Microsoft Job losses

Amidst the storm of job cut stories there are certain ones that make you stop and stare...Today's is the redundancies at Micrsoft.

Microsoft Announce job losses

1,400 staff to lose their jobs immediately with 5000 going over the next 18 months.

Big news but this, along with the layoffs at Google show that no-one is immune to all this.

Article about online retail

It seems that even the most depressing figure have a bright side...amidst the carnage on the High Street there was this little gem hidden away. Despite the terrible trading figures and closures many retailers are still see large growth in their online retail markets.

It seems that that is where people are doing their bargain hunting nowadays.

Article tackling the subject it great depth here : Online retail growth increasing despite the gloom

Article ref:HSL05200520

Lend says Brown

Gordon Brown tells banks "Get lending again". Fundamentally that's what we need. Responsible lending n order to get the wheels moving again.

As interest rates were slashed to their lowest ever level by the Bank of England, the Prime Minister and Chancellor Alistair Darling again said it was essential that mortgage and business lending was stepped up.

At a "listening" event in Liverpool designed to show that ministers are in touch with a recession-hit country, they acknowledged that further Government action was necessary.

Businesses were "worried" and homeowners needed more security, the Prime Minister said.

"That's why we had to take urgent action a few weeks ago, when we had to recapitalise the banks - and we were the first country in the world to do it, but others have followed us.

"And that's why in the next few weeks we are looking at the measures we can take to take the next step, and take it with effect, and that is to get the banks to resume the lending that is necessary.

We keep our fingers crossed!

Next & Debenhams figures show decline not plummet

The BBC are highlighting the sales figures at Next and Debenhams

Two of the UK's biggest High Street names have announced falling like-for-like sales over the Christmas period.

Clothing retailer Next announced that its sales had dropped 7% in the six months to Christmas Eve. It added there had been a good start to its sale.

Meanwhile, Debenhams said its sales in the past 12 weeks had fallen 3.3%.

It said this had been a "creditable sales performance, given the extremely difficult and volatile conditions seen across the High Street".

I know falling sales are never a good sign but they certainly were the cataclysm people were expecting. Coming in the backdrop of the utter carnage on the high-street they are basically to be filed under "Not too bad".