Bank cheers Budget’s focus on saving as UK confidence swells March 24, 2014 LLOYDS Bank has backed the recent Budget’s focus on savings, as the group records the strongest consumer confidence in at least three years. Lloyds’ latest spending power report suggests that the number of people saving some of their income has risen by a third since May last year. The bank’s headline figure for consumer confidence [...]
Three tech firms surge to $260bn on grey market March 24, 2014 THREE upcoming initial public offerings (IPOs) from tech firms King Digital Entertainment, Alibaba and Just Eat are all set to beat analyst expectations with a combined valuation of over $260bn (£158bn), according to IG’s IPO grey market. King, the British games giant and creator of Candy Crush Saga, has already hit a valuation of $8.7bn, [...]
Bottom Line: Can a King make more Candy? March 24, 2014 IN 2005 Apax Partners took a $35m (£21.2m) gamble on a moderately successful but little-known British games developer called Midasplayer.com – later rebranded as King Digital Entertainment. King would go on to develop some 150 games before it finally found success in April 2012 with Candy Crush Saga. It was worth waiting for. The one [...]
The pensions boss with the world’s hottest nextdoor neighbour March 24, 2014 Scottish Widows’ chief executive Toby Strauss talks adverts and Osborne’s annuities shake-up THE INSURANCE industry has been allowed to fly under the radar for a number of years, but things are about to change. George Osborne’s Budget, in which he announced a sweeping overhaul of the pensions industry, has annuities providers reaching for their calculators [...]
Labour calls for stronger rules on cyber threat March 24, 2014 LABOUR is today calling for a clearer strategy on Britain’s defence and security, alongside ramped-up legal requirements for reporting cyber attacks. Shadow defence secretary Vernon Coaker will say in a speech in London that there should be a more open discussion about the UK’s defence strategy, in the run-up to the next strategic defence and [...]
Yo! Sushi ready to roll with £120m price tag ahead of sale March 24, 2014 YO! SUSHI’S private equity backers are set to raise the for-sale sign over the firm this autumn with a £120m price tag. The purveyor of colourful plates of salmon nigiri and avocado maki is due to be put on the block in September by its global parent Quilvest Partners, which took over Yo! in 2008 [...]
Kitchen King: Money can ruin people’s lives March 24, 2014 NO ONE could accuse AO.com’s John Roberts of not being down to earth, and by all accounts he’s trying to make sure his kids follow in his grounded footsteps – despite his newly minted £500m post-float fortune. How? By not giving them huge handouts and trust funds. “That kind of thing can ruin people’s lives [...]
Gove proves he’s no old-timer with love for Mr B, Gentleman Rhymer March 24, 2014 MICHAEL Gove proved yesterday that he’s not only elbow deep in education policy, he’s also down with the kids…kind of. The education secretary revealed he is a big fan of rap artist Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer, admitting he’s “strangely addicted” to his work – an intriguing permutation of rap called Chap Hop (it involves [...]
Three things you didn’t know about… March 24, 2014 GB Group CEO Richard Law 1 Law started out as a coal miner. After leaving school, he followed in the family footsteps by going into coal mining in South Yorkshire. 2 He is currently on a mission to visit every state in the US. It’s his absolute favourite holiday destination – he’s currently on 29 [...]
Philip Green to take on big four with BHS food March 24, 2014 SIR PHILIP Green is taking on the supermarkets this week, as BHS launches its first food outlet. Arcadia, the group owned by the retail tycoon, confirmed over the weekend that BHS will be opening its first trial food space in its Staines store on Thursday, with Warrington to follow the next week. A spokesperson told [...]