A WEEK IN BUSINESS

Top of the form

The bidding frenzy for electricity firms continued last week, driving Norweb up 122p to 1,008p on a bid from North West Water. The 1,022p cash and shares bid was rejected by Norweb's management.

Tail-ender

Eurodollar, the car rental company, skidded down 54p to close the week at 148p after it issued a profits warning.

Greasy pole (up)

Rover got a new boss with the appointment of Wolfgang Reitzle as its new chairman. Mr Reitzle was head of research and development at BMW, Rover's owner. He replaces BMW chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder on the UK motor company's board.

Greasy pole (down)

National Express lost a second former executive of West Midlands Travel when Brian Kerslake stepped down from his post in charge of acquisitions. The chairman, Don Colston, resigned due to ill health last month.

Nice little earner

Sam Chisholm, chief executive of the satellite broadcaster BSkyB, was paid pounds 4.7m last year, it was revealed in company documents.

Bum deal

Labour accused the Government of privatising the Port of Tilbury too cheaply three years ago after it was sold for four times as much.

U-turn

A plan by Sharelink and Electronic Share Information to let Internet users deal in London shares was disconnected by the Stock Exchange before its launch.

Sound bite

"I love to do deals. I walk around on a plane to see if there's anyone that I can do business with," - Lew Grade, 88, in Business Age.

Under attack

Action groups representing Lloyd's Names demanded the insurance market raise its compensation offer from pounds 2.8bn to pounds 3.5bn if it wants to avoid litigation.

Jobs lost

Glaxo Wellcome made 1,700 redundant in the UK. Eastern Electricity announced 400 job cuts, GEC 415 at the Yarrow shipyard and British Steel 520 at Wednesfield near Wolverhampton.

Jobs gained

Fujitsu, the Japanese electronics group, announced 500 new jobs in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, as a result of an pounds 816m expansion of its semi- conductor plant there.

Product launch

French company Read has begun production of easy-open ring tabs for oyster cans and expects to sell 50 million in its home market this winter.