Latest Business News

On a day where company news took a back seat, Europe was the focus; and a bloodbath ensued. The FTSE 100 fell after three days of rises, and boy, what a fall.

The top tier gave up a whopping 3 per cent, or 170.8 points, to close at 5,262.8. While there had been a slight wobble in London over potential disagreements in the coalition government, the fracturing of the eurozone really caught the imagination. Fears escalated on reports that the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, had threatened to pull the country out of the euro if Germany failed to help Greece. Deutsche Bank’s chief executive, Josef Ackermann, did not help as he predicted that the Greeks would never pay the debts back in full.

Full Post…

Nine West was one of many familiar UK high street retail chains in which Jóhannesson’s group Baugur held a stake. Photograph: Graeme Robertson

When Baugur began buying up the British high street in 2004 the Icelandic outfit, led by its handsome executive chairman Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson, was hailed as a new breed of Viking raider.

The Icelander with the shoulder-length blond hair and black designer clothes behaved more like a rock star than a sober businessman, throwing champagne-fuelled parties and seducing business associates with trips by private jet to Reykjavík to sample a thriving 24-hour party scene as the small island nation reinvented itself as a banking hothouse.

On the London circuit Jóhannesson, a paper billionaire at one time, was feted as the new kingmaker of British retail, in league with tycoons such as Sir Philip Green as he poured hundreds of millions of pounds into an acquisition spree that swallowed up retailers from swanky jeweller Mappin & Webb to House of Fraser and no-frills food chain Iceland. At th

Full Post…

As millions of aging baby boomers start contemplating how they are going to survive when they’re no longer working, retirement planning has hit an all time high. Whether you’re just starting out in the workforce, or you’re staring 62 in the face and wondering where the money is going to come from, it is never too late to start planning for your retirement.

There are many ways that you can start putting money aside to help you in your later years. First, you’re going to need to figure out how much money you need every single year to survive. Take 10% of that and add it on for emergencies. You’ll

Full Post…

The competition watchdog has flagged its intention to reject a proposal by a group of car rental companies to enter into collective negotiations with Perth Airport.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said Perth Airport is using a competitive request for proposal process to allocate counter space and parking bays to car rental companies. A group of car rental companies wants to collectively bargain with the airport about the licence terms and conditions for counter space and parking bays.

The members of the proposed bargaining group – Hertz, Thrifty, Avis, Budget and Europcar – all currently offer car rental services at the airport. Full Post…

An increasing number of consumers are aiming to score grocery bargains by searching online for coupons and using smart phones or other mobile devices to compare prices and get discounts while shopping, according to the industry trade publication Progressive Grocer. 
 
It’s no wonder more people are looking for ways to trim their grocery bill when you consider the most recent Consumer Price Index figures on hikes in food costs.

The fresh fruits and vegetable price index was up 4.6 percent in March, accounting for more than 60 percent of the seasonally adjusted monthly increases for all items in the Consumer Price Index, which is compiled by the U.S. Bur Full Post…