Job cuts will not necessarily mean recovery

It has recently been claimed that many of the financial companies, banks, and insurance firms that have been slashing jobs over recent months will not find that this necessarily puts them on course for a speedier recovery from the financial crisis. Read more

Tags: recognise, United States, core employees, bid, industry, recession, job cuts, Business Finance

Credit crunch affect charities

According to recent reports around 25% of charities in the UK have seen the level of money coming in from consumers drop over the past twelve months, as cash strapped households rein in their spending in a bid to try and weather the effects of the global credit crunch. Many people are apparently unable to give to charities in the same way as before because money is so tight due to higher living costs, tighter credit conditions, and soaring inflation. Read more

Tags: credit crunch, meeting, level, homeless charity, uk, charity

Consumers need to be on the electoral register to avoid bad credit rating

Consumers could receive a bad credit rating if they are not on the electoral register, according to experts.

Equifax, the credit checking service, said that younger people in particular should ensure they are registered as a poor credit rating could prevent them from being approved for a loan.

Neil Munroe, external affairs director at Equifax, said: “You need to be identifiable, and the electoral roll is still one of the key areas that is used to identify somebody.”

“So you need to make sure you’re on the electoral roll if you’ve not been voting,” he warned.

According to Equifax, when checking credit ratings lenders are also ensuring that the consumer is the person they say they are in a bid to combat increasing instances of identity fraud.

In 2006 the Department for Constitutional Affairs estimated that there were at least 550,000 unregistered voters in London.

Figures from the body revealed that one in four Londoners under 24 were not registered to vote compared with only two per cent of over-55s nationally.

Tags: bid, key areas, somebody, rating, roll

Barclays eagle comes down for Dutch bank bid?

A Dorset branch of Barclays Bank has had an eagle emblem removed in a bid to avoid “Nazi” connotations, it has been claimed.

The metal eagle, which has stood outside Barclays House in Poole for 30 years, was taken down on Sunday.

There has also been speculation that the bank is being especially attentive to the sensitivities of its Dutch customers, due to its current takeover bid for Amsterdam-based ABM Amro.

Anti-German feeling in Holland stems from the country’s occupation by the Nazis – in whose symbolism the eagle features prominently.

The bank claimed officially that the bird was out of date – with a different version of the eagle currently being used for Barclays’ branding.

Nevertheless, an anonymous source at the bank told the Times that the eagle had been “rather Teutonic-looking”, and might have had “unfortunate connotations”.

Barclays has in fact been branded with an eagle symbol since 1728, when it moved to new premises in the City, according to the BBC.

It is currently locked in a battle with a rival consortium headed up by the Royal Bank of Scotland for the right to take over the Dutch bank.

Tags: speculation, Business Partnership, nazis, Poole, right, bid, eagle symbol