PRESS DIGEST - Financial Times - May 5

BROWN SAYS ECONOMY IS PRIORITY AS HE FEELS THE ELECTORATE'S 'HURT'

Gordon Brown said that the UK economy was his "first focus and immediate priority" as he sought to regain public trust following Labour's humiliation at Thursday's local elections. Speaking on BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show, the prime minister also dismissed rumours of an impending coup by dissident backbenchers and pledged to show resilience in the face of financial turmoil. Mr. Brown acknowledged the public's concern over rising fuel prices, food prices and mortgage costs, saying "I feel the hurt they feel."

CALL TO DELAY EXTENSION OF FLEXIBLE WORKING

Manufacturers have called for a delay in the government's plans to extend flexible working rights to millions of parents in order to give companies more time to cope with existing rules. The EEF, representing over 6,000 manufacturers, warned that employers could end up refusing "legitimate" requests for flexibility if faced with additional calls for part-time working. Some six million employees have the right to request part-time and flexible working, of which 3.6 million are parents of children who are aged under six or disabled.

NORTH BEATING SOUTH ON NEW JOBS, SAYS STUDY

A new study by researchers at the Hull University Business School, Cranfield School of Management and St Andrews University suggests that policies to boost enterprise need to take account of regional differences. The study showed that the overall rate of self-employment was higher in the more prosperous south of the country, at 23 percent among men and 11 percent among women, compared with 17 percent and eight percent in northern regions. However, the rate of job creation was significantly higher in the north, especially among men, with entrepreneurs in the north employing 3.5 people on average compared with 2.6 in the south. The study covers a period up to 1991; however, differences in self-employment rates have proved persistent.

TNS REBUFFS OFFER FROM WPP

Market research group Taylor Nelson SofresTNS.L has rejected an unsolicited 948 million pound bid from WPP(WPP.L), the world's second biggest marketing group. The part-cash, part-share offer was received on Saturday and valued each TNS share at 230 pence, based on WPP's closing price on Friday. TNS, who last week announced an agreed nil-premium merger with Germany's GfK, rejected the bid on Sunday after a board meeting unanimously decided that it was not in shareholders' best interests. Chairman Donald Brydon described the offer as an "opportunistic proposal ... [that] substantially undervalues the company even on a standalone basis".

REDROW DENIES BELLWAY BID TALK

Executives at housebuilder Bellway(BWY.L) have failed to deny speculation that it had approached smaller rival Redrow (RDW.L) about a possible merger that would form the third-largest force in the sector. An article in the Mail on Sunday reported an approach by Bellway with a view to an all-share merger that would create a company with an equity value of 1.2 billion pounds. UK housebuilders are currently facing curbs on new projects and a fall in share prices as a result of the falling values of land banks and completed properties. Both Bellway and Redrow have seen their stock lose over half of its value over the past 12 months.

PEARSON EYES CHAIN OF SCHOOLS

Pearson(PSON.L), publisher of the Financial Times, is in advanced talks about acquiring LEC, a chain of private schools in Shanghai. Pearson has already made forays into China through FTChinese.com and Penguin, but this would be the first time it owned an educational institution anywhere in the world. The LEC deal has been in the works for at least a year and would run counter to rivals in the education market who have been abandoning or selling their international operations to private equity and focusing on the US market.

NATIONWIDE TAKES COMFORT IN ASSERTING 'TRADITIONAL VALUES'

Nationwide chief executive Graham Beale has described the undermining of the UK's image as a financial centre in the wake of the Northern Rock NRK.L crisis as a significant, unprecedented event, highlighting the "need to look to see how it arose and what went wrong and how we responded to it". Speaking to the Financial Times just over a year after his appointment as the head of the UK's largest mutual, Mr Beale also welcomed the 50 billion pound liquidity scheme announced last month by the Bank of England, describing it as "a sensible move" that "will allow a more stable environment to allow natural reorganisation in the market place".

RBS ATTACKED OVER MOVE TO END FREE CORPORATE BANKING

Royal Bank of Scotland(RBS.L) has revealed plans to eliminate free banking for thousands of its corporate account holders next month as part of a relaunch of its business banking services. The changes will apply to the bank's "legacy" customers who will now be subject to the same rates for corporate banking services as its other one million or so business customers. The move has attracted sharp criticism from the customers affected and comes soon after RBS launched a 12 billion pound rights issue and wrote down six billion pounds on complex trading securities linked to the US sub-prime mortgage market.

OKA ADDS TO GLEE AT CAMERON FAMILY

As Conservative leader David Cameron celebrated a surge in popular support for his party over the weekend, his mother-in-law Lady Astor benefited from an upsurge in retail sales at OKA Direct, the upmarket home design group she founded and leads. Like-for-like sales increased by 28 percent to 3.2 million pounds in the first quarter, while total sales were up by 33 percent to 3.4 million pounds. While reporting a loss of one million pounds last year, the company also reported receiving an undisclosed investment by Fleming Family & Partners. Lady Astor said on Sunday that the company was "looking forward to a strong performance in 2008 and beyond".

BASSI WAITING FOR COMMERCIAL PROPERTY PRICES TO DROP FURTHER

Real Estate Investors chief executive and local investor Paul Bassi has predicted a further ten percent fall in the prices of commercial property in the Midlands. He also revealed plans to enter the market with acquisitions of office space through his Aim-listed company, which can exploit the current downturn by using its resources of 100 million pounds in cash and loan facilities. Bassi explained that "If you know your patch and have a close relationship with agents, then you should be able to spend 100 million pounds very wisely".

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants