Latest Business News from Times Online

The Andrew Davidson Interview: Graham Mackay

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

How long is too long? “Well, there is a limit, depending on circumstances,” admits Graham Mackay, slowly. It has been 12 years since he became boss of SAB Miller — 10 years since he listed the firm in London. Back then, it was just plain old South African Breweries. Now it is a global beer giant, with £15 billion revenues and brands such as Peroni, Grolsch and Miller Lite under its belt.

The nutters can relax – but only for a while

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The word “nutter” and Bank of England are only occasionally used in the same sentence. It was used soon after Bank independence in 1997 when Diane Abbott, the Labour MP, accused the governor, then Eddie George, of being an inflation nutter.

This is no time for Cadbury to show flakiness

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

It is time for Roger Carr, chairman of Cadbury, to get on the front foot. The group is beginning to look more like a victim in this drawn-out bid battle waged by Kraft than the iconic international confectioner that it is.

Gatwick owners look to the stars

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

GATWICK’S new owners have gone into orbit in their hunt for a board for the London airport. They are understood to have hired James van Hoften, a former astronaut who runs the airports business of Bechtel, the American engineering giant.

Ofwat price review will force water bosses to cut jobs

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

WATER bosses have warned they will be forced to cut thousands of jobs if Ofwat, the regulator, pushes ahead with its tough price review.

Concorde runs out of room at Heathrow

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

CONCORDE may have to leave Heathrow, its spiritual home, because British Airways is struggling to find space to put it on display.

Bank customers in line for £6bn refund of overdraft charges

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

MILLIONS of bank customers will be in line for payouts totalling up to £6 billion if a Supreme Court judgment on current account charges goes against the banks this week.

Criminal past of John Hirst the island fraudster

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

JOHN HIRST, the financier being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office over an alleged £20m Ponzi scheme, served two-and-a-half years in jail in the 1990s for similar offences.

Cadbury tells Hershey: show us more of the money

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

CADBURY would rebuff a £10.3 billion takeover offer from US chocolate maker Hershey as a “non-starter”, insisting that it doesn’t offer full value for the British confectionery business.

RBS dumping toxic assets on Ireland

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND is poised to spark a diplomatic row with Ireland by attempting to dump £7 billion of toxic loans into the Irish “bad bank”.

Cult acts cash in with MySpace deal

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

MYSPACE has defused a year-long row with independent record labels, allowing artists such as Arctic Monkeys, Basement Jaxx and Bjork to sell songs on the social networking site’s music service when it launches shortly in Britain.

Cheques to be bounced into history

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

BRITISH banks are drawing up plans to stop accepting cheques and instead demand payment by plastic or electronic transfer.

Treasury hits at hysteria

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

TREASURY officials have dismissed what they describe as hysteria over government borrowing, following figures that were widely interpreted in the City as pointing to a substantial overshoot for the chancellor’s £175 billion forecast for the budget deficit.

Waitrose’s ‘chubby grocer’ tipped for Morrison job

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Waitrose boss Mark Price has emerged as a leading contender to replace Marc Bolland as the new chief executive of FTSE 100 supermarket giant Wm Morrison.

Bankers are forced to disclose pay

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Banks will this week be ordered to disclose for the first time the pay and bonuses of their high-rolling employees in a far-reaching overhaul of how the boards of financial companies are run.

Shamed MG Rover chiefs bank extra £11m

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

FIVE disgraced former directors of MG Rover, the failed Midlands car maker, are to receive an early Christmas present with an £11m-plus payout from the wreckage of the firm.

Hershey prepares to trump $17bn Kraft bid for Cadbury$

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:57:30 GMT

The Trust which controls Hershey is pushing for the US food giant to make a $17 billion counter bid for British chocolate and gum group Cadbury.$

Battle for the nation’s savings

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Graham Beale is right to raise concerns about the unusually generous interest rates being offered by National Savings & Investments and other state-backed organisations. The Nationwide Building Society chief is being crucified by these top rates, seeing £6 billion of defecting depositors’ money drain away in the past six months.

SHL's David Leigh gives nothing away, but can read you like a book

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Poker is all about keeping your cards close to your chest and giving away as little as possible,” David Leigh says. “By not revealing what you have in your hand, you force your opponents to make decisions based on incomplete information, which puts them at a disadvantage.”

Marks & Spencer will be no bed of roses after years keeping families happy in the boardroom

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Some believe that the Dutch are the Europeans who most resemble the British in outlook and attitudes, which might explain the longevity of Anglo-Dutch business alliances such as Royal Dutch Shell and Unilever.

Forget the squelch of Glastonbury and have a Massive Attack in the sun

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

It is Glastonbury Mediterranean-style, without the rain or the mud, and every year thousands of Britons flock to a tiny town near Valencia to watch bands such as Kraftwerk and Oasis and to top up their tans.

Disney closes popular parenting sites

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Disney has abruptly shut down two popular parenting websites less than 18 months after acquiring them.

Ministers and bank divided as Japan faces prospect of return to deflation

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The Bank of Japan and the Japanese Finance Ministry have embarked on a bizarre public row over the threat of deflation and whether the country’s economy is poised for a recovery or slump.

Gartmore plans to list up to half its equity

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Gartmore has fired the starting gun on a mid-December flotation on the London Stock Exchange that is likely to value one of Britain’s best-known fund managers at about £1 billion.

Tesco may use loyalty card as credit-rating clue

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Tesco may use information gathered on customers’ shopping habits to rate their creditworthiness.