Call centre to recruit workers

A call centre is holding two open days in an attempt to recruit 150 North-East staff. GE Consumer Finance is taking on 200 workers at its new building on the Cobalt Business Park, North Tyneside. It ultimately plans to employ up to 1,000 workers on Tyneside as its business expands from store cards to mortgages and current accounts. A recruitment day takes place tomorrow, from 3pm to 7pm, in Menzies Hotel on the Silverlink Business Park, North Tyneside. The second takes place on Saturday, from 10am to 6pm, in the Centre for Life, Newcastle.

PAY RISE: Budget airline Ryanair is giving nearly all its 2,600 staff a three per cent pay rise. The company said all employees who negotiated directly with the carrier during a round of pay talks last month are due to receive a rise, backdated to the start of April. However, a group of about 70 Dublin-based pilots will receive no increase, after claims they were the only employees not to have taken part in the direct talks.

MARCONI WARNING: Telecoms equipment group Marconi yesterday warned it faces a £50m drop in revenues this year, following its failure to land a BT contract. The company, which employs 4,300 people in the UK, also said it was experiencing fierce pricing pressures overall, as it posted annual results. Sales reached £1.27bn, slightly up on a year earlier, while margins rose to 31.9 per cent from 29.5 per cent last year. Bottom-line losses narrowed to £27m, from £171m.

YELL DEAL: The owner of Yellow Pages bolstered its US operation yesterday, with a deal worth £829mn for TransWestern, a leading directories publisher in California and Texas. Reading-based Yell announced the acquisition as it posted results showing a 12 per cent rise in underlying earnings to £402.8m, in the year to March 31. The deal establishes Yell's US operation, Yellow Book, as the fifth largest directory publisher in the US.

DOMINO EFFECT: Fast food franchise Domino's Pizza is launching a Durham branch. The outlet, in North Road, will open on May 30, creating 30 full and part-time jobs. The chain, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, has more than 350 stores across the UK.