Quinlan's Park Rite sees profit increase by 70% - A car park company chaired by financier Derek Quinlan increased its pretax profit by almost 70% last year to €724,954, according to newly filed accounts says the Irish Times. Park Rite Ltd is the biggest operator of public car parks in the State, with some 25,000 parking spaces in Dublin, Galway and Kerry. The car park business is considered highly attractive because of the tax relief that is available for developers of parking schemes. In spite of the increase in profits last year, Park Rite paid out no dividends. It paid dividends of €1m in 2003. Mr Quinlan's vehicle Quinlan Private - one of the biggest investment houses in the State - is believed to have taken control of Park Rite Ltd in the late 1990s. Mr Quinlan has a significant stake in the business, along with a number of other private investors. In business since 1975, the company owns some of the most prominent parking facilities in central Dublin. Its interests include the Parnell Centre and Dawson car parks, and parking facilities at Arnott's department store; the Irish Life Centre; Drury Street; the IFSC; Christchurch; Temple Bar; Tallaght Hospital; the Blackrock Clinic; the Dundrum Town Centre; the Pavilion Centre in Dún Laoghaire; and the Pavilions centre in Swords.
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Ex-Team engineers to challenge 'letters of comfort' rule - The Irish Independent says that a group of former engineers at Team Aer Lingus will appear in the Supreme Court today to challenge a ruling that 'letters of comfort' issued in 1990 did not guarantee them a job for life. The issue dates back to 1990 when the then transport minister, Seamus Brennan, issued the letters of comfort to 1,600 Aer Lingus employees being asked to transfer to Team Aer Lingus, an Aer Lingus subsidiary which maintained aircraft. The letters caused political controversy at the time because it was widely believed that they did guarantee the jobs of those moving to Team Aer Lingus. Each letter gave six guarantees, including that the workers would remain Aer Lingus employees; that their 'pension entitlements, seniority and other benefits' would be preserved, and that their 'seniority and service' would continue in the new firm. The strength of the letters of comfort was not tested until 1997 when Aer Lingus attempted to sell Team to FLS Aerospace. The sale was initially blocked by trade unions representing Team Aer Lingus employees until lengthy negotiations led to FLS agreeing to spend almost €70m buying out the letters.
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Wal-Mart mulls DVD download booths - The Financial Times says that Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has held discussions with Hollywood studios about installing kiosks in its stores from which consumers could use digital technology to download films on to portable discs. The move aims to alleviate the shortage of space on Wal-Mart's shelves, which has been identified by Wall Street analysts and film executives as a cause for the slowdown in DVD sales. At the same time, it would benefit the studios by lowering their shipping costs, and the expense of dealing with returned inventory.
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Shell is forcing us out of work, say forecourt owners - Hundreds of self-employed businessmen and women who manage Shell's 600 petrol stations around Britain face losing their jobs under a radical shake-up of the network, says the Guardian. Managers have been told they must either quit their mainly single-forecourt operations and take on clusters of six, or leave the franchise. Shell claims the stations are selling more petrol but profits remain slim. The oil group's move comes at a time when drivers are paying high prices for fuel but oil companies say this is due to increased crude prices and high fuel taxes rather than profiteering. Some Shell station managers contacted the Guardian to say they were frustrated and saddened that they were in effect being forced out of their jobs by too onerous operating and financial conditions.
