MP calls for City watchdog to probe ‘patchy’ British Gas insurance January 13, 2021 A Stockport MP has called for City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), to investigate a British Gas backlog dispute as more than 100,000 could be left without home insurance. British Gas parent company Centrica has been accused of provoking a strike which has left its ‘HomeCare’ customers without cover. Writing to the FCA this [...]
Collective: Feeling the benefit of the gig economy growing up July 10, 2021 Back in the halcyon days of the mid-2010s – a world before Brexit buses and a global pandemic – it was easy to find cheerleaders for the gig-ification of the capital’s employment scene. Uber and others were redefining work. Londoners were whizzing around in cheap cabs. Politicians were falling over themselves to champion the free-market [...]
Astrazeneca sells cholesterol drug to German firm for $320m December 1, 2020 Astrazeneca has announced that it will sell the rights to its blockbuster cholesterol drug to German firm Gruenenthal GmbH for $320m (£240m). The drug, which is called Crestor, used to be one of the pharma giant’s bestselling medicines, bringing in $5bn in revenue in 2015. However, with the marketplace now crowded with alternative treatments, the [...]
Outsourcing giant G4S to cut 1,150 jobs in restructuring July 13, 2020 Outsourcing giant G4S will cut more than 1,000 jobs as part of a restructuring of its cash solutions division, the firm today announced. In total the firm will get rid of 1,150 roles, with most of these expected to fall in the cash handling division. The redundancies, which were first revealed by union GMB, were [...]
British Gas owner Centrica falls to £360m loss as warm weather and lower prices bite February 25, 2021 British Gas owner Centrica said today that it fell to a £362m statutory loss due to a combination of coronavirus, lower commodities prices, and a spell of warm weather. The loss is less than half the £783m hit the firm reported last year. It also said it would not pay out a divided for last [...]
Screenshot: Does the UK media have a racism problem? March 12, 2021 This week: **Media Moment of the Week: GMB gets a new frontman **Does the UK media have a racism problem? **Deliveroo’s IPO giveaway; BT gets in a bind Media Moment of the Week: GMB gets a new frontman What a week it’s been for ITV. In the space of 24 hours it racked up bumper [...]
Centrica staff may have to sign new contracts or risk more redundancies July 16, 2020 Workers at British Gas owner Centrica have been told they may have to accept new employment conditions or risk having their jobs cut. It was reported that the services firm has told employees to sign new contracts or risk a second wave of redundancies. Last month Centrica announced that it would slash 5,000 jobs in [...]
Met Office mistakes huge swarm of flying ants over London for rain July 17, 2020 Flying ants have once again taken to the skies of London, with swarms so big that the Met Office weather radar has mistaken them for rain. On Sunday, millions of the bugs filled the skies across the country on what is known as “Flying Ant day”. Undeterred, the winged insects have returned in huge swarms [...]
Baggage handler Swissport to make ‘devastating’ 4,175 job cuts June 24, 2020 Airport baggage handler Swissport is set to make 4,175 job cuts as pressure grows on the government to produce a financial package for the aviation industry. Swissport said the coronavirus pandemic has “hit us hard” since the collapse of regional flyer Flybe in March. GMB and Unite, which represent Swissport workers, described the redundancies as [...]
Government urged to take action to protect steel jobs after Greensill collapse March 9, 2021 MPs and union representatives have today urged the government to take action to protect steel jobs under threat after the collapse of Greensill Capital. The boutique bank, which was advised by former PM David Cameron, was a major backer of Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, a global steel empire employing 35,000 people around the world. Despite [...]