BA cabin crew start vote on strike action January 25, 2010 BRITISH Airways staff began voting yesterday on possible strike action after the flag carrier’s bosses and unions failed to strike a deal on a planned shake-up of working conditions. The Unite trade union opened a strike ballot for the airline’s cabin crew after talks with the airline failed to secure a deal on changes to [...]
Can I discuss my personal issues at work? January 25, 2010 DEAR VEXED: I’m going through a divorce and I can’t help crying at my desk sometimes. I don’t want to be inappropriate, but keeping it all from my colleagues and boss feels bizarre. Should I confide? And if so, to what degree? Lucy, 34, IT support THIS is a tricky one. On one hand, drinks [...]
FOOTBALL FUND LAUNCHES OUT TO CHAMPION THE BEAUTIFUL GAME February 7, 2010 GIVEN the City’s penchant for all things football-related, it’s something of a miracle that the new London Nominees Football Fund has managed to keep its launch virtually entirely under wraps – particularly as it’s got some of the beautiful game’s best known names on board. The fund officially launched at the beginning of the month, [...]
M&B investors should tell Lewis to get serious January 13, 2010 THE row between Mitchells and Butlers’ largest shareholder Joe Lewis and the pub group’s management shows no sign of abating, making the firm’s stock hard to value. If Lewis wants to make a bid for the company, he’d probably have to offer around 340p, making the shares – which closed at 275.5p yesterday – look [...]
CORPORATE SCROOGES FAIL TO PUT DAMPENER ON XMAS PARTY SPIRIT December 21, 2009 ANOTHER year, another load of City types wistfully remembering the good old champagne-soaked extravagances of old? Well, not exactly. Company bosses are certainly trying to give the impression of having left behind those days for good, what with all those blanket bans on corporate decorations, measly £10-a-head allowances at the likes of Royal Bank of [...]
Champagne on ice for an April Xmas bash January 17, 2010 THE turkey’s long been eaten, the tree taken down and the tinsel packed away for next year, but it isn’t stopping many a City firm from continuing to plan their Christmas parties well into the new year. That’s right: hot on the heels of last week’s story about broker Cenkos getting ready for some frivolous [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK December 13, 2009 IT SEEMS there’s a new trick on the canny corporate’s radar – the Christmas client breakfast, which is easy to book, cheap as chips (well, in comparison to an evening blowout, anyway) and doesn’t leave you with a sore head for the next three days. Take this group, for example, who turned up to swanky [...]
Looking out for Santa November 23, 2009 BY all accounts UK households are digging in for a frugal Christmas this year. Surveys from research groups like retail specialist Verdict predict that, with the threat of rising mortgage rates and tax increases in 2010, shoppers won’t be feeling too jolly this festive season, and spending will drop year-on-year for the first time on [...]
Eurostar launches probe as limited services resume today December 21, 2009 EUROSTAR yesterday launched an independent investigation into the problems which forced it to cancel all train services for three days in a row. The review will be led by Christopher Garnett, former chief executive of GNER and the former commercial director of Eurotunnel, and Claude Gressier, the French inspector general of bridges and roads. Eurostar [...]
UK cracks up in the big freeze January 7, 2010 ARCTIC conditions intensified yesterday as the UK faced its coldest night of the winter so far with the temperature dropping as low as –5C in central London as the worst cold snap to hit the country for thirty years continued. More travel chaos for commuters was predicted amid the freezing temperatures, with the Met Office [...]