Electricity Bills: Green Power Plan To Add £100

Green power could add £100 a year to electricity bills by 2020 under new government plans.

An estimated £110bn is needed in the next decade to renew the UK's ageing electricity infrastructure and much of that is set to go into low-carbon power sources such as wind farms.

But the coalition's long-awaited green energy strategy is set to treble the costs levied on bills from £2.35bn a year to £7.6bn.

And the increased cost to bill-payers from the drive for clean energy could reach £178 a year by 2030, before adjusting for inflation, experts believe.

However, officials say that while consumers will pay more towards green energy strategies they will also save money through increased energy efficiency at home.

The forthcoming Energy Bill, which aims to drive the investment, has been the subject of political wrangling within the coalition.

There have been mixed messages about how committed the Government is to supporting a greener economy or backing new gas power.

But agreement has now been reached on contentious areas.

Energy secretary Ed Davey told Sky News: "By making sure Britain produces our own clean energy we can insulate consumers and insulate the British economy from imported gas prices which is better for energy security."

Significantly, the bill will not include a limit for the amount of carbon dioxide that can be emitted per megawatt hour of power from the electricity sector by 2030.

The Government believes the spending level agreed for low-carbon power subsidies will allow the UK to meet goals to supply 30% of electricity from renewables by 2020.

Environmental campaigners have reacted angrily to the news that carbon emissions will not be capped.

John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace, said: "By failing to agree to any carbon target for the power sector until after the next election, David Cameron has allowed a militant tendency within his own ranks to derail the Energy Bill.

"It's a blatant assault on the greening of the UK economy that leaves consumers vulnerable to rising gas prices, and sends billions of pounds of clean-tech investment to our economic rivals."

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Tax Backlash Prospect For Independent Shops

By Poppy Trowbridge, Business & Economics correspondent

Independent businesses could benefit from public uproar over low rates of corporation tax paid by global giants Starbucks, Amazon and Google, according to retail experts.

The backlash has been prompted by the revelation that Starbucks has paid just £8.6m UK corporation tax in the past 13 years, on sales of £3.1bn, when most businesses will pay a corporation tax rate of 24% this year.

In 2011, Google paid £6m tax against sales of £395m, while Amazon paid no tax at all in the UK - despite sales here reaching £3.3bn.

Matthew Stych, research director at analysts Planet Retail, believes British retailers can make the most of the furore by highlighting their own contributions and good practices.

"It's a golden opportunity that comes along once in a decade or so, to really capitalise on the negative publicity that some global retailers are receiving at the moment," he says.

"I think it's a huge opportunity that independent retailers in the community must seize now".

Google and Amazon are also accused of paying low taxes on big profits

Independent booksellers in Hertfordshire are doing just that. With support from the Booksellers Association they have launched an advertisement campaign to publicise the fact they pay their taxes.

"People need to think about where they are spending their money and we are hoping that this campaign will bring that to their attention," said Sheryl Shurville, co-owner of Chorleywood Bookshop.

But other analysts are not convinced such consumer campaigns will have any long-term benefit.

"We're unlikely to see any massive dip in the sales of these companies under scrutiny," says Douglas McNeill, chief analyst at Charles Stanley.

"Whilst ethical issues can temporarily make people pause for thought, consumers make their choices on the basis of eternal basics of price, quality and convenience."

Mr Stych says large brands may yet find a way to turn around the negative publicity.

"As far as Amazon and Starbucks are concerned, I think there's an opportunity to strike a more conciliatory note," according to Mr Stych. 

"This is for them also an ideal opportunity to regain or re-forge that bond with local consumers".

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Christopher Flowers Courts Allies For RBS Bid

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The Wall Street tycoon Christopher Flowers is courting a string of private equity and banking allies as he seeks to assemble a knockout bid for more than 300 branches owned by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

I have learned that Mr Flowers' buyout firm, JC Flowers, is in talks with potential partners about structuring a deal that could result in it selling a slice of OneSavings, the retail bank it established last year.

JC Flowers has also hired Citi, the investment bank, to advise it on a bid that will pit it against Nationwide, Britain's biggest building society, and Virgin Money, the banking arm of Sir Richard Branson's business empire.

Anacap, the owner of Aldermore Bank, one of the newest entrants to the banking sector, is also examining a bid.

OneSavings was created following Flowers' takeover of the Kent Reliance Building Society, a deal that was supposed to form the foundation of a major force in British banking.

Since then, however, JC Flowers has aborted talks to absorb the Principality Building Society and dropped a bid to acquire Northern Rock from the Government. Northern Rock was subsequently taken over by Virgin Money.

People close to the situation said that JC Flowers was certain to recruit partners if it pursued a bid for the RBS branches because of the size of the deal.

Last month, Santander UK abandoned a deal to buy the 316 branches from RBS, citing repeated delays caused by problems with the network's IT systems.

Taxpayer-backed RBS has asked bankers at UBS to restart the sale process. The European Commission has set RBS a deadline of the end of next year to have sold the branches in order to comply with state aid rules.

JC Flowers declined to comment.

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Comet Bid Made By Online Retailer

The entrepreneur behind Appliances Online has tabled a bid for Comet in a move that could see the failed electrical chain disappear from retail parks and high streets.

John Roberts, who set up Appliances Online in 2000, confirmed he had put in a "seven-figure offer" for Comet's website after it collapsed into administration earlier this month.

He said his Bolton-based business would hope to run the Comet brand online, but said a deal would depend on whether he could rescue the brand before too much damage was done through the administration process.

Administrator Deloitte is also understood to have received a bid for 140 of the 195 Comet stores, which could save more than 2,000 jobs, according to a report in The Sun newspaper.

Deloitte said it had been in discussions with a number of interested parties over different parts of the Comet business.

Some 1,500 posts at the collapsed electricals chain have already been axed, including 603 home delivery network jobs on Monday.

A further 57 head office posts in Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, 56 employees from a call centre in Clevedon, and 17 from an office in Hull also went this week.

The sites were already the subject of 330 redundancies last week.

Deloitte has also closed 27 of the 41 shops it announced it would shut by the end of the month.

Mr Roberts, who said Comet's poor attitude to its customers caused its downfall, wants a quick sale of the business.

He said it was unlikely Comet would survive in any form on the retail parks.

The collapse of Comet marks one of the biggest high street casualties since the demise of Woolworths in 2008 and came a month after the failure of JJB Sports.

The group was hit by weak high street trading conditions, competition from online rivals and being unable to secure the trade credit insurance needed to safeguard suppliers.

In particular, it was knocked by the lack of first-time home-buyers, who had been key customers for Comet, according to Deloitte.

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Steel Giant Tata Cuts 900 Jobs Across UK

Indian-owned Tata Steel has confirmed that it will close 12 plants in Britain.

The move will result in 900 job losses, the company confirmed, including 580 in South Wales, 155 in Yorkshire, 120 in the West Midlands and 30 on Teesside.

Sites to close include Tafarnaubach and Cross Keys in South Wales, and it will also reduce shifts at Rotherham and Hartlepool in response to lower demand for products.

The chief executive of the company's European operations, Karl Kohler, said the move was part of a strategy to become an "all-weather steel producer", able to withstand the difficult economic conditions.

Demand for steel in Europe had fallen by 25% since 2007 and was forecast to slump by another 10% this year, Tata said.

Mr Kohler added: "The job losses are regrettable and I know this will be a difficult and unsettling time for the employees and their families affected.

"We will be working with our trade unions and government at a national and local level to ensure we provide them with as much assistance and support as possible."

The company employs 19,000 in the UK and said it remained committed to investing in the business to help create long-term stability.

It confirmed plans to re-start one of two blast furnaces at Port Talbot in the first quarter of next year as part of a £250m investment programme.

Michael Leahy, general secretary of the Community trade union, said it was "sad news" for those affected by the job losses.

"We will be seeking an urgent meeting with the company to ensure our principle of no compulsory redundancies is upheld, although we are pleased to see the company has already committed to offering a package of training and support for those affected by these changes," he said.

"Sadly, these potential job losses are symptomatic of the continuing failure of the Government's economic policy and yet another reason why we are calling on the British Government to take urgent action to stimulate economic growth ana help revive the manufacturing sector."

A Welsh Government spokesman added: "This is very disappointing news, and a massive blow to those who will be losing their jobs.

"Tata's decision reflects the serious and ongoing challenges faced by manufacturing industries during these very difficult economic times.

"In addition to these challenges, it is clear that high energy costs and uncertainty over UK Government energy policy are having a significant impact on business investment decisions.

"As a Government, we have warned for some time of the need for these costs to be reduced."

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Eurozone Crisis: Cyprus Poised For Bailout

Discussions between Cyprus and European officials are ongoing, as the island negotiates the terms of a sovereign bailout.

Cyprus government officials said they had agreed on a package with the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But the European Commission (EC) denied that a deal had been struck, adding that discussions are ongoing.

"Discussions are expected to continue from respective headquarters with a view to making further progress toward a potential program," a a joint statement from the EU, IMF and EC said.

If the deal is approved, it would make the Mediterranean island the fourth country in the eurozone to request a sovereign bailout, as the region struggles to contain its debt crisis. 

Cyprus requested a bailout - which could be worth as much as £17.5bn, or its total GDP - after its banks failed to cope with their exposure to Greece.

"The deadline that was set by the European Central Bank for the recapitalisation of the banks expired, so we had to enter the rescue mechanism," spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said.

"The bailout deal includes unpleasant measures."

Greece, Ireland and Portugal have already received bailouts to help manage their debt levels, while Spain received a 100bn euro (£80.8bn) aid package to bolster its banking industry.

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Mobile Payment Firm Vocalink Seeks Funding

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

A company owned by Britain's major banks is seeking tens of millions of pounds in funding to launch a mobile payments service that it believes will deliver huge benefits to struggling small business-owners.

I understand that Vocalink, in which the main high street lenders are shareholders, is drawing up plans to establish a new company into which capital would be injected by a group of external and existing bank investors.

The new service, which is being developed using the project name Zap, would allow companies to present bills to consumers on their mobile phones, and for immediate payment to be made if customers have sufficient funds in their accounts.

It would avoid the costly production of paper bills for utilities and other mass-service providers, while for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) it would mean faster payments being made to them at a time when cashflow constraints are frequently damaging their prospects.

Insiders said the project represented a landmark in efforts to make instant mobile payments a mass-market proposition in Britain.

Vocalink's chief executive David Yates is in talks to raise seed funding from the big banks. A major investment bank is expected to be hired in the near future to co-ordinate the fundraising, according to sources.

The new service will be launched using a new consumer brand-name which has yet to be created and could be up-and-running by 2014.

It is unclear how much of the bill for the new system would be footed by the banks, but insiders say that the ownership structure of the new company would be "more entrepreneurial", with shares potentially sold to SMEs, utilities, retailers and "other participants in the payment value chain".

It would be more far-reaching than another initiative currently being devised by Vocalink on behalf of the Payments Council, the body which supervises payment services across the UK.

The collaboration with the Payments Council would be a basic money-transfer service allowing customers of UK banks to transfer money between accounts. It would use a new national mobile database, on which every bank account would be linked to mobile phone numbers.

Barclays is among the banks to have signalled its participation in the project, despite earlier misgivings among some of its executives that it was duplicating Pingit, the mobile money transfer service launched earlier this year.

Vocalink's board includes a range of heavyweight businessmen, including Sir John Gieve, former deputy governor of the bank of England, and Richard Hooper, architect of the reform of Royal Mail.

The company says its systems are involved in processing every interbank payment in Britain, last year handling 9.6bn payments worth nearly £4.5 trillion.

Vocalink was unavailable for comment.

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Arsenal Extends £150m Emirates Airlines Deal

Arsenal have announced a new sponsorship deal worth £150m with Emirates Airlines.

The agreement, which is worth £30m a season over the next five years, will see the airline continue to sponsor the club's shirts until the 2018/19 season.

The company will also continue to hold the naming rights to the Gunners' 60,000-seater stadium at Ashburton Grove until 2028.

Arsenal Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis said: "This is an exciting day for Arsenal Football Club and all our supporters.

"This agreement is a testimony to Arsenal's approach and to the capabilities we have developed in recent years as well as the strength of our partnership with Emirates.

"The original deal with Emirates was a key facilitator of our move from Highbury and this next phase of our relationship will be just as critical to keep us at the top of the game in England and Europe.

"Emirates is the perfect partner for Arsenal and we are delighted to have agreed a new partnership. Emirates is a world-class brand and by flying to more than 120 destinations across six continents has a truly global reach.

"This reach will play an important role in our own ambitions to further extend the depth of our following around the world. The fact this partnership will continue for many years to come underlines how much both organisations value and benefit from the relationship."

As part of the deal, Emirates will also continue to fund the Arsenal Soccer School in Dubai.

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'Black Friday' Discount Day Reaches UK

Some of the UK's biggest retailers are cashing in on a US tradition which sees millions of frenzied shoppers make the most of discounted prices.

Amazon, Asda and Apple are among the companies that have launched so-called Black Friday sales in Britain - despite many consumers being unaware of the custom.

In the US, thousands of stores discount their prices the day after Thanksgiving, and many open for longer hours.

Last year a record number of people visited stores over the Black Friday weekend, spending a total of $52bn (£32.6bn) - an average of around $400 (£250) each, according to the National Retail Federation.

And this year, some eager shoppers have been caught on camera phones battling to get to the best bargains first, after queuing for hours. 

Many retailers opened their stores at midnight, and this year the trend to open at 8pm on Thursday started to spread.

Some US stores were frantic

While the shift was denounced by some store employees and traditionalists as pulling people away from families on Thanksgiving, many shoppers welcomed the chance to shop before midnight.

"I think it's better earlier. People are crazier later at midnight," hotel worker Renee Ruhl, 52, said as she shopped at a Target store in Orlando, Florida.

Online retailer Amazon was one of the first companies to bring the trend to the UK.

It launched a week-long Black Friday sale on Monday, which it claims "offers millions of pounds of savings on hundreds of Christmas gifts".

Tech giant Apple and Asda, owned by Walmart, are also hoping to make the most of the Christmas shopping rush by offering one-day discounts of their own.

Hotel Chocolat emailed customers to say that as it offered US customers 20% off it would do the same for UK buyers.

"There are more retailers launching sales this year than ever before - and many British consumers are becoming aware of the tradition for the first time," Retail Week's Gemma Goldfingle told Sky News.

"In the US it is an absolute phenomenon, with people queuing up all night to snap up the best deals."

Amazon launched its sale on Monday

In Orlando at least one family camped outside a Best Buy shop for a full week, sleeping in two tents.

"It has not reached that level here and whether it ever will is another matter," Ms Goldfingle said.

She said that Americans have Thanksgiving to kick-start the event – whereas in the UK it is just a normal day. Boxing Day, when UK sales traditionally begin, is a normal work day for Americans.

"A lot of British retailers would prefer not to have it," Ms Goldfingle said.

"They want to be selling items at full price ahead of Christmas, especially given the tough economic conditions."

While a limited number of UK chains have labelled their sales as Black Friday, many others have needed to show weekend price drops to lure customers.

Furniture chain dfs has taken to advertising in newspapers about its discounts while Topshop offered online weekend deals.

Black Friday, which is thought to refer to the first day of the year that retailers go "into the black", comes just ahead of Cyber Monday - which the marketing industry claims is the busiest day in the online shopping calendar.

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Cameron: EU Deal 'Just Not Good Enough'

What Now For EU Budget?

Updated: 10:16pm UK, Friday 23 November 2012

By Adam Boulton, Political Editor

The 27 EU member states did not agree a budget for the next seven years at the summit in Brussels. But David Cameron will be able to go home and tell Eurosceptic conservative backbenchers "so far, so good".

In his own words the Prime Minister "successfully defended" Britain's contributions rebate and rejected a deal which "was just not good enough".

Mr Cameron also insisted that Britain had not been isolated but was joined in its demands for lower spending by other big net contributors including Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Holland.

This Nordic European grouping also claims the support of the key deal-maker and biggest funder, Germany. But in her public comments Chancellor Angela Merkel was more circumspect, merely noting, as she had since arriving in Belgium, that the gap between the want-mores and the want-lesses was too big to bridge at this meeting.

She and the hapless Herman Van Rompuy, who has the thankless task of chairing these negotiations, have the same message - it is more important to get it right than to rush for a deal.

Mr Van Rompuy now has "weeks" to try to find an agreement. When EU leaders come back to the budget early next year (having put the matter to one side at the next summit in December) they will be on deadline.

If an agreement is not reached then, funding will be rolled over on an annualised basis - bad news for Britain because budgets will automatically increase, and worse news for countries such as Denmark and Holland who have not yet secured their rebates.

So doesn't that mean that all the countries who want more have to do is sit it out? Not quite. Of the 27 member states nine countries are net contributors, including all the Nordic holdouts, and around 15 are significant recipients. Ultimately all the winners are vulnerable, especially if Germany joins in so much as threatening to turn off the tap.

The leaders calling for further cuts all make the same argument - they are imposing austerity at home and it is not acceptable to their voters that the European slice of their budgets simply should be exempted from a squeeze.

The Council President, Mr Van Rompuy, and Jose Barosso his counterpart at the EU Commission probably made a mistake in refusing to table any cuts in the administration budget - pay and perks for bureaucrats. Mr Cameron contrasted this with the "difficult decisions" being imposed on the UK civil service and insisted that the EU could not live "in a parallel world".

But ultimately these are points of principle rather than matters of real significance to national budgets. The UK's government spending now runs to about one trillion euros a year - the EU is arguing about one trillion euros over seven years divided between 27 nations. Of that the "administration" budget is just 6%. Which means that when Mr Cameron talks about saving a billion euros by, for example, stopping automatic promotion of civil servants, he really is talking about a drop in a bucket.

This is perhaps why the economics professor who now is Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Monti, accused Mr Cameron of being an irrational "demagogue". Italy is now in an alliance with France supporting the claims of those who want a bigger budget in the interests of "solidarity". Both Italy and France are net contributors to the EU overall but they are also big recipients of the Common Agricultural Policy, which accounts for some 40% of EU spending.

Perhaps the most significant thing that happened at this summit was that there was no Franco-German axis. Chancellor Merkel and President Francois Hollande took opposing positions.

What's more Germany now seems concerned not to isolate the UK, because of fears that another confrontation could move Britain out of the Union altogether - ceding much greater influence inside to socialist-led France and its Mediterranean allies.

As the European Union scrambles to find a deal Germany, Britain and their North European allies would seem to have the stronger hand - following the time-honoured principle of who pays, plays - provided that their alliance holds together.

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