• Cash withheld after CSC fails to install first system• Contract renegotiations reach impasse
The government’s struggling £12.7bn IT programme was in crisis tonight after the department of health admitted it had failed to secure revised terms on three troublesome contracts, each worth £1bn.
Renegotiation talks on the three contracts with US outsourcing group Computer Sciences [...]
Workers in London and south-east see income outperform national average – while every other region loses out
Britain’s richest and poorest regions have drawn farther apart since 1995, with households in London and the south-east seeing their income race ahead of the national average, while those in the rest of the country fell behind, official figures [...]
Financial Services Authority makes first move to smash alleged insider dealing ring
The Financial Services Authority today brought charges against seven people in its first ever attempt to break a suspected insider dealing ring that it alleges resulted in £2.5m of ill-gotten gains.
A warrant for the arrest of another person in connection with this investigation has [...]
• Deal to sell North America distribution rights falls through• EMI owner Terra Firma must now find £120m by 12 June
EMI faces being taken over by its bankers after breaching its debt covenants following its failure to clinch a deal with rival Universal to sell its distribution rights in North America for around £200m.
An [...]
Poor consumer confidence index figures suggest people are losing faith in recovery after January and February rises
The British public’s confidence in the UK economy and their own finances waned this month, prompting fears that people are losing faith in the economic recovery as the general election approaches.
The GfK NOP consumer confidence index, published this morning, [...]
British Airways says passengers should expect cancelled flights following the end of a four-day strike
British Airways warned passengers to expect cancellations today as cabin crew returned to work following the end of a four-day strike.
The airline said all flights at Gatwick and London City airports would operate as normal, with the knock-on impact at Heathrow [...]
Hedge fund manager Guillaume Rambourg has been barred while an investigation into his work is conducted
Fund management firm Gartmore’s shares came under renewed pressure this morning after it suspended one of its top hedge fund managers.
Shares in the company fell 10% to as low as 97p in volatile early trading in London, as fears spread [...]
Media regulator demands that BSkyB make a 23.4% cut in price of Sky Sports 1 and 2 to rivals such as Virgin Media and BT
The media regulator Ofcom today ordered BSkyB to reduce the amount it charges rivals to offer Sky Sports by more than 20%.
BSkyB must reduce the wholesale price at which it sells [...]
• Absence of Harry Potter release sees profits fall 35% last year• Company plans talks with Apple about iPad ebooks application
Harry Potter is getting a makeover. The boy wizard’s seven adventures, penned by JK Rowling, are being given new covers by publisher Bloomsbury this summer as it looks to recapture just a little of its [...]
Taxpayers’ support critical in generating first quarter of expansion since spring 2008, say analysts
Alistair Darling’s insistence that the economy would still be stuck in recession without a leg-up from the Treasury was boosted today by news that public spending and the car scrappage scheme had been essential to generating a recovery in the final quarter [...]
