Business week in review
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.In profit...
Sir Martin Sorrell has claimed he does not have "a substantial pay packet". Lord alone knows how much wonga the WPP boss would consider a decent amount, as last year's base salary was revealed on Monday to be £1.3m, up one-third on 2010. Sir Martin's compensation package – we're not saying pay, as FTSE bosses get angry over the semantics of their rewards – was just shy of £13m.
There are plenty of pariah jobs out there – arms dealers, journalists – but few anger do-gooders as much as cigarette-sellers. That didn't stop Imperial Tobacco boss Alison Cooper announcing increased revenue and dividend for the first six months of the financial year on Tuesday. The group further pleased investors with a £500m share buyback pledge.
On Thursday, RSA boss Simon Lee said demand for UK household and pet insurance was on the up.
... at a loss
It's not an Ashes summer, but still Australians queue to annoy the Brits. On Monday, Cameron Clyne, the head of National Australia Bank, announced 1,400 job cuts at its subsidiaries, the Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks. Clyne said there had been "a significant downgrade in the growth prospects of the UK economy". Whatever – we've still got that urn.
An Aussie with a longer history of annoying Poms is Rupert Murdoch. The octogenarian's horrendous week, after a committee of MPs declared on Tuesday that he was "not a fit and proper person to exercise stewardship of a major international company", was saved by a vote of confidence from News Corp's board.
On Wednesday, Next boss Lord Wolfson admitted that heavy rain had dampened sales.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments