18 Business Wednesday, January 20, 2010 D Business Bites MORE than 200 jobs are being cut from Royal Bank of Scotlands (RBS) workforce in the island of Ireland. RBS, which owns Ulster Bank, is laying off 196 workers in Dublin with a further 25 in Belfast being made redundant. RBS said employees were told in a series of meetings their roles were no longer required. Staff, who offered technical support for subsidiaries in the RBS Group, will be offered transfers to office hubs in parts of the UK. But the Irish Bank Officials Association reacted angrily, saying unless they were offered alternative posts in Ireland the cuts were effectively compulsory. The redundancies were part of planned job cuts warned of last April, the bank said. They are separate from 750 lay- offs Ulster Bank announced last January, and the 250 job cuts warned of in August. Bank cuts 200 IT jobs in Ireland Workers in choc as Kraft melts Cadbury resistance By Holly Williams Forays in food: Launching Agri Awares Food Routes Your Guide to Agriculture And Food Courses are Mairad Lavery, Agri Aware chairman, Paddy Browne, head of education at Teagasc, and Frank OMara, president of the Agricultural Science Association. Agri-food related courses have gained a renewed interest among students because of job security in the industry and its potential for future economic growth Picture: Bryan Brophy WITH Asias biggest airline, Japan Airlines, filing for bankruptcy with debts of nearly 18billion yesterday, Irish tour operators are urging holidaymakers to ensure they book their holiday through a bonded agent. The Irish Tour Operators Federation, which represents Irelands major tour operators, warned people off increasingly popular DIY holidays, saying they often work out more expensive and it can be difficult to reclaim their money if an airline or operator goes out of business. ITOF president Kevin Nolan said: Like all industries, 2010 will be a tough year but people will want to avoid the inclement weather that we suffer here in Ireland, and as such will continue travel. Tourists urged to make a bond news@metroherald.ie Business & Finance DOWNDOWN v$v$ DOWNDOWN vv DOWNDOWN ISEQISEQ by 6.59 at 3,101.58 $1.43 0.87 CADBURYS takeover resistance melted away yesterday after US rival Kraft Foods tabled a higher 11.9bil- lion (13.5bn) buyout bid. Dairylea maker Kraft announced the backing of the Cadbury board for a revised 840p (953c) per share offer in a move set to end the independence of the chocolate maker. Kraft pledged great respect for Cadburys brands, heritage and peo- ple, but fears of job losses were growing as the group outlined plans for meaningful cost savings. Cadbury employs about 45,000 peo- ple in 60 countries, with more than 1,200 workers at plants in Coolock and Tallaght in Dublin and Rathmore in Kerry. The Unite union said its concerns remain for the future of Cadbury and its 1,200 Irish workers after the exclu- sion of workers and key shareholders from the takeover consultation. Jimmy Whelan, the European Co- ordinator for Cadburys Unite mem- bers, said: This is a very sad day for Irish and European manufacturing. A successful, iconic, independent brand will now be owned by a giant company with massive debt. Jimmy Kelly, Unites Irish regional secretary, said the union will be seek- ing guarantees from Kraft and Cad- bury management over jobs and sites in Ireland and the UK. Yesterdays recommendation marks a turnaround, after the Dairy Milk maker described Krafts initial bids as derisory, advising shareholders not to accept it. Its shareholders now have until Feb- ruary 2 to accept or reject Krafts re- vised bid of 953c a share, as well as a Cadbury dividend of 11c a share. But an offer from US rival Hershey could yet derail the Kraft deal. Hershey which makes Dairy Milk bars and Creme Eggs under licence in the US has a deadline of Monday to make an approach or walk away. The combined group would have more than 40 confectionery brands, each with sales in excess of 69.6mil- lion. This would make it the worlds No.1 chocolate and sweets firm and the second biggest in chewing gum. A worker dressed as the Cadbury gorilla at an anti-buy-out protest AWARD-winning Irish music video website muzu.tv has been chosen by AlwaysOn, a leading business media brand network, as one of the 2010 OnMedia 100, and overall winner of the digital publisher category. The Dublin-based firm said inclusion in the OnMedia 100 signified its leadership and notes its influential approach and technologies. Delighted chief executive Ciaran Bollard said by combining one of the biggest music video libraries on the web with advertising formats we are defining the landscape for the advertising-supported video model. CITIGROUP has posted a fourth-quarter loss of $7.6billion (5.3billion) after taking charges linked to repaying US government funds. The third-largest US bank said the loss amounted to 33 cents a share, compared with a loss of $17.3billion, or $3.40 a share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Citigroup has been struggling to return to profitability in its main lending businesses after $100billion of credit losses and writedowns. Citigroups Irish-based business, Citi Ireland, employs more than 2,000 staff in Dublin and Waterford. IRISH event company EuroEvents Ltd has received international recognition for its innovative event concept and design for the BMW 7 Series Launch which was held in a penthouse apartment in the Grand Canal Basin. EuroEvents beat competitors in California and Berlin to walk away with the top prize for Best Event Produced for a Corporation, at the Gala Awards held in New Orleans at the weekend. Guests at the prize-winning launch enjoyed a 15th-floor technology booth, a rooftop showroom and a tasting menu from Michelin-star chef Dylan McGrath. SMALL and medium Irish firms are more confident about their prospects in 2010 than they were last year. The number of SMEs who are more confident has more than doubled from 12 per cent to 26 per cent, and there has been a sharp fall in those who are less confident, from 59 per cent 26 per cent now. However, the survey, carried out for O2, found just 23 per cent think the Irish recession has bottomed out. Generating sales was the main challenge, 25 per cent of the firms said, followed by cash flow (23 per cent) and increased competition (14 per cent). Small firms are more positive index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html