The fictional town of Trumpton enjoys Ukip’s website failure January 6, 2015 The lolz were mighty yesterday when it was revealed that Ukip’s website was down. At first, political satire site Guido Fawkes suggested Ukip hadn’t paid its bill – as Kippers were faced with a holding page from domain site 123-Reg when trying to access their party’s web page. Who was in charge of paying that?! [...]
McDonald’s not lovin’ high-end burgers biting into sales – Brand Index January 6, 2015 Previously unassailable fast food giant McDonald’s is facing a Big Mac-with-bacon-and–extra-cheese-sized challenge as falling sales and negative customer opinion are taking a huge bite out of its market share. Using YouGov BrandIndex data to explore the problems it faces in the year ahead, we see the rise of higher-end restaurants such as Byron Burger and [...]
Rangers reject Sarver’s £18m takeover offer January 6, 2015 SCOTTISH football’s fallen giant Rangers yesterday rejected an £18m takeover bid from American financier and owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball team Robert Sarver, the club said in statement. The proposal consisted of a placing of 100m shares at 18p which, if approved by shareholders at a general meeting, would be immediately followed by an [...]
WPP invests in George Pyne’s new sports marketing startup January 6, 2015 The world’s largest communications services group, WPP, announced yesterday that it was leading a syndicate investing $250m (£165m) in Bruin Sports Capital, a sports marketing startup. Bruin was launched by former IMG sports and entertainment president George Pyne. Bruin will build its portfolio organically as well through acquisitions and investments in established sports marketing businesses, [...]
Bitstamp halts trading after £3.5m theft January 6, 2015 BITCOIN exchange Bitstamp yesterday said it suspended trading after a security breach led to a loss of 19,000 bitcoins. The loss is equivalent to just under £3.5m. “This breach represents a small fraction of Bitstamp’s total bitcoin reserves, the overwhelming majority of which are held in secure offline cold storage systems,” Bitstamp said. “We are [...]
Private investors fled the stock market during autumn collapse January 6, 2015 PRIVATE investors sold off equities this autumn faster than at any point since 2006, according to new research published yesterday. Capita Asset Services, which tracks the trading activity of 1.6m private shareholders, said yesterday that private investors offloaded £9.1bn of shares between September and November – an even faster rate than during the financial crisis. [...]
LondonMetric buys Tesco dark store as online demand expands January 6, 2015 LondonMetric has stepped up its exposure to the UK’s fast-growing online retail market by acquiring a Tesco distribution centre in south London for £21m. The property company said yesterday it has bought the Croydon warehouse from CBRE Global Investors in a deal reflecting an initial yield of 5.5 per cent. The 173,000 square feet online [...]
JLL acquires social housing consultancy January 6, 2015 JLL said yesterday it had bolstered its residential business after snapping up for an undisclosed sum a property consultancy specialising in affordable housing. The company said accountancy and advisory firm Mazars had agreed to sell the subsidiary, which was founded in 2001 and provides valuation and surveying services to the social housing sector. Mazars’ five-strong [...]
Peppa Pig maker Entertainment One splashes cash on US deal as finance boss Giles Willits talks expansion plans January 6, 2015 Giles Willits is sitting in the boardroom of Entertainment One’s offices in west London with a family of Peppa Pig cuddly toys gazing up at him. The British TV phenomenon – Peppa Pig, that is – is one of the production group’s most successful exports. But today pigs are forgotten and the group’s jolly finance [...]
Meggitt targets expansion with $44m purchase January 6, 2015 ENGINEERING firm Meggitt yesterday bought Precision Engine Controls Corporation (Pecc) from United Technologies Corporation for $44.2m (£29.1m). The deal, funded from existing resources, will see San Diego-based Pecc integrate into Meggitt’s control systems division. Pecc supplies actuation, or motor, systems and fuel metering valves to manufacturers of small-frame gas turbines used predominantly in the oil [...]