Nissan to cut hundreds of jobs at Sunderland plant as demand for diesel cars plummets

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It comes just days after Jaguar Land Rover cut 1,000 agency staff jobs
Nissan is cutting hundreds of jobs at its Sunderland plant, citing plummeting demand for diesel cars after an emissions scandal.
It comes just days after Jaguar Land Rover cut 1,000 agency staff jobs, blaming continued difficult trading conditions in the car market.
A spokesperson for Nissan said: “As previously communicated, we are transitioning to a new range of powertrains over the next year.
“As we make the operational changes required to support this, we will be managing a planned short-term reduction in powertrain supply and plant volumes at NMUK in line with our 2018 Business Plan. We are now discussing these operational changes with our employees.”
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G.E. Earnings Show Some Signs of a Turnaround

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G.E. Earnings Show Some Signs of a Turnaround Photo A gas turbine under construction at a G.E. plant n in Belfort, France. Despite signs of a turnaround in G.E.’s earnings, its turbine business remains weak. Credit Vincent Kessler/Reuters General Electric reported a first-quarter loss on Friday, but there were also signs that the struggling industrial giant is beginning to stabilize its business.
G.E.’s big power-generator division continues to drag down the company’s overall performance, and it is still hampered by financial liabilities that linger from the conglomerate’s pared-back finance arm, GE Capital.
But a number of G.E.’s industrial divisions delivered solid results in the quarter including aviation, health care, renewable energy and transportation. That should provide some assurance to investors as the company charts a future more dependent on its industrial lines.
John Flannery, the company’s chief executive, said the quarterly results were “a step forward” for G.E., with im..

Scottish Power hikes gas and electricity bills for nearly 1 million customers

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Typical household on a dual-fuel bill on standard tariff will rise by £63 to £1,211
Scottish Power is hiking gas and electricity prices by 5.5 per cent on 1 June, the company announced on Friday.
The cost for a typical household on a dual-fuel standard tariff will rise by £63 to £1,211.
The rise will affect a third of Scottish Power’s customers, around 960,000 households. Those on fixed tariffs will not see their bills increase, the company said.
Read more British Gas announces 5.5% price hike, affecting 4.1m UK households Scottish Power blamed the increase on rising wholesale gas and electricity prices compulsory costs such as upgrading meters.
It becomes the latest energy supplier to hit customers with higher bills after EDF Energy announced last week that it would raising the prices by 1.4 per cent, for 1.3 million households from June.
The energy provider said it would increase its standard variable electricity tariff by £16 a year, taking the dual fuel cost for an averag..

Record Stay Day is a remarkable effort at self help by an industry

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The event has played a key role in the revival of the much loved independent record store as well as vinyl
Tomorrow’s Record Store Day is beautiful thing, one of those rare business events that are unequivocally worthy of celebration.
More than 200 independent stores will participate, with a bewildering array of new vinyl releases, specials and previously unavailable re releases put together by artists and labels specifically for the event.
To get your hands on the best of them you’ll have to turn up at one of the stores. And perhaps queue, while accepting that you’re going to do some serious damage to your bank balance when you finally get in.
Read more Vinyl bought on Record Store Day appears on eBay for inflated prices Record Store Day 2016: The UK events to have on your radar Record Store Day: The best exclusive vinyl on offer If, like me, you’re among the band of rabid enthusiasts for the vinyl revival you won’t worry too much about the latter point (and you'll boyc..

Scottish Power hikes gas and electricity bills for nearly 1 million customers

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Typical household on a dual-fuel bill on standard tariff will rise by £63 to £1,211
Scottish Power is hiking gas and electricity prices by 5.5 per cent on 1 June, the company announced on Friday.
The cost for a typical household on a dual-fuel standard tariff will rise by £63 to £1,211.
The rise will affect a third of Scottish Power’s customers, around 960,000 households. Those on fixed tariffs will not see their bills increase, the company said.
Read more British Gas announces 5.5% price hike, affecting 4.1m UK households Scottish Power blamed the increase on rising wholesale gas and electricity prices compulsory costs such as upgrading meters.
It becomes the latest energy supplier to hit customers with higher bills after EDF Energy announced last week that it would increase prices by 1.4 per cent, for 1.3 million households from June.
The energy provider said it would increase its standard variable electricity tariff by £16 a year, taking the dual fuel cost for an average h..

What should we think of JD Wetherspoon ditching social media?

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Tim Martin knows his audience and this is a shrewd move
This week, JD Wetherspoon announced it is closing its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
The pub chain said that around 900 pubs and its head office will no longer have a social media presence. According to Tim Martin, the Wetherspoon chairman, ‘It’s becoming increasingly obvious that people spend too much time on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and struggle to control the compulsion.’ He went on: ‘We are going against conventional wisdom that these platforms are a vital component of a successful business.’
Commentators were quick to call it a publicity stunt. One Twitter user wrote: “Wetherspoon couldn’t build a social media following so got some free publicity by deleting its accounts.”
Others pointed out that most Wetherspoon Facebook pages have fewer than 1,000 likes but attract many negative reviews. A Twitter account allegedly made by the pub chain’s sacked social media team wrote:”So social media is a ‘waste of..

Donald Trump hits out at OPEC and says oil prices are 'artificially very high'

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Prices reached a three-year high this week
Donald Trump has targeted OPEC in a tweet about the current state of the oil market on Friday, as the oil organisation meets in Vienna.
The President said it “looks like OPEC is at it again”, adding that oil prices are “artificially very high”.
Looks like OPEC is at it again. With record amounts of Oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea, Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2018 Oil prices have reached more than three-year highs this week, with expectations that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries will maintain a supply cut agreement propping up prices. The Saudi Arabian energy minister said ahead of the meeting that the global market has “the capacity to absorb higher prices”.
Brent crude tumbled at the time Mr Trump published his tweet, and at 12.25pm was trading down 0.15 per cent for the day at $73.67 (£52.37) a ..