Thursday newspaper round-up: Banks, Ireland, Unilever

30th Sep 2010 06:29

Downing Street appeared to be snubbing the banking industry yesterday as it finalised a 16-strong panel of corporate grandees to advise the Prime Minister on business matters. While manufacturing, construction, utilities, retailing and small businesses are well represented, no one from the banking industry or insurance has appeared on the provisional list, the Times says. David Cameron's planned council of business advisers includes many listed company chiefs, including Sir Michael Rake of BT and easyJet, Sam Laidlaw of Centrica, Paul Walsh of Diageo, Justin King of Sainsbury and Dick Olver of BAE Systems.The City watchdog will today order banks to shake up their customer services after publishing figures showing that Lloyds alone accounted for more than half a million complaints in the first half of the year. The Financial Services Authority (FSA), which is preparing to fine two of Britain's major banking groups for failings in complaints-handling following a review earlier this year, will force banks to abolish the current "two-stage" rule by handing any problems straight to a senior executive, the Independent says.Irish premier Brian Cowen said Ireland is funded until the middle of next year and faces no solvency crisis, denying that the country is near a "tipping point". We are determined to do what's necessary to achieve international confidence," he said, according to the Telegraph.Unilever is considering selling Chicken Tonight and Ragú sauce in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, generating as much as £40 million for the Anglo-Dutch group. The world's largest sauces business, with a near-10 per cent market share worth more than £5.3 billion, says that there is little growth in Britain and neither brand figures in the country's top ten sellers, according to the Times.Eurozone countries should be fined billions of euros for failing to meet deficit targets, the European Commission said yesterday as it unveiled plans for stricter rules for the single currency. Countries would have to set aside 0.2 per cent of their gross domestic product if they failed to keep national budgets within European Union rules, under proposals designed to head off a future crisis, according to the Times.Jeff Bewkes, the chairman and chief executive of Time Warner, has accepted that Time Warner's merger with AOL was "the biggest mistake in corporate history", but said it had helped the company focus on its strengths. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph after a speech at the Royal Television Society's International conference, Mr Bewkes said he had learned post-demerger that "the recipe for success" of any company is "you have to know what you are".Tesco is set to launch a rival to Mothercare, after it unveiled plans to open a series of standalone 'Baby World' stores. The retail giant made the decision earlier this year, following significant growth in sales of baby products. Cot sales, in particular, had soared by 52 percent from the previous year, writes the Daily Mail.