When Mr Robinson sacked David Plowright as head of Granada TV, the incensed comedian John Cleese sent the businessman a fax urging him: “Why don’t you f*** off, you upstart caterer.”After leaving Compass for Granada in 1991, Mr Robinson embarked on a string of deals while keeping touch with his former company. There was the £595m bid for LWT in 1994 and the £3.3bn hostile bid for Forte the following year. Famously, Mr Robinson launched the Forte bid when Sir Rocco Forte was enjoying a morning’s grouse shooting.The son of a carpenter from Donegal, Mr Robinson has been saying for some time that he wanted one last big deal before retiring on his 55th birthday in order to spend more time fishing in his native Ireland. A merger with Compass may not set the pulses racing, but for Mr Robinson it navigates a route back home..

Egg, the online bank being spun off next month by Prudential, the life insurance group, is talking to American software providers about launching an “electronic wallet” later this year. Egg, the online bank being spun off next month by Prudential, the life insurance group, is talking to American software providers about launching an “electronic wallet” later this year.
The product is among several on which Egg is working to keep customers loyal as competition in online banking heats up. Other announcements believed in the pipeline include deals like Halifax’s with BT to give away WAP mobile phones, and launching an interactive digital service on Open, BSkyB’s home-shopping platform.An electronic wallet is a way of storing customer details centrally so that, instead of keying in information each time, they can be transmitted directly by clicking on a secure symbol.The need to key in the same details repeatedly is a major deterrent to shopping on the Net. Experts say 70 per cent of customers give up at this stage.The need to prove that Egg has the products to hold on to its 1 million customer base is vital as Egg tries to persuade financial institutions to subscribe for shares.

An Egg electronic wallet will almost guarantee that Egg customers will automatically use the Egg credit card when buying online.Analysts expect the offering of up to 25 per cent of Egg to value it at £1.5bn to £2bn.. The headline rate of inflation jumped to 3.0 per cent in April, the Office for National Statistics said today This compared with 2.6 per cent the previous month. The headline rate of inflation jumped to 3.0 per cent in April, the Office for National Statistics said today. This compared with 2.6 per cent the previous month.
But the good news is that the underlying rate of inflation, which excludes mortgage interest payments, is at its lowest level since records began in 1975. It fell to 1.9 per cent from 2.0 per cent in March (well below the Government’s 2.5 per cent target).The record low will be seen as reducing the likelihood of further interest rate rises from the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee.The headline figure was increased by the abolition of tax relief on mortgage payments at the start of April. It was also affected by higher tobacco duties announced in the Budget.Upward pressure was offset by cuts in the price of water and sewerage services imposed by the industry regulator.

Also, motoring costs rose more slowly than April last year, when oil prices jumped sharply.. Ireland’s fourth-largest traded bank and its fifth-biggest mortgage lender are on the brink of a merger that will consolidate the Irish market and stave off competition from foreign banks, it emerged yesterday. Ireland’s fourth-largest traded bank and its fifth-biggest mortgage lender are on the brink of a merger that will consolidate the Irish market and stave off competition from foreign banks, it emerged yesterday.
Anglo Irish Bank, which primarily lends to corporate customers, and the mortgage provider First Active are likely to announce the deal within the next couple of days, possibly at First Active’s annual meeting today. It will spark questions about the future of First Active’s fast-growing UK arm, First Active Financial.First Active Financial makes up nearly 40 per cent of the First Active group after doubling its profits to 15.7m euros (£9.42m) last year. In contrast the group performed sluggishly, raising profit by 4.5 per cent to 48.6m euros.