Welsh Water chair ex-BA boss March 9, 2010 Former British Airways chief executive Bob Ayling, has been made chairman of Welsh Water, the not-for-profit utility that provides water and waste water services for 3m people. Ayling, ousted from BA a decade ago, will replace Lord Burns of Pitshanger, the former Treasury mandarin.
BA extends talks over strikes March 9, 2010 Unions have agreed to extend a deadline for talks aimed at averting a British Airways cabin crew strike. Unite union and BA will continue talks until noon today. Union members have voted twice for strike action in a row over pay and working practices. The extension to the TUC-chaired discussions has raised hopes that a [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 8, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES C&W ARM EYES ASIA EXPANSION AFTER LISTING Cable & Wireless’s UK business is stepping up its efforts to achieve growth in emerging markets as it secures a stock market listing later this month. The business, called C&W Worldwide, will focus on opportunities in Asia, Jim Marsh, its chief executive, told the Financial Times [...]
Pension deficits fell in 2009 March 8, 2010 Pension deficits fell among UK firms during 2009, but the overall improvement masks yawning liabilities at some notable names including British Airways, research to be published today will show. The report by consultants Hymans Robertson on the ability of FTSE 350 companies to support their pension schemes shows the median deficit fell to 6p per [...]
Alternative exchanges give traders an edge March 8, 2010 ANOTHER shake-up of London’s trading landscape is underway after the London Stock Exchange (LSE) announced on Monday that it would sell 9 per cent of Turquoise, its European trading facility, to three investment banks. Barclays, JP Morgan Cazenove and Nomura each bought a 3 per cent stake of Turquoise for £1m. The multiple owners of [...]
Games, guns and gyrating girls in Sin City March 7, 2010 FAHVE bucks? Girl, for five dollars yew can take as many pictures as yew want. Come on over, and get yo’ man over heyah too.” This was Elvis talking. Yes, Elvis. Tinted shades, jet-black jumpsuit, rhinestone belt, sideburns you could iron clothes on. Standing on a street corner. A few minutes previously, we’d been inhaling [...]
EasyJet sees its passenger numbers rise March 4, 2010 THE number of passengers carried by budget airline easyJet in February was 12.3 per cent higher than a year earlier, though the load factor was lower. EasyJet carried 3.39m passengers in February 2009, compared with 3.02m who used the airline in February 2008, according to figures released by the airine yesterday. However the load factor [...]
BA trains 1,000 staff to replace its cabin crew March 3, 2010 BRITISH Airways (BA) will have up to 1,000 staff members fully trained and ready to serve as cabin crew by next week should talks with aircrew to avoid a strike collapse. The commercial airline said up to 6,000 staff members, including pilots, had originally volunteered to work on flights but a smaller number had already [...]
FTSE rises as commodities and financials set the pace March 3, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading shares gained 0.9 per cent yesterday, boosted by strength in miners and oils, banks and life insurers, as upbeat US data lifted Wall Street. At the close, the FTSE 100 was 49.15 points higher at 5,533.21, ending at a seven-week peak on its fourth straight session of gains. “All the figures were pretty [...]
Gains in banking shares lead the FTSE to a six-week high March 2, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index hit a six-week closing high yesterday and rose for a third straight session, led by banks with HSBC firmer after the previous session’s post results sell-off. The FTSE 100 closed up 78.12 points, or 1.45 per cent, at 5,484.06, its highest closing level since January 19, after climbing 1 per cent [...]