City slickers are not feeling quite so perkyYOU have to feel sorry for them, don't you? According to one of the many press releases that land in the Gazetteer in-box, it is alleged that City types may be suffering from stress d
ue to cutbacks on their perks.
Apparently, the poor lambs are being emotionally affected by sometimes having to use budget airlines for business travel.
Other swingeing impositions include using public transport instead of taxis; having to work later to qualify to use a company paid taxi to get home; flying economy class for short-haul flights and cutting out "all unnecessary lavish travel".
Worse still, the slickers are allegedly stressed out by limits being placed on their lunch expenses and corporate hospitality, not to mention the strict limits on hotel bills.
A psychologist was offered to comment on the effects on staff of this shocking list of mental cruelty.
But such would be the ridicule to which the shrink would be exposed, this newspaper thought best not to put him (or her) through such a stressful experience.
FACT OF THE DAY
28%THE rise in the price of cocoa, the key ingredient of chocolate, in the past year. The board of Dairy Milk and Flake-makers, Cadbury's, is reported to be meeting this week to discuss the impact of the rise on its business. The firm has also been hit by increases in the costs of other ingredients, such as milk and sugar. As a result, the board may agree to increase the price of some of Cadbury's chocolate bars.
BAD DAY
Estate agentsNICK Salmon, a board member of the National Federation of Property Professionals, says up to 1,800 estate agents could go bust by the end of the year because banks have "overreacted" to the credit crunch.
GOOD DAY
Justin KingTHE chief executive of J Sainsbury is in line to receive a bonus payment of around £6.5 million this week as a reward for his performance at the company. The troubled retailer's full-year results on Wedneday are expected to show it has exceeded sales targets.
KILLER QUOTE"The whole press campaign was so corrosive and sapping of energy. I should have just hung on in there. People constantly reassured me that I wasn't the issue, but I began to think it was personal"
Robert Crawford, former chief executive of Scottish Enterprise on his resignation in 2004
The full article contains 408 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
