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Tiscali job cull


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Old 27-09-2006, 12:32
mbear
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http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia...src=rss&feed=4
Tiscali is set to make more than 340 staff redundant, 40% of the workforce, following its merger with video-on-demand operator Homechoice.
Tiscali UK, the third largest broadband operator in the country with around 240 staff, agreed a merger with Homechoice, which has around 580 staff, in August.
No wonder they were losing so much money. What a bunch of muppets - how can they have thought it plausible to have so many staff. I know we're not comparing horses for courses here - HC was an LLU supplier with their own "engineers" and very sales-driven whereas Tiscali is very minimal on the sales/installation side. Presumably also the article is talking about Tiscali retail rather than wholesale, or not?
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Old 29-09-2006, 21:33
urbanbass
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disregard this

Last edited by urbanbass : 29-09-2006 at 21:36. Reason: sencitive info
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Old 29-09-2006, 22:35
Mavrik
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Originally Posted by urbanbass
disregard this
Why disregard this?
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Old 30-09-2006, 16:21
BBRealist
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Originally Posted by urbanbass
disregard this
You can't just post something like that and not elaborate
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Old 02-10-2006, 17:33
mbear
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hmm... strange post that
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Old 02-10-2006, 17:47
Betamax Lives
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Its like hes glad people are going to lose their jobs - let me guess - big picture of Lady Thatcher on the bedroom wall?

And how does he know how many people it takes to run a cutting edge company like Homechoice?
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Old 02-10-2006, 18:42
Peter We
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deleted ....

Last edited by Peter We : 02-10-2006 at 18:43. Reason: Wrong subject
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Old 03-10-2006, 10:54
BBRealist
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Originally Posted by Betamax Lives
Its like hes glad people are going to lose their jobs - let me guess - big picture of Lady Thatcher on the bedroom wall?

And how does he know how many people it takes to run a cutting edge company like Homechoice?
I don't think that's what he's trying to say.

I think his point also was that in terms of staff to customers (45,000 customers, 580 staff) Homechoice seem somewhat overweight and are losing money. This isn't that dissimilar from the cable companies back in the day to be honest.

I don't think anyone is happy when people lose their jobs.
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Old 25-10-2006, 16:12
BBRealist
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Found another angle on this:

THE British arm of Tiscali, the troubled Italian broadband group, is preparing to cut hundreds of jobs, with up to 40 per cent of the workforce being chopped.

The group, which is borrowing money from SilverPoint, the American hedge fund, at 11 per cent, admitted yesterday that it is in a “consultation period” over job cuts after its tie-up with Homechoice, the video-on-demand player, but it declined to discuss numbers.

Around 800 people work in the combined Tiscali UK and HomeChoice businesses.

The tie-up with HomeChoice, which was announced last month, was seen by analysts as a last-ditch attempt for survival by the Italian broadband player, which has been forced by financial restraints to curtail its pan-European ambitions rapidly. A new push in the UK is expected to form the centrepiece of a new business strategy by Tiscali to be announced by the group next month. By better distinguishing its UK offering, the group, which has 1.3 million broadband customers, hopes to better retain customers and win new ones. It hopes to boost its takings by providing a version of the service on a wholesale level. However, analysts believe that the combination of several fierce, well-resourced competitors and its own financial restraints mean that the plan is misguided.
Tiscali said that the loan facility — set at an initial Euribor rate, or the European inter-bank borrowing rate, plus 8 percentage points — was dependent on certain conditions, but declined to reveal further details. City sources, however, said that the interest rate would increase if the internet group failed to meet set performance targets.
Most cheerful angles too!

This so reminds me of what happened with the cable companies earlier this decade, except that they had the infrastructure in the ground to back them up and shore up their value even when the companies themselves weren't worth much.

Here's hoping that someone with more resource takes an interest in the combined company, think the story is spot on when it says that they are fighting companies which are far, far better financed.

Last edited by BBRealist : 25-10-2006 at 16:17.
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Old 25-10-2006, 17:57
jongatera
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Looks like Time Warner may be wanting to Purchase Tiscali:

NewRatings story

That would sort out any money problems then.
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Old 25-10-2006, 18:23
Peter We
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Tiscali make a small profit don't they?
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Old 25-10-2006, 19:14
DrinkingBuddy
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Originally Posted by jongatera
Looks like Time Warner may be wanting to Purchase Tiscali:

NewRatings story

That would sort out any money problems then.
That is very interesting and could explain why they were so apparently eager to leave the UK market with the sale of AOL UK to Carephone Warehouse.

I think far more than the financial aspect, the level of muscle thay could put behind content deals would help revitalise our ailing little service.
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Old 25-10-2006, 19:19
BBRealist
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Not saying it isn't going to happen but that's bizarre. Why ditch AOL UK (3rd biggest UK ISP) to go back into the ISP market and buy the 4th largest UK ISP with a very incomplete IPTV rollout? They could have easily purchased Homechoice, unless VNL weren't interested in being bought by them.

Seems odd but certainly not beyond possibility.
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Old 13-11-2006, 22:36
urbanbass
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disregard this
I've been away a long time. What I meant was:- Disregard my earlier post ......... except that I seem to have been able to delete it.

My earlier post was along the lines of yes its happening like; big fish, little fish, slurp, belch. It looks like an asset strip.

As has as HC head count is concerned, don't forget that its a technology development company, so that "top heveiness" is designers and software. NTL dosn't provide its own content like HC, and Tiscalli out sources its call staff to india so it looks smaller, but it still pays the same amount of people. Concidering its doing so many things, I don't see that they can loose that many staff.
What they should have done is make it national and take advantage of the economies of scale.
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