Government’s plan to grant flexible working arrangements to 4.5m parents in UK was vehemently opposed by the representatives of small business, on Thursday. Government is proposing to extend the rights to parents with children aged up to 16 from existing 6 years limit.
They appealed to the Government to keep introduction of legislation in abeyance for more time. They fear it will hit their business hard. They are demanding an independent review and would like reconsideration of the recommendation, and to retain the right to refuse the request and keep the time sheets of their workers firmly stacked towards the employer’s side of things.
David Yeandle, deputy director of employment policy at EEF while supporting the right to request flexible working, expects that manufacturers should also be given right to refuse if there are important business priorities. He opined that hurried introduction of rights may result in refusal to request by employers. This will deprive some people who really need flexible working.
Small-business leaders fear that prime minister’s promise to extend temporary workers employment rights clubbed with right to flexible working will create serious problems for their business.
Alan Tyrrell, of the Federation of Small Businesses says that Government can not clamp them down on temporary work force, which is their important means, and simultaneously impose flexible working. They will find it difficult to cope with requests of flexible working from millions of their employees.
But, John Hutton, business secretary, is firm with the recommendations made by the government-commissioned review.
Ms Imelda Walsh, human resources director of supermarket chain J. Sainsbury, who headed the commission, is convinced that challenges faced by parents with older children are considerable and justify extension of age limit to 16 for the right to flexible working. .
British Airways registered a 45% rise in its annual profits in the year ending 31 March, 2008. BA boss Willie Walsh termed £883m profit as an “outstanding” result. Despite this he would not be taking his annual bonus because of problems at Heathrow’s terminal 5. BA had warned that these problems would hurt its earnings.
Explaining reasons for not taking bonus BA boss says that first quarter of the current financial year is going to be difficult. Crude oil prices at $115 a barrel are double compared to last year.
Airline spent £124m more on its jet fuel bills than the previous year. It uses about 6 million tonnes of fuel on an average per year. However total operating costs registered 0.7% drop due to lower staff costs.
Mr. Walsh says that despite operating in a volatile market, the results were strong only due to the hard work on costs savings.
Share holders would get first dividend since 2001, and staff would share a £35m bonus. Taking responsibility for Terminal 5 problems he is forgoing his bonus worth £700,000.
Talking to BBC News, he clarified that his decision was not guided by the media’s reaction should he have accepted the bonus. He did not do this for press reasons. Airline is forecasting 4% rise in revenue in the current year. It may hike fares to offset cost of fuel.
The recent credit crunch has been causing people to tighten their belts throughout the UK, but it doesn’t seem to have affected the serviced office industry. Evidence has recently emerged that office provider companies are not only weathering the economic problems, but are in fact performing well in the climate.
Regus shares rose by 9% recently and their revenue for Q1 rose by an impressive 24%.
Meanwhile MWB are experiencing an increased demand for their office space within the whole of the UK, up a reported a 20%. With concerns over any potential loss in capital negated by the serviced office option, more companies are heading down that road.
In fact the office space industry seems willing and ready to take advantage of the credit crunch by offering daily rates and flexible licenses.
It all points to healthy times ahead for the office space industry.
Billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn unhappy with Yahoo! chairman over the rejected takeover offer
The billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn is clearly unhappy with Yahoo! chairman, Roy Bostock, who the former believes that he made the firm’s board act irrationally in turning down Microsoft’ s takeover offer. In a letter to Mr. Bostock, Mr. Icahn noted: “It is clear (to me) that the Yahoo! board of directors has acted irrationally and has lost the faith of shareholders and also Microsoft.”
Mr. Icahn added Microsoft’s final $33-a-share bid was quite a ‘superior alternative to Yahoo!’s prospects purely on a stand-alone basis’. However, the Yahoo! chairman rejected such accusations, even while underlining that Yahoo! was open to any other deal at the right price.
Mr. Icahn announced that he had already bought nearly 59 million shares of Yahoo!. He noted he would look to seek clearance from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for acquiring a stake of about $2.5 billion in the firm that would be about 6 per cent of the company.
Mr. Bostock fired back in a letter mentioning that Mr. Icahn’s argument ‘reflects a significant misunderstanding of the relevant facts about the Microsoft proposal and the diligence with which Yahoo! board evaluated and responded.”
The rule of buying back one’s own debt at a discount is resulting into a conflict of interest in the private equity market. A banking association is to recommend amendments in rule to plug loopholes. The London-based Loan Market Association, which represents Europe’s syndicated loan market, is working towards this.
The association has realised that some private equity groups buy back their debts at a discount from banks, which try to manipulate their balance sheets through this route.
Neil Murray, of law firm Travers Smith, states that banks are trying to offload debt, which they planned to sell before the credit crisis. This has come as an opportunity to the private equity groups to exploit the situation and make profits. The banks hope to get free from capital obligations.
Mr. Murray says this is a clear conflict of interests. He opines that Loan Market Association could bar companies and private equity groups from getting voting rights, which are attached with re-purchased debts. Definitions in the rules could also be revised to prohibit prepayment of debts. Buy-back of debts to be permitted only when debt was at par value. These measures will remove loopholes and eliminate exploitation.
Ford has been known for enhancing quality with addition of innovative features, and the new Ford Focus ST is no exception. New improved 2008 Ford Focus ST, which is set to arrive in the UK market, has some amazing features. It has models with three doors, four doors and five doors body. The car has improved interiors, soft feel trim and sharp styling.
Better sound proofing and well positioned controls are the other improvements, which are bound to enhance the user experience. Apart from visual elements, vast improvement in electronics for the engine will make the car more eco-friendly. The improved engine has lower CO2 emissions.
All body panels except roof, side window and wind screen have been given a new and fresh look. Build quality has been enhanced with usage of better quality plastics. Fuel refuelling system has been made foolproof. This stops putting diesel fuel in a petrol model by mistake. Thanks to lesser noise driving, driving Ford Focus ST will be a pleasant experience.
The car has other features like system for warning about tyre pressure, socket for DVD players and laptop, and LED rear lights. Anti-lock braking, central locking, ABS system, four air bags, height adjustment for driver’s seat and folding rear seat - all of which make Ford Focus the most stylish car.
The price range for the new Ford Focus is £12,000 to £20,500.
Music retailer HMV is out of the misery of high street in a big way! It has predicted that year end profits will be much higher than targeted. The high expectation is based on the big jump in sales of its gaming and technology division.
The company started its execution of three-year turnaround plan this year. But Simon Fox, chief executive of HMV, is very much impressed with the current performance and is confident that company will achieve results beyond its targets in the first year itself. The company registered a jump of 14% in UK sales in the first four months of the current year.
Mr Fox, had initially predicted year end profits of around £43m-£53m. He is now expecting that it will be around £46m-£58m. A commendable performance indeed!
Analysts are of the opinion that company is benefiting due to the rise in its sales of computer games and consoles. The sales rise is attributed to drop in CD sales due to online download.
The gaming and technology division will also be benefiting from sales of Grand Theft Auto IV, which sold more than half a million copies on very first day of its launch. HMV also registered 6.6% rise in Waterstone’s, through strong advertising campaigns and loyalty card with membership of 1.3 millions.
Poor weather conditions - coupled with the slowing economy and an early Easter - have led to one of the worst months for retailers. The retailers have not faced such a fall since November 2005, according to a survey. It found out after an April survey of shops that sales of items particularly linked to the housing market, such as DIY and electrical items were all down from a level witnessed year ago.
Last week, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) stated retail sales in March were down by 0.4 per cent – more than the expected decline. But sales in the three months to March were 2 per cent higher than the previous quarter, the ONS added.
The business group CBI, which conducted the survey, was expecting sales to go down again in May, but at a touch slower rate than in April. The Distributive Trades Survey of CBI covers almost 20,000 UK retail outlets. “There is no doubt about the fact that consumers are clearly tightening their belts as the mood about the economy worsens,” stated Ian McCafferty, the CBI’s chief economic advisor. However, the group informed last April’s figures were somewhat boosted by the benefit of the Easter bank holidays and better weather.
Diageo, the global drinks giants and the maker of Guinness, is set to invest £520m in a state of the art brewery that will be based outside Dublin. The new brewery will be the biggest in Ireland and will be Diageo’s centre for Guinness production. Other Irish beers including Kilkenny and Harp will also be brewed on this site. The historic St James’s Gate brewery will be redeveloped before the sale of part of land for redevelopment. The facelift will cost £520m to the giants. Restructuring of business will however result in closure of two plants in Kilkenny and Dundalk, and lay off for 250 employees.
According to Diageo’s chief executive, this is the biggest capital investment in its supply infrastructure since inception 10 years ago. The new plant will enhance cost competitiveness of their global operations. He considers this as a major vote of confidence in their beer business and as a centre of excellence for global brewing in Ireland.
Diageo’s new brewery will be in operation by 2013. Company’s decision to close the Kilkenny and Dundalk breweries is guided by the incapability of these plants to provide sustained success in the increasingly competitive market.
Guinness is enjoying spurt in its demand after declines in recent years and consumers drift towards wine and spirits. In February the company reported 6% rise in sales over the second half of last year.
The credit crisis and slowdown in global economy is threatening to affect flow of overseas tourists to London. The number of tourists to visit London is expected to be the lowest since 2001.
Despite the fact that record number of tourists visited London in 2006 and 2007, the forecast for 2008 from Visit London, the tourist board of London, paints a grim picture. Encouraging statistics for 2006 and 2007 had offered some hope of rise in the tourist flow in the coming years. But these hopes seem to have been dashed!
The provisional data available from the Office of National Statistics indicates that 16.1m overseas tourists visited London in 2007, which is 3 per cent more compared to 2006 figures. Total spending by the visitors was £8.7bn; around 11 per cent higher than in 2006.
The tourist board is predicting a fall of 1.1 per cent in the visitor levels in 2008. Overseas visitors’ number is likely to grow by just 0.3 per cent - the lowest since 2002. The domestic visitors’ number would fall by 3.4 per cent, it is expected.
The current year seems to be the toughest one for London’s tourism since 2005. Slowdown in world economic growth and decline in consumer spending in North America and Europe are the major causes for the slump. Visit London has a note of caution – the slowdown could be much severe than what it has projected!