TweetDeck: Twitter's UK Firm Shut By Regulator

By Pete Norman, Sky News Online

A British company bought by Twitter for a reported £25m has been shut down by the business regulator after it failed to file its accounts, Sky News has learned.

The official message of TweetDeck's demise

TweetDeck Ltd, which was bought by the California-based social media giant in 2011, was officially struck off the register by Companies House this morning.

The action comes after the wholly-owned British subsidiaries, TweetDeck and Twitter UK Ltd, failed to file accounts for 2011.

The account deadline was last September and both companies were subsequently penalised.

Although Twitter UK later filed its 2011 accounts, TweetDeck did not and the Cardiff-based Companies House moved to strike off the company in January, as first revealed by Sky News.

A notice confirming the action has now been published in the London Gazette, which is the Government's official journal of record, saying TweetDeck has been "dissolved".

A Companies House spokesman told Sky News: "We go through a strict compliance process to try and ensure companies file documentation in a timely manner.

"Unfortunately, in a small number of cases, matters proceeded to strike off, as in this case."

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo (l) and Alex Macgillivray

TweetDeck is used by so-called social media power users to integrate their online messaging activity.

Its functionality has now been incorporated within Twitter's main corporate structure, according to the San Francisco-based firm.

A Twitter spokesperson told Sky News: "TweetDeck the product continues to thrive as part of Twitter, but the old TweetDeck company has been dormant for some time, with no outstanding liabilities; hence our agreement with the move to dissolve it."

TweetDeck was controlled by two American directors, Twitter Inc CEO Dick Costolo and its general counsel Alex Macgillivray.

According to the business regulator, of the three million companies registered in the UK, 99.1% maintain up to date account filings.

Dissolution of dormant companies is normally initiated by the directors rather than it being imposed by the regulator.

In March the Tax Office investigated TweetDeck but later halted action

The Companies House spokesman told Sky News: "It is incumbent on all directors to ensure documentation is submitted appropriately and it is always disappointing when this is not the case.

"As well as being a legal requirement, those wishing to research and invest use the register as an information source, and for this reason it is unhelpful if business records are not up to date and in good order."

TweetDeck was founded by Sheffield-educated computer programmer Iain Dodsworth in 2008 and sold to Twitter two years ago in what was widely reported as a £25m deal.

The microblogging giant controls its UK operations through a Dublin-based parent firm, known as Twitter International Company.

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Diageo Boss Paul Walsh To Step Down In June

Paul Walsh, the chief executive of FTSE 100 drinks firm Diageo, is to leave the post at the end of June to make way for Ivan Menezes.

The company confirmed Mr Menezes, the current chief operating officer (COO), will assume control on July 1, with 57-year old Mr Walsh supporting the transition until he retires from Diageo in June 2014.

Diageo chairman Franz B Humer said: "Paul is an outstanding chief executive. He has served our business, its shareholders, employees and partners with enormous imagination and dedication over the past 13 years.

Paul Walsh became Diageo CEO in September 2000

"I know he is justly proud of Diageo and its people, and he leaves a great legacy for his successor.

"The transition process which has been put in place enables Paul to contribute his knowledge and experience during Ivan's first year as chief executive officer."

He continued: "We are delighted to have a leader of Ivan's talents and global experience to succeed Paul. The handover is being made at a time when the business is strong and Ivan takes on the role of CEO at an exciting stage of the company's global development.

"The board is confident that Ivan will inspire our organisation and Diageo will continue to achieve our medium-term performance objectives."

Diageo's investors have netted £12bn in dividends under Mr Walsh

Faced with sluggish demand in recession-hit European economies, Diageo - like many of its peers in the consumer goods market - has been snapping up brands in emerging markets, where it aims to make around half of its turnover by 2015.

Mr Menezes, who is originally from India, previously headed Diageo's key North America division for eight years before his appointment as COO last year.

Diageo said Mr Walsh had not yet decided what his next move would be, though he has a number of corporate non-executive roles, as well as working as a 'business ambassador' for the Government.

Under his leadership, Diageo's share price grew threefold and the company paid £12bn in dividends to investors.

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Barroso 'Mends Austerity Fences' With Merkel

The German Chancellor is not to blame for the eurozone austerity policies, the head of the European Commission has said - in an apparent attempt to mend fences with Berlin.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso drew fire from Germany last month for saying that austerity had "reached its limits", in a public challenge to Europe's biggest economy.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has long championed fiscal restraint.

With Greece mired in recession, unemployment in some countries running at more than 25% and France being given more time to cut its budget deficit, there is growing pressure on Mrs Merkel and other hardliners to focus on growth and job creation, not austerity.

But Mr Barroso defended the policies of austerity and said growth built on debt was not sustainable, while reiterating his view that "pure austerity" measures were no longer acceptable.

"What is happening in France and Portugal is not Merkel's or Germany's fault," Mr Barroso told the Welt am Sonntag weekly paper.

"Growth that is based on debt is not sustainable. At the same time, the policies that people see as pure austerity have reached their limits of political and social acceptance.

"But the EU Commission says the current policy mix is right and we must continue it."

Mr Barroso also said Germany should not become complacent in its reform efforts just because its economy was performing better than others, adding that the country needed to open its markets for services and infrastructure.

He added: "Complacency would be dangerous for Germany. We should not forget how tightly interlinked the European economy is.

"And Germany benefits most from the European internal market and from a stable euro.

"In certain sectors Germany should open its market more than before. We will say more on this in our country-specific recommendations at the end of the May."

Germany has fared better than others in the eurozone debt crisis that began in late 2009, but its economy shrank at the end of last year and the government now sees economic growth this year of just 0.5%

However its unemployment rate is fractional of many others in the 17-nation eurozone, sitting at just above 5%.

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Claims Firms Face Shut-Out From CPP Scandal

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The claims management firms which have made millions of pounds from payment protection insurance mis-selling face being shut out from a new redress scheme being set up for customers of CPP, the stricken credit card insurer.

I have learnt that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the new City watchdog, is trying to construct a compensation deal with the major high street banks that will stress the ability of affected consumers to obtain refunds directly.

The attempt to devise a scheme that bypasses claims management companies (CMCs) follows intense criticism of their role in the PPI scandal.

Millions of customers have been paid compensation by UK banks, which have been forced to set aside more than £12bn for one of the worst mis-selling scandals in the industry's history.

Hundreds of CMCs have been launched to act as intermediaries, arguing that they can help consumers win the appropriate compensation, despite the claims process being relatively straightforward.

The claims firms, frequently labelled as ambulance-chasers, can take 30% of any successful claim, earning the secretive backers of these businesses huge profits.

Households across the UK have been plagued by unsolicited phone calls and text messages promoting CMCs, even where those consumers have never held a PPI policy.

CPP founder Hamish Obston

Banks such as Lloyds Banking Group have argued for robust action against the proliferation of CMCs on the basis that even fraudulent claims are costing them huge sums to process.

Although the likely bill for compensating CPP customers is likely to remain significantly below £1bn, people familiar with the talks between the banks which sold CPP products and the FCA says it is attempting to create a programme which will allay any need to use CMCs.

"The regulator is very aware of the issues surrounding CMCs and is sympathetic to the banks' argument that they should be cut out of processes such as the one that will ensure that CPP customers get proper redress," said a person close to the talks.

The discussions about compensating CPP customers remain fluid and may not be resolved for several months.

The credit card insurer and fraud protection provider has been forced to the brink of collapse, and recently agreed the sale of its North American business as part of a deal to secure a six-month stay of execution from its lenders.

Insiders said CPP was also likely to dispose of its other international operations, although a decision about such a move will depend upon the fate of a takeover bid for the group by Hamish Ogston, its founder.

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Consumer Rights To Be Boosted Under New Laws

A bill giving increased rights to consumers and reducing burdens on business is set to be unveiled in the Queen's Speech.

Ministers believe reforming legislation will save the economy around £4bn over 10 years in more effective protection and better understanding of consumer rights.

The expected bill would consolidate consumer rights, currently split between eight pieces of legislation, into one place.

It will cover goods, services, digital content and unfair contract terms and consolidate over 60 pieces of legislation on Trading Standards' powers to investigate beaches of consumer law into one piece of legislation.

Consumer Minister Jo Swinson said: "Stronger consumer protection and clearer consumer rights will help create a fairer and stronger marketplace.

"We are fully aware that this area of law over the years has become unnecessarily complicated and too confusing, with many people not sure where to turn if they have a problem.

"We are hoping to bring in a number of changes to improve consumer confidence and make sure the law is fit for the 21st century."

Ministers believe businesses will benefit from faster resolution of complaints as they would spend less time and money dealing with them.

The bill is expected to help people unhappy with home improvements and make it easier to seek refunds for faulty goods.

It will also be confirmed this week that Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland have agreed to take on the responsibilities of Consumer Focus from April 2014.

Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director, commented: "A Consumer Bill of Rights is a welcome step towards ensuring that we have consumer laws fit for the 21st century.

"This bill is about making it easier for people to understand their rights and giving consumers power to challenge bad practice. It should also mean that both consumers and regulators have the tools they need to challenge unscrupulous businesses that breach the law."

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Crown Post Offices Hit By Strikes Over Cuts

The country's busiest Post Offices are being hit by strike action today though many remain open for business.

Workers in so-called Crown offices, the larger branches usually sited on high streets, are involved in the walkout - the fourth round of action in a bitter row over jobs, pay and branch closures.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is fighting plans to franchise 70 of the Crown branches and close some others, saying hundreds of jobs will be affected.

The dispute also involves pay, with the CWU saying its members have not received a wage rise for over two years.

The Post Office says the Crown offices are losing £40m a year and has accused the union of refusing to accept economic realities.

But the union said it believes the company is trying to meet Government targets by "drastic" cost-cutting.

Dave Ward, CWU deputy general secretary, said: "This Government promised no programme of post office closures, but these plans would cut 20% of the Crown network.

"The pay offer is nothing like what the Post Office is trying to make out. It's conditional on accepting 76 Crown Post Office closures and over 800 job losses.

"The second and third lump sums are dependent on unachievable targets so are very unlikely to ever get paid.

"Even if they are paid, they would be significantly less than the publicised figure because many workers are part-time and hundreds would have lost their jobs."

The Post Office said over 240 Crown branches remained open despite the industrial action.

Kevin Gilliland, Network and Sales Director at the Post Office said: "We regret any inconvenience that may be caused to customers by this strike action.

"We are working hard to minimise inconvenience and over 240 of our 370 Crown branches remain open, while the remainder of our 11,800 branches are unaffected.

"Our plans are crucial to keeping Post Office branches on high streets across the UK and halting the Crown network's £40m a year loss of public money.

"Every hour of strike action is causing disruption for our customers and costing our people money in the face of an offer of a cash payment of up to £1,400 which can be in pay packets as soon as this action ends."

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Mecom Shareholders Push For Telegraaf Merger

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Leading investors in Mecom, the European publishing group, are pushing the company to contemplate a merger with Holland's biggest newspaper publisher following a swingeing profit warning last month.

I have learnt that institutional shareholders will tomorrow hold talks with Mecom's management at which they are expected to raise the possibility of a tie-up with Telegraaf Media Groep, which owns the flagship Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

Mecom's four largest shareholders - Aviva Investors, Aberforth Partners, JO Hambro and Legal & General Investment Management - are pushing for its board to consider an array of radical options in an attempt to lift the company's ailing share price.

Between them, the quartet of institutions hold more than 50pc of Mecom's shares, making them a powerful bloc as the company thrashes out its future strategy.

A person close to the situation said that a merger with the Telegraaf publisher was only one of the potential options under consideration, while another said it was unclear whether such a combination would be permitted from a regulatory perspective.

Mecom, which listed on the stock market in 2005, was founded by David Montgomery, the former Mirror Group Newspapers boss who now heads the UK regional newspaper publisher Local World.

Having grown through a string of acquisitions across Europe, Mecom has been forced into selling some of them at basement prices in an attempt to reduce its mountainous debts. The company now has a stock market value of just over £50m.

Mecom continues to own assets in the Netherlands, Denmark and Poland, where it is the second-largest regional newspaper publisher. It announced last year that it was exploring the sale of the Dutch and Danish businesses, but progress has been laboured, and investors have expressed frustration that the company has not been able to secure attractive prices for its assets in those markets.

Last month, Mecom announced the sale of its stake in Funda, a Dutch online property operation, for just over £10m, at the same time as a profit warning wiped a third of the company's value from its share price.

One source said that the future role of Stephen Davidson, Mecom's executive chairman, was also likely to be decided in the coming weeks and may be on the agenda at Wednesday's meeting. Some investors have criticised Mr Davidson over the hiring of Tom Toumazis, who stepped down after a brief stint as chief executive last year.

A Mecom spokesman declined to comment.

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HSBC Almost Doubles First Quarter Profits

London-listed HSBC has almost doubled its first quarter profits following a big fall in costs and bad debts.

It reported a pre-tax profit of $8.4bn (£5.4bn) for the period, up from $4.3bn a year ago, with Europe's biggest bank showing the benefit of a three-year restructuring plan.

Losses from bad debts plunged 51% to $1.2bn (£800m) and costs fell 10% in the first quarter from a year ago.

Chief executive Stuart Gulliver took over in early 2011 with a pledge to streamline operations, reduce complexity and axe businesses that were unprofitable or lacked scale.

He has shed 52 businesses while 37,000 jobs have gone since late 2010.

He said: "We have had a good start to the year, with growth in reported and underlying profit before tax.

"While continuing uncertainty in the global economy has created a relatively muted environment for revenue growth, we have increased revenue in key areas including residential mortgages and commercial banking in both our home markets of Hong Kong and the UK, and in our financing and equity capital markets business.

"Loan impairment charges were lower in every region, notably in North America."

HSBC's share price gained more than 3% on news of the performance - contributing the most points to a rise in the FTSE 100 index.

Last year, the bank posted a 16.5% slump in annual net profits as it was hit by US money-laundering fines, mis-selling scandals, rising taxation and a vast accounting charge.

It has previously put aside £1.5bn to cover costs associated with the provision of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).

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Microsoft Update Tackles Windows 8 Gripes

Microsoft is to roll out an update to its Windows 8 operating system by the end of the year in the hope of reversing waning interest.

Provisionally code-named Windows Blue, details of the update will be released in the next few weeks.

Windows 8 is the first Microsoft operating system primarily designed for touch commands, but it has failed to capture consumers' imaginations or make a dent in a tablet market dominated by Apple and Samsung.

Microsoft has sold 100 million Windows 8 licences in the six months since it launched, which is roughly in line with the previous version.

Windows 7 went on to hit 240 million sales in its first year, which is a figure Windows 8 is not expected to match.

Microsoft hopes to combat falling interest with a substantial update to make it easier to use, and compatible with smaller tablets.

One leading research firm, International Data, says Windows 8 contributed to a 14% decline in worldwide PC sales during the first three months of the year - the biggest year-on-year drop ever.

Meanwhile, sales of smartphones and tablet computers are booming.

Tami Reller, Windows marketing and financial chief, said Microsoft still realised changes were needed to make Windows 8 easier to navigate and capable of taking full advantage of technology improvements that have come out since October.

"Are there things that we can do to improve the experience? Absolutely," Reller said "There is a learning curve (to Windows 8) and we can work to address that."

Reller said more details about Blue will be released before Microsoft holds a developers conference in San Francisco in late June.

Some of Blue's features are expected to be previewed at that conference.

Reller did not say whether the Blue update would restore the start button, the lack of which has been a common complaint.

But, she said, Microsoft would pay more attention to helping customers adapt.

"We've considered a lot of different scenarios to help traditional PC users move forward as well as making usability that much better on all devices," she said.

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Lord Lawson Calls For Britain To Leave EU

Lord Lawson has become the most senior Tory figure to call for the UK to quit the European Union - pledging to vote "No" in any referendum on membership.

In a move that piles further pressure on David Cameron over the issue, the former chancellor warned his proposed renegotiation would only secure "inconsequential" concessions from Brussels.

Writing in The Times, he said there was now a "clear" case for withdrawal, insisting the economic benefits would "substantially outweigh the costs", in contrast to the Prime Minister's position.

His intervention is sure to further embolden eurosceptic MPs demanding a tougher line to halt the rise of Nigel Farage's rampant anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP).

Mr Cameron is already under pressure to hold a "mandate referendum" as early as next spring to seek public approval of his strategy of putting a renegotiated settlement to an in/out vote by 2017.

In the wake of UKIP's surge in last week's county council elections, there is also pressure to put the strategy to a vote in the Commons in defiance of his Liberal Democrat coalition partners.

Lord Lawson, who was Margaret Thatcher's longest-serving chancellor and remains a highly respected figure within the party, said that it was "by no means assured" that Mr Cameron would win the 2015 general election.

But he said he believed public demand was such that a referendum would have to happen under Labour in any case.

Dismissing the chances of either party securing significant reforms, he said Brussels would fear a "general unravelling" as other countries sought to match the return of powers.

"But all this is largely beside the point," he wrote.

"The heart of the matter is that the very nature of the European Union, and of this country's relationship with it, has fundamentally changed after the coming into being of the European monetary union and the creation of the eurozone, of which - quite rightly - we are not a part.

The PM is coming under increasing pressure over Britain's place in the EU

"That is why, while I voted 'in' in 1975, I shall be voting 'out' in 2017.

"Not only do our interests increasingly differ from those of the eurozone members but, while never 'at the heart of Europe' (as our political leaders have from time to time foolishly claimed), we are now becoming increasingly marginalised as we are doomed to being consistently outvoted by the eurozone bloc.

"So the case for exit is clear."

But Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told Sky News that Lord Lawson was "completely wrong", and that leaving the EU would "jeopardise" up to three million UK jobs dependent on membership.

"I think simply pulling up the drawbridge would be a bad thing for this country that would leave us poorer and less safe," the Lib Dem leader added. 

Lord Lawson said that while there would be "some economic cost" from leaving the EU single market, in his judgement "the economic gains would substantially outweigh the costs".

That would not only be in keeping the UK's £8bn net contribution, but also being removed from excessive bureaucracy, not least the "frenzy of regulatory activism" affecting the banking sector.

"The foolish and damaging financial transactions tax, imposed against strong UK opposition, is only one example. In part this is motivated by a jealous desire to cut London down to size, in part by well-intentioned ignorance," he said.

He added: "Those who claim that to leave the EU would damage the City are the very same as those who in the past confidently predicted, with a classic failure of understanding, that the City would be gravely damaged if the UK failed to adopt the euro as its currency."

But the Conservative Party chairman, Grant Shapps, seemed unfazed by the influential Tory's comments. He told Sky News: "The great thing is that our Prime Minister has offered an historic in/ out referendum on Europe, so all of those arguments about whether you think we should be in or out and anything else that has been said can be properly debated.

" ... We just need to have a Conservative Government to deliver it and that will be people's option in two years time." 

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The PM has always been clear: we need a Europe that is more open, more competitive, and more flexible; a Europe that wakes up to the modern world of competition. In short, Europe has to reform.

"But our continued membership must have the consent of the British people, which is why the PM has set out a clear timetable on this issue." 

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