THE DAILY BRIEFING

BEAN COUNTER OakNorth has appointed Cristina Alba Ochoa as chief financial officer. She was a senior figure at investment firm GE Capital International during its £80bn split from General Electric. Ochoa replaces interim finance boss Nick Price at the lender, which focuses on business banking.

SERVICES SECURED Video analytics group Big Sofa has signed a services agreement with an unnamed research firm. Simon Lidington, chief executive of Big Sofa, said the three-year deal could be ‘ transformational’. Shares in the firm rose 2.8pc or 0.62p to 23.38p.

ASIA DEAL Big data software provider Fusionex has announced a five-year, multi-million-pound contract with an Asian insurance firm. Shares were flat at 132p.

OATH BROKEN Verizon has announced it will rename Yahoo ‘Oath’ after it combines the tech firm with AOL, whose chief executive, Tim Armstrong, confirmed the decision on his Twitter account with the hashtag #TakeTheOath. But the name has been ridiculed on social media.

WATCHDOG PROBE Competition chiefs in the European Union are examining a plan for the Royal Bank of Scotland to spend £750m on boosting bank competition. The proposal was put forward by the Government after RBS abandoned plans to spin off 306 branches to satisfy regulators. It was ordered to make changes after being handed a £46bn bailout by taxpayers.

STRIKE CONCERNS Ryanair carried 9.4m customers in March – up 10pc from the year before despite the low-cost airline cancelling more than 500 flights after strikes in France. Kenny Jacobs, chief marketing officer, said the air-traffic control disruptions in France had forced the airline to cancel flights and cut its traffic by around 100,000 customers.

SALES UP Energy and water consultancy Utilitywise has posted an 11pc rise in revenue for the six months ending January 31. The North Tyneside firm, which helps businesses reduce energy consumption and bills, said customers increased 17pc to 40,855. Profits stayed flat at £9.7m. Net debt fell 43pc from £16.8m to £9.8m. Founder Geoff Thompson is becoming non-executive chairman.