Further talks have taken place at conciliation service, ACAS, between British Airways (BA) and the Unite union in the latest bid to avert strikes by the airline’s cabin crew members. Cabin crew have been in a long-running dispute with the airline over cost-cutting measures, which include a pay freeze, a switch to part-time working for [...]
London Underground (LU) has today announced it will axe a further 400 office and management jobs. LU says it is reviewing all non-frontline services in a bid to cut costs. The announcement comes after unions were enraged over the loss of 800 ticket office jobs, which has led to industrial action on the underground. Two [...]
Banking giant HSBC is in talks with South African insurer Old Mutual about acquiring a majority stake in Nedbank Group – South Africa’s fourth biggest bank. The media has speculated that the price could be around £4.5 billion for a 52% stake, in the latest in a series of assets Old Mutual has been forced [...]
Talks are ongoing between airports operator BAA and the Unite union to try to avoid strike action which could see six UK airports shut down over the crucial bank holiday period. Face-to-face talks between the two parties are taking place at the central London offices of the conciliation service ACAS and comes after BAA voted [...]
Oil giant BP suffered another blow today after Moody’s credit rating agency downgraded the company’s credit rating by three notches, from A2 to Aa2. The downgrade follows similar moves from the two other major international credit ratings agencies, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s, who also downgraded the company‘s rating. In a statement today, Moody’s said [...]
Prudential, which is Britain’s second largest insurer, is in fresh talks with AIA, the Asian arm of US company American International Group (AIG). Earlier this week, it was reported that as many as 20% of Pru’s UK investors will vote against the proposed takeover and, as a result, the insurance giant said it is in [...]
British Airways (BA) cabin crew will embark on a five-day strike today after eleventh-hour talks collapsed. Over the weekend, the Unite union’s joint general secretary, Tony Woodley, offered to cancel the latest strikes if travel perks for cabin crew were reinstated. However a spokesperson for BA said: “We have already offered to reinstate travel concessions [...]
According to sources this evening, the Conservative party is close to forming a coalition with the Liberal Democrats after talks between the latter and the Labour Government broke down at lunchtime today. The news comes after Friday’s hung parliament result, which failed to give any political party a clear majority. As a result, the political [...]
Greece’s finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, has said talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about emergency loans are progressing well. Last week, the debt-ridden economy called for emergency funding from the IMF and its euro zone partners. Emergency loans of up to €30 billion (£26 billion) are expected to be provided in the first year, [...]
The euro has lost ground again today after it emerged that Greece has requested talks with the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to discuss its rescue package. On Sunday, finance ministers of the euro zone nations agreed to provide emergency loans to Greece. The deal will see €30 billion [...]
British Airways (BA) cabin crew members are on their third and final day of strikes this week but there are still no signs of a resolution between the airline and unions. Last month, BA‘s 12,000 cabin crew members voted to take industrial action over cost-cutting measures, which include a pay freeze and a switch to [...]
Talks aimed at averting industrial action at British Airways (BA) have collapsed and failed to reach an agreement. Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said: “Despite a prolonged period of negotiations it has not been possible to reach agreement between BA and Unite.” Last month, BA‘s 12,000 cabin crew members voted to [...]
British Airways (BA) is to resume talks with the Unite union about averting industrial action. BA‘s 12,000 cabin crew members have vowed to take industrial action over cost-cutting measures, which include a pay freeze and a switch to part-time working for thousands of staff. Cabin crew members were scheduled to take 12 days of strike [...]
According to reports this weekend, Coventry Building Society is in merger talks with its smaller rival, the Stroud & Swindon. The talks follow a series of recent mergers between Britain’s building societies and, should a deal be successful, will bring more consolidation to the mutual sector. The news comes as Coventry, which is the country’s [...]
It emerged yesterday that Yorkshire Building Society and Chelsea Building Society were in advanced merger talks but today the Yorkshire has revealed that a tie-up would lead to a number of job losses and a £200 million write-down on Chelsea’s bad debts. “The merger will lead to a number of job losses,” the two societies [...]
Norwich & Peterborough (N&P), which is Britain’s tenth largest society, is to close 10 of its branches, putting more than 50 jobs at risk. The branch closures represent one fifth of its 54-strong network and the news comes just a day after it emerged that Chelsea and Yorkshire Building Societies were in merger talks. N&P [...]
It has been reported that the Yorkshire Building Society is in talks with the Chelsea Building Society about a possible merger. Should a deal prove to be successful between the Yorkshire and Chelsea, it would create an institution with over 2 million customers and assets of around £38 billion. The deal will be the biggest [...]
WHSmith has abandoned talks with bookshop chain Borders, which is set to see Borders UK enter administration unless a sale is imminent. Borders is understood to not have sufficient cash to see it through to Christmas as it has suffered amid increased competition from supermarkets and online retailers, such as Amazon. As a result, the [...]
British Airways (BA) and Spanish airline Iberia are set to merge following talks at both companies. Earlier today, BA said: “Further to recent market speculation, British Airways confirms that the British Airways and Iberia Boards are holding separate meetings today, 12 November, to consider a potential transaction.” However, according to reports in Spanish newspaper, El [...]
Struggling airline British Airways (BA) has today posted a first-half pre-tax loss of £292 million for the six months to 30 September. The airline admitted during the summer it was fighting to survive and has since been looking at ways to cut costs. It is struggling to stay afloat during the global economic downturn which [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
