Pledge as cruise firm halts trade

16 July 2011 Last updated at 10:44 GMT Gill's Cruise Centre's premises in Cardiff Thousands of people booked onto cruises have been told they will still be able to go on holiday after a Cardiff-based travel company stopped trading.

Gill's Cruise Centre took bookings for operators including P&O, Cunard and Royal Caribbean.

Travel association Abta says it has withdrawn the firm's membership due to "a financial failure".

Gill's could not be contacted for comment and its website said it could not accept new booking queries.

Customer Brian Jenkins said he had visited the company's shop in Cardiff on Friday after hearing they were facing potential financial problems.

The company, which has two premises in Cardiff and one in London, was established in 1957

Mr Jenkins said he was hopeful that the trip he had booked for his wife and himself to the Norwegian fjords will still be going ahead.

"I'm going to ring P&O to clarify there are no problems as soon as I get home," he added.

Abta, which represents travel companies, said any cruise booked through Gill's would be honoured and was fully financially protected.

Customers were advised that they could expect to hear from their cruise line. Any who wanted to contact their cruise line could do so by using details on their confirmation invoice.

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Gill's is the most recent in a long list of travel companies that have suffered as a result of the economic downturn”

End Quote Rochelle Turner Which? Travel It said people who may have booked their flight and cruise directly with Gill's under their Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (Atol) licence should contact the Civil Aviation Authority.

If the cruise and flight have been booked with different suppliers they were advised to contact the cruise company.

A message on Gill's website said it regretted that it was unable to accept new booking inquiries.

It added: "Our existing clients with queries should telephone our client service department on 0845 460 6094."

The company is described on its website as "family-owned and established in 1957".

Booking advice

It has a sales office in Paddington Central, London, while in Cardiff it has a client services team based at Llanishen and a retail centre in Rhiwbina.

One company no longer working with Gill's is Carnival UK, which includes P&O Cruises, Cunard, Princess Cruises and Seabourn Cruises.

Carnival UK's sales and customer services director Giles Hawke said his company severed the agency relationship with Gill's earlier in the week week because of increasing concerns about its financial position.

He added that if customers had booked a Carnival cruise with Gill's their holiday was safe.

Rochelle Turner, head of research for Which? Travel, said the travel industry had been through some turbulent times over the past two years.

"Gill's is the most recent in a long list of travel companies that have suffered as a result of the economic downturn," she said.

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UK trade deficit worsens in May

12 July 2011 Last updated at 11:14 GMT The UK saw a surge in the volume of manufactured good imports - particularly chemicals - during May The gap in the UK's balance of trade widened unexpectedly in May.

The overall deficit for the month was ?4.1bn, according to the Office for National Statistics, up from ?3.1bn the month before.

The widening deficit was driven by a 13% surge in imports of semi-manufactured goods, notably chemical products, which rose 20%.

The overall goods deficit, excluding services, rose to ?8.5bn - well above the ?7.4bn expected by analysts.

Economists said that the data provided further evidence that growth in the UK economy may have stagnated in the second quarter of the year.

The volume of total exports grew 1.9% in the month, after seasonal adjustment, and excluding oil and erratic items.

The figure for imports was 6%.

There were some encouraging signs in the data.

The country's services trade surplus - which is dominated by the financial services the UK provides to the rest of the world - remained steady during the month.

Meanwhile, falling crude prices helped the UK reduce the value of its net imports of oil.

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Japan quake still hurting trade

8 July 2011 Last updated at 02:13 GMT Japanese carmakers were some of the hardest hit, facing supply shortages and power cuts Japan's current account surplus fell sharply in May, as the 11 March earthquake and tsunami continue to affect exports.

The surplus shrank 51.7% to 590.7bn yen ($7.27bn; ?4.55bn) compared with a year earlier, said the Ministry of Finance.

However, that is less than most analysts had expected.

The data shows that while the economy continues to suffer from the disaster, it is recovering quicker than expected.

May's fall in the current account surplus marks the third straight monthly drop after the earthquake and tsunami wreaked havoc in the north east of Japan.

In April the surplus was down 69.5%.

Trade deficit

Even as the supply chain recovers and manufacturers come back online exports are still suffering.

The data showed that exports fell by 9.8% in May from a year earlier.

While imports rose 14.7%, mainly because of higher energy costs.

That translated to the second-biggest trade deficit on record, the ministry said.

The current account is the broadest measure of a country's trade with the rest of the world.

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High Street trade 'ignored' claim

2 July 2011 Last updated at 15:23 GMT Small retailers need a 'level playing field' to compete with retail parks, says business bosses High streets in Wales need a plan to help small shops through their economic difficulties, says a business group.

The Federation of Small Businesses in Wales (FSB) said ministers must draw up a retail strategy to support traders.

They want new supermarkets schemes to have a study on their effect on local stores and for shopping developments to subsidise space for smaller outlets.

The Welsh Government said discussions with the business organisation were under way.

The FSB said its 10,000 members in Wales had been ignored as an area for active business support despite small traders being a cornerstone of local economies.

Small retailers provide and environmentally beneficial service to communities and contribute to the health of other businesses, such as tourism, its said.

The organisation said that before May's assembly elections politicians had signed up to the idea of "keeping trade local" and those pledges must now be made real with a retail strategy.

Level-playing field

It is calling for:

• Compulsorily independent retail impact assessments on all supermarket developments

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Susan Morris has two full-time and two part-time staff at her store in Llandudno, Conwy.

She said: "It's no good having a vibrant high street without a parking system that people can afford

"We're competing with the retail parks just as all the big companies - the Next clearance store and Mothercare - are leaving.

"The town centre is now split in two with the retail park at one end, empty shops in the middle and the independent shops at the other.

"My business used to be all year round but now we're very seasonal.

"Then there are the rents and rates. There are no new businesses starting up because it's just not worth it for them."

• Affordable or subsidised retail units to be a condition of new shopping developments

• A business crime unit for Wales

• More powers for planning authorities to hold off large developments and to preserve small local firms

• Town centre business rates to be affordable so high streets can compete against out-of-town retail parks

FSB Wales chair Janet Jones said: "All we want is a level playing field for small businesses.

"These policies clearly resonated with the parties before the election and as we hear every day of further high street struggles we need a clear vision now of how we can help the sector survive and flourish.

"What is important is that the commitments that the parties made pre-election on other issues that impact on small and medium-sized enterprises and our town centres are also acted upon."

Nigel Evans, joint owner of Starvin' Jacks, a coffee shop and diner with three outlets in Swansea, backed the FSB call.

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You just pay it out to the council and get nothing back in return as it seems from my point of view”

End Quote Nicole Burnett Businesswoman He told Radio Wales: "The biggest impact on us as a city in Swansea is out-of-town shopping. We have one of the highest concentrations in the UK. And the big advantage they have is free car parking.

"We've not taken the leadership of putting restrictions on planning. There is a place for out-of-town shopping, but in my view that's for large white goods where it's easy for the customer to drive up and get them."

Nicole Burnett, co-owner of Happy Days, a vintage homestore and artisan market in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, said up to 10% of her turnover went on business rates,

She said: "It is a lot and it's empty money. It's dead money. You just pay it out to the council and get nothing back in return as it seems from my point of view."

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "The minister has met with the FSB recently and had initial discussions around the issues they are raising."

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US sees India as key trade ally

29 June 2011 Last updated at 07:47 GMT India's economic growth has seen it become a key ally for developed economies like the US The US wants India to become one of its top 10 trading partners, treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said as the two countries agreed on improving access to each other's markets.

He made the remarks after meeting India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee at the second India-US Economic and Financial Partnership.

India is currently the US' twelfth largest trading partner, with bilateral trade of almost $50bn (?31bn).

US is the world's biggest economy.

"In the United States, we aren't just watching India's rise as an economic power, we support it. We encourage it. And we want to help advance it," Mr Geithner said.

"India's growth is good for us, just as our growth is good for India," he added.

Barriers to growth

However, Mr Geithner said that if trade between the two countries was to rise to the next level, then India needed to open up more sectors of its economy.

US companies have been lobbying to tap into India's lucrative financial and retail sector, but have not been successful so far.

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The single most important take away is the commitment of both governments to work hard to expand deepen this relationship”

End Quote Timothy Geithner US Treasury Secretary "American companies still face barriers in India in sectors such as banking, insurance, manufacturing, multi-brand retail and infrastructure," Mr Geithner said.

Mr Geithner added that not only were these barriers limiting growth, they were also a hindrance to job creation in both the countries.

However, Mr Mukherjee said that given the political situation in India it was not easy to introduce reforms in key sectors.

"We do not have a simple, single-party majority in legislature and in parliament," he said.

"We shall have to carry other people with us and we are exactly trying to do that," Mr Mukherjee added.

Despite the limitations expressed by the Indian finance minister, Mr Geithner said he was happy with the overall outcome of the bilateral meeting.

"The single most important take away is the commitment of both governments to work hard to expand deepen this relationship," he said.

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Mobile firms can trade spectrum

21 June 2011 Last updated at 10:08 GMT There are now 12.8 million smartphones in the UK according to Ofcom. UK regulator Ofcom has given phone operators the green light to trade spectrum in a move intended to increase mobile network capacity.

Available bandwidth is becoming a huge issue as smartphones put increasing demand on networks.

The trading of airwaves comes ahead of a crucial spectrum auction next year that will usher in 4G data services.

Both the auction and the decision to allow operators to trade existing spectrum have caused controversy.

Spectrum trading allows operators to sell off the airwaves they own in the 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz frequency bands.

Historically the 900MHz slice of spectrum has belonged exclusively to O2 and Vodafone because they were the only two mobile operators on the market when it was handed out.

While other nations have reallocated this spectrum to offer a more level-playing field ahead of 4G auctions, this has not happened in the UK.

Ofcom had originally planned to redistribute the spectrum allocated to O2 and Vodafone, but was met with a legal action, initiated by the two operators.

Lifeblood

Ofcom dropped its plans following the merger of T-Mobile and Orange.

Everything Everywhere (EE), the parent company of T-Mobile and Orange will be the biggest beneficiary of spectrum trading.

It was required to sell off about 19 percent of its spectrum frequencies as a condition of the merger.

Three is unhappy as it has the least spectrum to trade.

"Spectrum is the lifeblood of smartphones and the mobile internet and for those with surplus holdings it is also a strategic asset, so voluntary trading is the exception," it said in a statement.

"This move simply allows those who have been gifted access to public spectrum to profit from it, with no benefit for UK taxpayers."

Three will voice its concerns later today at a Department of Culture select committee hearing set up to discuss the way spectrum is being allocated.

Further delays

O2 and Vodafone are unlikely to sell off any of their assets, according to Matthew Howett, an analyst with research firm Ovum.

"It is simply too valuable to them and they would only trade it if they were forced to," he said.

What may force their hand is the upcoming 4G auction in which Ofcom has set caps on the amount that can be bought.

It will mean the operators with more existing spectrum will be able to buy less of the more valuable 4G airwaves.

Ofcom has also ring-fenced some of the spectrum for new entrants such as Three.

"It has done this because it recognised that 3 might not be able to survive and it values the disruptive nature of a player like 3," said Mr Howett.

But O2 said it was tantamount to "state aid" and has threatened legal action.

Any further delays to the auction could put the UK behind other European countries in the roll-out of 4G services, said Mr Howett.

4G will be crucial as the market continues to grow.

According to Ofcom there are now 80 million mobiles in the UK, 12.8 million of which are smartphones.

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EU carmakers cry foul over trade

9 June 2011 Last updated at 17:19 GMT By Jorn Madslien Business reporter, BBC News European carmakers want 'a level playing field' The European motor industry has called for non-European governments to scale back assistance for their own automotive industries.

But at the same time, they say they want more government support at home.

Governments in Europe should support the industry's efforts to cut car emissions, European car maker bosses agreed during a meeting in London.

But other governments should remove tariffs and other barriers to trade, they said.

Infrastructure and research

The seemingly contradictory positions taken by the chief executives, during a board meeting of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, may not be as outlandish as it first seems.

The assistance the carmakers want at home relates to issues like like funding a national roll-out of the power charging infrastructure for electric cars.

They have also called for short-term assistance with research and development into electric cars and other new technologies.

Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche is calling for a level playing field.

"We in the industry have to take the lead," said Dieter Zetsche, chief executive of Daimler and president of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association ACEA.

He said European carmakers would invest billions of euros in green technologies.

"In Germany alone, the automotive industry will invest about 16 bn euros," he said.

"Over the next five years we will see no return on that investment."

'We don't get access'

The car chiefs say import tariffs and other barriers to trade - notably in India, China, South Korea and other large emerging markets for cars - should be scaled back.

The tariffs make it difficult for European exporters to compete with domestic manufacturers.

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Eight million jobs are related to the automotive industry in Europe, 700,000 of them here in the UK”

End Quote Dieter Zetsche European Automobile Manufacturers Association ACEA For example, India exports 250,000 cars to Europe every year, but only imports 5,000 vehicles from Europe, according to Paul Everitt, chief executive of the UK motor industry group SMMT.

And he said Japan should also do more to open up its market to imports.

"Our vision is for us to design, develop and manufacture high-value vehicles to export around the world.That is difficult if we don't get access."

Mr Zetsche said he was convinced the European motor industry was the most advanced in the world, and would be perfectly able to compete globally in a truly free market.

"We are asking for a level playing field," he said.

Economic health

Developing countries often insist they need to protect their strategically important embryonic growth industries against powerful rivals from industrialised countries, in part because they want to create economic growth and reduce poverty at home.

Although this might be fair in some instances, said Mr Everitt, carmakers in India, China and South Korea were both large and resourceful and should no longer need protection.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association points to its importance to the economic health of Europe and has urged EU governments to treat it as a strategic industry.

"Eight million jobs are related to the automotive industry in Europe, 700,000 of them here in the UK," Mr Zetsche said.

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