The fall in contract business is significant because this is the more affluent end of the market.Mandeep Singh, a telecoms analyst at ABN Amro, has attacked the growth of pre-paid, saying these customers are “too young, too old or too poor to own a mobile phone.”According to Continental, BT Cellnet signed up 7.19 million pre-paid customers in 2000, more than any other company apart from Vodafone.No one from BT Cellnet was prepared to comment on the Continental figures.. John Chambers, the billionaire head of US internet giant Cisco Systems, has warned that Europe is on the brink of being engulfed by the US economic slowdown. John Chambers, the billionaire head of US internet giant Cisco Systems, has warned that Europe is on the brink of being engulfed by the US economic slowdown.
Speaking from Cisco’s Silicon Valley headquarters, Mr Chambers said that the US government and the Federal Reserve have just four months to prevent the downturn spreading across the Atlantic.”We must fix the US economy before it moves to Europe. It must be fixed before the middle of the year, or it will be like a domino effect,” said Mr Chambers in a rare downbeat interview.He urged the Federal reserve to “be more aggressive” and the Bush administration to make significant tax cuts to steer the US economy back to near double-digit growth. “We need to get some cash back into the system and regain consumer spending,” said Mr Chambers.He said that the slowdown had taken hold quickly. “It’s like someone flicking a light switch – it’s like hitting a wall,” he said.

“We have moved from an extremely bullish position to a more cautious one.”But he criticised the US government and business leaders for failing to react quickly enough to the signs of an economic slowdown.Mr Chambers’ view on the market will send a shiver down the spines of IT companies worldwide, as Cisco is regarded as a bellwether of the technology sector. Employing 45,000 people with 4,500 employees in the UK, Cisco has a market capitalisation of $222bn, making it one of the world’s largest companies.Mr Chambers’ comments come less than a fortnight after Cisco disappointed Wall Street with its second quarter results. After 14 consecutive quarters of beating analysts’ expectations, Cisco posted profits of $874m, which led to a 12 per cent fall in its share price.As a result of the slowdown, Cisco is scaling back on recruitment.Last year Cisco hired 20,000 people. In 2001 the company expects to hire 15,000, according to Matthew Schuyler, Cisco’s global head of human resources.

“Our goals haven’t changed but our estimates of how fast to get there have,” said Mr Schuyler.. Rupert Horner, the accountant under investigation by the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) over his dealings with former Queens Park Rangers chairman Richard Thompson, is joining golf course operator, Clubhaus, as finance director. Rupert Horner, the accountant under investigation by the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) over his dealings with former Queens Park Rangers chairman Richard Thompson, is joining golf course operator, Clubhaus, as finance director.
The appointment of Mr Horner to the board of the stock market listed company came despite Clubhaus’s knowledge of proceedings against him, which were reported in the Independent on Sunday last week. It comes at a curious time, as Clubhaus has said it is in talks with an unnamed bidder – believed to be venture capital house, Compass Partners.A dossier of more than 80 complaints against Mr Horner, Roy Copus and the accounting firm of Jayson Newman was passed to the ICA last year.The allegations relate to the running of various companies controlled by Richard Thompson and his father David, the racehorse owner who made his money from the Hillsdown food and property group. The duo have been highly active in the UK business scene, holding significant stakes in QPR, Leeds Sporting – the company that owns Leeds United – and Sports Internet, the Chris Akers company sold to BSkyB last year for £250m.The ICA dismissed just one of the allegations against Mr Horner, Mr Copus and Jayson Newman, and has launched a formal investigation into the rest. The complaints cover a series of “alleged technical deficiencies in the accounts” going back many years and covering a number of companies controlled by the family.A hearing by the ICA to review the allegations is expected to take place shortly and a disciplinary panel could sit as early as this month.Mr Horner faces a potential censure or even being struck off as an accountant. Despite this, Clubhaus said that it was comfortable about Mr Horner taking on the role of finance director for the company.

“We believe the allegations are spurious, without substance and are not of a material nature,” said a spokesman for Clubhaus.To take the role at Clubhaus, Mr Horner resigned from four Thompson family companies – Aphirite, Precis (1716), Thompson Asset Management and Thompson Holdings (London). Companies House is looking into the late filing of accounts for at least two of those companies – Precis (1716) and Thompson Holdings (London).These were the last four of more than 30 companies in which the Thompson family had an interest, where Mr Horner had served as finance director or company secretary.Among the most prominent was PGA European Tour Course, a gold operation which owned venues such as Woburn and Collingtree Park. PGA was created via a Thompson family controlled shell company, Union Square, using assets previously owned by IMG, the sports management group. But the business has not proved to be a success and the shares have lost more than half their value since the business was formed in 1996.PGA was in merger talks with Clubhaus 18 months ago, but the talks fell apart.. The Bermuda-based hedge fund leading the opposition to Telecom Italia’s controversial share restructuring plan is poised for victory. The Bermuda-based hedge fund leading the opposition to Telecom Italia’s controversial share restructuring plan is poised for victory.
Roberto Colaninno, TI’s chief executive, has incurred the fury of the company’s non-voting shareholders with the terms on offer to convert them to ordinary shareholders. The issue is seen as crucial to Italy’s hopes of attracting capital from foreign investors, who have long been suspicious of some of the country’s investment practices.Liverpool Limited Partnerships, part of US-based Elliott Associates, is expected to announce tomorrow a list of non-voting shareholders that have signed up to its blocking motion.