Network Rail rejects MPs ‘reward for failure’ jibes July 22, 2008 Network Rail and the government hit back at an MPs’ report yesterday that identified “a catalogue of failings” on Britain’s rail system. The Commons Transport Committee said that despite bonuses of over £200,000 given to three Network Rail directors, passengers were “inconvenienced and humiliated” by three major engineering overruns at the New Year. But Network [...]
Inflation could hit 6 per cent on fuel bill price hike July 16, 2008 Inflation could reach 6 per cent by the end of the year if an anticipated 30 per cent hike in energy bills hits consumers later this year, according to BNP Paribas economist Alan Clarke. His prediction comes after the official consumer price index inflation rate jumped to a record 3.8 per cent in the year [...]
CSR profits soar on Bluetooth November 3, 2005 Bluetooth wireless communications specialists CSR has rung up a 151 per cent growth in third quarter profits and the company has hired more staff to meet demand for its technology. CSR said pre-tax profits were $45.5m (£25.8m) in the period compared with $18.1m in the same quarter of 2003. The Cambridge-based firm also announced that [...]
Lingerie gets strict November 1, 2005 Want the Hitchcock Blonde look? No pain no gain In case you hadn’t noticed, this season’s must-have is a waist so small that it can be encircled by your dashing suitor’s hands. Suddenly, after hiding our lumps and bumps in a waft of gypsy inspired regalia, we are supposed to unearth the hourglass figure that [...]
In a flush on the fairway October 28, 2005 Card schools and golf clubs are big news for singles right now. Lorraine Adams holds the winning hand for a birdie Would you believe that the most sought-after events this year have been our poker nights and golf days? Even those who don’t know how to play poker or golf are desperate to buy up [...]
Rubies and icons come from Russia with love October 27, 2005 Annushka Ducas set up a jewellery company in 1990 to help her mother out with some cufflinks. Since then she and Links have come a long way. Annushka Ducas has come back from Russia with a jewellery collection. For a woman who wasn’t the founder of Links of London this would mean a major over-spend [...]
Amazon’s ebbs and flows October 27, 2005 The dotcom giant is at the forefront of growth in the online retail industry. Its sales have just kept on growing, hitting $1bn in America and Canada. But yet its share price has taken a tumble this week. Wall Street is always falling in and out of love with Amazon. In the online retailer’s 10-year [...]
Amazon profits hit by increased competition October 26, 2005 Amazon, the online bookseller, last night unveiled a $30m (£16.8m) profit for the third quarter. Some of the gloss was taken off increased sales, however, as it admitted that a patent dispute had cost it $20m. Seattle-based Amazon made a one-off payment to settle a patent lawsuit in the third quarter. Its profit, otherwise, would [...]
On top of the world October 21, 2005 Retail may be struggling, but Philip Green has just taken a £1bn dividend. Is he embarrassed? Not much. Displaying the timing for which he has become famous, retail entrepreneur Philip Green paid himself a whopping £1.2bn dividend from his retail chain Arcadia. At a time when retailers nationwide are struggling, Arcadia announced a 10.1 per [...]
FTSE falls to lowest level since July October 20, 2005 The FTSE fell to its lowest level since July as fears about rising interest rates wiped out value on stock exchanges across Europe. It emerged yesterday that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep British interest rates at 4.5 per cent. Analysts said that this signalled a rate cut to coincide with November’s [...]