MOST Arab and European telecoms companies have been barred from bidding for lucrative contracts to provide mobile phone services in Iraq after it emerged that a clause in the tender document would limit the participation of companies in which a government holds a big stake.
Meanwhile, Vodafone board members have awarded themselves inflation-busting pay rises, with salary increases ranging from 6 to 31 per cent. The pay rise cast a shadow over Sir Christopher Gent’s last day as chief executive. He was, however, given a standing ovation at the annual meeting.
BT returned as a player in the consumer mobile telephone market, less than two years after it was forced to spin-off Cellnet, with the launch of a low-price service called BT Mobile which is aimed at families.
Sly Bailey, chief executive of Trinity Mirror, launched a devastating attack on the way the newspaper group had been run before her arrival in February but stopped short of saying that the £1.6 billion merger that created Trinity Mirror in 1999 had been a failure.
A spurt in defence spending, as a result of the Iraq war, propelled the US economy to a spring surge just as Britain and the eurozone suffered from cuts in tourism and travel.
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Economists and politicians cautioned that British consumers’ relentless appetite for debt could lead to a severe economic downturn and revisit the agony of 1980s negative equity.
The CBI claimed that British companies will need to raise their pension contributions by a total of £36 billion over the next three years to fill the deficit in the schemes.
Economists at the European Central Bank suggested that as much as £70 billion is being wasted by the UK Government every year because of inefficiency in public services.
Steven Horkulak, a money broker who claimed he was bullied by his boss into resigning from Cantor Fitzgerald, was awarded nearly £1 million for constructive dismissal.
JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, two of Wall Street’s biggest names, expressed deep regret over their role in the collapse of Enron as they agreed to pay $236 million (£146 million) in fines to settle allegations that they helped the energy trader to commit fraud.
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Tony Blair intervened to side with Geoff Hoon, his embattled Defence Secretary, over a dispute between him and the Chancellor over an £800 million order for BAe Systems’ advanced Hawk military jet trainers. Mr Brown wanted to open the deal to bids from foreign rivals.
J Sainsbury lost its title as Britain’s second biggest supermarket, for the first time in a decade, to Asda after months of sliding sales growth. Asda now holds 17 per cent of Britain’s grocery market against Sainsbury’s 16.2 per cent.
Five Debenhams executives were offered a 6.9 per cent equity stake in the department stores group if Permira acquires the business and achieves its expansion plans.