Jim Armitage: Watchdog’s £185m bite is less painful than some options

In the past year, telephone and broadband engineers failed to turn up to a quarter of a million appointments. Three of those were to my place.

Often, when the engineer finally does turn up, he hasn’t got the gear to do the job.

Of the four of us at my desk, one just had a guy from Sky turn up to fit an aerial who’d forgotten his ladder. The second says BT’s engineer remembered his ladder but couldn’t climb it on account of his “dodgy knees”. And I’ve wasted so many hours and half-days off on Openreach I’ve lost count.

The fourth has been trying for three years to get Sky to change the account name from his wife’s ex. His bills serve as a quarterly reminder of her previous — quite possibly better — love life.

Although my straw poll highlights a 100% dissatisfaction rate with both Sky and BT, it’s likely that the majority of the 5.7 million cases a year of people losing their landline or broadband are caused by BT Openreach.

Likewise, Openreach will be the prime reason for the 12% of all landline and broadband installations that are delayed.

All of us sufferers, under Ofcom’s proposals today, will now receive decent, automatic compensation, be it £10 a day for failing to fix a service or £30 per missed appointment. That will total an extra £185 million.

It’s a lot of money, but even BT’s share will be far smaller than the hit it would have taken had Ofcom forced it to sell Openreach.

I hope it will recognise that fact, accept the Ofcom plan without complaint, and get on with improving its service.

Business-rate hikes are starting to bite. Across London, shops and restaurants, many of whom barely survived the global financial crisis and recession, are throwing in the towel.

The model Jasmine Guinness’s yummy-mummy staple Honeyjam, which stopped selling its toys and knick-knacks this week, will certainly not be the last.

Leisure operators such as Curzon are feeling the pinch, too. Boss Philip Knatchbull says soaring rates and rents mean he has to charge £15 a ticket. “You have to be rich to go to the cinema,” he admits.