It has so far failed to find a buyer because bids received have been too low. British Energy sold its Canadian operations last March for £250m, which it used to pay back the Government loan.. A proposed European directive for full and immediate rights to temporary workers would cause “irreparable damage” to Britain’s job market, the Confederation of British Industry warned today. Brussels has offered a compromise of a six-week derogation period, which the UK has rejected.Digby Jones, the CBI’s Director-General, has written to Anna Diamantopoulou, the EU Commissioner responsible for the directive, warning that the measure would harm the UK’s labour market.Britain has the largest temping market in Europe, employing more than 700,000 people, he said. “Without improvements, taking on temps will be less attractive and that will do irreparable damage, not just to business but to employees as well,” he said.The CBI published a survey by employment agency Pertemps showing that the draft directive would trigger a huge cut in job opportunities.It found 47 per cent would cut use of agency temps. Tim Watts, chairman of Pertemps, said: “A large number of people choose only to do flexible work as it suits their lifestyles.

Forcing these people out of the economy would be to the detriment of the economy.”Britain, Germany, Denmark and Ireland will argue the directive would undermine a valuable facility for companies and a way of getting people into work. Benelux countries, which already have similar rules, are pushing to have the directive accepted.”The UK is trying to strike a balance between protecting agency workers and protecting their jobs,” a UK government spokeswoman said. “Agency jobs can be an essential step on to the jobs ladder.”A minority of four states can block the directive but the UK could still be defeated, as not all its allies are insistent on the 12-month rule.The UK government may be forced to accept a compromise of less than 12 months. It is understood that Germany may propose a three-month period that might command support.But the EU measure is strongly supported by British trade unions, which believe it is inequitable to give temporary workers less rights to pay, holidays and maternity leave compared with their full time colleagues.A TUC spokesman said: “This survey is just another report dreamt up by the cry-wolf employers’ research department.

The same people wrongly predicted that the national minimum wage and the working time directive would cost thousands of jobs.”The TUC estimates that almost three-quarters of the existing pool of agency workers would lose out if a 12-month qualifying period were imposed.A separate survey published today showed that the UK has among the lowest levels of redundancy payouts in the EU.According to Mercer, a consultancy, a white-collar employee aged 40, made redundant after 10 years on a salary of £20,000 would received £5,128 in the UK compared with £25,464 in Spain.. A new brand of advertising has arrived on the internet. It is underground yet big-budget and, best of all for the advertisers, beyond the reach of any official sanction

A new brand of advertising has arrived on the internet. “But if you choose to download it from a website, then we treat it as a choice you have made to view it.”That’s music to the ears of many advertisers looking for cheap ways to attract viewers. “Viral marketing” campaigns, as they are known, are increasing in number and, even when they are unlikely to offend, getting them to a computer screen can be far quicker and cheaper than doing the same for a television screen.”A TV ad can cost £1m to put together,” said Michael Davey, the customer relations manager for the car manufacturer Mazda UK, which has produced a series of internet-only adverts for its Mazda 2 car “Then you have to pay for the airtime … Getting a little movie ad on to the Net is hundreds of times cheaper.”Michael Nutley, the editor of the online marketers’ bible New Media Age, said: “We are seeing viral ads being produced that are more and more professional, like TV ads. The only criterion is that, if it’s funny or an enjoyable game, then it will get forwarded Otherwise it’ll flop.