East Coast Rail Line is Nationalised

The government is taking the East Coast rail line that runs from London to Edinburgh and which has been operated by National Express into public ownership. National Express has struggled with falling revenues and higher costs that have contributed to rising losses on the line. In a press release, National Express said that higher hedged fuel costs added £11 million of cost in the first half of 2009, while increased pension costs cost the business a further £3 million.

Q&A - Why do start-ups find it difficult to estimate revenues?

One of the hardest tasks an entrepreneur faces with a start-up business is coming up with a realistic estimate of revenues.

Q&A - What is revenue?

A business exists to provide products (goods and services). Those products are sold to customers.  When a customer buys a product, that transaction becomes a sale for the business.  That’s what businesses do – they make sales. The value of sales made is the revenue of the business.