News round-up: Comet, Barclays and Superstorm Sandy

Bad news for electrical retailers, Tony Blair taking free labour to the extreme and a macabre discovery in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy all made headlines this week. Steven Perryman is your guide

1. Business – UK economy in a pickle

It didn’t take long. After last week’s euphoria at news the UK economy grew in the third quarter of this year, normal gloomy service resumed this week. Maybe it was Halloween or the clocks going back.

The CBI was the party pooper this week with its prediction that the UK economy’s long haul out of recession would last for at least a further two years. But banks thrive in a recession anyway, don’t they? Er, no actually, with news this week that Barclays has reported a £47m loss for the third quarter of this year, compared to a £2.4bn profit for the same period last year. Ouch.

Being fined £290m for manipulating crucial interest rates certainly didn’t help – and neither will the news this week that the bank is to be fined a further £270m for rigging US energy prices.

British institutions have also had a hard week. Hot on the heels of the planned closure of plants of car manufacturer Ford last week, comes news that Branston Pickle is to be sold to Japanese company Mizkan in a £92.5m deal. Whether pickle jars that play the national anthem are a thing of the past remains to be seen.

On the high street, the expected demise of electrical chain, Comet, was confirmed this week with news it is to go into administration putting 6,000 jobs at risk. In a bizarre coincidence, John Browett, the former Dixons boss, has been axed as Apple’s retail chief having only joined in April. Whispers coming out of the Californian company’s fortress is that store staff didn’t like his emphasis on profits over service, which is just what Comet needs right now.

Could Apple’s loss be Comet’s gain? Stranger things have happened.

2. Education – New Labour to free labour for Tony Blair

Although it’s half term, education has stayed high on the news agenda, with the chairman of the Independent Commission on Fees, Will Hutton, warning that a further fall in university applications next year would be ‘very worrying’. It could be argued universities are already worried, taking into account two degree courses announced this week.

In Salford, Peter Kay launched the university’s first-ever degree in comedy, while The Guardian reported popularity with students taking degrees in modern music. Surely the odds on a degree in partying and watching Countdown launching soon have just shortened.

It’s not all about going to university though. At an AAT-hosted round table event to discuss employer attitudes towards skills, the issue of whether employers are failing to appreciate the positive aspects of young employees – such as technology and social media skills – was debated.

It’s a debate Tony Blair could have done with sitting in on. News broke this week that his office could face investigation over its use of unpaid interns. It was news which prompted an instant u-turn from the multi-millionaire ex-Prime Minister. Less New Labour and more free labour, eh Tony?

3. Tax – ‘tis the season to be…sober

Ah, tax – the news subject that just keeps on giving. Tax avoidance is slowly creeping away from the front pages, but not without a final kick from Labour who has finally spotted a hot topic (four weeks after everyone else). Labour MP Helen Goodman has criticised Google, Facebook and Twitter’s lack of social responsibility, calling for them to help fund anti-cyberbullying measures.

In bad news for bookshops, it was reported that VAT levied on e-books may be dropped by the government if a legal challenge by law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner proves successful. Tablets and e-readers will surely top many Christmas lists at that news.

It is only a month or so until George Osborne’s Autumn Statement on 5 December, and the armchair Chancellors are already circling. CIPFA has waded in, warning the Chancellor that he needs to place emphasis on stimulating growth, such as tax cuts or private sector investment, come December.

Meanwhile one of George’s cash cows – alcohol duty – has come under the spotlight as we head into the lucrative Christmas party season. This week there have been calls for the government’s beer tax ‘escalator’ to be scrapped. Under the annual rise, beer costs rise by 2% plus inflation meaning the price of a pint in the UK rises by between 5p and 10p each year.

It is something which has got the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) hyperventilating through its beards, with concern over the number of pub closures brought about by rising costs. That, coupled with an impending global wine shortage, means this year’s festive period looks like it will be drier than usual. Cheers!

4. USA – Superstorm Sandy: too good an opportunity for retailers

All eyes have turned to America this week, and not to monitor the last throes of a tightly-fought Presidential election. Instead it was to watch the impact Superstorm Sandy had on the east coast.

The effect was devastating, with a record storm swell of four metres recorded in New York. It was an event even the US Presidential candidates daren’t use for political gain, with both Obama and Romney rightly abandoning the campaign trail. It’s a shame that some US retailers couldn’t show the same restraint, despite the lure of a seemingly irresistible marketing angle so close to the profitable festive period.

Leading clothing retailer American Apparel sent an email to consumers about a 20 per cent off sale ‘in case you’re bored by the storm’, while Urban Outfitters sent out an email alert containing the subject line: ‘This storm blows (but guess what doesn’t)…’ The offer inside touted free shipping. Gap, meanwhile, checked in at Foursquare to the ‘Frankenstorm Apocalypse,’ touting plans to do ‘lots of Gap.com shop.’ Just as well these storms only come round once in a generation.

5. And finally – Superstorm Sandy remains

As always, the ‘and finally’ story was a tough call. Highly commended efforts include news that a prowler at Tom Cruise’s house was hit by a stun gun fired by a security guard. The offender? Not a stalker, but the actor’s drunk neighbour who entered the property by mistake.

It is only fitting, though, that a story borne out of Superstorm Sandy should take top spot. Rather fittingly for a storm that struck the same week as Halloween comes the macabre news that bones from a centuries-old human body were unearthed by a giant oak tree toppled by Superstorm Sandy in New Haven, Connecticut. The resulting news article is like a scene from CSI.

Only in America, as they say.

Steven Perryman is AAT’s Editorial Manager

Steven Perryman is AAT Comment's former Content Editor.