ITS WIDE RANGING INTERESTS November 17, 2011 VIRGIN MONEY With the purchase of 74 Northern Rock branches, the Virgin Money brand has just got a whole lot bigger. It already has a banking licence, having purchased Church House Trust, a tiny bank, in January 2010. It offers credit cards in conjunction with MBNA; mortgages in a joint venture with RBS-backed The One [...]
Airlines lobby to axe levy on passengers November 17, 2011 FOUR of Britain’s biggest airlines put aside their differences yesterday to lobby the government to scrap its air passenger duty (APD), which they slammed as uncompetitive. Ryanair, EasyJet, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have written to the chancellor arguing the tax on passengers, set to rise by twice the rate of inflation in 2012, puts [...]
This tax will not fly: Don’t ground Britain’s growth November 17, 2011 THE chief executives of rival airlines Virgin Atlantic, easyJet, Ryanair and the IAG group – which includes British Airways – do not normally agree to share a platform. That they chose to yesterday morning – outlining their opposition to Air Passenger Duty (APD) – is a sign of how seriously the aviation sector takes this [...]
Airlines call for an end to passenger tax November 17, 2011 Four of the UK and Ireland’s biggest airlines have called on the government to scrap Air Passenger Duty (APD), saying its negative impact on the economy was outweighing any benefit from the revenue raised. Passengers have to pay between £24 and £170 in APD, depending on the length of flight, substantially more than when the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 16, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES TRIBUNAL HEARS OF UBS EFFORT TO ROOT OUT ROGUES UBS initiated a root-and-branch review of compliance practices in 2007 following unauthorised trading on its UK wealth management division’s Africa desk, a UK tribunal has heard. The revelation of another incident of rogue trading in London came from the barrister for one of the [...]
What’s in a name? The value of stadium sponsorship November 14, 2011 RECENT murmurings from Chelsea and Newcastle have once again raised the thorny issue of stadium naming rights, and more specifically what they are actually worth in the Premier League. Part of the problem is that no-one is terribly sure. Logically, one would use recent precedent as a guide, but there are inherent problems with using [...]