PRESS DIGEST - British Business Press - Oct 17

The Times

CORUS, JAGUAR TO CUT COSTS AS GLOBAL CRISIS HITS UK INDUSTRY

Jaguar Land Rover (TAMO.BO)(TTM.N) announced job cuts and Anglo-Dutch Corus (TISC.BO) said it was cutting production by 20 percent as British industry took a big knock from the global economic crisis. Drops in demand from Corus's main customers in the automotive, construction and engineering sectors prompted the steelmaker to say it was cutting production across all its operations. "The decision is aimed at aligning steel production with demand, which is now affected by the consequences of the global financial crisis," the company said.

CAHOOT ONLINE SCARE

Up to 750,000 customers of Abbey's online bank Cahoot have been unable to access their accounts since Wednesday morning because of a power failure in Spain, where Abbey's owner Santander (SAN.MC) is based. Customers first became frustrated as they were unable to make withdrawals or complete any transactions, and then increasingly worried about the safety of their money, but Cahoot said the website's failure was not an indication of wider problems at the bank.

TURNER QUITS WOOLIES

Simon Turner, retail and operations director at Woolworths WLW.L, has quit a month after new chief executive Steve Johnson savaged the poor performance of the retailer. Turner's appointment at the start of the year was hailed as a "champagne moment". Johnson, who replaced Trevor Bish-Jones at the helm, said the company's product range was poor, availability dreadful and the look of the stores in dire need of an overhaul.