Co-op: Roaring back and in the black but is it just a bit too busy?

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The institution has delivered a punchy set of results and is once again doing what the Co-operative should do, but its bosses should be wary of overreaching themselves
The Co-op’s back.
The institution’s latest set of numbers paint a picture of a business that has at last shaken off a long tail of yuck left by disasters (banking snafus, awful executives, dodgy directors) that could have brought the thing crashing down.
At first glance the phrase ‘what's not to like’ springs to mind.
Read more Co-op group is back in the black as it reveals members got £74m reward Co-op's new app could mean no need for checkouts Disgraced ex-Co-op Bank chairman Paul Flowers banned from City A £132m loss turned into a £72m headline profit. At the underlying level, which strips out ‘one off’ nasties to focus on the performance of the core business, profits rolled in at £65m against £52m. Debt fell to £775m from £885m. Overall revenues were flat, but there were plenty of bright spots.
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UK productivity growth hit a 10-year high in the second half of 2017, show official figures

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The increase was largely driven by a fall in the number of hours worked
UK productivity rose 0.7 per cent in the final three months of 2017, and with the third quarter figure revised up to 1 per cent, together they represent the strongest growth since the second half of 2005, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The ONS said the period between October and December last year was “the second consecutive quarter in which productivity growth has exceeded the pre-downturn average of 0.5 per cent per quarter”.
Read more UK productivity growth hits six-year high However, productivity was calculated on an output per hour basis, and so the increase was “largely driven by a fall in average hours worked”, the ONS said.
Meanwhile, revised estimates of labour productivity of the G7 show the UK continues to lag behind other major economies – UK labour productivity was around 16.3 per cent below the average for the other G7 economies in 2016.
“This is a second successive qu..

Doctors: A Harder Death for People With Intellectual Disabilities

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Supported by Well | Live A Harder Death for People With Intellectual Disabilities Photo Credit iStock Hanover, N.H. — Several weeks after my patient was admitted to the intensive care unit for pneumonia and other problems, a clear plastic tube sprouted up from the mechanical ventilator, onto his pillow and down into his trachea. He showed few signs of improvement. In fact, the weeks on his back in an I.C.U. bed were making my 59-year-old patient more and more debilitated.
Still worse, a law meant to protect him was probably making him suffer more.
When the prognosis looks this bad, clinicians typically ask the patient what kind of care they want. Should we push for a miracle or focus on comfort? When patients cannot speak for themselves, we ask the same questions of a loved one or a legal guardian. This helps us avoid giving unwanted care that isn’t likely to heal the patient.
This patient was different. Because he was born with a severe intellectual disability, the law made it mu..

A Perplexing Marijuana Side Effect Relieved by Hot Showers

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Supported by Well A Perplexing Marijuana Side Effect Relieved by Hot Showers Photo Thomas Hodorowski quit smoking marijuana after learning his years-long bouts of nausea and vomiting were caused by his habit. Credit Joshua Lott for The New York Times By the time Thomas Hodorowski made the connection between his marijuana habit and the bouts of pain and vomiting that left him incapacitated every few weeks, he had been to the emergency room dozens of times, tried anti-nausea drugs, anti-anxiety medications and antidepressants, endured an upper endoscopy procedure and two colonoscopies, seen a psychiatrist and had his appendix and gallbladder removed.
The only way to get relief for the nausea and pain was to take a hot shower.
He often stayed in the shower for hours at a time and could be in and out of the shower for days.
When the hot water ran out, “the pain was unbearable, like somebody was wringing my stomach out like a washcloth,” said the 28-year-old, who works as a production ..

Jessica Huie on finding a job that gives you a sense of purpose

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A whole industry has sprung up around helping people who feel unfulfilled at work. What should you do if you get the itch to try something different?
Jessica Huie has every reason to be happy with her lot. She has made an extraordinary success of her life against all odds. Expelled from school at 15 and a single mother by the time she was 17, Huie turned away from her path, threw herself back into her studies and climbed the ladder in PR, ending up with at Max Clifford Associates representing high profile clients like Samuel L Jackson and Mariah Carey.
Read more One in three Britons use baking to help them de-stress after busy day How a music studio started by an Essex grime artist is opening doors Work email could be banned outside office hours by New York City In 2006, she went one step further and started her own business. She was looking for a card for her daughter one day and discovered a gap in the market for cards featuring people of colour.
Color Blind Cards propelled Hui..

Bargain Booze owner Conviviality collapses into administration

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The drinks company has appointed administrators after weeks of teetering on the brink
Conviviality, the owner of Bargain Booze, has officially gone into administration.
Matthew Callaghan, Ian Green and David Baxendale of PwC were appointed as joint administrators on Thursday, bringing to an end weeks of speculation that the company was on the edge of collapse, with up to 2,500 jobs at risk.
Read more Death of the high street? Closures and cuts paint grim scene for 2018 Earlier this week, Magners owner C&C said it planned to buy Conviviality brands Matthew Clark and Bibendum, saving around 2,000 roles.
Meanwhile, the administrators said Conviviality “continues to engage with parties interested in its retail business, which continues to trade under the names of Bargain Booze, Bargain Booze Select Convenience and Wine Rack”.
However, experts said it may be difficult to find a buyer for the retail brands.
“Conviviality’s retail operations, Bargain Booze and Wine Rack, may not ..

Jobs Report for March: What to Watch For

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Supported by Economy Jobs Report for March: What to Watch For Photo Manufacturers like Camden Yards Steel in New Jersey have been a bright spot as the economy has produced a record streak of job growth. Credit Joe Lamberti/Camden Courier-Post, via Associated Press At 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, the Labor Department will issue its report on hiring and unemployment in March.
The report is expected to show another month of solid hiring, although most economists foresee a modest slowdown from February’s torrid pace. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimated that employers added 185,000 jobs in March, down from 313,000 in February. (That figure will be revised on Friday.) They also expect the unemployment rate to tick down to 4 percent for the first time since 2000.
This is what you should watch for:
A Record Hiring StreakFebruary’s report was a barnburner: Companies added jobs at the strongest pace in a year and a half, and the labor force gained hundreds of thousands of workers. Few eco..

Markets Cautiously Lower as U.S.-China Trade Threat Looms

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Supported by Business Day Markets Cautiously Lower as U.S.-China Trade Threat Looms Photo Deutsche Boerse in Frankfurt in February. Major world stock markets opened less than 1 percent lower on Friday, led by Germany. Credit Daniel Roland/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images HONG KONG — Global markets fell modestly on Friday, hours after President Trump threatened to worsen trade relations with China with potential tariffs on another $100 billion in Chinese goods.
The market reactions were initially quiet, as investors waited for details of any tariffs that might stem from Mr. Trump’s remarks. On Thursday he said he had instructed United States trade officials to determine whether new tariffs were warranted and, “if so, to identify the products upon which to impose such tariffs.”
Major world stock markets opened less than 1 percent lower on Friday, led by Germany. Asian markets were mixed, with China on holiday and Hong Kong just returning from one. The dollar fell in value slightl..

Sugar tax: the soft drinks that slashed their sugar ahead of the levy

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The UK’s first ever sugar tax comes into force on Friday.
Soft drinks manufacturers will have to pay an extra levy on drinks that contain a high amount of sugar, which is expected to bring the treasury an extra £240m.
Some big name brands slashed their sugar content ahead of the first day of the sugar levy, while others have decided to shrink the size of their bottles and increase prices.
Read more Co-op group is back in the black as it reveals members got £74m reward The Treasury estimated on Friday that over half of manufacturers reduced the sugar content in their drinks since plans were first announced in March 2016.
Irn-Bru’s decision to slash its sugar content attracted vocal opposition from some of its customers in Scotland, where its popularity verges on the iconic.
AG Barr, the company that makes Irn-Bru, went ahead with its plan in early 2018 to reduce its sugar content by over half, from 10.3g to 4.7g per 100ml.
Ribena also followed Irn-Bru by slashing its sugar by ..