Civil servants to strike over redundancy terms

Up to 270,000 civil servants, including Jobcente staff, tax workrs and coastguards, are planning a two day strike in early March in a dispute over cuts to public sector redundancy terms. The Public and Commercial services union who represent the workers balloted the staff earlier this month and 64% voted for stoppages and 81% backing an overtime ban. The 2 day walkout could be followed by a series of rolling strikes through March and April, just weeks before the expected date of the general election.

Best of luck to my Higher Business Management class

Yes, it is Friday night at 8.14pm and yes, I am writing on my blog. But please remember, the other option tonight is Eastenders Live!

Just wanted to say the best of luck to my Higher Business Management class for their prelim on Monday.

Thousands of prices cut - but your shopping still costs more?

Last November, Asda and Tesco started a price war in the lead up to Christmas by announcing they were cutting millions of pounds off prices. Tesco would cut prices by £250m and Asda by £150m. In order to meet their end-of-year profit targets, supermarkets need to entice customers who are likely to spend more in the lead up to the festive period to shop in their store.

However, data provided by third party analysts and published in Saturdays Guardian newspaper has shown that as well as the thousands of cut prices the supermarkets promoted, they also showed thousands of price rises, some of them doubling the price of key purchases. Between 9 and 22 December (the period when most people would do their big festive shop), Asda increased prices on more than 2,000 lines and Tesco on over 1,500.

Whether a shopper was affected positively or negatively is difficult to quantify - it would be dependent on what the shopper bought. The averages of price increases and cuts can also be affected by changes on high value items e.g. if a supermarket cuts the price of a crate of beer in half as a loss leader offering a saving of several pounds, and cuts thousands of other products by just 1p, the number of cuts and the average saving may look attractive but give virtually nothing to those not buying beer.

Both supermarkets denied the claim that they were deliberately forcing up prices in the run up to Christmas, claiming that in the majority of cases it was due to products that had been discounted coming off promotion or by suppliers increasing wholesale prices to the retailer. However, a professor at the Office of Fair Trading suggested that the number and size of the rises showed both Tesco and Asda were using the Christmas period to get as much profit as possible out of people who were too busy to shop elsewhere. He pointed out that rises were targeted at heavy store cupboard goods and holiday essentials - Pepsi (up 56% in Asda), Duracell batteries (up 102.7% in Asda), Nurofen tablets (up 33.3% in Tesco) and Beefeater Gin (up 37.6% in Tesco).

A 5 year study of prices at Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons conducted by Loughborough University has found the most common price cut among the top 4 supermarkets is just 1p. Although these low cuts might seem pointless and have little impact on the price of someone's shopping, it enables the supermarkets to claim they are cutting the cost of thousands of lines. In actual fact, over the 5 years, these cuts have helped mask large increases in a smaller number of lines which have had a much greater impact on shopping bills. Supermarket behaviour at Christmas in those 5 years has also shown that although they have heavily discounted headline, loss-leading products like alcohol and turkey, they have significantly raised the prices of other goods at the same time.

Rooney and his working class "brand"

It has emerged during a court case that Wayne Rooney was to be "branded" as the complete opposite of David Beckham - a street striker, a product of the terraces, earthy, real, not manufactured, what you see is what you get! His working class credentials were part of the "brand values" given to the then 17 year old Rooney as his agent negotiated multi-million pound contracts to endorse products and firms such as Coca-Cola, Asda and Nike.

The details have emerged as part of a court case where Rooney, his wife and agent are being sued by his formed sports management firm for £4.3million in lost commission payments.

Advertising - London style

I am always amazed when I am in London how many innovative ways there are to advertise and promote products - it always seems so much more creative than the usual billboard we tend to see up here.

This is an advert for Coke Zero at Old Street roundabout, a roundabout on the border of Hackney and Islington which links the City of London, West London, East London and North London - many potential customers pass by here every day. I just think it is so striking to incorporate the advert for the product it into a modern style sculpture.

An interesting fact - the roundabout is also known as the Silicon Roundabout due to the prominence of British web based companies.

Stung by computerised stock control!

I was down in London at the weekend seeing friends and was staying in a Holiday Inn. Passing the morning away on the Saturday before I went out, I had a look at the price list for the room's mini bar. Needless to say, I was absolutely shocked at the mark-up on the different drinks and snacks and thought it would be a good idea to take some pictures to show my various Business Management classes as we work our way through the Marketing units.

So I took out some Pringles, Coca-Cola, some white wine, red wine, a small bottle of Courvioisier Cognac and proceeded to take some shots. I didn't have a clue (though the heading at the top of the price list should have given it away) that the fridge used a computerised system whereby everytime you took a product out of the fridge, it would charge it to your room bill. Even if you put it back!!

When I went to settle my bill on Sunday, it was with some embarrassment that I had to explain that I had not in fact drunk or eaten anything from the bar, but had in fact been taking photographs to show my pupils about pricing methods back in Scotland. They didn't charge me!

Good luck to my S4!

The best of luck to my S4 Administration class who are sitting their prelim exam tomorrow (Friday 5 February) and my S4 Business Management class who are sitting theirs on Monday (8 February).

You have all worked hard and I am confident you will all do yourselves proud.

Business Dictionary

While trawling the internet to find new and innovative things to incorporate into the blog to help my classes learning, I came across a Business Dictionary which may prove useful. It is a glossary of business terms and definitions which includes the main terminology used in business, plus many more unusual, interesting and amusing words and expressions found in business and management, and the wider world of work and modern life.

I have posted the link on the menu bar opposite - hope it is of some use to you!

How a lack of quality checks can affect a business

Toyota have announced that a massive vehicle recall due to uncontrolled acceleration could cost them up to £1.25 billion in lost output and the check might need to spread from the US and Europe to the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. 1.8 million cars were recalled across Europe while another 2.3 million cars have been recalled in the US over the last four months. 5 millions vehicles in the US were also recalled for another similar problem. The effect of the recall on the world's largest car maker is likely to seriously affect its 2010 sales forecasts.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Toyota defends car recall delay

Pupil led Business Magazine up and running

One of my Higher Business Management pupils told me a couple of months ago that she liked the idea of possibly editing a newspaper in the future. It just so happened that at that point I was looking at ways to start some sort of pupil-led online Business Magazine to encourage participation from pupils outside of the classroom. Talking it through with the pupil, we identified several pupils in S2 Business Management who we thought could take on the role of reporters with the senior pupil being responsible for setting deadlines, editing work and getting the project up and running.

Having been subjected first hand to a probing interview by one of the team's roving reporters and read a couple of their first articles, I am confident this is a project which will develop and provide all involved with some great skills that they can take forward in their schooling - teamworking, working to deadlines, communication skills etc. I have given full editorial responsibility to the group and act only as a contact should they wish any help or support.

The group aim to get their magazine link placed on the school website and hope to develop a strong and loyal readership. Please click on the link Pupil Business Magazine to read their first articles. Please feel free to leave some comments.

Last night, 8 pupils from my Higher Business Management class and I attended a Business Master Class hosted by the East Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce. The guest speaker was Graeme Lindsay, one of Scotland's leading marketing experts with nearly 20 years of experience. His CV contains companies liked Tennents, Scottish Courage and Glenmorangie and he led the global marketing activity for brands such as Glenmorangie, Ardbeg and Glen Moray. Recently he has been working as the Marketing Director for Whyte & Mackay.

The first part of his talk covered how he had helped relaunch Glenmorangie. This was a whisky which had no discernible difference from it's competitors and having conducted thorough research, it was decided to aim it at specifically at two target markets - the luxury end of the market and women. The idea to aim it at these markets inspired all the packaging and promotion that Glenmorangie did. Promotions moved from the traditional man in a kilt tasting whisky to talking about the taste and emotion fo whisky, utilising a female master blender. Advertising became engaging, premium, impactful and always focused on the luxury element of the product. The website was updated - it changed completely and got people talking again. Displays of the product moved from the idea of cramming as much in as possible to the complete opposite - focusing on a "less is more" idea. Displays of the product played on the idea of scarcity with individual bottles carefully displayed. Public relations events changed style as well, moving to cocktail parties of style and allure, attended by both men and women.

Obviously there was a cost to all this but with the new luxury branding, Glenmorangie could charge higher prices and increase their profit margin which increased the bottom line. High end hotels and clubs were now stocking the product and charging high amounts which further strengthened Glenmorangie's position.

Some interesting marketing points which Graeme Lindsay made about launching or relaunching a product:

1. A well defined positioning will lead to stronger communicaton and ideas that cut through.
2. Go back in time to the foundations and heritage of your business to "get" your positioning/identity.
3. It's better to ACT yourself into a new way of thinking (than THINK yourself into a way of acting) Court controversy in creating interesting PR angles.
4. Polarise opinion - don't try and and please ALL of your target consumers. Be prepared to sacrifice.
5. Steal ideas from other sectors.
6. Identify industry conventions and then challenge them.
7. In generating innovative ideas, be chaotic, emotional and random. Be meticulous and disciplined in execution.
8. Refuse to be constrained by challenges and restrictions. Tackle them head on and turn into opportunities.
9. It's not enough to get digital. Companies and products have to get "SOCIAL" - use all social networking opportunities available.

It was a really interesting evening and hopefully gave some of the pupils a greater insight into one of the main units we study in Higher Business Management. For some, it may even impact on future career plans!

Did you know?

The rise of social media!

The office of the future!

Check out the link below to see the office of the future. Designed by students at Edinburgh's Napier University, it costs around £150,000 and features touch screen technology on desks and walls. Experts believe in 3-5 years, this could be commonplace technology.

The Office of the Future

The end of the road for Cadbury's

An agreement has been reached between the American food company Kraft and Cadbury's, the 200 year old British confectioner, over a £11.5 billion takeover. Cadbury's started in Birmingham in 1824 when John Cadbury opened a shop selling tea, coffee and hot chocolate as an alternative to alcohol. It now employs about 45,000 people in 60 countries and it's brands include Dairy Milk, Flake, Crunchie, Chocolate Buttons and Milk Tray.

What are the details:

• Cadbury's board recommended to the shareholders that it accept a bid of 840p per share, valuing the business at £11.5 billion.
• Each shareholder will receive 500p per share and the remainder will be made up of shares in Kraft.
• This is an increase in the previous offer by craft when the valued Cadburys at £10.5 billion.
• The move could lead to possible job cuts within Cadbury's UK business as a result.

Supported Study - Intermediate Business Management

We will be running a supported study session in preparation for the Business Management prelim on Tuesday 26 January 2010 at 3.45pm. If you are interested, please let one of the Busienss Studies teachers know you wish to attend.

If it doesn't work out as a teacher.....

......I could always become a pizzaiolo! Taking a break from NAB marking.

Managing The Band (S2 Admin)

Download now or preview on posterous

task 2 (4).doc (106 KB)

My S2 class have started the Managing The Band project, a 20 task integrated activity which covers a variety of skills which will help the class when they move into Intermediate Administration. The project covers areas like word processing, spreadsheets, databases, internet researching and is all based around managing a fictional band as they travel across Europe.

The first couple of tasks have been completed and this years real-life band of choice amongst S2 seems to be JLS closely followed by Pussycat Dolls. Here is a sample of the first task.

Posted via email from Mr Alexander's Posterous

First time on Posterous

I was introduced to Posterous today by Mr O'Donnell and I am considering the possibility of using it with my S2 Business Management and S2 Administration classes. They can easily use it to post work that they have done in class and share it with their families or friends at home. This is just a little trial to see how it works! Fingers crossed!

Posted via email from Mr Alexander's Posterous

Should employees tell bosess what they think of them?

My S4 Business Management class are currently looking at the internal organisation of a business and one of the areas we have been looking at is the relationship between managers and employees. My Higher Business Management class are about to move on to the Human Resource topic and this may also be of interest to them.

New research has suggested that firms would have a happier and healthier workforce if employees were able to tell their managers what they think of them. The relationship between line managers and employees is the most common source of stress in the workplace but many people in senior positions are unaware of how they come across and think they are doing a good job already. Stress in the workplace is a significant cause of sickness absence and can lead to people experiencing anxiety or depression.

The study showed that if employees could provide feedback to their managers, the bosses were more likely to change their management style and become more effective. This could be in coping with the employees emotions, empathising with individuals and resolving conflict. Those who don't get feedback were unlikely to change.

Milk deliveries hit by icy weather

My Higher Business Management class were looking at external factors which can effect the distribution and delivery of goods and on the BBC website tonight, there was an article which illustrates that point.

The recent icy weather has severely affected the distribution of milk as suppliers struggled against the wintry conditions. In order to keep fresh milk in the shops, dairy farmers require collections every day or second day but drivers have struggled to negotiate country roads in eight-wheel tankers. As a result, farms have had to dump milk due because few of them have facilities capable of storing more than a day's stock. This is likely to have a serious financial impact on farmers with the average dairy farm having 120 cows producing up to 2,500 litres every day. In Somerset, one cooperative said it would have to dump more than 10,000 litres.

What does your social networking site say about you?

I have just finished watching a really interesting documentary on the trial of Amanda Knox, one of the three people found guilty of the murder of Meridith Kercher in Perugia, Italy in 2007. The documentary was trying to establish the true identity of Amanda - was she the innocent, Seattle student her family said she was, or the hard partying girl the media portrayed.

The thing that came out was how the media had used social networking sites such as MySpace to build up a picture of Amanda Knox. By simply accessing her site, they had picked little things she had posted, little videos she had made, and put them together to form an overall image of her. It was this image they used throughout the murder trial and it became a powerful weapon in the prosecutions case.

As the trial unfolded, blogging became a powerful weapon in determining public opinion. Blogs started supporting Amanda Knox and blogs started accusing her of the murder and stating her guilt. Comments left on blogs became more and more vicious as the murder trial continued.

Amanda Know was found guilty and I am not in a position to say if this was correct or not. However, what it showed me was how careful people should be when posting comments, videos etc. on social networking sites such as Bebo, Facebook & MySpace as you really don't know who will one day access them. I have already talked on my blog about potential employers using them to get a fuller picture of who someone is. The most worrying aspect is that unless you delete it yourself, the images and information stays on the web.

My advice would be to think before posting stuff - does it give a true reflection on who you are and would you want other people to read it?

Financial turmoil at Old Trafford?

Really interesting article on Manchester United's current financial situation posted on the BBC website today by Robert Peston, the BBC's Business Editor. Well worth a look!

Can Manchester United spend?

The hidden costs of unemployment on the young

Over the last couple of years, most of us will have been aware of the headline news screaming "Unemployment Rises", "Unemployment Hits 2 Million" etc. without really having any understanding of the effects it has on people.

The Prince's Trust have just conducted a survey of 2,000 people youngsters between 16 and 25 and it showed 1 in 10 who had been out of work had turned to drugs or alcohol. Those not in education or training were twice as likely to suffer feelings of depression or isolation. 25% felt being jobless had caused arguments with parents and 15% felt their life lacked direction! 15%!! Between 16 and 24, the world should be a young person's oyster!

Recent figures show almost a million 16-25 year olds are unemployed and the fear is that this generation becomes a "lost generation" - their skills and talents are lost to the economy as the long term emotional issues result in them failing to reenter the job market.

I remember first hand the experience of being jobless. I moved back from London in 2003 at the age of 24 and for about 3 months I couldn't get a job. Initially I was full of motivation, spending a long time on individualised CV's and letters of application. Eventually, as the rejection letters piled up I started to just "Copy and Paste" my applications which further reduced my chances of getting a job. I started to spend longer and longer just watching daytime TV and doing nothing. Thankfully, I have a very supportive family and group of friends and they kept my spirits up until I got a job in a bank. However, in that short time I could see the damaging effect that unemployment could have on someone and the effect it has on your self-esteem. It is a vicious circle - the more rejections you get, the lower your confidence goes and the higher chance you have of getting the next job.

Let's hope that we don't lose this generation of young people to this fate.

New Year's Resolutions

Ok, 2010 is now well underway and like many people, I am going to make some resolutions this year. To try and make sure I stick to them, I am going to post them here so I can be constantly reminded. I may add to these over the coming week as I think of more things I want to achieve.

Run a 10km in sub 40 minutes

I used to do a lot of running but gave up after a couple of bad experiences with half marathons so haven't been out for a while. I know sub 40 is a bit optimistic but I think I could achieve this by the end of the year.

Save a minimum of £4,000 towards a house deposit

Sick fed up of living in rented accommodation and not being able to do anything to my house in terms of improvement. Have set up an Cash ISA as the first step and managed to get £600 saved before the end of the year so on the way. Got to take advantage of these bargain basement prices.

Successfully finish PGC Leadership in Learning

My course runs until the summer and I want to make sure I successfully complete it.

Complete 50 pressups without a break

My real weak point fitness wise! Can probably do 20 at the moment so I think 50 is an achievable challenge!

If anyone else can think of anything I could add, let me know!

Business news over the festive period.......

WIth 2 days to go until school starts again, I have to admit I have been pretty lazy in keeping up to date with what is happening in the business news. So, with nothing but Hole in the Wall to keep my occupied for half an hour, I thought I would see what has been making the news over the last couple of weeks.

Tiger Watch

AT&T have joined Gillette and Accenture in dropping Tiger Woods from their sponsorship. As well as these 3 companies, Tag Heuer and Gatorade have also reduced their use of Woods since news of his infidelity broke. A recent study by the University of California suggests the total economic damage for everyone involved could be up to $12 billion.

House prices continue to rise

House prices rose by 5.9% in 2009, making some recovery from the massive 15.9% fall of 2008. In December, the average cost of a home went up by 0.4% to £162,103, the 8th consecutive monthly rise. However, industry experts have warned that recovery in 2010 will be slow as the effect of increasing unemployment takes hold and whether cash buyers who had reentered the market when it was at a low are likely to continue to be significant in house buying market.

Christmas spending up

Nearly £500 million was spent on 23 December which enabled this years Christmas sales to outperform 2008. Overall, consumer spending was 2.4% higher this year according to Barclaycard. Even on Christmas Day, shopping continued as 700,000 transactions worth £24 million were made online. However, as in the story above, unemployment and other economic issues mean that consumer confidence is still low and it may be that the increased sales is simply people taking advantage of the 15% VAT rate before it goes back up to 17.5%.

Now, let's hope Hole in the Wall is finished......

Help needed for Dragon's Den Surveys

The S2 Business Management classes are currently in the middle of a Dragon's Den project and are currently undertaking market research on their product or service. This is where they need your help!

Please click on one of the links below and answer the questions as truthfully as possible. It should only take you a minute or two and each one you fill out will help them gather valuable information.

Thank you in advance

• Get Hot
• Indestructible
• Zoom Gel
• Pet People
• Hugglies
• Bright Ideas
• Master Order

Business Studies From a Pupils Perspective

Business studies poster

This trophy is given out to the best pupil of the week

These are the jobs that we are inspired to do.

Some headlines from the newspapers that give us infomation on the business world.

WHAT KEEPS THE TEACHER AWAKE DURING THE DAY!!!

How the face of sport changed in the 'noughties'.

Just been reading an interesting article about how the last 10 years have made sport almost unrecognisable to what it was at the turn of the century in where it is played and how it is watched. Recently, Brazil have played a friendly against England in Doha, Australia and New Zealand contested the rugby Bledisloe Cup in Hong Kong and NFL have started recent regular-season games at Wembley. And people who once could only watch on TV if they couldn't attend games can now watch via High Definition, the Internet or on their phone. A survey by Motorola in America two years ago found 45% of people would rather watch an NFL game on HD than actually bother going to the game!

Here are some interesting figures from the article:

25 - times more income from the World Cup TV rights in 2010 ($2.3bn) than 1990 (£92m) - coinciding with growth of pay-TV.

58% - the increase in sports sponsorship in Asia over the last four years - roughly double the growth rate in Europe and the United States

6 - of the top 10 sponsorship deals worldwide in 2008 were by Nike or Adidas.

62% - of football fans in the UK use all the following media to keep in touch: TV, newspapers, magazines, internet, radio and mobile phone

The rate of technological change seems to be having a huge impact on the rate of sporting change.

How British Airways staff reacted to strike action

The video below which has been posted on Youtube shows the joy which met British Airways staff decision to to go on strike. 92% voted in favour of strike action. One worker asked the question if they could be sacked and a lawyer responded by saying the staff had protection for 12 weeks - if they were sacked during this time, they would have an immediate "unfair dismissal" claim which would be very expensive for British Airways.

Following on from my post about referees yesterday and their influence over an organisation, this is British Airways employees using the withdrawl of their labour as a way of influencing the business.

The issue for the employees is how the public react. Passengers affected by a 12-day strike over Christmas are not likely to be overly sympathetic to their decision.

Referees threaten 24 hour strike

Recently, I have been covering stakeholders of an organisation and their aims and influences. A stakeholder is someone with an interest in the success or failure of an organisation and can be internal (e.g. employee, owner etc.) or external (e.g. bank, customer, government etc.).

I was interested today to read that one of Scottish footballs main stakeholders are ready to wield their influence by threatening to go one a 24-strike. Their aim is to stop recent attacks on their professionalism and integrity and their influence is that they can withdraw their labour as referees therefore meaning games can't be played.

A nice example of stakeholder aims and influences.......

Gillette "distance" themselves from Woods

Following Tiger Woods announcement that he was taking an indefinite break from golf, Gilette have become the first major sponsor to distance themselves from him. They claim the move was out of respect for his privacy and will involve phasing him out of their television and print advertising as well as public appearances. The saga rumbles on....

Follow up to Tiger Woods story......

PepsiCo, owners of Gatorade, have decided to drop a Tiger Woods-endorsed product. However, they have said that the decision was taken a few months ago and has nothing to do with the allegations surrounding the golfer. Reports of the drink being dropped were first reported two days before Woods crashed his car in an industry magazine but the timing is bound to raise suspicion.

In other news, the last prime-time advert featuring Tiger Woods was a 30-second Gillette advert on 29 November, 10 days ago.

Do you think bankers deserve big bonuses?

Despite the US economy experiencing its worst year in 30 years, Goldman Sachs are likely to announce pay and bonuses for its bankers of $19 billion (£11.4 billion). In Britain, 5000 bankers are in line to collect more than £1m each despite millions of people being out of work as a result of the recession.

Goldman Sachs have enjoyed a fantastic year and their three leading executives will receive multi-million dollar payouts after not taking bonuses last year due to the business making a loss between October and December of that year.

The bonus culture has been attacked in both the USA and UK as a reason for the near collapse of the financial system as bankers took reckless risks. Bonuses are particularly sensitive for banks who took government money to bail them out during the worst of the crisis, Goldman Sachs being one of them.

An arguement continues in London as to whether staff in the invest part of RBS should receive bonuses worth £1.5 billion, when the RBS is 70% owned by the state after a taxpayer bailout.

Do Tesco name badges develop brand loyalty?

I have recently been working with my Higher Business Management class on Marketing and one of the areas we have been looking at is brand loyalty. A few months ago, I noticed that the staff in Tescos have started to wear badges which not only included their name, but also a phrase "I like...." followed by something like socialising, football, dancing etc. as well as a picture and when they joined the team.

On the way home tonight, I stopped at Tescos and on the way through the checkout, I couldn't help ask the assistant what the purpose of the badge was. She seemed somewhat shocked that I asked which was ironic considering the purpose is to give the customer some information with which to engage the assistant in conversation. She told me that during her induction training, she was asked to name something she liked doing and a picture which represented her. She went for "I like socialising" and a picture of a musical note as she likes music.

Does it make me more loyal to the Tesco brand? Probably not but it was nice to have some sort of human interaction during the shopping experience rather than the faceless nature of using the self-service machines which seem to be cropping up in all supermarkets.

Would knowing a person's name and interests encourage you to use the same supermarket?

How will sponsors react to Tarnished Tiger?

Tiger Woods is the wealthiest sportsman in the world, not simply because of his golfing talent but because of the big businesses that pay him to advertise their products. With sponsors such as Nike (they signed their first contract with him in 1996), Gatorade and Gillette, Woods has made more money off the green than on it. Last year he earned $23 million from golf tournaments - he made $100 million sponsorship deals.

However, allegations surrounding his private life since he crashed his car last week have tarnished his previously perfect image and his future earnings will depend on how the sponsors react. Nike and Gatorade seem to have offered Woods their full support but Gillette have not committed themselves to what they may do in future. Other major sponsors such as Tag Heuer, although continuing to use Woods in advertising campaigns, have been "unavailable for comment" when asked to discuss the situation.

Woods has become the first athlete in history to earn $1 billion in a sporting career and his success (and attraction to sponsors) in being a black player in a black player in a traditionally white sport has raised the profile of golf greatly.

Borders bookshop goes into administration

The well known bookshop chain Borders has gone into administration and a buyer will now try to be found for the all or some of the 45 stores. The chain has suffered from increased competition from online retailers and supermarkets and recently, the business had experienced severe cash flow problems and several suppliers had stopped or reduced its credit levels. The chain employs 1,150.

25 years since British Telecom was privatised

British Telecom's roots go all the way back to 1848 when it became the worlds first telecommunications company. However, by the 1980s, a decision was taken to privatise it and increase innovation within the new company to benefit customers as well as raising money for the government (£3.9billion).

The launch of BT shares on the London Stock Exchange was a big event and initially, the shares were priced at 130p each. The launch was aimed at small investors and was the first to be targeted by a widespread marketing campaign. By the end of their first day, the price had reached 170p.

Over the years, the now privatised BT has had to defend itself against allegations of preventing competition from it's very dominant position and Oftel (now Ofcom) was created to ensure it didn't abuse it's position.

With privatisation came the need to maximise profits and job numbers have been cut. In 1984, BT had a staff of 241,000 - it now employs 107,000. Revenue has grown from £6.8billion 25 years ago to £21.4billion. However, a pretax profit of £990 million in 1984 became a £134 million loss in 2008. The share price 25 years on sits at around 145p, roughly the same as when it launched.

British Telecom - 25 years on since privatisation