Possibility of BT ballot for strike over pay
As reported by Mobile News - BT staff may consider strike action after pay negotiations with the CWU (Communications Workers Union) broke down last week. According to the CWU, negotiations with BT have halted after it rejected BT’s “final offer” of a two per cent pay increase for all non-management staff – despite the CWU demanding a five per cent rise in February and originally expecting negotiations to be concluded by the end of April. Representing approximately 50,000 BT employees, CWU ... More
British Gas considers media consolidation
As reported by Marketing Week - British Gas is reviewing its media buying agencies as it considers consolidating all of its accounts. The media accounts of the Centrica owned energy company are said to be worth an estimated £50 million. Carat, one of the world's biggest independent communications specialists and market-leader in digital media solutions, is one of the current agencies having had an account since 2002. Last year, Publicis Groupe’s Starcom MediaVest was appointed to handle media planning and buying ... More
Final debate sees online traffic increase
Eclipse, an ISP for small business and home users, recorded a huge 118% increase in online traffic to streaming sites for last nights final party leaders’ head to head showdown - compared to the first of the live debate shows shown two weeks ago. Furthermore, last nights live debate show attracted 26% more traffic - compared to the previous streaming statistics. According to the released figures, over six million viewers tuned in to watch the debate on various channels last night ... More
UK May Get Chinese Wind Turbine Factory
As one wind turbine manufacturer closes its factory in the U.K. another one prepares to open. Business Green reports that a Chinese turbine manufacturer looks likely to build a new wind turbine plant in the U.K. after Vestas closed its factory last year. The Chinese company, XEMC Darwind, is looking at sites in Newcastle and Fife for a factory which would build its 5MW offshore wind turbines. The U.K. already boasts being the world’s largest offshore wind market. But XEMC isn’t the ... More
ENER-G launches Naturally Efficient Air Con
Energy management solution company ENER-G has launched their revolutionary Naturally Efficient Air Conditioning (NEAC) system in the UK that offers a greener and more hygienic way of de-humidifying and cooling the built environment – while providing up to 80% energy savings, thus significantly helping to reduce business energy costs. In partnership with DuCool this latest technology is a revolution in clean air conditioning – it uses naturally occurring salt solutions which absorb moisture from the air and then either cool or ... More
SSE Changes Its Mind Over Wind Farm Connection
Scottish and Southern have pulled out of an offer of a grid connection to South Uist meaning their plans for a community wind farm could be threatened, reports newstv.tv. The Uist community trust, Storas Uibhist, have plans to install a 6.9 MW wind farm in Loch Carnan. The wind farm would be owned by the community. After much discussion, Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) had agreed to secure a grid connection for the wind farm. But SSE has now withdrawn the offer ... More
O2 and Carphone Warehouse Cancel Palm Pre orders
Last year the Palm Pre Smartphone was launched exclusively by network operator O2 in the UK with the Carphone Warehouse purchasing directly from O2. However, according to mobile today, it transpires that O2 and Carphone Warehouse have now stopped ordering the Palm Pre handset. Confirming the news, O2 is rumoured to have said that the reason is because they have “enough to meet the demands” of O2 customers. Carphone Warehouse is also said to have confirmed the same. According to O2’s website ... More
O2 Tops Broadband Survey – Again
A survey of broadband suppliers has revealed that, for the second year running, O2 has come out top as best broadband supplier, reports The Guardian. The survey – the 2010 Broadband Customer Satisfaction Report carried out by uSwitch.com, questioned over 7,000 broadband customers. Customers were questioned on 11 categories with 92% of O2 customers being satisfied overall. One of the main stumbling blocks for suppliers was customer service. While 92% of O2 customers were satisfied over all only 44% of Orange ... More
PowerOasis boosted by funding
THE UMIP Premier Fund, which is managed by MTI Partners, has invested £650,000 in telecoms power provider PowerOasis, forming part of a total £1.15 million investment round. PowerOasis is a UK based company offering telecoms base station operators - turn-key solutions to help reduce power costs. The company’s products enable diesel generators to be supplemented or replaced with renewable energy as and when required, which can significantly reduce diesel use (at least by 50%). The company reports a significant growth in demand ... More
High Business Energy Prices Threaten More Factory Closures
Utility Exchange reported earlier this week that Derby based Celanese Acetate, which has announced plans to close, blamed its decision on increasing energy costs see: http://www.utility-exchange.co.uk/2010/04/rising-business-energy-costs-forces-factory-closure/. However, thisisbusiness-eastmidlands.co.uk says this isn’t an isolated incident. Only last year over 500 jobs were lost when Anglesey Aluminium Metal had to close after the owners couldn’t find a competitive energy supplier in the U.K. and in Derby, BOC closed its factory and had to cut 50 jobs which the firm blamed on ... More