Patisserie Valerie’s parent company is hungry for acquisitions, says chairman Luke Johnson November 27, 2017 Luke Johnson, the casual dining sector veteran and executive chairman of Patisserie Holdings, has told City A.M. that his business is currently hungry for acquisitions. Patisserie Holdings, which owns cafe chains Patisserie Valerie, Druckers, Philpotts, Baker & Spice and Flour Power City, revealed in results today that it had £21m of cash on its balance [...]
Bitcoin price (BTC) nears $10,000 as market cap overtakes IBM, Disney and McDonald’s, but bubble warnings persist November 27, 2017 Bitcoin believers have been left eagerly awaiting the cryptocurrency’s biggest ever milestone as it hovers just shy of $10,000 and its total market value overtakes some of the world’s biggest businesses. It has surged to a fresh record high on Monday, however, hitting $9,732.76 after breaking the $9,000 mark on Sunday, inflating expectations that it [...]
Royal wedding: Sorry, no Bank Holiday for Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s big day say Downing Street November 27, 2017 From joy to despair… the nation has had an emotional rollercoaster of a Monday. Downing Street has shut down any talk of a Bank Holiday for the nation to celebrate the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, announced earlier today. Read more: Prince Harry engaged to American actress Meghan Markle A spokesperson has said [...]
Seneca ditches drinks company Conviviality after making a 65 per cent return November 27, 2017 Seneca Investment Managers has drunk its fill of beverage wholesaler Conviviality, as it announced today it had sold all its shares making a 65 per cent return. Recent re-ratings, which have lifted the company’s share price, have reduced Conviviality’s value in Seneca’s eyes since its investment in January. The fund manager has instead put the [...]
Put passports on the blockchain, think tank Reform urges UK government, to create digital identity for public services November 27, 2017 Passports should be put on the blockchain, along with other official forms of identification, to create one single online identity for citizens, a think tank has urged. Blockchain’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be used to create a single source of authenticated information and using it to underpin public services could speed up payment of [...]
Private equity still forking out for payments businesses as Inflexion investment values Radius at £800m November 27, 2017 London-based private equity firm Inflexion has today taken a £150m minority stake in payment services business Radius, in a deal showing payment technology is still in hot demand. Radius, which was valued through the deal at £800m, provides card services (such as fuel cards) to smaller businesses with vehicle fleets. This affords these small and [...]
British Airways owner IAG snaps up Monarch Airline Gatwick slots November 27, 2017 The owner of British Airways has beaten off the competition to secure Monarch Airline’s Gatwick take-off and landing slots. IAG has snapped up the majority of the slots from the collapsed carrier at Britain’s second busiest airport, according to sources familiar with the situation. The sale, by Monarch administrator KPMG, follows last week’s Court of [...]
My House: Architect and designer Peter Bundgaard of Space Copenhagen November 27, 2017 “My apartment is a five minute walk from my studio in the centre of Copenhagen. I’ve lived here for about one and a half years now, and something that really drew me to this place was the unobstructed view. Finding a window that doesn’t face other buildings is a challenge in a city like this, [...]
EasyJet’s gender pay gap: Male staff are paid 45.5 per cent more than women as it blames shortage of female pilots November 27, 2017 EasyJet has revealed that its gender pay gap stands at 45.5 per cent, citing the make-up of its pilot community as a key reason for the disparity. The firm said: EasyJet’s gender pay gap is strongly influenced by the salaries and gender make-up of its pilot community, which make up over a quarter of its [...]
London Thames Tideway milestone: The first tunnel boring machine to start digging the super sewer has arrived in the capital November 27, 2017 Tideway, the organisation building London’s new super sewer, announced today that the first of six tunnel boring machines (TBM) has arrived in the capital for the £4.2bn project. When fully assembled the boring machine that will weigh a total of 1,350 tonnes, and today made its way through central London along the river Thames ahead [...]