Christmas party spending cut as companies play Scrooge December 21, 2009 Businesses are spending nearly a third less on Christmas parties this year than they did in 2008, according to research due to be published today. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) estimates that employers will spend about £600m on Christmas parties for their staff this year, down from close to £1bn in 2007 [...]
HUMAN LIE DETECTOR BOOSTED BY CITY COMPANIES ON THE WARPATH December 20, 2009 WE ALL know businesses are rather jumpier than usual given the difficult ride they’ve had over the course of the recession, but I hear some are taking truly unprecedented steps to counter risky office behaviour. Darren Stanton, who calls himself a “human lie detector”, tells me he has seen a surge in requests from corporates [...]
Call for probe into collapse of Flyglobespan December 20, 2009 SCOTTISH finance secretary John Swinney has called for an investigation into the failure of collapsed airline Flyglobespan. The Edinburgh-based business went into administration on Wednesday leaving thousands of passengers stranded and 550 staff facing redundancy a week before Christmas. Swinney said that a probe into the failure should look at the role of credit card [...]
Taking a punt on industrial strife can be a winner December 20, 2009 THE High Court may have helped restore Christmas cheer for passengers of British Airways by ruling that the proposed 12-day strike by the airline’s cabin crew was invalid, but investors should arm themselves with trading strategies for a 2010 that could be rife with industrial action. But the dispute is far from over. After the [...]
THE TIPSTER December 20, 2009 THE markets may have traded sideways for most of December but expect some volatility over the next couple of weeks. During the period between Christmas and New Year the markets can often move higher, which could benefit the FTSE 100. Capital Spreads offers a price of 5,245-5,246. The announcement of a new chief executive at [...]
Stuck in London for Christmas? Hole up in a luxury hotel December 20, 2009 OH dear. A bit of snow, as we had on Thursday, and London goes into panic mode. Flights are delayed, cancelled and rearranged, and with the threat of a BA strike only tenuously averted, getting out of London over the Christmas period seems anything but a sure bet. But look on the bright side. It’s [...]
Lampard saves sloppy Blues December 20, 2009 CARLO ANCELOTTI admitted his Chelsea side were feeling the pressure of a hectic winter schedule after being held by London rivals West Ham in a tale of two penalties. Alessandro Diamanti’s spot-kick on the stroke of half-time gave the Hammers a deserved lead before Frank Lampard rescued the Blues with a thrice-taken penalty after Matthew [...]
BA STRIKE OFF BUT UNION FIGHTS ON December 17, 2009 A WINTER walk-out by cabin crew at ailing airline British Airways was yesterday declared illegal by the High Court. The Court’s judge Mrs Justice Cox sided with the carrier, saying that the Unite union had not correctly balloted its members on the strike action. BA had argued that the union took votes from staff who [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 17, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES STRICKEN SCOTTISH AIRLINE’S £30M IN QUESTION Administrators of Globespan, the collapsed Scottish airline that has left thousands of passengers stranded abroad, were investigating last night why £30m of its funds were being held by E-Clear, the company that handles its credit card transactions. Bruce Cartwright, of PwC, said he understood that about half [...]
Slow start for Christmas sales season December 17, 2009 The Christmas shopping season has got off to a slow start, with retailers reporting a fall in sales volumes in November, dampening hopes of a bumper festive period on the high street. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that retail sales volumes unexpectedly fell by 0.3 per cent in November. Department stores [...]