But the chances Description of majority agreement have not looked better since this whole sorry business started. Introduction There is no sensible alternative to accepting it, even if the argument is htm bound to continue for htm a couple of months over detail.. Gas reshuffle solves nothing history Description The deck chairs have been shuffled yet again on board the good ship British Gas, as the rubber dinghy is being lowered in readiness to cut adrift the unwanted ballast of those pesky history take-or-pay Introduction contracts. Judging from the latest batch of history board appointments, the black spot is being Introduction reserved for Philip Rogerson, the executive director responsible Introduction htm for overseeing the demerger of British Gas. Not that you would necessarily Description guess that from yesterday's British Gas statement, which is another masterful example of Economy 7 as applied to the English language. The settlement offer itself has been raised by only pounds 300m Introduction htm to pounds 3.1bn. htm The history other pounds 900m is technically not part of Lloyd's offer to Description the history Description names but a reduction in what they have to shell out to Equitas.

But it comes to the same thing in the end - the overall package is pounds 1.2bn better than it was when the outline settlement was published in February.Having delivered such a surprise with the pounds 900m, Lloyd's risks encouraging the most militant members to press on with their campaign in the hope that there is another chunk of money up another baggy sleeve somewhere. The names' action groups, for their part, have also played it pretty rough, and close to the brink at times. So have the auditors, who grudgingly agreed in the late stages of the negotiations to pay pounds 100m or more into the settlement - a lot less than they ought to contribute, given their central role, but progress all the same. As ever with Lloyd's, nothing is simple. It's a terribly off-handed way to work."Earlier this week, it was announced that a management buyout team was the preferred bidder for Freightliner, BR's other remaining freight company..

It is hard to believe that the first Lloyd's offer to its aggrieved names three years ago was a miserable pounds 900m. In the last week alone, the market has managed to magic out of the hat the same amount simply by reducing the funding requirements of the Equitas reinsurance vehicle from pounds 1.9bn to pounds 1bn, a saving of pounds 900m But then all negotiations involve brinkmanship. Lloyd's must have seen the possibility much earlier this year of reducing the cost of Equitas to names, but held the card back to the last minute, when it would have the maximum psychological effect. However, it is still severely loss-making and most industry observers doubt whether it can be sold during the current financial year.One of the customers affected by the decision said he would be negotiating with RfD: "I am furious that they have done this without prior warning or discussion with us. These are similar to the losses in 1994/5 and arise partly because of its investment in services through the Channel Tunnel which are only now starting to bear fruit. Meanwhile, we are required to restructure the business with the objective of making it viable in the long term."Mr Blissett says he may reconsider but only if there were five loaded wagons per trip.The letter says that recent performance has been "poorer than had been expected", culminating in losses of pounds 60m for 1995/6.