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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 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

Tui cancels quarter of flights from Manchester Airport FTSE 100 adds 0.1pc S&P 500 little changed, Nasdaq up 0.5pc Matthew Lynn: Businesses must go on strike over Sunak’s disgraceful tax raid Sign up here for our daily business briefing newsletter ​ M ortgage lending fell by more than a third in April, stoking fears of a slowdown in house prices. Total lending for house purchases slumped to £4.1bn, from £6.4bn in March, as the impact of higher interest rates kicked in. Data from the Bank of England showed mortgage approvals fell to around 66,000 over the month, compared with 70,700 in March. The number of loans granted was well beneath economists’ expectations, and below the average for the half-decade before the pandemic. 6:07PM Wrapping up T hat's all from us today, thank you for following! Before you go, have a look at the latest stories from our business reporters: Bank of England to take over collapsed … [Read more...] about Housing market slump feared as mortgage lending plunges by a third

The power is in the hands of workers as employers compete on pay to attract staff, according to Trade Me. Trade Me Jobs sales director, Matt Tolich, said an analysis of more than 77,000 vacancies listed on the site found salaries boomed across New Zealand in the three months to June 30. “Nationwide, the average salary increased by 2% year-on-year, or $1068, to reach $66,016, while a number of regions around the country saw wages hit new records,” he said. Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Manawatū/Whanganui, Marlborough, Nelson/Tasman, Otago, Southland and Waikato regions all recorded their highest average salary in the second quarter. READ MORE: It's a good time to look for a new job, Trade Me data shows NZ jobseekers' 'remarkable' run set to continue with borders shut; Trade Me What will be 2022's highest paid jobs? Tolich put the salary increases down to the rising cost of living, and a competitive market. “The increasing cost of living … [Read more...] about Wage power lies in the hands of workers, but maybe not for much longer

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

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

Labour shortages on British farms have left tonnes of food unpicked, costing millions of pounds and pushing food inflation as high as 20% at the farm gate, the agriculture industry has told Sky News. Farmers say this year's harvest has been hit by a shortfall in the overall number of seasonal worker visas granted by the Home Office, delays in processing those visas and a collapse in the number of Ukrainian workers coming to the UK after the Russian invasion. Last year more than 60% of workers on seasonal visas were from Ukraine and 8% from Russia. That number has greatly reduced as adult Ukrainian men are unable to leave the country. Sky News has also spoken to Russians who say their visa applications have been cancelled without explanation by recruitment agencies, despite there being no explicit ban on Russians working in the UK. As a consequence of the labour squeeze individual farmers have already left crops worth hundreds of thousands of pounds in the ground, and … [Read more...] about Food costs soaring as farms are crushed by visa shortfall

Elon Musk has stepped up his campaign against working from home by targeting Tesla staff who fail to turn up often enough with automated demands for an explanation. The carmaker is tracking how many times its workers swipe into offices and sending messages to those who do not swipe enough warning that all staff are expected in the office during normal working hours. The Telegraph has seen a screenshot of an email sent to staff which says: “You are receiving this email because there is no record of you using your badge to enter a Tesla facility on at least 16 days over the 30-day period ending on June 28. “As a reminder, all employees are expected to be back in the office, full-time.” Staff receiving such emails must send an explanation of their absence to line managers and also to a central monitoring point. Posts on the Blind workplace discussion forum from Tesla staff suggest the new policy is proving unpopular. One said: “This feels wrong. I can't quite put it into words … [Read more...] about Elon Musk escalates Tesla’s war on working from home with ‘please explain’ emails

SIR – The rail strikes taking place this week are ostensibly to secure the future of rail workers. Unfortunately, it is more likely that they will have the opposite effect. Numbers of passengers dropped sharply due to the pandemic. Now, just as they are showing some signs of recovery, passengers are facing the possibility of months of disruption. Those who use the railways regularly will think twice about spending hard-earned cash on season tickets. The popularity of commuting by car and working from home could well see passengers now desert the railways, never to return. Jonathan Mann SIR – Union bosses love strikes. They justify their high salaries at the expense of their members. All strikes (like all wars) are resolved around the negotiating table. Thus a strike, like a war, is futile and supremely expensive both to the participants and the country. It achieves nothing that couldn’t have been negotiated by men of integrity in the first place. G M E Barber SIR – … [Read more...] about Letters: Weeks of rail strikes could prove devastating for an outmoded and faltering industry

Princess Beatrice: Prince Philip ‘made amends’ claims expert Sign up for FREE royal alerts 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 Sarah, Duchess of York, otjherwise known as Fergie, entered the Royal Family via marriage in 1986. Her wedding to Prince Andrew gave both of them a Duchy, something Sarah Ferguson retained even after she divorced her husband. The former couple may end up the last royals to hold the honour for generations to come. Trending Will Sarah Ferguson have to drop the Duchess of York from her name? Sarah Ferguson is the Duchess of York in name only, as she no longer completes duties on behalf of the Royal Family. She only took on the title as a spouse of Prince Andrew on their wedding day, when … [Read more...] about Sarah Ferguson title: Why Fergie to be last to hold Duchess of York title