Tamworth quality business awards

A Timaru woman with a passion for cars has just been recognised in a nationwide award for the country’s most outstanding automotive finishing apprentice. Alysia Patterson, 24, was named as the joint-winner of the Collision Repair Association’s joint Golden Gun Apprentice of the Year award about two months ago, but was only presented her award on Wednesday. “I was blown away, amazed and very surprised. “The award was for the best apprentice in all of New Zealand, and It's crazy to know I was right up there,” Patterson said. READ MORE: Dancing With The Stars: How Suzy Cato's nephew helped her prepare for the show Deni Ute Muster: 'The Snail' is the best Wainuiomata paint and panel apprentice is NZ's best Patterson, who is a former apprentice at Brown and Shipman, in Timaru, now works for the company as an automotive refinisher. Patterson said she felt “very nervous” applying for the award. “I know there’s a lot of very good people who applied for it, and it … [Read more...] about Timaru woman joint-winner of national automotive apprentice award

T he pound is facing an “existential crisis” and is likely to weaken further during this year, one of Wall Street’s top banks has warned. Bank of America says sterling “finds itself in an increasingly invidious position” for reasons including “increasingly challenging” Bank of England communication. Kamal Sharma, a London-based foreign exchange strategist for the lender, said the outlook for the pound was “grim”. The warnings came as the price of oil breached $120 (£95) a barrel on Monday, hitting a two-month high amid tightness in the market and concern over supplies. Oil prices have risen amid tight supply driven by the fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as increased demand as more economies return from Covid-related restrictions. China announced easing of its restrictions, while the European Union worked on a plan to ban imports of Russian crude. The pound has fallen about 6.6pc this year in dollar terms, leaving it as one of the worst performers among the … [Read more...] about Pound faces ‘existential crisis’, Bank of America warns

T he American owners of Boots may revive plans for stock market float next year after scrapping the sale of Britain’s biggest chemist to a Wall Street buyout fund and Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani. Walgreens, which merged with Boots in 2014 in a deal worth £9bn, said none of the offers for the “adequately reflects the high potential value of Boots and No7 Beauty Company”. The Illinois-headquartered company said bidders had struggled to arrange bank loans to buy Boots after financial markets “suffered unexpected and dramatic change”. Private equity fund Apollo and Mr Ambani had been in pole position to acquire Boots after Walgreens chairman Stefano Pessina put the business up for sale in January. But a £5bn approach — considerably lower than the £7bn Mr Pessina is said to have wanted — fell through. Ornella Barra, Boots operating chief, wrote to the company’s 56,000 staff saying she was “happy to confirm that it has been decided that Boots and No7 Beauty Company will … [Read more...] about Boots stock market float back on the table as £5bn sale collapses

By Rebecca Wearn Published 6 June Share close Share page Copy link About sharing People hoping to find a property to rent are going to ever greater lengths to secure a home. As well as having to put up more cash in advance, they're offering landlords CVs for their children and photos of their well-behaved dogs. That's because a shortage of available homes is pushing up monthly rents, deposits and leading to bidding wars. Industry body Propertymark says the number of rentals on the books of lettings agencies has fallen sharply. Propertymark surveyed over 440 letting agency businesses, spread across 4,000 branches UK-wide and found that on average, letting agents have seen the number of available rentals on their books halve, from over 30 to just 15. One is agent Adam Kingswood, who says he's never known the market behave like this in two decades in the business. "We … [Read more...] about Shortage of homes to rent leads to tenant bidding wars

Opposition is growing to new occupancy rules for second homes and holiday lets (Image: Finest Retreats) Sign up for our news briefing, including a daily special Russia-Ukraine edition SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info A petition has been launched over fears the policy will devastate a sector that underpins large parts of rural Wales without any of the hoped-for housing supply benefits. Unions, trade bodies and holiday operators have stepped up lobbying efforts as the full implications sink in. Related articles M4 chaos as furious drivers BLOCK major motorway bridge Woman spends day in police cells over bin bags she put out 8 years a From April 1, 2023, the Welsh Government will insist that self-catering properties … [Read more...] about 1,400 holiday cottage owners set to quit Wales over new occupancy rules

Fossil fuel power plants are set to be temporarily freed from planned checks on their emissions in a scramble to prevent blackouts as Britain turns back to coal . Coal and gas stations providing back-up supply in 2023 will not have to get reports on their emissions signed off by an independent expert under changes being proposed by Whitehall officials. There is growing concern over energy security amid fears Russia will shut off gas supplies to Europe in retaliation for sanctions imposed in response to its war on Ukraine. The gradual retirement of the UK’s nuclear fleet in coming years as well as problems with France’s nuclear stations are adding to the pressure in energy markets. Coal-fired plants have already been asked to stay open this winter , while gas quality rules could also be relaxed to allow more from the North Sea into Britain’s pipes. Under rules from 2019, fossil fuel facilities bidding to take part in National Grid ESO’s market for back-up power supply … [Read more...] about Net zero red tape to be ditched as Britain returns to coal

Tens of thousands of BT workers are to walk out in a national strike for the first time since being privatised under Margaret Thatcher following a row over pay. Some 30,000 workers at Openreach and 9,000 call centre staff have voted to strike against what they described as an “unjust” and “unsustainable” wage deal. However, a ballot of staff working at BT’s mobile subsidiary EE failed to reach the legal threshold of 50pc. BT has offered staff an average pay rise of 5pc. Some of its lowest paid workers have been offered an increase of 8pc. Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said that BT must table a “significantly improved” offer by next week or strike dates will be set. He said: “Our members were never going to accept this imposition. BT Group thought they could get away with bullying treatment – they were wrong.” A spokesman for BT said: “BT Group awarded its highest pay rise for frontline colleagues in more than 20 years. “At the same … [Read more...] about BT workers to strike for first time since Thatcher privatisation

The selection of beans on Tesco’s shelves are already noticeably limited. Visitors used to a sea of Heinz Beanz cans were instead met with gaping holes on Thursday. Online, notices of “this product’s currently out of stock” floated under many of Heinz’s best-known items. While it may seem reminiscent of pre-lockdown panic buying, this time Tesco is not racing to re-stock Heinz goods. On Wednesday, the two sides went head to head following Heinz’s decision to pause supply of its beans and ketchup to the grocer after a pricing dispute. “We will not pass on unjustifiable price increases to our customers,” said Tesco, which is headed by chief executive Ken Murphy. “We’re sorry that this means some products aren’t available right now.” Heinz countered that it was facing significant increases in commodity and production costs and wanted to provide goods at the right price “without compromising quality”. The US company said it always sought to “provide value through price, size … [Read more...] about Why Heinz demanded an ‘unheard of’ 30pc price increase … and Tesco balked

We can only hope that, one day soon, Andrew Bailey will wake up and realise he is the Governor of the Bank of England . Yet based on his most recent remarks at the European Central Bank conference in Portugal this week, it’s still not clear Bailey is aware of the critical role he plays in shaping UK monetary policy. “The key thing for us is to bring inflation back down to target,” he announced to a room full of bankers. Yes, this is quite the “key”. In fact we’ve been desperate for the Bank to tackle inflation for many months now, so it’s refreshing to know this is an acknowledged priority. “That is what we will do,” Bailey pronounced in his follow up. Again, good news. How? When? Is there any plan of action, apart from the Bank’s governor talking about the UK economy as if the role he plays is a minor one, at best? If there’s any generous reading to be done of Bailey’s remarks, it was the not-so-subtle indication that the Bank is considering a 50 basis points jump in … [Read more...] about Britain is becoming Europe’s sick man again and needs stronger medicine now

Northern Ireland: UK slammed for 'lack of consent' over Brexit Sign up for FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Passengers leaving the UK have been stuck for hours as the Traffic Assessment Project causes "misery". Remoaners took to Twitter to blame Brexit for the delays, with user @ApesPlague saying: "Brexit isn't working! #BrexitHasFailed." The Port of Dover said it is working "as quickly as possible" to minimise delays. Dover MP Natalie Elphicke was also blasted with @BrexitBin saying: "She supported Brexit, claimed it would benefit Dover, and now moans about the consequences that every sane person warned her about. ... What a total Brexidiot! #BrexitHasFailed." THIS BLOG … [Read more...] about Brexit: It has failed! Row erupts on HGV Dover chaos as Remoaners fume at ‘Brexidiot’