Growth of firms

Virgin Active to snap up Esporta

This is a great news story for budding economists. Virgin Active gyms who own 71 fitness clubs in the UK is set to buy the 51 Esporta fitness clubs for £77.6 million. A great case study to discuss the benefits and costs of growth to firms. The takeover still needs to go through the Office of Fair Trading.
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Growth of firms - British Airways

This is a great little audio on the new joint venture from British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia. It makes a great starter on growth of firms. Containing lots of key concepts for teachers to discuss with their students such as monopoly.

Banks - who’s in with who

I really like this interactive guide from the Guardian. It gives you information on the banks that are linked to each other. It would be quite a good starter for growth of firms.

Apple overtakes Microsoft

The launch of the ipad and the sucess of the ipod have led to Apple overtaking Microsoft in size. This video would make a good starter for revising growth of firms.

Asda to buy Netto - growth of firms

Asda has announced that it is to takeover the small discount supermarket Netto. This is a great example of horizontal integration (takeover of a firm at the same stage of the production process). So why have Asda done it. The move will 193 smaller stores to the Asda chain. This will increase their market share and allow them to compete better with their main rival Tesco.

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United Airlines and Continental Airlines set to merge

This is a great case study to look at when studying the growth of firms. Continental and United airlines have announced that the are set to merge. This will give them a combined market share of 21% of the US market. They will become the worlds biggest carrier.

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Growth of firms - Poundland

How many of us bought something in Poundland over the Christmas period? I, like many others did. The chain saw sales surge by 34.8% in the five weeks to January 3, with revenues from stores open at least a year up 4.4%. The chain have opened 46 new stores in the UK since April 2009. They plan to open another 50 in the next year adding to the current 254 shops they currently own.

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Great video on BA and Iberia merger

Following on from my blog yesterday I have found a great video clip on the proposed merger of BA and Iberia. Willie Walsh talks about the synergies that are going to occur due to the merger.

BA and Iberia - economies of scale

The proposed merger of British Airways and Iberia shows types of economies of scale very nicely. Economies of scale occur when a firm grows larger its long run average costs fall. If we remember the mnemonic we used for types of economies of scale - Really, Fun, Mums, Try, Making, Pies, we can then apply this to the merger.

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T-mobile and Orange set to merge

The new OCR GCSE specification goes into more depth in the topic of business growth; students will learn about how businesses grow. The news today that T-mobile and Orange are set to merge is a great real world example for students to gain a greater understanding of this topic.

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