BAs’ unions threaten strike action if staff are forced to leave the airline October 7, 2009 BRITISH AIRWAYS’ (BA) staff unions were last night locked in emergency talks, following the carrier’s decision to cut 1,700 cabin crew staff. The ubiquitous Unite union claims BA made the move without reaching an agreement, and us now threatening strikes over the Christmas period. Earlier this week, BA said 1,000 of its cabin staff had [...]
Royal Mail faces massive strike October 7, 2009 BRITAIN’S postal network is about to grind to a halt, with Royal Mail workers today expected to have voted in favour of the first national strike in two years. With the strike destined to bring chaos to Christmas deliveries, online retail giant Amazon has cancelled a contract with the firm worth some £25m. Amazon, Royal [...]
All eyes on Christmas for Thorntons as sales jump October 7, 2009 CHOCOLATE retailer Thorntons yesterday said it was well-positioned for Christmas as it posted a 2.3 per cent rise in first-quarter sales, sending its shares up by five per cent in morning trading. Thorntons, which trades from 378 stores and 199 franchises, said its total sales increased to £46.8m in the 14 weeks to 3 October, [...]
Q & A : WHERE HAVE THE STRIKE THREATS COME FROM? October 7, 2009 Q. WHAT ARE THE UNIONS OPPOSING?A. On Tuesday, British Airways announced it was cutting 1,700 jobs and was introducing a two-year pay freeze for cabin crew as it looks to cut costs in the downturn. It also said it would recruit new staff on different terms and conditions to current employees. Unite has denounced the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 5, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESUK COURT RELAXES CURB ON SAAD CASHA bitter legal dispute involving prominent Saudi Arabian businesses and families opened in the English courts yesterday, with Maan al Sanea failing to overturn a $9.2bn (£5.8bn) freezing order on his worldwide assets. The High Court eased the order to allow the billionaire $4m spending money a year [...]
Retailers facing a tough Xmas October 4, 2009 MANY struggling British retailers will face a bleaker Christmas than they did last year, when 15 major chains failed, according to insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor. Christmas is a crucial trading period for retailers but soaring unemployment and low consumer confidence is expected to result in more firms facing financial difficulty. “Christmas 2009 could see just [...]
She came in as a scruffbag and left ready to conquer Goldman’s October 4, 2009 AT LAST, after a hideous year, firms are hiring again. But to stand out from the crowd stampeding back to the job market, you’ll need to do everything in your power to look the part. First impressions are the most powerful and can be near impossible to shift – so the interview is where you’ve [...]
Trying to second-guess stocks is harder than ever October 4, 2009 EQUITY investors haven’t had much time for cliché this year. Earlier this year, they ignored dire predictions – coming from anyone with a keyboard or a microphone – that financial markets might never recover. Instead, they seized upon historically low valuations – and the trillions spent by governments around the world – and began the [...]
A pull back on gold is on the cards, or so the cycles say October 4, 2009 THERE seems to be a general consensus that gold is going to continue its recent powerful rally. All sorts of projected targets have been mentioned, from the not too far away $1,050 all the way through $1,200 and even as high as $2,300. Such elevated levels may eventually be reached but for the time being [...]
Aviva puts saga of inherited estates to bed in 470m deal October 1, 2009 AVIVA said it will hand out a £470m windfall to around 805,000 policyholders that invested in two of its with-profits funds by Christmas. The special payout comes from inherited estates built up by the funds – pots of money that were hoarded in boom markets to protect against market downturns. The reattribution of the inherited [...]