Business Car Manager News: Astra Confirmed for UK and Jobs Safeguarded for a Decade - YAHOO!
Vauxhall has confirmed production of its next-generation Astra will be built at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. (Source: Business Car Manager)
(PRWEB UK) 25 May 2012
It will be the lead plant of only two in Europe building the new model.The decision follows the conclusion of a ground-breaking new labour agreement which was approved by the Vauxhall workforce yesterday, comes into force in 2013 and runs through the life of the next-generation Astra, into the early 2020s.
As part of the agreement, the plant will implement a number of creative operating solutions to improve flexibility and reduce fixed costs and hence significantly improve its competitiveness. As a consequence, the Ellesmere Port plant will become one of the most competitive plants in the Vauxhall/Opel manufacturing network.
Assembly of the new compact car is scheduled to start in 2015. Operating on three-shifts, the plant is expected to run profitably at full capacity utilisation. The plan agrees a minimum of 160,000 vehicles to be produced each year.
Vauxhall/Opel intends to invest £125 million into the facility in Ellesmere Port in order to upgrade it to the latest manufacturing standards and prepare for production of the new model. The company expects to create circa 700 new direct jobs in order to facilitate the three-shift operation.
Vauxhall will also raise the local supply content for the Astra to be built in Ellesmere Port to at least 25% which will create further employment locally and in the UK overall and further increase the plant’s competitiveness.
Vauxhall Chairman and Managing Director, Duncan Aldred, said, “This is great news for the Ellesmere Port plant, our employees, the local community, our suppliers, the Vauxhall brand and the UK. We have been able to develop a responsible labour agreement that secures the plant’s future.
“This is assisted by the government‘s industrial strategy; increasing its focus on the manufacturing sector and creating ideal ground for companies to build up long term investments.
“With Ellesmere Port’s proven build quality and a new agreement that ensures excellent cost competitiveness, this facility will provide additional employment and, as the lead plant for the next-generation Astra, will be one of the cornerstones of our European manufacturing footprint.” Vauxhall is quintessentially British and has been manufacturing motor vehicles in the UK seamlessly since 1903 and assembles vans at its Luton factory.
How does the Astra match up now against its rivals? Find out with car tax calculator and get the views of the testers in business car comparisons
Conrad Swailes
Weboptimiser Group Ltd
0800 614 421
Email Information
Many tickets for London 2012 remain unsold - BBC News
The BBC has learned that nearly a third of the Olympics tickets which went on sale earlier this month remain unsold.
The London 2012 organisers had expected that the 928,000 tickets would all be snapped up quickly by eager buyers, but that has not proved to be the case.
There are still more than 20 sessions with availability for sports like boxing, basketball, beach volleyball and weightlifting.
In total there are nearly 300,000 tickets remaining on sale.
That is in addition to the more than one million football tickets which are left.
For the first time since London 2012 tickets went on sale last year there is now a genuine prospect of the Games not selling out.
Demand was so high last year, with 22 million tickets applied for in the initial ballot, that it seemed an inevitability that every ticket would be sold.
Ticketing, though, has turned out to be the greatest challenge for London 2012 organisers.
There have been a number of problems with the website, which is run by Ticketmaster, with some people last summer even having to be informed that they had not been successful in buying the tickets which they had originally been told that they had got.
Many others were frustrated by the ballot process, which left more than a million applicants empty handed after the first round of sales.
A London 2012 spokesman refused to be downhearted about the slow sales since tickets were made available again on May 11th.
"We have delivered on our promise to give those people who missed out last year another opportunity to buy tickets and thousands did.
Analysis
I'm sure that many of you will have your own views about why the demand for London 2012 tickets has dropped off so sharply. One of the main reasons is surely frustration with the process
"With nine weeks to go before the Games start, we are in a fantastic position - ahead of where we expected to be when tickets first went on sale in 2011.
"There are still tickets available, but many sports have limited availability."
The chances, though, of empty seats at London 2012 have definitely increased.
There are still another 150,000 non-football tickets which will not go on sale until next month.
So even if the London organisers manage to shift the current batch of 300,000 tickets, their job is far from done.
The BBC has learned that nearly a third of the Olympics tickets which went on sale earlier this month remain unsold.
London Mayor's office: Boris Johnson announces new communications chief - eGov Monitor
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has appointed a senior BBC journalist as his new communications chief. Johnson has said that he is delighted that Walden has taken to position. The post was vacant after Guto Harri, also a former BBC employee, left the position to work for News International.
Boris Johnson has thrown his full support behind Walden, announcing that he will add drive, originality and flair to the position. He went further, adding, I believe Will has exactly the right skills to help us engage with Londoners. He has enormous experience of politics and a great track record at the BBC. I am thrilled to welcome him on board.
Walden has had a long career in journalism, starting in local papers and eventually spending 12 years working at the BBC. He has welcomed the challenge presented by the post, being pleased to join the Mayors office at such a critical time. He said, A diamond jubilee and an Olympic Games represent among the very best that London has to offer.
Johnsons use of another BBC journalists was a small surprise after his scathing comments against the corporation in his column for the Telegraph. He wrote, the prevailing view of Beeb newsrooms is, with honourable exceptions, statist, corporatist, defeatist, anti-business, Europhile and, above all, overwhelmingly biased to the left.
London 2012 Olympics: Anna Meares leads inexperienced Australian track cycling team for Games - Daily Telegraph
Meares, 28, isn't concerned about the relative youth of the team. Olympic selection "is something that I've been working towards for four years," she said. "It was a very emotional moment, especially for my teammates who are heading to their first Olympic Games.
"I don't think of that as a weight on my shoulders, I quite like holding that place in the team."
Meares is keen not to inflame her strong rivalry with Britain's reigning Olympic sprint champion Victoria Pendleton.
"I'm not going out saying anything personal against Vicky and Great Britain," Meares said. "We're both competing for that Olympic gold medal and unfortunately only one of us gets it."
Team pursuit rider Alexander Edmondson is the youngest member of the squad at 18. His sister Annette, 20, was selected for the women's team pursuit and omnium, making them the first brother-sister combination to represent Australia in cycling at the Olympics.
Australian team:
Endurance riders: Jack Bobridge, Amy Cure, Rohan Dennis, Alex Edmondson, Annette Edmondson, Michael Hepburn, Melissa Hoskins, Glenn O'Shea, Josephine Tomic.
Sprinters: Kaarle McCulloch, Anna Meares, Matthew Glaetzer, Shane Perkins, Scott Sunderland.
- Follow all the latest cycling news with TeleCycling on Twitter.
London 2012 Olympics: Saudi Arabia Refuse to Lift Ban on Female Athletes - ibtimes.co.uk
Like us on Facebook
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei are the only countries that have never fielded women on their Olympic teams. While Qatar and Brunei have announced plans to take female athletes to London, the Saudis have yet to do so.
According to Rogge, discussions with the Saudis are continuing.
He ruled out the possibility of Saudi woman competing in London under the Olympic flag, rather than as members of the Saudi team.
The IOC has come under pressure from human rights groups for not imposing sanctions against Saudi Arabia for not sending female athletes.
Human Rights Watch Middle East director Sarah Leah Witson said: "Saudi Arabia is the last holdout denying women and girls the ability to take part in sports.
"The clock is running out for Saudi women to join the games and for the international community to insist that the Saudi government allow women to participate."
Although Saudi Arabia may not have women who meet Olympic qualifying standards, the IOC is prepared to offer them special conditions or look for other solutions.
As recently as the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, 26 national teams did not include women.
To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail:
To contact the editor, e-mail:
London Gets Gold for ID Fraud - Yahoo Finance
NOTTINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire -05/23/12)- London could be set for a rise in identity fraud this summer as new figures from Experian CreditExpert reveal that 7.7 million Britons from outside the capital are set to descend on some of the UK's worst areas for ID theft - while 1.9 million Londoners plan to escape.(1)
London, the boroughs around many of the Games venues in particular, is already home to the UK's worst ID fraud hotspots, with rates of attempted fraud up to 11 times higher than the national average. These include East Ham (11 times higher), Woolwich (6.5 times higher) and Stratford itself (six times higher).(2)
There will be a mass influx of people into these areas, carrying personal information in the forms of UK bank account details, and credit card details. This leaves individuals at a high risk of Identity Fraud with individuals, in unfamiliar surroundings, exercising less caution than they would normally adhere to in their normal surroundings. This presents a massive opportunity to fraudsters, with visitors likely to have passports and other pieces of personal identification about their person, be freely using smart phones and unsecured WiFi hotspots, and also potentially sharing hostels or rented accommodation with strangers all of which increase the risk of identity theft.
Visitors are therefore advised to keep a close eye on their personal information, and on their credit report following their visit for any signs of unusual activity. CreditExpert also provides alerts if your personal details appear anywhere unexpectedly online so it is easy to protect yourself pro-actively.
TOP FIVE RISKS TOP FIVE TIPS TO STAY SAFE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Passports Think about how much sensitive information you really need to have about your person - if your hotel booking has your card number and address, do you need to carry it around with you, for instance? Likewise, don't take your passport out with you unless you absolutely have to. If you are staying in a hotel for the Games, ask for sensitive documents to be securely stored in the hotel safe when you are not using them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PIN codes Make sure that no-one else can see you enter your PIN code at ATMs and chip and pin machines, particularly in large crowds. Do not write down or carry your PIN code with you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Smartphones If you have a smartphone, you'll certainly want to photograph and tweet your time at the Olympics, but be particularly careful what you share when connected to an unsecured wireless network. Also ensure you switch off Bluetooth and roaming settings when not required and ensure you use a password. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post If you're going to be one of the lucky ones visiting London for a few weeks to enjoy the Games, think about what you'll do with your post. Intercepted post is one of the key ways in which fraudsters can take people's detail, so it could be worth setting up a redirect for the duration of the Games. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Face-to-face Check the credentials of anyone asking for your personal information, whether by phone, face-to-face or over the internet. If in doubt, don't do it!
The Experian CreditExpert research reveals that no fewer than one in six Britons (16 per cent) is planning on visiting London during the Olympics, half as tourists and half to attend the Games themselves. Seventeen per cent of people coming to the capital have not been for more than a decade, with a further three per cent making their first ever trip to the city.
Nearly six out of 10 (59 per cent) will be staying for several days. Although one in four (25 per cent) will be staying in hotels and one in five (21 per cent) with friends, a significant minority (four per cent) will risk staying in a hostel and two per cent will be renting a property or someone's spare room - some 154,000 people.(3)
And although they are concerned about large crowds (23 per cent) and the expense of London (20 per cent), just three per cent are worried about identity fraud.
The risk of ID fraud among visitors is arguably heightened by the decision of many Londoners to quit the capital during the course of the Games. One in 14 (seven per cent) are looking to leave London for the duration of the Olympics, with a further one in six (17 per cent per cent) planning to get out of the city for at least some of the period.
But it's not just newcomers who need to be careful. The one in 20 Londoners taking on a lodger or renting out a room or their whole property need to be aware they are putting themselves at risk of ID fraud by inviting a stranger into their home and are advised to ensure personal details are locked away and post collected promptly.
Peter Turner, Managing Director at Experian Interactive, commented: "This is set to be a once in a lifetime summer. But that doesn't mean people should let their guard down - just because you are holidaying in the UK, you should still take the same precautions you would if you were on a city break to Europe.
"Identity fraud is one of the fastest-growing crimes of the 21st century, and anyone could be at risk from fraudsters getting hold of their personal information, particularly if they are in an unfamiliar area, renting a flat short-term or a room in a B&B. Likewise if you are a homeowner letting a spare room just for the Olympics, do ensure all your personal details are kept safe from visitors."
"This is why it is so important to have proper safeguards in place to protect your identity. With Experian CreditExpert if the worst should happen you will be alerted to any significant changes to your credit report so that you can react quickly and keep the risks to a minimum."
Identity fraud hotspots
Top 10 10k households Top 10 in 10k households nationwide Cases London Cases ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Slough 25 East Ham 78 London (all) 22 Woolwich 46 Gravesend 20 Stratford 43 Birmingham 17 Ilford 33 Luton 16 Walthamstow 27 Manchester 15 Harrow 27 Leicester 14 Cheapside 26 High Wycombe 13 Lewisham 26 Peterborough 13 Hatfield 26 Windsor 12 Enfield 26
To avoid becoming a victim of identity fraud this summer, Experian CreditExpert suggests some further tips:
1. Keep an eye on your credit report It's a history of all your credit accounts and will highlight any irregularities such as suspect applications for credit and rises in card balances. You can view your credit report free with a 30 day trial with Experian CreditExpert.(ii)((i)New customers only. Monthly fee after trial ends) 2. If in doubt, don't click If an email purporting to be from a hotel or linked to the Games seems suspicious, contact the relevant organisation and don't give out personal details. Your bank, credit card provider and any reputable business will never ask for confirmation of details by email. 3. If you do become a victim of fraud Don't forget you can sign up to Experian's CreditExpert whose dedicated victims of fraud team will work on your behalf to resolve the issue.
Notes to editors:
1. The UK adult population is 48,091,600 (ONS). Sixteen per cent of adults are set to come to London during the Olympics. Therefore: 0.16 x 48,091,600 = 7,694,656 or 7.7 million.
The population of Greater London is 7,753,000 (ONS) 24 per cent of Londoners are looking to leave the capital during some or all of the Games. Therefore: 0.24 x 7,753,000 = 1,860,720 or 1.9 million
2. Based on analysis of information from the National Hunter anti-fraud data sharing system and the Insurance Hunter database.
3. 0.02 x 7694656 = 153,893 or 154,000
Key benefits of Experian CreditExpert membership:
- Experian is the UK's most trusted credit reference agency
- Experian is the credit expert with more than 30 years of experience
- Free 30-day trial of CreditExpert(i)((i)New customers only. Monthly fee after trial ends)
- Unlimited access to your Experian Credit Score
- Weekly alerts of changes to your credit report
- Access to an award-winning, UK-based customer services team
- Identity Protection Insurance of up to GBP 75,000(ii) ((ii)terms and conditions apply)
- Expert advice and tools to help improve your credit rating
- Intelligent price matching to credit products suited to your credit history
- Consumers can apply directly from the website: www.creditexpert.co.uk
About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients around the world. The Group helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.
Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2012 was US$4.5 billion. Experian employs approximately 17,000 people in 44 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
London 2012: Saudi Arabia Set To Send No Women To Olympic Games - huffingtonpost.co.uk
The International Olympic Committe are set to come under fire after it emerged Saudi Arabia look likely to be the only nation competing at the London 2012 Olympic Games without a single female among their team.
Having discussed the issue in Quebec on Thursday, the IOC's talks resulted in them not imposing any sanctions on the Middle Easterners.
Thursday's meeting ostensibly represented the final deadline for the country to agree to women being part of their London delegation, otherwise they would have been deemed to be in breach of the IOC’s charter.
And although the governing body remain keen to persuade the Saudi Arabians to make a U-turn, they are likely to draw criticism from international human rights groups.
Human Rights Watch's Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson said: “Saudi Arabia is the last hold-out denying women and girls the ability to take part in sports.
“The Saudi government’s position should trigger serious scrutiny by the Olympic family. The dismal and unequal conditions for women and girls who seek to practice sports in Saudi Arabia need to change now.”
The London Games were set to be the first where every nation included a woman in their delegation, but the Saudis seem set to successfully resist such calls.
Earlier this year, Saudi Olympic Committee president Prince Nawaf bin Faisal refused to endorse female participation in the English capital.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Qatar, Brunei and Saudi Arabia fielded all-male teams, but this year the former two have confirmed they female athletes will represent their countries.
London 2012: Jessica Ennis Labelled 'Fat' By UK Athletics Official, Says Coach - huffingtonpost.co.uk
Jessica Ennis was labelled "fat" by a senior official at UK Athletics, according to her coach Toni Minichiello.
A "high-ranking person" at the governing body said the 26-year-old poster goal of the London 2012 Olympics is "fat and she's got too much weight", according to Minichiello.
The 45-year-old has coached the heptathlete since she was 11, and poured scorn on the criticism, clarifying Ennis' weight hadn't fluctuated.
"The things you can't deal with are what we've dubbed 'silver bullets'," the 45-year-old told The Guardian. "And other people. You can't deal with the expectations and pressures that are on other people, like the BOA's [British Olympic Association] team management."
Born in Sheffield, like Ellis, Minichiello suggested the distractions in the build-up to the Games stemmed from "people in fairly high positions, who should know better".
Commercial activities have been ramped up with just over two months to go until the Olympics begin, and Minichiello bemoaned the "advice" he has personally received, claiming it is easy to get "distracted by" the "background noise".
The former civil servant however conceded Ennis' image has elevated as London 2012 looms, but stressed she remained humble.
"The difference is that she's now a 'personality'. If she walks into the dining room, people will go 'Ooh, that's Jessica Ennis from athletics.'
"Equally, she'd turn round and go 'Wow, that's David Beckham on the Great Britain football team.' So there's lots of distractions."
UK Athletics have declined to comment.
London picked as test bed for Skynet-like Intel tech - The Register
London will be a guinea pig for future smart city technology after Intel pledged to spend a slice of £25m ($40m) on a new lab in the capital. The chipmaker will also plough millions into research centres dotted around Blighty.
Intel will set up the unwieldily monikered Collaborative Research Institute for Sustainable Connected Cities in the capital in partnership with Imperial College and University College London, it announced yesterday at an event at 10 Downing Street.
The company will spend the £25m over the next five years on all five of its Collaborative Research Institutes, but wouldn't give the breakdown of exactly how much London would be getting. ICL and UCL will also chip in some dosh, but again no figures were bandied about.
At the same event, Chipzilla said it will open a string of research centres around the UK, investing around £45m in an Intel Labs Europe UK R&D network: this will employ 350 researchers in labs including the one in London and others in Brighton, Swindon and Aylesbury to start with, and five more to be decided on by the end of the year.
"It is investments like this that will help us put the UK on the path we need to take to create new jobs, new growth and new prosperity in every corner of our country," Chancellor George Osborne said at the launch.
"We are determined to make the UK the best place to do business in the world and a great place for technology companies to invest and build new business. It is encouraging to see major tech partners like Intel investing in this country as a result of the policies that the Government has put in place," he self-congratulated.
Intel will use the London lab to suss out smart city technology and it will also team up with Shoreditch's Tech City entrepreneurs to use their "social media expertise" to "identify and analyse emerging trends with cities".
"Using London as a testbed, researchers will explore technologies to make cities more aware by harnessing real-time user and city infrastructure data," the company said in a statement, describing similar Skynet-like smart city research elsewhere.
"For example, a sensor network could be used to monitor traffic flows and predict the effects of extreme weather conditions on water supplies, resulting in the delivery of near real-time information to citizens through citywide displays and mobile applications."
Rattner: City under pre-planned stress
Intel CTO Justin Rattner also said that the London Olympic games would give the firm a great opportunity to look at a city under pressure and figure out where the weak points are.
"London is, as everyone knows, the host city to the 2012 summer Olympic Games, and we plan to use the event to understand the experiences of a city under pre-planned stress. What systems worked or didn’t work and why? How were the daily lives of the citizens, workers, and businesses of London affected?" he wondered out loud.
As well as giving Intel the opportunity to see it mess up, London is also a good choice for the research institute as the fifth largest city in the world.
"It has the largest GDP in Europe, and with over 300 languages and 200 ethnic communities, its diversity is a microcosm of the planet itself, offering an exciting test bed to create and define sustainable cities," Rattner enthused. ®
0 Responses to "Business Car Manager News: Astra Confirmed for UK and Jobs Safeguarded for a Decade - YAHOO!"
Post a Comment