Royal Mail locked in last-ditch talks October 19, 2009 ROYAL MAIL was last night in eleventh hour talks with its unions in a desperate bid to avoid nationwide walk-outs which are set to cripple the Christmas post. It is the latest move from both sides to end a dispute over modernisation at the service. Tensions are running so high that there are even fears [...]
BRANSON PLANS SPACE-AGE PARTY AS BUTTON BRINGS HOME THE GOLD October 19, 2009 RICHARD Branson may have revealed that he’s unlikely to stump up the cash to sponsor Formula One team Brawn GP again next year after its spectacular season, but it doesn’t mean the canny entrepreneur is stepping back his involvement now that the team has won the championship. The Virgin tycoon was unable to make it [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS October 19, 2009 ALLENS BUTCHER GOES ONLINETime-poor, meat-loving Londoners will rejoice to know that they can now order their meat online from the famous Mount Street butchers. Alongside a stellar selection of beef, lamb, pork, veal, poultry, game and sauces, you can order seasonal favourites such as the Scottish beef-filled Steak Box and Christmas turkey. A new feature, [...]
BA holds frank talks with union October 19, 2009 Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways, held “open and frank” discussions with union leaders yesterday, in the latest step to avoid a ballot on strike action. Unions and the embattled airline have been locked in talks over BA’s cost-cutting measures, which involves axing up to 3,700 jobs over the next year. BA wants [...]
Post unions in rage over hiring plan October 18, 2009 TRADE UNIONS warned employment agencies wanting to get involved in the Royal Mail dispute that they might face crippling fines, exacerbating already fraught tensions between the two sides. The GMB joined the Communication Workers Union (CWU) – which has called for national strikes over modernisation objectives – in slamming Mail plans to hire in 30,000 [...]
Moulton set to do it Better October 18, 2009 JON Moulton, who sensationally quit former private-equity firm Alchemy just two months ago, has bounced back by launching a new firm, Better Capital. Moulton yesterday told City A.M. that he had most of his new team in place, but would nail down the rest “over the next few weeks”. He added: “We’re talking about human [...]
THE TIPSTER MACRO DATA KEY TO THE WEEK AHEAD October 18, 2009 WITH a slew of macroeconomic data on the way, sterling-US dollar – otherwise known as cable – is sharply in focus this week. Although the pound made some solid gains at the end of last week, these may well be reversed on Friday when the UK third quarter GDP figure is released. Forecasts have been [...]
Range of large cap firms set to give markets an overview October 18, 2009 THERE is a mixed bag of companies reporting this week, but the diverse selection will give investors plenty to digest. FTSE 100 software company Autonomy will post its third quarter results tomorrow, though its management have already signalled that it will be another strong performance. It said earlier this month that it expects to report [...]
West End delivers boost for London sales growth October 18, 2009 LONDON retail sales in September had their strongest growth since August last year due to a wave of renewed consumer confidence, according to figures out today from the London Retail Consortium. Retail sales in central London were 7.5 per cent higher on a like-for-like basis in September than a year ago, when sales nosedived to [...]
Post strikes will do most damage to Royal Mail October 18, 2009 IF THIS week’s postal strike goes ahead from Thursday, as expected, the Square Mile will not come to a grinding halt. The rise of the internet, email and electronic trading platforms mean that the Royal Mail’s integral role of facilitating business between City firms are long gone. I suspect that more damage will be caused [...]