No Bang on the 4th

July 1st, 2010

I came across an interesting story today regarding the 4th of July celebrations in the United States. It’s been reported that many towns and cities throughout the States have had to cancel any planned firework celebrations due to the current financial situation that is still gripping the nation. The difficult decision is facing many local [...]

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Business cards and an online presence work wonders for independent musicians

June 4th, 2010

If you are a musician and your only sources of income are the bookings you receive and the lessons you teach then it is a good idea to consider your work a business. When you think of yourself as actually running your own business it helps you to approach things a little differently. Like all [...]

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Minimum price for alcohol sales backed by Tesco

May 23rd, 2010

Supermarket giant Tesco has announced it would like to see curbs on the sale of cheap alcohol. It was welcome coalition government promise to outlaw loss leading sales of alcohol sales in England and Wales. A recent survey carried out by Tesco revealed that the public felt particularly strongly about excessive drinking and the inevitable [...]

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British Airways in record £531m loss

May 22nd, 2010

Continuing the downward trend for European airlines, British Airways today reported its biggest ever annual loss. The poor results are being blamed on lower passenger numbers due to the recession, spiralling costs and the impact of strike action. The carrier lost £531m in the 12 months to March 2010, compared to £401m to the previous [...]

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Air France-KLM has announces a record annual loss

May 21st, 2010

Signs that the aviation industry is still struggling to recover from the worldwide recession were made stark in the latest figures released by Air France-KLM who have posted a record loss of £1.33 billion. The loss is nearly double the 811m-euro loss reported for the previous financial year. The Dutch airline merged with its rival [...]

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Coalition government scraps Home Information Packs

May 20th, 2010

Typically costing between £300 and £350, Home Information packs have provoked much anguish and debate from house sellers over the past few years. Introduced in England and Wales in 2007, their aim was to provide potential buyers with conveyancing information and to speed up the process of selling a house. They contain property information, local [...]

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VAT expected to rise under new coalition government

May 13th, 2010

VAT is expected to rise under the new Conservative & Liberal Democrat coalition government, according to a survey of influential economists. 24 of the 28 independent economists surveyed by the Treasury, 24 expected the rate to rise. Raising VAT to 20% would bring in an extra £11.5bn a year according to Analysts. VAT was temporarily [...]

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Hundreds of new jobs created by Staffordshire based JCB

April 27th, 2010

JCB has started recruiting up to 200 new staff to meet an increase in demand for new products. The news comes after nearly 2,000 redundancies during the recession, with some former employees now working back at the company. A three year pay deal has also been agreed with employees, who have not had a pay [...]

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Surprise profits for Sony Ericsson

April 25th, 2010

Boosted by new product launches and cost savings, Sony Ericsson has reported a surprise profit for the first three months of 2010, despite a drop in mobile phone sales of 28% from a year ago. Net profit was 21m euros ($28m; 18m), compared to a 293m euros loss a year earlier. The new Xperia X10 [...]

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Google profits beat expectations

April 23rd, 2010

A 37% rise in first-quarter profits has been reported by the Internet giant Google, beating analysts’ expectations. An increase in online spending by advertisers is cited as helping to increase revenue by 23% to $6.78bn. Pay-per-click online advertising profits rose 15% from the same quarter last year, as the internet advertising market continues its recovery [...]

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