Autumn’s the time to see the Costa del Sol’s classier side October 10, 2010 IN THE 1960s, when the package holiday boom took off, the Costa del Sol’s image was forever tarnished. You think of it now as a land of fish and chips and lager, where bull-fighting has given way to the more consensual, but no less cruel, British sport of Holiday Endurance. Men test out how red [...]
BT must give access to its fibre network October 7, 2010 OFCOM yesterday said it will force BT to allow its rivals access to the former state phone firm’s superfast fibre broadband network. BT will also have to wholesale its infrastructure of telegraph poles and underground ducts in a bid to increase competition for superfast internet to rural areas. The decision supports government plans laid out [...]
Cameron defends child benefit cut for high earners October 5, 2010 THE prime minister has defended controversial plans to withdraw child benefit form high earners. David Cameron said chancellor George Osborne “got it right” when he announced child benefit would be stripped from households with a parent who earns over around £44,000 from 2013. He told Sky News: “As we pay down the deficit we have [...]
Banks to boost business loans October 4, 2010 BRITAIN’S banks are set to propose a collection of measures to help boost lending to small businesses in a bid to persuade ministers they are prepared to aid long-term economic growth. A task force consisting of chief executives from every major British bank, reported by Sky News, was set up three months ago and will [...]
Big banks top High Court appearances October 3, 2010 THE UK’S largest four banks were repeatedly in court last year as the number of High Court cases involving FTSE 100 companies jumped by 16 per cent. Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HSBC collectively made up 43 per cent of all High Court appearances by the UK’s largest companies, [...]
BSkyB braces for crunch EU sports ruling October 3, 2010 BSKYB is braced for a high court hearing this week that could change the football rights landscape. A pub landlady has taken a case to the European Court of Justice claiming Sky is breaching European free-trade rules with the way it sells its commercial Sky Sports packages. Portsmouth-based Karen Murphy was fined after an enforcement [...]
How to live the Polynesian dream October 3, 2010 IT’S a hot and humid afternoon in Nadi on the Fijian mainland as we squash into the rather intimate 14-seater plane that is to deliver us to Taveuni in the north-east of the archipelago. Known as Fiji’s Garden Island for its pristine tropical rainforests and ridiculously beautiful beaches, Taveuni is to be the starting point [...]
Cameron ready to announce his panel of business advisers today September 30, 2010 TWO MORE business figureheads were named as part of David Cameron’s panel of business advisors, Sky News reported yesterday. Indian businessman Ratan Tata and Sony president and chief executive Sir Howard Stringer are set to join a raft of hand-picked industry heads in the government’s business interest group. Also in the frame are Centrica chief [...]
Chelsea can get back on track at the Bridge September 30, 2010 CHELSEA vs ARSENAL SUNDAY – 4.00PM SKY SPORTS IT isn’t often that Chelsea and Arsenal meet each other having both lost their previous league game but that’s exactly what will happen on Sunday. Chelsea were a little lacklustre at Eastlands against Manchester City last Saturday but, in fairness, Roberto Mancini’s side put in a very [...]
Cameron collects City stalwarts for his business panel September 29, 2010 BOSSES at several of the country’s largest companies are to join David Cameron’s panel of business gurus, it emerged yesterday. A source close to Centrica said its chief executive Sam Laidlaw would take a role on the committee, while Sky News named Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis, 3i Group chief Michael Queen and [...]