The first major hospital developed under the private finance initiative (PFI) has probably worked out to be more expensive than if public money had been used, the National Audit Office (NAO) has reported.
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The first major hospital developed under the private finance initiative (PFI) has probably worked out to be more expensive than if public money had been used, the National Audit Office (NAO) has reported.
The Department of Social Security’s (DSS) 20-year private finance initiative (PFI) deal with the private sector to provide much of their office accommodation is likely to deliver savings of £560 million, according to a report by the National Audit Office.
A government survey of small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) has found that 77 per cent of their managers are unaware of the new Competition Act, while 21 per cent know very little about it.
Trevor Young
Kogan Page, £7.99
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Peter Marsh Gower, £69.50 Successful planning, execution and conclusion of contract negotiations can contribute directly to corporate profitability, says Peter Marsh in the third edition of his guide for managers.
The government is said to be moving towards allowing 44-tonne lorries on UK roads. Stephen Joseph, a member of the government’s Commission for Integrated Transport, told the Transport 2000 Rail Freight Group that the government was considering the move. “There is intense pressure for an early move to 44 tonnes,” he said.
BBC2, 16 September
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Nine of Asia’s largest airlines, including Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Singapore Airlines, have formed an online travel agency. The move is aimed at cutting the firms’ sales and marketing costs, which account for around 20 per cent of their expenditure.
Counterfeit goods cost the UK up to £6.5 billion a year, according to the Institute of Trading Standards (ITS). David Sibbert, the ITS’s chairman, said that rip-offs cost tax revenue and jobs, as well as allowing unsafe goods to be sold. Trading-standards officers seized £70 million of counterfeit goods last year. The ITS has launched a plan to combat counterfeiters.