Octopus pledges €1bn to boost France’s green energy market with one million customer target March 13, 2023 Octopus has announced plans to further expand its investment strategy in France with a billion euro spending pledge.
Silicon Valley Bank UK: What we know (and what we don’t) on Sunday evening March 12, 2023 The Bank of England is set to put Silicon Valley Bank UK into insolvency as soon as this evening – with tech champions warning that the bank’s collapse could be an extinction-level event for a host of UK firms. This story has been updated as of Monday morning The bank’s accounts are effectively frozen, meaning [...]
Amanda Blanc on Desert Island Discs: Aviva chief speaks out against misogyny March 12, 2023 Aviva chief executive Amanda Blanc has spoken out on the iconic BBC show Desert Island Discs about the misogyny she experienced as chair of the Welsh Rugby Union and at her FTSE 100 firm’s AGM last year. At the shareholder meeting ast year Blanc said that she was the target of a number of sexist [...]
Issa Brothers mull sale of Asda properties as debt rises March 12, 2023 Asda has launched a £8.6bn review of its property estate as the billionaire brothers behind the business scramble for options to reduce its debt pile, according to reports. According to reports in The Telegraph, owners Mohsin and Zuber Issa backed by private equity backers TDR Capital, are targeting the sale and leaseback of Asda’s supermarket [...]
UK must turn around the ship of state towards economic freedom March 12, 2023 Dr Rainer Zitelmann is a historian and sociologist. In this guest essay, he argues the UK is slipping down the list of free countries in a new global index Last year, the UK received its worst rating in the Index of Economic Freedom since 1995, when the index was first calculated. This year’s rating is [...]
Thames Water drafts in advisors to tackle £14bn debt pile March 12, 2023 Thames Water has been forced to draft in advisors to evaluate its financial situation, amid growing concerns that the group will not be able to fix its £14bn debt mountain. According to reports in Sky News, the UK’s biggest water supplier has drafted in investment bankers from Rothschild, and the law firm Slaughter & May to [...]
Silicon Valley Bank: ‘Serious risk’ to UK tech and life sciences, Jeremy Hunt warns March 12, 2023 The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank UK (SVBUK) poses a “serious risk” to the UK’s tech and life sciences sectors, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has warned. Ministers have said urgent plans to protect businesses from the fallout are being drawn up. Talks between Hunt, prime minister Rishi Sunak and Bank of England (BoE) governor Andrew Bailey [...]
Aldi to lift restrictions on fresh produce as shortages ease March 11, 2023 Aldi said it will remove all customer limits on buying fresh produce as supply issues which led to widespread shortages begin to ease. The supermarket joins Lidl and Asda in lifting restrictions. Aldi said in a statement on Saturday: “From Monday (March 13), Aldi will remove all purchasing restrictions on fresh produce – including limits [...]
UK culture sec urges Olympic partners like Coca-Cola and Visa to back Russia athlete ban March 11, 2023 The UK’s culture secretary has written to sponsors of the Olympics including Coca-Cola and Visa urging them to back a ban on Russian and Belorussian athletes. Lucy Frazer addressed the letter to the CEOs of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Worldwide Partners, which include Coca-Cola, Intel, Samsung and Visa. The letter to CEOs comes after [...]
What’s going on at Silicon Valley Bank and why is it shaking UK banking stocks? March 10, 2023 Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has built its reputation lending to some of the world’s most innovate start-ups and investors. But the Nasdaq-listed bank has now been rocked by what some fear could turn into a very old-fashioned bank run. Shares in the firm have plunged more than 60 per cent in two days and jitters [...]