Over 2.4 million Norwich Union with-profits policyholders across all four of its funds are set to lose out on cash payoffs of around two thousand pounds after the Aviva owned insurer said it would cut terminal bonuses by between five-and-ten-percent. Chief actuary, John Lister, said the move was 'designed to protect the long-term interests of policyholders and ensure that the fund remained healthy.' Norwich Union echoes smaller rival, Friends Provident, which sliced payouts on its 13 billion pound fund by up to 50 percent in July.

TUC CHIEF ATTACKS M&S WHISTLE-BLOWER'S DISMISSAL

The GMB union and the TUC have heavily criticised Marks & Spencer after the retailer sacked an unidentified whistle-blower who exposed company plans to cut redundancy terms for its staff. M&S had argued that the worker had breached company rules, leaving it with no option but to end his employment. However, Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC, described the decision as 'truly shocking', while head of legal affairs at the GMB, Maria Ludkin, insisted that the 'prime example of corporate bullying' would be challenged.

WHERE JAMIE AND DEL BOY LEAD, ALDI AND ANOTHER TV CHEF ARE FOLLOWING

Aldi has signed celebrity chef, Phil Vickery, to lead an unprecedented ten million pound advertising campaign by the German discount retailer. Managing director, Paul Foley, indicated that Aldi's customers were increasingly ABC1's and that the Michelin-starred Vickery's appointment would help develop and emphasise the increasing quality of Aldi's products. The high volume - low price chain, which currently has 430 stores in the United Kingdom, plans to roll out a new store each week up to a 1,500 unit target.

Daily Telegraph

UNWINS ADMINISTRATORS BACK LEGAL MOVE

The former directors of Unwins could be sued, KPMG, administrator of the failed off-licence retailer, has concluded. Having called in its forensic teams to investigate events leading up to the chain's collapse within weeks of the business going into administration, KPMG spent more than 27,000 pounds investigating allegations that funds were transferred out of the group in the weeks leading up to the collapse. The company had collapsed at the end of 2005, nine months after it was acquired by Devereux Montague, an investment vehicle backed by Australian businessman Phillip Cook. The latter has previously denied any wrongdoing.

M&G HOLDS KEY TALKS OVER FUTURE OF BE

Having been one of the major investors that scuppered the takeover of British Energy by the French group EDF in July, around seven percent BE stakeholder M&G Investments will hold a meeting on Thursday with Centrica , with a potential all-share merger being one of the items on the agenda. M&G and Invesco , which own a combined 22 percent share of BE, have consistently opposed the 765 pence-a-share indicative offer, with M&G believing a Centrica and BE tie-up to offer significant synergies. M&G is also a significant shareholder in Centrica.

SIGNET SPARKLES DESPITE LACKLUSTRE PERFORMANCE

Buoyed by stronger performance from its British jewellery chains H Samuel and Ernest, Signet shares climbed despite a 28 percent fall in first-half profits. Group pre-tax profits lost 28 percent to 78.7 million dollars, excluding a one-off hit of 10.5 million dollars pertaining to its plans to list in New York next week. The group's two British chains recorded a 2.3 percent rise in like-for-like sales, despite increasing average prices across the UK by as much as 16 percent. Chief executive Terry Burman described the consumer environment in the UK and the US as "very challenging" in the short term. "As always, the results for the year will be significantly influenced by the group's performance during the important Christmas period," he added.

The Independent

QINETIQ WINS 150 MILLION POUNDS MOD MARITIME DEAL

The defence research group Qinetiq has won a 150 million pound contract to supply the Ministry of Defence with maritime testing and design services. Qinetiq said the deal extends existing contracts under the Maritime Strategic Capabilities Agreement, which gives the MoD and other government and commercial customers access to the defence group's marine sites at Rosyth in Scotland and Gosport in Hampshire.

UNION FURIOUS OVER SACKING OF M&S WORKER

The GMB union has reacted with fury to Marks & Spencer's decision to sack an IT employee who leaked to the press details of the company's plans to cut redundancy pay. An M&S spokeswoman defended the move, saying the employee could have addressed his concerns internally and that the company could not be confident the individual would not disclose company information in future. Maria Ludkin, the legal officer who represented GMB at the disciplinary hearing, said: "Make no mistake, this is a gross act of corporate bullying."

HAMWORTHY HIT BY 4.6 MILLION POUND STOCKS BLUNDER

Shares in Hamworthy, the oil and gas services group, fell five percent in early trading on Wednesday after it was forced to admit a 4.6 million pound blunder over the value of its stocks. Accounting errors were discovered at its inert gas system unit based in Norway, said chief executive Joe Oatley. The finance boss responsible has now been replaced. "The bulk of the discrepancies relate to the value of work in progress where the individual concerned made certain assumptions about the level of stocks which were incorrect," said Oatley. The shares closed down 9.75 pence at 487 pence.

The Guardian

PUNCH CANCELS DIVIDEND AFTER SUMMER TRADING FALLS FLAT

Giles Thorley, the chief executive of Punch Taverns , said the group planned to cancel its final dividend and insisted it was a "prudent measure" to bolster the balance sheet in the face of tough trading conditions. There has been an unprecedented slowdown in pub trade and Thorley's announcement comes after months of speculation about the likely impact on Punch shareholders. The shares closed at 278.25 pence, down 38.5 pence, having shed 80 percent of their value since May last year.

'SLAP IN THE FACE' AS PEARL LAYS OFF NEARLY 500 STAFF

The private equity-owned insurer Pearl confirmed on Wednesday that it will cut almost 500 jobs following the closure of offices in Glasgow and Peterborough. The trade union Unite described the move as a "slap in the face for the workforce". Pearl said the offices will be scaled down over the next 18 months to three years and merged into its Wythall operation near Birmingham.

XSTRATA GIVEN DEADLINE FOR LONMIN BID

The Takeover Panel has issued a "put up or shut up" deadline to Xstrata over its stalking of smaller mining rival Lonmin , giving it until October 2 to announce a firm intention to make an offer or say it would not be bidding. Lonmin rebuffed an initial unsolicited approach from Xstrata, which snapped up a ten percent stake in the company and said it was considering a 33 pounds-a-share offer, valuing its target at five billion pounds. Xstrata said on Wednesday that it did not expect to encounter problems securing financing for a bid.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants

tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomsonreuters.com jlw

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