The Evening Standard (London, England) articles from July 2002

The Evening Standard (London, England) archives from July 2002

Banks Set For A Lift As Bradford & Bingley Joins London Stock Index.
July 1, 2002... Byline: Michael Clark Jul. 1--The recent strong performance by shares in Bradford & Bingley will be rewarded tomorrow when the mortgage lender joins the City's elite and becomes a constituent of the top 100 companies. It is to replace...

Charities Feel Pinch as Investment Gains Shrink.
July 1, 2002... Jul. 1--The City and pension funds may be the highest profile casualties of the stock market slump, but spare a thought for charities. For many years they were accustomed to consistently high returns from investments, as well as rising...

London's AIM Exchange Suspends Record Nine Companies for Late Results.
July 1, 2002... Byline: Robert Lea Jul. 1--Investor confidence in the London stock markets was rattled further today when a record nine companies were suspended from the start of trading. The suspensions, all on the secondary, more lightly regulated...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton Column.
July 1, 2002... Byline: Anthony Hilton Jul. 1--LOOKING ON THE POSITIVE SIDE OF A WEAKER DOLLAR: In paying tribute to the importance of the City during his speech at the Mansion House last week, Chancellor Gordon Brown noted that turnover in the London...

Britain's Yell Follows Focus, Ditches Market Float.
July 1, 2002... Byline: Sarah Marks Jul. 1--Yell, the Yellow Pages company, today abandoned its UKpound 1.8 billion flotation due to tumbling stock markets and falling investor confidence. The decision comes only hours after Focus Wickes, the DIY...

Feelgood Factor Fails to Stir Japan Punters.
July 1, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Jul. 1--The feelgood factor has suddenly returned to Japan, according to the latest survey of its businessmen. A surge in confidence revealed by the Bank of Japan's regular Tankan survey of business opinion failed to...

Evening Standard, London, Business Briefs Column.
July 1, 2002... Jul. 1--GOWRINGS SELLS CAR DEALERSHIPS: Former conglomerate Gowrings is selling its car dealerships in a move that will focus the company on its 43 Burger King restaurants. The decision marks the final stage in Gowrings' move away from...

Tories in Call for "Sunset Clause" to Help Cut Red Tape.
July 1, 2002... Jul. 1--Regulations on business should have a "sunset clause" so that they lapse after a few years unless they are renewed, Shadow Chancellor Michael Howard said today. The proposal is a key part of a package of Conservative Party measures...

Watchdog Joins British Fiber Optics Firm Stanelco as Non-Executive Chairman.
July 1, 2002... Jul. 1--Stock market tiddler Stanelco today hailed the appointment of Elizabeth Filkin as its non-executive chairman as "a great coup", saying she would be "extremely useful" in helping to grow the business, writes Fiona Walsh. Filkin, 61,...

British Venture Capitalist May Support Buyout of Fitness-Club Chain.
July 1, 2002... Jul. 1--Venture capitalist Cinven is thought to be in talks to back a management buyout of health clubs group Holmes Place with an offer of at least UKpound 160 million. The approach comes after months of share price decline for the...

Buyback Talk Shakes France Telecom.
July 1, 2002... Jul. 1--Shares in partly State-owned France Telecom were thrown into turmoil today as it emerged that the French government is prepared to support the bombed-out stock through a buyback programme, writes Robert Lea. Denying reports that...

Boom Time in British Housing but Builder Sees Slowdown Ahead.
July 1, 2002... Byline: Sarah Marks Jul. 1--Housebuilder John Laing today predicted that the housing market will cool in the next six months following a bumper first half. Laing completed the sale of 640 units in the first half of the year, a rise of...

British Demand Sluggish Again as World Cup Mini-Boom Tails Off.
July 1, 2002... Byline: Jim Armitage Jul. 1--Britain's industrialists are already suffering a hangover from the mini-boom generated by the Jubilee and the World Cup, an influential survey showed today. As demand for celebratory products tailed off,...

British Market Research Group Signals Strong Second Half.
July 1, 2002... Jul. 1--Order books are ahead at Taylor Nelson Sofres despite the sluggish economy, and the market research group is predicting a stronger second half this year. Chief executive Mike Kirkham said the last six months of the year are...

Britain's Corus Sells Finnish Stake for UKpound 345 Million.
July 1, 2002... Byline: Paul Armstrong Jul. 1--Corus has taken another step in the push to focus on its core steelmaking operations with the sale of its 23.2 percent stake in Finnish stainless steel producer AvestaPolarit for euro530 million (UKpound 345...

Britain's PNC Telecom Sues Former CEO.
July 1, 2002... Jul. 1--Mobile phone distributor PNC Telecom is suing its former chief executive Darren Ridge for the return of cash believed to exceed a quarter of a million pounds. In a statement to the Stock Exchange today, PNC Telecom, chaired by...

Evening Standard, London, Business Briefs Column.
July 2, 2002... Jul. 2--T&G 'HEADING BACK TO PROFIT': Teather & Greenwood expects to be back in the black this year provided difficult stock market conditions get no worse. Hopes of a return to profit came as the small stockbroker reported a pre-tax loss...

Former KPMG Chief Says Enron-Type Scandal Is 'Unlikely in Britain'.
July 2, 2002... Jul. 2--The former chairman of accounting giant KPMG today told MPs it was unlikely, but not impossible, that Enron or WorldCom-type scandals could happen in Britain. Lord Sharman said Britain's differing accounting standards from those in...

Slump in Asian Equity Markets Mirrors Economic Crisis of Five Years Past.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Jul. 2--Five years ago this week, the last Asian economic crisis began, and today investors were wondering what had changed as equity markets slid to recent lows after Nasdaq s overnight slump. In Tokyo, the Nikkei...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton Column.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Anthony Hilton Jul. 2--REAL TEST OF CONTINENTAL COMMITMENT TO CHANGE: The ousting of Jean-Marie Messier from French media giant Vivendi underlines how much European business has changed and is changing. A few years ago,...

Shares in UK's Prudential Fall to 565 Pence after Downgrade by Morgan Stanley.
July 2, 2002... Jul. 2--The man from the Pru was looking a bit under the weather today as shares in Britain's biggest life assurer tumbled 36 pence to 565 pence. Prudential is now trading just above its year's low and still has further to fall if talk in the...

Time to Sell As British Insurers' Liabilities Cast Shadow.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Andrew Smithers Jul. 2--The two largest investors in the UK stock market are pension funds and life insurance companies. Both have good reasons to sell. There has been a growing realisation of the risks they run when investing in...

British TV Set-Top Box Maker's Stock Dives on Fifth Profit Warning.
July 2, 2002... Jul. 2--Television gadgetry group Pace Micro Technology's shares plunged today, nearly halving in a matter of minutes after its fifth profit warning in 10 months. Shares in Pace Micro, which makes set-top boxes for pay-TV, traded at more...

Vivendi Universal Boss Ousted in Boardroom Coup.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Prynn Jul. 2--France's best known businessman, Jean-Marie Messier, has been ousted from Vivendi Universal, the company he built up to become the world's second-largest media group. Messier, 45, is expected formally to...

Gallic Arrogance Led to Vivendi Chief's Downfall.
July 2, 2002... Jul. 2--To the bitter end, there was a certain magnificent Gallic arrogance about Jean-Marie Messier. With his fate already decided by a board that had finally lost all patience with him, Messier was still trying to set the terms of the...

Departing Vivendi Universal Chief Reportedly Seeks $12 Million Payoff.
July 2, 2002... Jul. 2--Vivendi Universal boss Jean-Marie Messier is said to be demanding a $12 million (UKpound 7.8 million) package as compensation for his dramatic toppling as chairman and chief executive of the huge media and entertainment group. ...

Evening Standard, London, Trevor Webster Column.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Trevor Webster Jul. 2--CINDERELLA STOCKS: The headlines may have shrieked stock market doom over the past month, but it is not as bad as you think. There is plenty to cheer about in sector performance. While the Footsie 100...

Bank of England Governor Warns People to Stop Spending Or Rates Go Up.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Sarah Marks Jul. 2--Bank of England Governor Sir Edward George warned only hours before the Bank's monetary policy committee starts its monthly interest rate meeting that rates will have to go up if people don't stop spending. ...

Scotland-Based Brewing Giant's Options Open on Future of 1400 Pubs.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Jim Armitage Jul. 2--Scottish & Newcastle is mulling over several options to squeeze cash out of its estate of 1400 pubs, including possible securitisations. However, chairman Brian Stewart today ruled out a sale and leaseback...

Rival Groups Fail to Snap Up Anglo-Irish Property Firm.
July 2, 2002... Jul. 2--Stephen Vernon has won the battle to take his company Green Property private after outbidding two rival consortiums chasing the Anglo-Irish property group. Vernon, with backing from Merrill Lynch and Bank of Scotland, has made a...

British Insurance Group Presents Plan to Close UKpound 27 Billion Savings Gap.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Paul Armstrong Jul. 2--Britain's UKpound 27 billion-a-year savings shortfall could be slashed by more than a third by increasing financial incentives to invest, simplifying pension products and cutting regulation, the insurance...

Tyco International Floats Financial Services Group on New York Stock Market.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Lauren Chambliss Jul. 2--Pushed by its nervous bankers to raise cash, scandal-plagued Tyco International is floating one of its biggest divisions, financial services group CIT, on the New York stock market. The initial public...

Trauma at Top Won't Have Large Impact on UK Vivendi Interests.
July 2, 2002... Jul. 2--The huge Vivendi empire built by Jean-Marie Messier has a significant presence in Britain, mainly through Vivendi Environnement, the "dirty" side of a group, which is 63 percent owned by Vivendi Universal. Vivendi Environnement...

Asian Stocks Fight Back after Tech Rout.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Jul. 3--Asian stock markets fought back from heavy early falls today after Wall Street and Nasdaq continued to slide in New York. After battering technology stocks, investors suddenly stepped back in to pick up...

Slump in Mergers, Acquisitions Pressures Investment Banks to Cut London Staff.
July 3, 2002... Jul. 3--Global merger and acquisitions activity has slumped dramatically in the past six months, heaping yet more pressure on investment banks to cut City staff. Thomson Financial's figures on corporate activity today showed a dramatic...

French Capitalism Faces Its Greatest Challenge.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Prynn Jul. 3--French national pride has taken one mighty battering this year. First its image abroad was dealt a huge blow by the surprise success of far right National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first round of...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton Column.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Anthony Hilton Jul. 3--Washington is finally realising that the meltdown in US corporate ethics is not just a blip on Wall Street's radar screen but one of the deepest threats to the orderly function of America's capital markets...

Britain's Interest-Rate Setters Face Dilemma as Service Sector Cools.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Jim Armitage Jul. 3--The predicament facing Britain's interest-rate setters grew today with the release of figures showing the service sector has slowed while mortgage lending surged to a new record. The Bank of England's...

Evening Standard, London, Angus McCrone Column.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Angus McCrone Jul. 3--New issues on the London stock market have been dropping like flies. In the past few days, the flotations of Focus Wickes and Yell have been shelved because of unfriendly market conditions. The difficulty...

Slumping Share Prices Begin to Rattle London's Brokers.
July 3, 2002... Jul. 3--The first signs of panic became evident in the Square Mile today as share prices began to spiral out of control. The FTSE 100 index was left nursing a fall of 95.2 at 4451.6 after seeing an early mark-up wiped out. Dealers were...

New Jersey-Based Telecom Group Makes $5 Billion Rescue Offer for WorldCom.
July 3, 2002... Jul. 3--American telecoms group IDT has stepped in with a $5 billion (UKpound 3.3 billion) rescue offer for its scandal-hit rival WorldCom after the stricken group's chief issued a public plea to keep it out of bankruptcy. In his first...

Former Vivendi Boss Goes from High-Flier to Has-Been.
July 3, 2002... Jul. 3--Last autumn, Jean-Marie Messier, left, seemed like a man who had it all -- a $17 million (UKpound 11 million) New York apartment, a private jet and a rumoured affair with Hollywood actress Sophie Marceau. Today, he is set to lose...

Worldcom Rival Makes a UKpound 5 Billion Rescue Bid.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Lauren Chambliss Jul. 3--American telecoms group IDT has stepped in with a UKpound 5 billion rescue offer for its scandal-hit rival WorldCom after the stricken group's chief issued a public plea to keep it out of bankruptcy. ...

Evening Standard, London, Jim Armitage Column.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Jim Armitage Jul. 3--Economist Marian Bell will see the hallowed blue walls and imposing oil paintings of the Bank of England's first floor committee room for the first time today as she makes her debut on the nine-strong team of...

Upcoming British Grand Prix Offers Wide Variety of Betting Choices.
July 3, 2002... Jul. 3-- The sky thick with helicopters, huge traffic jams on country roads, earplugs for the spectators, deafening noise -- it can only be one sporting event, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. There is a veritable menu of spread bets...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton Column.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Anthony Hilton Jul. 3--It is small beer compared with Enron or WorldCom, but the fact that America's Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at the accounting of oil company Haliburton is not without its amusing side. The...

U.K. Homebuilder Enjoys Rising Home Prices, Completion Rate, Ordering Volume.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Sarah Marks Jul. 3--The average price of a new Wimpey home soared by 18 percent to UKpound 139,500 in the first six months of the year, contributing to a growing sense of confidence at the housebuilder. UK completions were up...

British Firm Reg Vardy Indicates Readiness to Take Over Motor Dealer Group.
July 3, 2002... Jul. 3--Motor dealer groups were on the alert today after leading player Reg Vardy gave its strongest indication yet that it is close to a significant takeover. Chairman Sir Peter Vardy said his preferred option is the acquisition of a...

Supplier of Moving Advertisements in London's Tube System Runs Out of Capital.
July 3, 2002... Jul. 3--MotionPoster, the Aim-listed supplier of moving adverts on the walls of Tube and subway systems, admitted today that it will run out of working capital by the end of next week. As its share price tumbled from 5 pence to 4 pence it...

Actuarial Research Finds Mid-Cap Firm Vulnerability to Pension Fund Deficits.
July 3, 2002... Jul. 3--Mid-cap companies are more vulnerable to pension fund shortfalls than FTSE 100 ones, according to research from actuaries Mercers. About 47 percent of FTSE 100 companies showed a deficit under FRS17 accounting rules, compared with...

U.K.-Based Discount Retailer to Buy Womenswear Chain for UKpound 70 Million.
July 3, 2002... Jul. 3--Discount retailer Peacock is to take over the Bon Marche business in a deal that values the privately-owned womenswear chain at UKpound 70 million. Brothers Gurchait and Gurnaik Chima, who set up Bon Marche 20 years ago, own 70...

London Stock Exchange Gets Painful Reminder from Futures Exchange.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Paul Armstrong Jul. 3--The London Stock Exchange was today given a painful reminder of the cost of failing to take over Liffe when the futures exchange unveiled a 25 percent jump in turnover for the first half of the year. ...

British Supermarkets Group Somerfield Climbs Back into Black.
July 3, 2002... Jul. 3--Supermarkets group Somerfield, which also owns the Kwik Save chain, is in the black for the first time since 1999 and is resuming dividend payments. Chairman John von Spreckelsen today warned, however, that full recovery of the...

Chairman of United Kingdom's Learning Technology Seeks to Buy Out Shareholders.
July 3, 2002... Jul. 3--Sir Alan Sugar today unveiled plans to buy out the minority shareholders in Learning Technology, the computer group formerly known as Viglen, after admitting the company had failed to capture the City's interest. He said he would...

British Telecom Firm Hutchison 3G Unveils New Name.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Nick Goodway Jul. 3--In a world of crazy brand names where we have been brainwashed into believing that the future is Orange and that O2 is a better name than Cellnet, Hutchison 3G today unveiled its brand. Or make that brands,...

New Man Set to Take Vivendi Helm.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Ross Tieman Jul. 3--The board of troubled French-American media conglomerate Vivendi Universal was meeting in Paris this afternoon to confirm the appointment of Jean-Rene Fourtou as chairman. Fourtou, 62, deputy chairman of...

Bush Shot Himself in the Foot on Trade, European Official Says.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Steward Fleming Jul. 4--President George Bush's policies are weakening, not strengthening, the foundations of the American economy, one of Europe's top monetary policy officials remarked last week. It is not just accounting...

Survey Serves Up London's Tastiest Food Retailers.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Robert Lea Jul. 4--Tesco may be Britain's busiest grocer. Sainsbury's may lay claim to being a purveyor of posh nosh after signing up Jamie Oliver. But, for the capital's gourmands and gastronomes, Selfridges and Waitrose make up...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton Column.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Anthony Hilton Jul. 4--MISSING THE POINT IN MEASURING THE STOCK MARKET: When Labour came to power on 1 May 1997, the FTSE 100 index closed at 4445. Five years on, after flirting with the dizzy heights of 7000, the index has dipped...

British Home Prices Increase by 2.3 Percent in June, Mortgage Lender Says.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Patrick Hosking Jul. 4--House prices are soaring at their fastest rate since the boom years of the late 1980s, according to fresh figures from the Halifax. Britain's biggest mortgage lender reported that house prices rocketed...

Evening Standard, London, Stock Markets Column.
July 4, 2002... Jul. 4--TBI shares take off as Vinci lines up new bid TBI has been cleared for take-off by City speculators. The shares were today nudging a year's high of 70 pence amid mounting speculation that French construction group Vinci is set to make a...

OPINION: Many CEO Candidates Just Living Off Their Reputations.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Alan Sugar Jul. 4--Not a day goes by without some form of criticism about the pay or bonuses handed out to the fat cats that run public companies. The problem in many cases is that the person in charge got the job through a...

Swatch Heir's Time Has Come to Take over Controls at Company.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Ross Tieman Jul. 4--Cigar-smoking former film director and playtime helicopter pilot Nick Hayek is poised to take over the controls at Swatch, the world's biggest watchmaker. Blessed with the youthful countenance bestowed by...

Tokyo Stocks Slide Despite Bank of Japan Warning.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Jul. 4--Japanese stocks slid today after a warning that recent weakness in financial markets could threaten the country's fragile economic recovery. The Nikkei 225 dived 179.49 points to close at 10,632.81 as Bank of...

British Firm Quits Banking with Sale.
July 4, 2002... Jul. 4--Legal & General has ended its 14-year battle to compete with the High Street banks by selling its loan book to Northern Rock for UKpound 131 million. L&G's banking arm specialised in equity release and buy-to-let mortgages but has...

Acquisition Solidifies British Casinos Operator's Top Position.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Robert Lea Jul. 4--Stanley Leisure has consolidated its position as Britain's leading casinos operator with the acquisition of Tower Casino Group, writes Robert Lea. The Liverpool-based gambling group, chaired by Leonard...

Britain's Robert Wiseman Dairies Get a Boost in 2001.
July 4, 2002... Jul. 4--Milk sales at Robert Wiseman Dairies beat the company's expectations during the first quarter and are more than 20 percent ahead of last year. Raw milk costs have dropped, making up for the low price at which Wiseman was forced to...

British Financial Services Company HBOS Faces Big Loss.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Paul Armstrong Jul. 4--HBOS is staring at a loss of up to UKpound 26 million following today's appointment of a receiver to insurance services group Miller Fisher. The move into receivership came after HBOS refused to extend...

British Spread-Betting Firm Gets New Broker, Adviser.
July 4, 2002... Jul. 4--Spread betting firm IG Group has sacked its broker and financial adviser Investec Henderson Crosthwaite. New broker and adviser is Collins Stewart. The move follows two profit warnings in six months and IG Group responding to City...

Heat Is on Big Food Group over Pensions in Britain.
July 4, 2002... Jul. 4--The Big Food Group, which is facing legal action over its decision to shunt members out of its final salary pension scheme, has won little sympathy from rivals. Somerfield chief executive Alan Smith says he would never dream of...

Bank of England Freezes Interest Rates for Eighth Consecutive Month.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Jim Armitage Jul. 4--The Bank of England today froze interest rates for the eighth successive month in the face of a stock-market rout and global economic uncertainty. Its monetary policy committee left the cost of borrowing on...

British Plumbing Products Distributor Snaps Up Firm for UKpound 38 Million.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Malcolm Withers Jul. 4--The world's largest distributor of plumbing, heating and building products, Wolseley, has acquired Holland's leading parts distributor in a UKpound 38 million cash deal that could herald further expansion...

British Digital Radio Station to Air First Play.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Nick Goodway Jul. 4--Joanna Lumley stars as Elvira, Corin Redgrave as Charles Condemine and David Timson as Doctor Bradman in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirits, the first radio play to come out of Oneword, the digital radio station...

England-Based Ryanair Sees Slowdown in Passenger Growth.
July 4, 2002... Jul. 4--Passenger growth at budget airline Ryanair has slowed to its lowest rate this year. The Stansted-based European airline today said it carried 1.24 million passengers in June, a rise of 34 percent from the same month last year, and...

UK's Settlement Group Joins Forces with Brussels Business.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Anthony Hilton Jul. 4--The attempt to create a single European capital market took a significant step forward today when Crest, the settlement organisation for the UK stock market, announced plans to fold into Euroclear, the...

Telewest Prepares Talks Triangle to Rebuild Balance.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Nick Goodway Jul. 4--Hugely-indebted cable company Telewest today moved towards three-way talks with its largest shareholder, John Malone's Liberty Media, and its bondholders in a bid to find a way of rebuilding its balance sheet....

Police Swoop on Japanese Trading House.
July 4, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Jul. 4--Police today raided the offices of Mitsui, Japan's second-largest trading house, following the arrest of three of its employees and two former government officials on suspicion of bid rigging, writes Ray Heath....

Utilities Group Vivendi Environnement to Issue 57.7 Million New Shares.
July 4, 2002... Jul. 4--Vivendi Environnement, the utilities group part owned by troubled media giant Vivendi Universal, today unveiled details of its euro1.53 billion (UKpound 982 million) rights issue to top up its depleted coffers. The group, which...

Evening Standard, London, Asian Markets Column.
July 5, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Jul. 5--Amid growing belief that Japan's economy has turned the corner, Tokyo stocks soared more than 2 percent today and other technology-heavy Asian markets also built strongly on recent rallies. Traders are...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton Column.
July 5, 2002... Byline: Anthony Hilton Jul. 5--SANDLER'S SIMPLIFICATION MAY BE NO SOLUTION ON SAVING: There is a tendency in this country to deprecate institutions that may not be perfect but on balance do a tolerably good job, in the belief that they can...

British Fund Chief Tells of 'Grave Suspicions' of Bank.
July 5, 2002... Jul. 5--A senior City fund manager has said he does not trust Investec Henderson Crosthwaite, days before its South African parent bank is due to start its campaign to list on the London Stock Exchange. Andrew Brough, head of UK mid and...

Evening Standard, London, Stock Markets Column.
July 5, 2002... Jul. 5--ASTRAZENECA'S JAPAN JOY ADDS SOME ZEST: Markets were in better health today thanks to AstraZeneca, which revealed that Japan has become the first country to approve its treatment for lung cancer. It was an early leader of the blue-chips...

Former Railtrack Bosses in Britain to Head Its Successor.
July 5, 2002... Byline: Robert Lea Jul. 5--The board of Britain's new rail network operator is likely to be headed by two chief executives and to include two other senior executive directors who were at the helm of Railtrack during its slide into chaos....

British Brothers Separate Retail Business Ties to Avoid Hurting Relationship.
July 5, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Prynn Jul. 5--The Seventies BBC TV series The Brothers chronicled the ups and downs -- and it was mainly downs -- of a fictional family-run trucking business. The company was riven by sibling rivalries, as you would expect...