The company also operates a 24-hour customer support line that will be made available to all consumers. It already has Europe’s largest technical support network, employing 3,000 people to deal with customer service issues related to products purchased at its shops. John Clare, DSG’s chief executive, said customers have become increasingly frustrated by technology and have struggled with seemingly simple tasks such as connecting digital televisions to other devices like set-top boxes and stereos. DSG International, the owner of the PC World and Currys retail chains, has launched a technical support service aimed at helping confused consumers set up and maintain computers, digital televisions and other electronic devices. The group plans to open 200 service centres across the UK and employ 2,000 new staff who will offer advice to all customers, no matter where the hardware was purchased.
The service will be branded “The TechGuys” and will look to tap into the growing demand for technical support related to increasingly complex computer systems and digital entertainment services. As such, it demonstrates the continuing damage inflicted by the dispute with Ukraine.. It was simply not realistic for Europe to exclude Russia as an energy supplier, because there were no realistic alternatives.

And even if Europe reduced its demand overall, Russia’s market share would at least remain stable or – more likely – rise.Mr Medvedev’s lengthy explanations and assurances were the latest attempt by Moscow to reassure Europe that it remains a reliable supplier. He also repeated accusations that Ukraine had been “stealing” Russian gas and had diverted supplies intended for Europe, when the supply had been switched back on.Mr Medvedev was also concerned to allay fears that Russia might give preference to the Asian market if Europe tried to put pressure on Russia in future, or set conditions. Mr Medvedev said there was no prospect of this, because “we have contracts” that Gazprom respected. He also said the times were gone when Russia would develop oilfields and construct pipelines without contracts for purchases in advance.

It was only in the Soviet Union where reserves were developed without a real market, he said.He forecast that, whatever European countries said, their demand for Russian gas would only grow, and that Russia’s share of the European market was likely to increase from 26 per cent to at least 33 per cent. Mr Yanukovych, whose nomination followed a series of failed attempts by President Viktor Yushchenko to form an “orange revolution” coalition, is leader of the grouping regarded as more friendly to Russia. Last winter’s breakdown of talks on gas supplies was widely seen as a move by Russia to “punish” Ukraine for its pro-Western policies.
Speaking to an international group of academics and journalists in Moscow yesterday, however, Mr Medvedev was concerned to quash any idea that Gazprom’s one-day halt to supplies resulted from anything other than a straight commercial dispute, for which Ukraine was to blame. He said negotiations had been proceeding well, even before Viktor Yanukovych was nominated Ukraine’s next prime minister earlier in the summer. Alexander Medvedev, a deputy chairman of Gazprom and head of its export arm, Gazexport, said Russia had already concluded a five-year transit agreement with Ukraine and that talks on supplies for the coming year were already well advanced. Last winter’s stand-off between Russia and Ukraine that led to Ukraine’s gas supply being briefly cut off will not be repeated this winter, according to a senior official of the Russian state majority-owned company, Gazprom.

It would not, however, give any details of how significant the cuts would be.
The news came as the group revealed a 9 per cent fall in its first half pre-tax profits to £9.2m, blaming an increase in raw material costs and lower demand in the UK.Although the group’s European business performed well, it said trading had been difficult in the UK, where its customers had suffered at the hands of higher energy costs. It added that a colder spring had also affected sales of its horticultural and agricultural products.”These results are in line with our pre-close update and have been affected by high raw material costs and lower volumes, particularly in the UK,” Cameron McLatchie, BPI’s chairman, said.News of continued poor trading over the past few weeks sent the shares down 12 per cent to 436.5p yesterday, giving the company a market value of £113m.The company said it had been warned by its suppliers that raw material prices would increase again this month.”Faced with the twin challenges of record high raw material costs and poor demand, it would be rash of us to predict that we will approach the results we achieved in the second half last year,” Mr McLatchie said.. Although the group said it would make a one-off payment of £20m into its defined benefit pension scheme – which closed to new members six years ago, and has a deficit of some £50m – it said it was also in discussions with members to cut their payouts. The plastic packaging manufacturer British Polythene Industries became the latest company to slash the pension benefits of its longest-serving workers yesterday, as it unveiled a 9 per cent fall in its first-half profits. The 12 per cent increase in the interim dividend reflects the board’s confidence.”The company is focusing on the higher-value end of the market, on data analysis rather than simple collection of information.