Wednesday, 27 May 2009

Santander to rebrand British banks

Link to the article: Channel 4 News

By Jenny Wivell

Banking names Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley are to disappear from the high street as they are rebranded by their Spanish owner.

Three of Britain's best-known banking names will disappear from the high street as they are rebranded by their owner.

Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley will all carry the Santander logo from 2010.

The group will become the UK's second largest mortgage provider with 1300 branches and 25 million customers.

Tuesday, 26 May 2009

Profits soar at Virgin Atlantic

Link to the article: Channel 4 News

By Carl Dinnen

Making profits in a recession is no mean feat, but that's exactly what Virgin Atlantic has achieved. Carl Dinnen speaks to Virgin Atlantic CEO Steve Ridgway.

The airline has announced profits of more than £68m for the year to February.

That is almost double the previous year.

It is a massive contrast to British Airways, which last week announced annual pre-tax losses of more than £400m.

Saturday, 23 May 2009

The real cash cows of France?

Link to the article: BBC News

French investors are increasingly giving up on stocks in favour of good old-fashioned livestock.

Buying a cow can yield a healthy 5% annual return, as Emma Jane Kirby reports.

Wednesday, 20 May 2009

Europe's biggest wind farm opens

Link to the article: BBC News

The turbines on Europe's biggest on-shore wind farm have been officially switched on.

Located in East Renfrewshire, the wind farm will be capable of generating enough electricity to supply 180,000 homes.

Lorna Gordon reports.

Friday, 15 May 2009

EU recession 'deeper than expected'

Link to the article: BBC News

The European Union is suffering a deeper recession than expected. Figures from the EU show its members' economies shrank by an average of almost 4.5% in the year to March.

Economic output among the Eurozone countries also fell during the first quarter of 2009, largely because of a record contraction in the German economy.

Hugh Pym reports.

Thursday, 14 May 2009

Chip-maker fined over payments

Link to the article: Channel 4 News

By James Blake

The computer chip manufacturer Intel is handed a record fine of almost £1bn by the European Commission for anti-competitive practices.

The commission found that between 2002 and 2007, Intel had paid manufacturers and a retailer to favour its products, pushing up the price of computers on the high street.

Truth behind Ivory Coast toxic waste dump

Newsnight BBC2 Wednesday 13th May 2009
Link to the Newsnight Special Report at Newsnight

Thirty thousand people from Ivory Coast are taking on a massive British-based multinational after the dumping of poisonous waste on the land where they live in Ivory Coast.

Ivory Coast toxic waste claims
Newsnight investigation from August 2007 into claims multinational oil-trading company Trafigura dumped toxic waste in Ivory Coast. The company is on trial in Amsterdam over the claims.

First broadcast Wednesday 25th June 2008

Company defends toxic dumping claims
Eric de Turckheim, co-founder of Trafigura, defends claims his company dumped toxic waste in Ivory Coast.

This interview was first broadcast on 16 Aug 2007

BT cuts 15,000 jobs

Link to the article: Channel 4 News

One in 10 of BT's workers will lose their jobs as the telecoms firm announces a £134m loss.

BT is to cut another 15,000 jobs on top of the 15,000 it has already cut since November 2008.

The news comes as the company announces a loss of £134m in the latest financial year - only the second loss in the company's history.

Wednesday, 13 May 2009

Recovery may be slow, warns King

Link to the article: Channel 4 News

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King warns of great uncertainty for the UK economy.

Unveiling the bank’s quarterly inflation report, King said: "The economy will heal, but the process may be slow."

He said that this recession was unlike previous ones.

And he noted that there were reasons for optimism - but that rising public debt and the damaged banking system could still delay a recovery.

Tuesday, 5 May 2009

EU groups explained with cake

Link to the article: BBC News

European Union wide elections are due in June and the final session of the current European Parliament is underway in Strasbourg.

Dominic Hughes looks at how the 700-plus MEPs from 27 countries will work together.

What does an EU commissioner do?

Link to the article: BBC News

As the European elections get closer, BBC News has been to parliament to find out more about who works there and what they do.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner is an EU Commissioner who spends most of her time in Brussels and Strasbourg attending meetings, briefings and press conferences.

What does an MEP do?

Link to the article: BBC News

Every country in Europe is represented in the European parliament by elected members - MEPs.

But what do MEPs do? Proinsias de Rossa is an MEP for Ireland and splits his time between Brussels, Strasbourg and Dublin.

Monday, 4 May 2009

Expat business slows in Spain

Link to the article: BBC News

Many people from Britain have moved to Spain in search of the good life, but the global slowdown is hitting those who have started businesses there.

Jenny Hill reports from Malaga.

European economy 'will shrink 4%'

Link to the article: BBC News

The European Commission has said that the EU economy is now in its deepest recession since the second world war.

New figures released have forecasted that the economy will shrink by four per cent this year.

The forecasts are worse than previously expected, with as many as 8.5 million jobs expected to disappear, wiping out the number of new jobs created in the past year.

Mark Gregory reports.

Friday, 1 May 2009

Banking system 'failed at all levels'

Link to the article: Channel 4 News

A Parliamentary report concludes that bank chiefs were to blame for the economic crisis, but are they letting government and the regulators off the hook?

The number of companies going into administration or liquidation has risen by more than 50 per cent in the first quarter of the year.

The figures, released this morning by the Insolvency Service, came as the Commons' treasury committee launched a report accusing banks of failing to lend enough money to help struggling firms through the recession.

The committee said that Britain had suffered "a comprehensive failure of the banking system at all levels".