M&S Increasing Recycling Initiative

Marks and Spencer, better known for their stylish dresses and functional lingerie, have agreed a partnership with Somerset City Council.

Under the £1.25 million agreement, plastics and cardboard will be added to the materials Somerset City Council collects from households in its five district councils, which will then be sold on to M&S to reuse or sell to other producers.

Marks and Spencer estimate that it will reuse approximately 15,000 tonnes of waste and another 45,000 tonnes sold on to other producers. This is the first of four partnerships of this type - the other three will be announced throughout the year.

Marks & Spencer's head of packaging, Dr Helene Roberts, said: "This is a pioneering project we believe will change the face of recycling in the UK." she continued "We've achieved a 16% reduction in food packaging and over 90% is now recyclable." she then concluded "In order that we move to the next level, which is making more of our packaging with recycled content, we need more materials at a higher quality collected at the kerbside and made available to our suppliers."

Flights to Manchester-Abu Dhabi Increasing

Manchester flights to Abu Dhabi are proving so popular for Etihad Airways that they are providing larger aircraft from June, making a further 2,100 seats available per week.

This is the latest move in Etihad's expansion of its services globally. Peter Baumgartner, Etihad’s chief commercial officer, said: “Our services to Manchester have been performing very strongly, with load factors of close to 80 per cent in 2009. The business and investment ties between Manchester and Abu Dhabi have never been stronger and the introduction of the B777 furthers our commitment to this important route." and continued “We are pleased to support business and leisure travel to the region, as well as offering our customers greater access to Abu Dhabi and our expanding global network.”

Etihad began operating services to Manchester in 2006 and through codeshare agreements with bmi and Flybe offers flights to UK destinations from Manchester including Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Southampton and the Isle of Man.

Charity Donations Through Price Comparison

A new price comparison site has been launched that gives a charity donation of at least 2/3 of its commission to Oxfam with the remainder going to cover the cost of running the site.

Compare for Good, powered by beatthatquote, is the brainchild of Ivan Massow. Although a charitable venture, it still features all the financial providers that appear on other price comparison sites.

This is possibly the first time that a not for profit price comparison site has existed and it has the potential to raise millions of pounds for Oxfam at a time when funding from other sources is decreasing. Revenue from charity shops has decreased by around 15% this year with the ongoing global recession.

Cathy Ferrier, Oxfam's director of fundraising, said: "We're always looking for innovative ways to raise money for our lifesaving work, especially during difficult economic times when the public find it harder to spare money for charity. This website means people can support Oxfam even when money is tight."

Joan Collins launched the site and described it as a "win-win" opportunity for saving money whilst making a charity gift at the same time.

London Marathon Charity Fundraising

The London Marathon is the biggest annual one day event for charity fundraising on the planet. This year, the total raised over its 30 year history is set to top £500 million.

As always, the stars are coming out in 2010 to raise money for their favourite causes. Sir Richard Branson is racing his two children this year. It might sound unfair, but the kids are going to be part of a 32 piece caterpillar (loo breaks could be interesting!) whereas he will not be so encumbered. If successful, the caterpillar will set the world record for the highest number of runners to cross the finish line together.

Branson senior will be running alongside TV presenter Jenni Falconer, singers Natalie Imbruglia and Michelle Heaton, Hollyoaks' Ricky Whittle and Kenyan marathon champion Tegla Loroupe and they will all be raising money for Virgin Unite which supports vulnerable young people in Britain.

'Bob' has come up with an innovative way of raising money on Just Giving. Apparently he is not running the London marathon, but intends to walk an equivalent route, all proceeds going to Oxfam. Apparently, doing kind acts such as taking part in charity events, saving kittens and the like, helps to make men more attractive to women, so there's another incentive to get fit for the London Marathon.

Cheap Bike Gear For Austria

Its all very exciting in our house at the moment, we're going on a bike trip to Austria with a couple of friends in May, so we're starting to make preparations - usually over a pint or two.

Being a biking holiday, there's not quite as much leeway for being glamorous as a holiday in Spain as luggage space is more restricted for a start. Its quite interesting getting a bike kitted out for touring, there is some good quality cheap bike gear around, but you have to hunt about a bit.

I've bought the maps and phrasebooks to back up the satnav, so we just need to sort out the route, then all the other little things should fall into place.

British Airways Reduce Flights to Australia

British Airways has announced it will be reducing flights to Australia in the next four months.

Its daily flight from Sydney to London via Singapore will cease in March, leaving just one daily 747 service, via Bangkok. It will do the same for 18 days in May and will cut services slightly in April and June. A company spokesman said it was in response to "weak demand", but stressed that bookings were improving.

British Airways and Quantas's alliance has allowed BA to step back from flights to Australia in recent times, leaving Quantas to operate its Sydney - London service. Competition has become more fierce on flights to Australia from Middle Eastern airlines, such as Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways.

BA is expected to posts an operating loss of around £200 million for the nine months to December 31st - for the same period last year, they reported a £89 million profit.

Discount Retailers Increase Prices

Discount high street retailers such as Primark and Matalan have raised their prices on women's clothing by a whopping 13 and 14% respectively, whilst middle of the road shope such as Next, Marks and Spencers and Debenhams have kept their prices stable or even reduced them.

The main causes for price rises are the return of VAT to 17.5% from 15% and the rising cost of raw materials due to inflation. Retailers with a lower profit margin are bound to be hit hardest by increasing costs, whilst shoppers can benefit from discounts applied by more profitable businesses, especially on higher value items such as furniture.

Even though average priced are falling for retailers such as M&S, the price of their entry level products has risen, showing that the price squeeze is affecting all markets. Unfortunately the price drop won't affect prices of flowers for Valentines day, but bargains may be had in other areas.