Centrica has denied as “untrue” claims by the GMB union that it plans to shed 5,000 jobs at its British Gas subsidiary.

The union raised concerns on Thursday that Centrica was not keeping it informed about job losses, claiming it had seen an internal memo planning up to 25pc cuts to non-customer-facing roles.

Gary Smith, GMB national officer, said: “We have good reason to believe British Gas is planning to axe up to 5,000 jobs in its operations across the UK. Union members believe the cuts being planned are massive.”

The union recently announced that restructuring at British Gas was expected to lead to job cuts, but not on such a scale.

But Centrica categorically denied GMB’s statement, with sources saying that anything GMB might have seen was “historic”.

“This claim by GMB is untrue,” a spokesman said. “While we did remove about 300 non-customer-facing roles last year, we also announced the creation of more than 4,000 new roles.

“It is disappointing that the GMB has seen fit to tell the media, incorrectly, that we have plans to make major redundancies, as this will concern our employees.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/

Enterprise is key to UK economic growth, says Gordon Brown.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged on Thursday to “unleash” Britain’s entrepreneurial talents in a bid to promote prosperity.

Speaking alongside Business Secretary Lord Mandelson at the launch of a government strategy for economic growth, Mr Brown said “going for growth” was the government’s number one priority. He added: “We will do everything we can to support and unleash the entrepreneurial, innovative and dynamic talents we know we have in Britain.”

The strategy places enterprise and industry at the heart of Britain’s recovery, with the Government planning to increase support for sectors such as life sciences, as well as boost funding for manufacturing research by £70m.

The announcement came as Lord Mandelson condemned Tory plans to accelerate the reduction of debt as “potentially dangerous nonsense” that could stall the recovery.

He insisted the Government was committed to cutting Britain’s £178bn annual deficit, but said it was important to focus on growth as well as spending cuts and tax increases. Fostering growth was “the best antidote to debt, both in the short and long term”, he said.

David Frost, director of the British Chambers of Commerce, said the initiatives should be supported by policies that stimulate enterprise “as any additional taxes on business will merely stunt growth”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/

More than half of all British workers have made sacrifices to protect jobs this year, ranging from pay freezes to unpaid overtime, according to insolvency experts.

The most common compromise made was longer hours and unpaid overtime, with 28pc of workers agreeing to that, according to R3, the insolvency trade body. A further 15pc accepted a pay freeze, while 7pc took a pay cut.

Other changes to work patterns included unpaid leave, which was taken by 14pc of those questioned, while 4pc took voluntary redundancy, according to the research carried out by GfK NOP. Some workers said they had not asked for a pay rise specifically because of the recession, or did not receive a bonus that they would otherwise have expected to receive.

Overall, 53pc of workers have made at least one of those sacrifices in the past year.

“No one jumps for joy at a pay cut, but short-term sacrifices like this can be vital in helping companies through a tough patch and preserving jobs,” said Peter Sargent, president of R3. “Unemployment and insolvencies are both high, but they would be even higher without the changes to work patterns we’ve seen this year.”

According to R3, there were 14,705 liquidations in the first nine months of the year, fewer than in previous recessions. In the early 1990s, liquidations peaked at 24,425 in 1992.

Unemployment during this recession has grown at a slower rate than expected, which is widely believed to be the result of the more flexible nature of the labour market, with employers using measures such as pay freezes to limit redundancies.

The latest data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday are expected to show that the rise in the number of jobless is flattening out. Total UK unemployment was 2.46m in September.

The ONS said yesterday that unemployment during the recession has risen most among 16 to 24 year-olds than any other age group. The jobless rate among 16 and 17 year-olds has jumped by 8.1 percentage points to 32.4pc, and by 5.8 percentage points to 18pc among 18 to 24 year-olds. That compares with an increase in the overall unemployment rate of 2.6 percentage points to 7.8pc.

“As younger people are more reliant on graduate and other entry-level recruitment schemes, their employment prospects are likely to be more sensitive to the prevailing low vacancy rate,” the ONS said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/

Inflation accelerated to 1.9pc last month, rising more than economists expected, as fuel and transport costs climbed.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) – the measure of inflation used by the Bank of England to set interest rates – was 1.9pc higher in November than in the same month in 2008. Economists had pencilled in a gain to 1.8pc. On the month, CPI climbed 0.3pc.

The Bank has already said that it expects inflation to breach its 2pc target and possibly rise as high as 3pc in coming months, as a combination of higher oil prices and the reversal of the cut in VAT – it will return to 17.5pc from 15pc on January 1 – push up prices across the economy.

However, given the record contraction in gross domestic product over the past 12 months, the Bank expects inflation to remain subdued.

“The BOE has been as explicit as they possibly can, saying: ‘Look, we can’t control near-term inflation, the medium term is our job’,” Alan Clarke, an economist at BNP Paribas, told Bloomberg.

The rise in CPI on the month was driven by a 2.8pc gain in fuels and lubricants, while the cost of second-hand cars and air travel also rose.

The broader Retail Price Index (RPI), which includes the cost of housing, rose 0.3pc on the month and is also 0.3pc higher than a year ago.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/

Local advertisers for Waste Management In Coventry

Cleansing Service Group Ltd
Colliery Lane, Exhall, Coventry, West Midlands CV7 9NW
Tel: 0500 053429

Magna Group plc
The Lodge, Fer Hill Court, Balsall St East, Balsall Common, Coventry, West Midlands CV7 7FR
Tel: 01676 533759

Waste Management In Coventry

Enterprise in Coventry

Local advertisers for Transport In Coventry

Concord Transport
323 Aldermans Green Rd, Coventry, CV2 1PB
Tel: 024 7636 3404

Machine Transport Services
Charter Avenue Industrial Esta, Coventry, CV4 8AU
Tel: 024 7646 2828

Transport In Coventry

Enterprise in Coventry

Local advertisers for Storage In Coventry

Coventry Self Storage Ltd
8 Padstow Road, Coventry, CV4 9XB
Tel: 024 7685 6888

Safestore Self Storage Coventry
Unit 1/Cyan Business Park, Phoenix Way/, Coventry, CV2 4QP
Tel: 0800-028 1123

Storage In Coventry

Enterprise in Coventry

Local advertisers for Signage In Coventry

Godiva Signs
Unit 10/Hanford Close Ind Est/Stoney Stanton Rd, Coventry, CV6 5TL
Tel: 024 7663 8463

Signagraphic
7 Russell St North, Coventry, CV1 4GD
Tel: 024 7625 8802

Signage In Coventry

Enterprise in Coventry

Local advertisers for Shipping In Coventry

International Lifting & Shipping
Colonnade Point, Prologis Pk, Coventry, CV6 4BU
Tel: 024 7633 7955

Okki Travel & Shipping
28 Far Gosford St, Coventry, CV1 5DW
Tel: 024 7625 6980

Shipping In Coventry

Enterprise in Coventry

Local advertisers for Research And Development In Coventry

Pro Tel Fieldwork Ltd
Kings Chambers/Queens Rd, Coventry, CV1 3EH
Tel: 024 7623 8400

Clear Intellegence Ltd
The Technocentre/Puma Way, Coventry, CV1 2TT
Tel: 0800-612 2674

Research And Development In Coventry

Enterprise in Coventry