Sunday Times Rich List sport: Beckham, Ratcliffe, West Ham United Sport Business A host of Premier League football club owners dominate the sporting names in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List. Both current and former owners of some of the Premier League’s biggest club make the annual fortune list. Newcastle United co-owners the Reuben brothers and Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe each make the top 10, [...]
Package deal: Evri to merge with DHL ecommerce arm Business Parcel delivery company Evri is set to merge with DHL eCommerce UK, the e-commerce logistics specialist of DHL Group, in yet another example of consolidation in the sector. The merged Evri business is set to deliver over a billion parcels and a further billion business letters annually, with 30,000 couriers and 12,000 office staff, DHL [...]
UK board members brace for wave of takeover bids Investing Non-executive directors of UK companies and bracing for a wave of takeover bids throughout 2025 as British firms face continual share price weakness. As many as 80 per cent of non-executive directors said that their companies are more vulnerable to a takeover bid, according to data from investment bank Peel Hunt. Last year, a host [...]
Royal Mail allowed to ditch Second Class Saturday deliveries January 30, 2025 This morning, regulator Ofcom has said it is proposing to scrap Second Class letter deliveries on Saturdays and reduce the service to alternate weekdays while lowering Royal Mail’s delivery targets. In a statement published this morning, titled ‘Protecting the postal service for the future,’ Ofcom said Royal Mail’s universal service agreement “urgently needs reform to [...]
Owners of London Stadium forced to pay West Ham United £3.6m January 27, 2025 The owners of West Ham United’s London Stadium have been forced to cough up £3.6m after losing a court case against the Premier League club. E20 Stadium, set up by publicly-owned London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), must pay back the multi-million pound sum to the club after West Ham challenged a payment they made to [...]
Royal Mail IDS owner to return to profit as Kretinsky takes reins January 15, 2025 The owner of Royal Mail is set to return to profit just as its long drawn out sale to Daniel Kretinsky nears completion thanks to a welcome uplift in the number of parcels it delivered over Christmas. International Distribution Services (IDS) said Royal Mail’s “successful Christmas period” saw it process 188m tracked parcels, a 19 [...]
‘Czech Sphinx’ Royal Mail takeover signed off by government and unions December 16, 2024 The takeover of Royal Mail parent company International Distribution Services has been signed off by the government and unions, as EP Group is now set to officially gain control of the firm. The £3.6bn takeover by ‘the Czech Sphinx’, billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, was approved by shareholders in September, and was waiting on approval from the [...]
Vince Cable warns against bid by the ‘Czech Sphinx’ for Royal Mail December 15, 2024 Former business secretary Vince Cable has warned the Government not to wave through the sale of the Royal Mail to Czech tycoon Daniel Kretinsky, citing his links to Russia and the high amount of debt involved. Cable was the architect of the privatisation of the postal service in 2013, overseeing a £3.3bn deal which led [...]
London Stock Exchange takeover bonanza tops £50bn November 29, 2024 This year's barrage of takeover bids for firms lsited on the London Stock Exchange has jumped to £52bn, igniting fears over the future of Britain's equity markets.
Royal Mail: Shareholder rebellion threatens Czech Sphinx bid July 30, 2024 A shareholder rebellion has left Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's £3.6bn bid for Royal Mail up in the air.