Economics & Business

The Travel Weekly blog reports on how the credit crunch may affect the Travel industry in 2008.

 The credit crunch, alongside several other negative economic factors, will contribute enormously towards a difficult trading year for the travel industry, but neither trade nor consumer publications appear to be focusing on the top end of the market, which can often be less susceptible to changing conditions - a market segment which has come to see travel as a necessity.

According to the post, top end travel operators such as Mark Warner and Sovereign Luxury Holidays (part of TUI Travel), should be less affected by the predicted drop in consumer spending.

According to Legal Week, Wragge & Co is advising Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance on a £27m bridging facility and £29m refinancing to fund Contracting Solutions Group’s (CSG’s) recommended cash offer for Lorien, a rival IT company.

LTSBCF offer a range of commercial finance solutions for businesses of various sizes including asset based lending, factoring, and invoice discounting.

“Homecoming Revolution is a non-profit organization, sponsored by First National Bank, aimed at encouraging and helping South Africans living abroad to return home.”

That’s the opening line from the Homecoming Revolution website. With thousands of South African’s existing as economic migrants on the UK and elsewhere in Europe, HR welcomed 1200 visitors last week at their recruitment show in London.

Acording to the SA Times:

Engineering companies, including Bateman Engineering, Grinaker LTA, Group 5 and Murray & Roberts attended, hoping to meet engineers — but to no avail.

Schaffer said: “The hardest sector to fill is engineering and construction. There is a worldwide shortage.”

Meanwhile, recruiters in the UK aren’t giving up the fight easy, with thousands of jobs in engineering available in the UK.