Assura likely to recommend new KKR offer to investors March 10, 2025 Healthcare property group Assura said it has received an indicative, non-binding proposal from KKR and Stonepeak Partners for 49.4p per share. The offer, which is a premium of 31.9 per cent to the closing share price of 37.4 pence on February 13, values Assura’s share capital at about £1.6bn. Assura’s share price shot up by [...]
ONS reliability questioned after survey ‘collapsed’ to five respondents March 10, 2025 The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is under fire after internal emails exposed a sample size of employment data “collapsed to only five individuals”. According to correspondence obtained by the Financial Times, deputy chief economist Richard Heys cautioned in October 2023 that maintaining the statistics agency’s labour force survey (LFS) had “little and falling merit.” Heys [...]
Government to hit regulators with performance targets to drive innovation March 10, 2025 Regulators will be slapped with new performance targets in an effort to stimulate technological innovation and drive investment in the UK. According to Lord Patrick Vallance, the science minister, the benchmarks will be designed to accelerate innovation. Lord Vallance has suggested that this drive for innovation could result in commercial delivery drones, self-driving vehicles, and [...]
Atom Bank wants to inspire staff back to the office March 10, 2025 The boss of Atom Bank said he wants to inspire his staff back to the office as he announced plans to relocate its headquarters to Newcastle. Chief executive Mark Mullen has confirmed plans to move its head office from The Rivergreen Centre in Durham to The Pattern Shop in Newcastle. The Pattern Shop was where [...]
Gary Neville signs deal with cult London coffee brand Grind March 10, 2025 Cult coffee brand Grind is to open its first base outside London after signing a deal with Gary Neville to take space at his landmark city centre development in Manchester. Grind has agreed to take over 3,000 sq ft at No.1 St Michael’s scheme which is being led by Neville’s Relentless Developments. Grind joins the [...]
Government unveils £23m boost for telecoms March 10, 2025 The UK government has announced a £23m investment in telecoms research and development, aiming to strengthen connectivity across key industries like AI, cloud computing, and agriculture. The funding forms part of science and technology secretary Peter Kyle’s plans to accelerate the deployment of next generation telecoms technologies. He is expected to confirm the funding during [...]
UK markets being ‘gradually undermined’ by tax regime – Interactive Investor boss March 10, 2025 The current tax regime is making UK markets “just about tradable” and are leading to their “gradual undermining”, according to the chief executive of Interactive Investor*. Speaking in the latest episode of City AM‘s Boardroom Uncovered podcast, Richard Wilson said his company has seen an increase in more investors trading in foreign markets instead of [...]
Sidemen charity match proves importance of entertainment in sport March 10, 2025 On Saturday afternoon at Wembley Stadium, 90,000 fans packed out the home of football for a charity match featuring online celebrities the Sidemen. Having begun with games at Southampton in 2016 and Charlton’s The Valley, the Sidemen – a group of seven YouTubers who have banded together to grow their brand, and whose most notable [...]
Jake Greenberg firm Cobalt Holdings set for London listing March 10, 2025 The co-founder of uranium firm Yellow Cake’s new venture, Cobalt Holdings, is looking to float in London as early as May. The Times reports that Jake Greenberg’s firm is looking to raise £180m to buy up $200m (£155m) of Cobalt from Glencore in a six-year supply deal. Glencore is set to be a cornerstone investor, [...]
GlobalData reports ‘transformational’ 2024 due to AI demand March 10, 2025 GlobalData has reported a five per cent increase in revenue to £285.5m for the year ended 31 December 2024, in line with market expectations. The company, which provides data and business intelligence solutions across various industries, reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) growth of five per cent to £116.8m, with an EBITDA [...]