Asda’s fashion line George will launch a “learn while you earn” foundation degree later this year amid a backdrop of acute youth unemployment, reports the Telegraph.
The retailer is set to trial the two-year scheme from August 2011 in conjunction with Manchester Metropolitan University.
The scheme, for post A-level students, is one of the first of its kind run by a clothes retailer. It comes after a number of employers, including KPMG and Starbucks, have recently announced qualifications for school leavers to combat rising tuition fees.
The George foundation degree will include 28 hours of teaching each week, with the opportunity to study for a full BA honours qualification if successful.
Caroline Massingham, people director at Asda, said: “The tough economy this year has led to rising youth unemployment, fewer university places and to increased costs of funding for university courses.
“This George retail foundation programme will provide the much needed platform for the one in five students who will not make it to university places and offers the opportunity to gain much needed work experience, earn a regular income and at the same time gain a university qualification.”
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Administrators in charge of a top independent electrical retailer have announced 228 jobs are to be axed, reports the BBC.
Norfolk-based firm Bennetts, which employed about 300 staff in 14 stores across the country, has collapsed and called in administrators PKF.
All the shops will remain closed and only 57 staff will be kept on while administrators try to find a buyer.
The firm blamed competition from online retailers and increases in rents for its collapse.
Administrators said there was a chance some or even all of those made redundant could be re-employed later.
The skeleton staff has been retained in stores for stock-taking.
A PKF spokesman said: “We confirm that unfortunately it has been necessary to make 228 members of staff redundant while 57 remain.
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The price of motor insurance is being driven up by a 30 per cent annual rise in settling personal injury claims, it has emerged, reports the Telegraph.
Despite the number of accidents falling and car safety improving there has been a dramatic increase in motorists and passengers saying they have been hurt and seeking compensation.
Their claims are fuelling dearer premiums, with the insurance industry expecting motorists to face rises of up to 40 per cent this year.
The extent of the problem was revealed in evidence presented by EMB, a leading actuarial consultancy, to the transport select committee.
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Bumper bonuses revealed at Barclays last week show just how effective the payouts are to incentivise staff, leading employment experts have said. This report from the Telegraph.
Within hours of Barclays announcing on Tuesday it had awarded £2.6bn in bonuses last year – amid full-year profits of £6.07bn – unions dismissed the payouts as “shameful”. They claimed huge bonus pots undermined any claim by the Government that there was fair pay in banking.
But if the UK is to fully recover post-recession and remain a competitive place to do business, bonuses must remain a vital part of total remuneration, according to the finance specialists.
Kevin Abbott, a director at the Performance and Reward Centre (PARC), a membership body, said despite all the negativity, bonuses have a crucial role to play in rewarding the best performers.
He said: “Bonuses can undoubtedly encourage discretionary effort and improve performance. For others, the bonus targets serve to emphasise what is most important amongst multiple objectives as management is prepared to pay for it.
“Restricting bonuses would firstly, undermine UK competitiveness and secondly, undermine the role of company management and shareholders to determine how best to allocate resources.”
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An unemployed salesman who is desperate to find work yesterday put himself up for sale – on online auction site eBay, reports the Daily Mail.
Determined David Wood, 45, has spent every day for the past two years writing up to 30 job applications and scanning newspapers and websites to find a job.
But despite his efforts, David is still jobless and has had to ask his father for a loan to prevent him losing his home in Bristol.
It was when he found himself contemplating suicide last month that he decided to place the advert ‘For Sale an Experienced Sales Representative’ on eBay.
His tongue-in-cheek advert reads: ‘For Sale an Experienced Sales Representative‘ and describes him as a 1965 model who is ‘enthusiastic’ and ‘motivated’.
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A restaurant in London’s Covent Garden is serving a new range of ice cream, made with breast milk, reports the BBC.
The dessert, called Baby Gaga, is churned with donations from London mother Victoria Hiley, and served with a rusk and an optional shot of Calpol or Bonjela.
Mrs Hiley, 35, said if adults realised how tasty breast milk was more new mothers would be encouraged to breastfeed.
Each serving of Baby Gaga at Icecreamists costs £14.
Mrs Hiley’s donation was expressed on site and pasteurised before being churned with Madagascan vanilla pods and lemon zest.
Icecreamists founder Matt O’Connor placed an advert appealing for breast milk donations and believes his new recipe will be a success.
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Croda, the British chemicals group, continued its success story as it reported that profits more than doubled last year, reports the Telegraph.
Pre-tax profits rose 112pc to a record £192m as Croda, which sees just 5pc of its sales in the UK, enjoyed strong demand around the world and kept a tight hold on costs.
Shares in the East Yorkshire-based company closed up 145p – 9.7pc – at £16.42½ after Croda reported sales grew 21pc in 2010 to pass the £1bn mark for the first time in its history.
The company, which makes the building blocks for health and personal care items, such as face cream, as well as industrial chemicals, announced a share buy-back of around £50m this year, so long as no “suitable” acquisition opportunity comes up.
Personal care remains a great market to be in, said chief executive Mike Humphrey. “It’s high growth,” he said. “Vanity doesn’t go away. People don’t downgrade their lipsticks or face cream.”
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