Business briefs: Petroceltic | Vodafone | McBride

Waitrose – Wimbledon and Glastonbury gave a boost to the supermarket chain with weekly takings up 12.3 per cent on surging barbecue, Champagne and beer sales.

• Petroceltic – The firm has begun legal action against two parties with whom its previous board had entered into service and consultancy agreements related to its North African activities.

• Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce – The chamber has elected its new president and board and policy council members, with Alec Carstairs taking up the post of president.

• Balfour Beatty – A £121 million contract to build an 18–storey hotel, leisure and apartment complex close to London’s O2 arena should keep the infrastructure group busy.

• Vodafone – The mobile giant is building two more hubs in Africa to boost telecoms support for multinational firms. The hubs in Ghana and Kenya will add to operations in Egypt and South Africa.

• Siemens – By pulling out of the bidding to provide trains for London’s Crossrail project, the prospects for rivals Bombardier, Hitachi and Spain’s CAF to win the contract have increased.

• BlackBerry – The firm will likely face tough questions at its annual meeting on Tuesday after poor quarterly results triggered a plunge in the Canadian smartphone maker’s share price.

• McBride – Annual sales at the laundry powder and shampoo maker are expected to decline 5 per cent as its contract manufacturing revenues fall following a decision to wind down the division.