However, for more expensive financial, medical, automotive, real estate, travel, home, and professional services, these stakes are much higher.
It has taken 10 months for the two sides to settle their pay dispute, with employers claiming that they could not afford more than a 3% increase and the unions insisting more was needed to stop their members falling behind in the public service pay stakes.
He also said the company would invest in other businesses, perhaps trading services for a stake in new firms.
The trade unions say that tens of thousands of jobs and the closure of many wards and services are at stake.
When the economic survival of services is at stake, the support for IMs can decrease, and IMs that otherwise would be treated may be turned away.
The message was that the Chancellor's prudence will pay off before too long.But the squeeze has also left its mark on the front-line services Labour has staked so much political capital on improving.
Last week, the holding company controlled by Oleg Deripaska, one of Russia's tycoon oligarchs and a Kremlin loyalist, applied to Russia's anti-monopoly service for a stake in RussNeft.America's Marathon Oil offered to buy Canada's Western Oil Sands for around $6.2 billion.
That leaves Vivendi to focus on its Canal Plus French pay television service; its 40percentt stake in Cegetel, a French phone company that Mr. Fourtou would like to control; and the American media assets that include the Vivendi Universal movie, music and theme park businesses as well as the Sci-Fi Channel.
In financial services, KKR owns stakes in Alea, a Bermuda reinsurance firm, and CapMark, a real estate financing company.
He now prefers investing in real estate and financial services; he has stakes in Danish technology firm Vopium, a Skype rival, India's Dhanalaxmi Bank and brokerage firmDestimoney Securities.
There are tons of recommendation sites out there, but for services where the stakes are much higher than a meal like pediatricians or financial advisors a lot of people still prefer referrals from friends.
