Financial Times
ADVENT IS READY TO PUT POUNDLAND UP FOR SALE
The owners of discount retailer Poundland have hired
advisers Close Brothers to prepare its possible sale to
either a rival or another buyout firm. Private equity group
Advent International's action will be watched closely by
analysts for an indication of investor appetitive for discount
retailers. Sales in the sector have been facing difficulties
amid concerns about a possible drop in high street spending.
JOHN LEWIS STAFF SHARE 151 MILLION POUND BONUS
John Lewis, the department store chain, is giving a bonus of
15 per cent of salary to its 70,000 staff, brushing off claims
that its business model is unsustainable. Gareth Thomas, who is
retiring from his role as retail director this month, had
doubted the survivability of its staff-owned structure. Chairman
Charlie Mayfield, who on Thursday posted a recession-beating
increase in full-year profits, said the model was not broken,
but added: "What is not broken today, does not mean it's not
broken tomorrow. The model is not a passport to success." John
Lewis lifted profits before tax, bonus and exceptional items by
ten per cent to 307 million pounds for the year to January.
LABOUR'S TAX PLEDGE 'GAFFE' DRAWS TORY FIRE
Liam Byrne, Treasury chief secretary, has insisted Labour
can meet its plan to halve the 178 billion pound budget deficit
by 2014 without further tax rises. The announcement has been
branded "a gaffe" by the Conservatives, who believe tax rises
are inevitable to close the hole in public finances. A Treasury
spokesman denied Byrne had ruled out any future tax rises,
saying: "No chancellor would do that before a Budget." The
government has previously announced components for its envisaged
19 billion pound tax rise by 2014.
CALL FOR INQUIRY INTO NUCLEAR PLANS
An independent inquiry is needed into government plans to
back a new generation of nuclear power plants being built in
Britain, according to Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat
spokesman for energy and climate change. Hughes believes it
would be "completely unacceptable" to "rush through new nuclear"
during the government's last days in office without an inquiry.
The government wants to invest in up to 12 new nuclear plants to
help Britain meet its emissions targets.
BURNHAM TO DILUTE HEALTH PROVISION PROPOSALS
The insistence of health secretary Andy Burnham that NHS
organisations are the "preferred provider" of health service
care has been scaled down in the face of opposition from cabinet
colleagues. Highly anticipated guidance to the NHS on how to buy
services will now contain only brief references to Burnham's
preferred provider idea. The watered down approach is unlikely
to satisfy either voluntary or private providers of NHS care.
Peter Kyle, deputy chief executive of Acevo, the association of
voluntary organisation chief executives, warned: "We cannot have
a document which enables different people to read different
things into it."
FEARS RISE OVER FLAGSHIP JOBS SCHEME
According to a government-commissioned review, Pathways to
Work, the flagship jobs scheme for people on sickness benefits,
provides only a "bare minimum" service to the hardest to help.
The Department for Work and Pensions' critical report raises
concerns over "perverse incentives" for private providers.
Ministers have called for the one billion pound programme to be
overhauled for falling well short of targets.
NEW YORK VIES WITH CITY FOR FINANCE CROWN
The latest ranking of financial centres sees London lose its
crown as the pre-eminent home of banking and finance for the
first time as the City becomes tied with New York. London's
score fell by 14 points in the Global Financial Centres Index,
on the back of fears about a regulatory backlash and new taxes.
It is now tied with New York at 775 points. The semi-annual
ranking combines a survey of financial professionals with
factors such as office rental rates and airport satisfaction.
ADVERTISING MIGRATION HURTS JOHNSTON PRESS
Johnston Press, the UK's second-biggest regional
newspaper publisher, has announced revenue plummeted 19.5 per
cent to 428 million pounds in the 53 weeks to January 2. The
publisher of The Scotsman and Yorkshire Post blamed a slump in
advertising and the migration of job and car classifieds online.
Chief executive John Fry said: "I think newspapers have a long
life but probably a slow decline." Its shares declined 0.75
pence to 27.5 pence.
MANDELSON IN CALL TO PRIVATE SECTOR
Business secretary Lord Mandelson has revealed that private
investment in infrastructure needs to be mobilised on "a totally
new scale" to meet energy, transport and waste management needs
in Britain. Lord Mandelson said on Thursday that over the last
ten years the rebuilding of public services had led the way in
job creation. However, the private sector will be "the motor of
full employment" over the next decade, "backed by an active
government".
BUSINESSES NOT READY FOR RECOVERY
Research by Grant Thornton, the financial and business
adviser, reveals that almost two-thirds of UK businesses are
unprepared for recovery in the economy. A survey of nearly 400
executives suggests they are hamstrung by their own business
models. According to Grant Thornton, most executives surveyed
have formulated plans for the next 18 months on the basis of
their historical practices and were complacent about new
opportunities and innovation.
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