United Kingdom

J Sainsbury is planning to cut more than 5 percent of its London head office staff as part of a restructuring plan in an effort to keep costs down at the supermarket chain, the Financial Times reported. Justin King, chief executive, told staff on Wednesday that he would be cutting more than 200 jobs as part of a restructuring of central teams in the business. Sainsbury said it would be moving from five main business units in its trading division to three--non-food, grocery and fresh food--which would make a number of roles redundant.

Vehicle production in the United Kingdom slumped by nearly half in December from the same month the year before as the credit crisis continued to hit demand hard, a trade group said Thursday. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, or SMMT, said nearly 48 percent fewer cars were made in December 2008 compared with the previous year. In addition, the group said commercial vehicle production fell about 57 percent in December from the previous year, with full year production down six percent.

Amid the ongoing restructuring processes of Nortel Networks, the Philippine operations will remain safe, Inquirer.net reported. Nortel Asia Communications Director Matthew Wray said operations in the Philippines, as well as their other affiliates across Asia, are working with partners and suppliers to avoid operational disruptions. "Our affiliates across Asia, including the Philippines, are not subject to the creditor protection filings in North America and Europe and are expected to continue to operate as normal," Wray said in an email.

With taxpayers tethered to its fate, Orchestra London moved a step closer yesterday to getting nearly a half-million dollars from city hall, The London Free Press reported. London's board of control unanimously recommended giving the operating grant to the symphony. Effectively, it had no choice: Without it, the orchestra would default on a $500,000 loan council guaranteed last month. The loan guarantee and grant make possible a turnaround by a symphony that had been on pace to run a fourth straight deficit topping $300,000.

British music and entertainment retailer Zavvi will close another 18 stores and cut 353 jobs, the collapsed company's administrators said Wednesday. Administrators at Ernst & Young, appointed to run the company after it filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 24, said they had received many expressions of interest in Zavvi's operations, but did not found a buyer for all the stores, the Associated Press reported. The administrators said they still hope to all or part of the remaining 74 stores. Zavvi's flagship store in central London is one of those earmarked for closure.

Clifford Chance LLP has disclosed that the economic downturn may force it to lay off up to 8 percent of the lawyers currently at its London office, the third round of layoffs at the firm in the past year or so, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. “Our clients and their legal services needs have undergone significant change over the past year,” said Jeremy Sandelson, London regional managing partner. “We need to reflect that in the London office, and that includes ensuring that our level of staffing is appropriate for today's economic realities.

Litigators from the London office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges have been retained by Kaupthing bank for an expected civil suit against the British government, The AmLaw Daily reported. The Reykjavik-based bank, which was nationalized in October, claims that it collapsed because U.K. authorities forced its British subsidiary into bankruptcy at the height of the banking crisis. Read more.

Russia's gas price dispute with Ukraine escalated Tuesday, disrupting deliveries to the European Union in the midst of a bitter cold spell, with a number of countries reporting that gas supplies had been suspended or reduced, and Germany predicting a possible shortage, the International Herald Tribune reported. Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Macedonia, Turkey, Greece, the Czech Republic and Austria reported that gas supplies had been suspended or reduced after Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly, reduced gas shipments through Ukraine.

Japan's Sony Corp is likely to announce closures of Japanese factories and major divisions early next month, the Times of London said on Monday, but the company denied any such plan existed. The maker of Bravia flat TVs and PlayStation video game consoles faces halting sales and mounting piles of inventory in the wake of the financial crisis, even as a stronger yen bites into earnings.

Oilexco Inc., a North Sea producer of oil and gas, lost more than half its market value in London trading today after saying its U.K. subsidiary was likely to file for insolvency administration as early as next week, Bloomberg reported. Calgary-based Oilexco North Sea Ltd. has been informed by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc that lenders aren’t prepared to provide further financing, Oilexco said today in a statement. The unit “does not have any other source of funding,” it said, adding that the parent company “remains solvent.” Oilexco hired Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch & Co.