Europe

Neglecting to ensure that electronic equipment is thoroughly tested before purchase can cost businesses time and money—not to mention the disastrous consequences of an unforeseen failure. Daryl Cornelius, director Enterprise EMEA, Spirent Communications, asks if your request for pricing is fit for purpose.

Giles Wake from ACT Conferencing looks at how businesses can take advantage of video messaging and conference calls to help achieve the right work-life balance.

We hear a lot about work-life balance, but how many of us actually get close to achieving it? Clearly, people will have different points of equilibrium; however, work-life balance put simply is having enough time for work and enough time to do what we want or need to do away from the office.

Simon Kent, head of operations at Harrogate International Centre in the UK, considers sustainability in the events industry.

Bord Gais Energy is to invest €2 million in OpenHydro, an Irish tidal renewable energy firm, in a joint venture to develop a large-scale tidal farm off the coast of Ireland.

Bord Gais, a gas supply company, will start with an investment of €1 million and provide another €1 million on achievement of certain development milestones.

Airbus has won a large order from the Indian budget airline IndiGo for 180 of its A320 jets.

The order, worth around $15.6 billion (£10 billion) at advertised prices, includes 150 of Airbus’s new eco-conscious A320neo jets.

Blagnac, France-basedAirbus has described the order as the biggest, in terms of number of jets, in aviation history.

Gurgaon-based IndiGo is the first announced customer for the A320neo—a revamped, eco-conscious version of Airbus’s popular single-aisle jet—that Airbus hopes to bring to market in 2016.

The operator of Scotland’s Grangemouth oil refinery has struck a deal with PetroChina, China's largest oil and gas producer, to safeguard the future of the facility.

The joint venture between Grangemouth operator Ineos and PetroChina will see the two companies working together and sharing skills, though the specific details have yet to be drawn up.

Around 1,400 workers are employed at Grangemouth, with an estimated 7,000 jobs at other firms, particularly in central Scotland, being dependent on the plant.

Anglo-Swiss mining giant Xstrata is said to be close to acquiring Drummond, Colombia’s second biggest coal miner, according to a report in UK newspaper the Sunday Times.

It is thought that family-owned Drummond could be sold for around $8 billion (£5 billion). The company was put up for sale last year.

A number of other mining giants, including Rio Tinto, Vale, Vedanta Resources and Essar Energy, are thought to also have been interested in Drummond.

Royal Dutch Shell is to begin drilling an exploration well off the New Zealand coast that could extend the life of the Maui gas field.

Drilling ship the Noble Discoverer will drill the Ruru well for Shell Todd Oil Services Ltd. Shell Todd is 50 per cent owned by Todd Energy Ltd. and 50 per cent owned by The Hague-based Shell.

The Ruru well lies approximately 40 kilometres off the Taranki coast on New Zealand’s North Island and is adjacent to the Maui gas field. Maui, which covers an area of 157 square kilometres, began production 30 years ago.

UK construction firm Costain has increased its all-share offer for the business services group Mouchel, valuing it at around £150 million.

The revised offer values each Mouchel share at about 135 pence. Mouchel has already rejected one bid from Costain, made in December last year.