24 hours of economics in 240 words! An economic snapshot number 23

 For January 14^th

1:13 a.m.  A charity, Healthy Planet, has begun encouraging people to give up their unwanted Christmas presents or pick up one for free from their events.

7:44 a.m.  The EU has criticised Standard & Poor’s downgrading of nine Eurozone countries yesterday, calling it “inconsistent”

9:14 a.m.  Tesco has defended a senior executive who sold over £200,000 shares ahead of warnings about the company’s profits, which knocked its value down by £5billion.

9:25 a.m.  FirstGroup has withdrawn all buses from Bury St Edmunds, as the business had “not been commercially viable”

11:48 a.m. Nottinghamshire’s A453 will have to shut for a month of overnights, which nearby residents say “will hurt business”. It is part of The Highways Agency £1.68million project to widen the road into a dual carriageway.

Talks between Greece and the banks have stalled and
the 50% write off seems increasingly unlikely, which was
reflected in the EU stock markets, which fell.

3:44 p.m.  Easyjet has amended its booking charge, introducing a £9 flat administration fee, replacing the £8 one.

3:57 p.m.  Trinity Motors is to make 56 of its 82 work force redundant after the family run car dealership went into administration.

4:22 p.m.  Work has begun on the new heritage railway line between Sharpness and Oldbury, which is predicted to bring new business to the surrounding areas.

6:04 p.m.  Unions have criticised comments made by Ed Ball’s which indicated support for the pay freeze for the public sector workers.

7:42 p.m.  Greece’s talks with banks about a 50% debt write-off have stalled, causing the EU stock markets to fall by 2%.