Back-to-work scheme ruled illegal by court February 12, 2013 THE GOVERNMENT’S back-to-work programme was thrown into disarray yesterday after a judge ruled that many schemes that make the unemployed work for free are unlawful. Graduate Cait Reilly, 24, claimed victory after the Court of Appeal ruled that a programme she took part in – which required her to undertake work experience at Poundland or risk [...]
Property fund Welpic cancels flotation on the Aim market February 12, 2013 THE WEST End of London Property Investment Company (Welpic) has cancelled its IPO planned to take place today after failing to gather sufficient interest. Welpic was intending to float on the Alternative Investment Market on 13 February, in a listing expected to raise around £100m. It hoped to provide investors with access to office property in [...]
G4S takes £88m hit to put an end to Olympic security fiasco February 12, 2013 OUTSOURCING giant G4 has tried to draw a line under its botched Olympic security contract by taking an £88m financial hit. The firm, which admitted it could not provide enough security staff just two weeks before last summer’s Olympic Games began, said yesterday it will book a £70m charge in its 2012 accounts, plus an [...]
Dell comes under pressure to sweeten deal February 12, 2013 The proposed buyout of computer maker Dell hit a stumbling block last night after the company’s third-largest shareholder, money manager T. Rowe Price Group, joined a growing number of investors putting pressure on Michael Dell and his partner Silver Lake to sweeten their $24.4bn (£15.6bn) offer to buy out the publicly owned business.
Tories suggest regulating UK news websites February 12, 2013 THE CONSERVATIVES last night published a draft plan for press reform that would see UK news websites regulated for the first time. David Cameron has rejected recommendations contained in the Leveson report – and backed by Labour and the Lib Dems – to introduce new legislation to control the media. Instead he wants to introduce an [...]
Regulators look into sale of shares by BlackRock in Saipem February 12, 2013 INVESTIGATORS are looking into whether there was any market abuse surrounding a controversial share sale by the institutional fund manager BlackRock last month. Both the Italian financial regulator Consob and the FSA are looking into the circumstances behind the share sale in the Italian oil services group Saipem and a subsequent profits warning less than [...]
Tesco must rein in the runaway horse lasagne scandal February 12, 2013 THREE weeks ago I wrote in this column that Tesco had suffered an immediate image impact after the revelations over horsemeat in burgers – but that the supermarket giant was already starting to recover and the story could prove to be a storm in a teacup. Our measurement of brand perception – called the Index [...]
Police raid Yorkshire abattoir over horsemeat kebab fears February 12, 2013 POLICE yesterday raided an abattoir in West Yorkshire and a meat supplier in Aberystwyth as the scandal over the mislabelling of meat products continued to spread. Officials from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) closed down the two sites following allegations that horse carcasses from the Yorkshire site were sold on to the Welsh company for [...]
Heathrow boss defends plans to hike charges February 12, 2013 HEATHROW yesterday defended its plan to hike passenger charges from next year to pay for its upgrade work. The airport said it wants to spend £3bn between 2014 and 2019 to complete the revamp of terminal two, install more self-service check-in desks and improve punctuality. The plans, which must be approved by the Civil Aviation [...]
City Views | Where should London’s next airport or runways be built? February 12, 2013 KEITH BUROWES | BANK OF ENGLAND Given the residential area surrounding Heathrow, wouldn’t it be a better idea to put expansion out of the way from where people live? PAUL RILEY | RR DONNELLEY Living out in the east would make it more convenient for me. They’re looking to fund improvements for Heathrow through its [...]