The Independent from London, Greater London, England • 57

58 BUSINESS MONDAYS NOVEMBER 2005 THE INDEPENDENT Corbett joins Britvic for 800m flotation Auto-enrolment Jwill succeed7 2 1 IT 1 1 Lyj man, the owner of the British Vitamin Products Company, found a way to bottle fruit juices so that they stayed fresher for longer. Today, the company is the second-largest drinks manufacturer in the UK, and its brands include Robinsons, Tango and J2Q, Britvic employs 300 people at its main offices in Chelmsford, Essex, and at Solihull in the West Midlands, and has seven factories and 15 distribution centres. Britvic, the soft drinks business, is expected to kick-start its stock market flotation today with the announcement that Gerald Corbett, the Woolworths chairman, will chair the group. Intercontinental Hotels, the former Bass leisure and brewing business which owns 475 per cent of Britvic, will sell down its holding as will Pernod Ricard and Whit-bread, who own 23.75 per cent apiece. But PepsiCo is expected to keep most or all of its 5 percent shareholding Mr Corbett and Britvic managers will begin meetings in the City this week after the company's advisers, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank, judged sufficient interest in the float, scheduled for next month.

Intercontinental is hoping the business will fetchapricetagof about 800m. Britvic traces its history to 1938, when Ralph Chap The number of employees in ompany pension schemes could rise 40 per cent if the Government introduces plans for auto-enrolment Where people would have to opt out of -rather than into a scheme, according to research by the fund manager Fidelity. The survey, compiled from Fidelity's experience in the US and from a YouGov survey of 2,563 adults in the UK, provides useful backing for a plan expected to form part Df the recommendations of the Turner report into the pensions crisis, One in five people fail to save into their company scheme because they have not got round to it yet, Fidelity says auto-enrolment could improve the average membership of schemes from less than 50 per cent to 90 per cent The fund manager is lobbying to make it easier to take pension pots from job to job. Bernard: Will reinvest funds tions slated for disposal are believed to include Trent and Plymouth Sound. The company is also expected to axe its digital station, Storm.

Banks spend The 12 central banks in the eurozone spent more than $5bn (2.9bn) on staff costs in 2004 even though they no longer have responsibility for setting monetary policy The figure is three times the amount spent by the US Federal Reserve, which covers a population and economy of a similar raze. Research in the latest issue of the Central Gerald Corbett: Chairman of Woohworths GCap to sell local radio stations GCap Media, the radio business created from the merger of GWR and Capital Radio, is planning to axe several brands and auction off a string of local stations, Ralph Bernard, GCap's chief executive, will signal that the proceeds are to be reinvested in the company's main assets, Including the Classic FM station and the London station Capital FM, which has been losing market share in the capital to Heart FM Local sta- Airbus negotiates compensation Airbus said it will have to pay millions of dollars in compensation for delays to the new A3S0 super-jumbo. John Leahy, the chief operating officer for customers, told Australian television that Qantas, which pre-purchased 12 aircraft, is among those negotiating payments because their delivery is now expected in April 2007, six months late. Ashtenneduo set for return The property industry duo Ian Watson and Morgan Jones, who sold Ashtenne to Warner Estate for 170m this year, are returning to the stock market with the flotation this month of a new 100m investment vehicle, Hansteen, It intends to invest in industrial property across the Continent, 'Rate tarts' cost credit cards dear Credit card providers' profit margins have taken abattering over the past year, with "rate tarts." who constantly switch between providers with the best offers costing the industry some 600m, according to research by PricewaterhouseCDopers, Many industry players have introduced fees for balance transfers. Drax refuses to ditch float plan Drax, the coal-fired power station being refinanced by its creditors-turned-owners, is refusing to scrap plans for a December flotation amid wrangles over the exact value of a takeover offer from a consortium led by the US power firm Constellation Energy; Drax disputes Constellation's claim that the offer values it at 2.25bn, citing disagreements over financial assumptions and conditions.

$5bn on staff Banking ournal found the UK was the lowest of any of the 30 OECD countries, spending less than $3 per head of population compared with a peak of $25 for Luxembourg The report's author, Paul Brione, said? "The difference between similar-size countries such as France and Italy on the one hand and Britain and Japan on the other is striking," 1 more than 1bnayear year on whether should begin offering its prized sandwiches, snacks and hot food not just to shoppers at its stores but also at sporting and corporate events The first issue to be examined is whether would profit from setting up its own catering operations to rival those of Sodexho and Compass, or whether it should act simply as a supplier. mulls move into catering "3 The catering market is worth Marks Spencer is considering a move into the contract catering business, in an attempt to wring more money from its food division. Stuart Rose, the chief executive, has ordered a new task force under the leadership of the board member Richard Flint -to examine opportunities in the lbn-plus catering market It will make recommendations in the new.