City grandee John Connolly reveals Cogital’s rapid expansion, a £1bn target and plans for an IPO October 3, 2017 A rapidly expanding challenger to Britain’s biggest accounting firms will soon be beyond the reach of its Big Four rivals, its founder, the former head of Deloitte, said this morning. John Connolly, also the chair of G4S and Amec Foster Wheeler, told City A.M. Cogital is targeting more than £1bn of revenues and a potential [...]
Monarch dethroned: Rival budget airlines’ shares take off as firm collapses and Greybull gets set to lose £170m October 3, 2017 Monarch collapsed into administration yesterday, affecting the journeys of 860,000 passengers in the largest UK airline failure in history. The failure of the Luton-based company led to transport secretary Chris Grayling ordering the “country’s biggest ever peacetime repatriation” to fly back 110,000 passengers stranded abroad. The rescue operation will cost around £60m, the Civil Aviation [...]
Government auditor puts Learndirect funding under investigation October 2, 2017 The UK’s biggest provider of adult learning and apprenticeships faces scrutiny over its standards and funding after the National Audit Office (NAO) announced an investigation this evening. The government’s auditor will examine why Learndirect was given £45m by Department for Education’s funding agency, despite its poor Ofsted rating. The company, which is owned by Lloyds [...]
Buyout giants line up in preparation for the sale of AkzoNobel’s chemical branch October 2, 2017 Some of the world’s largest private equity firms are getting ready to place their bids as AkzoNobel prepares to sell its chemicals arm, City A.M. understands. AkzoNobel, which creates Dulux paints, was subjected to an agressive activist investor campaign earlier this year from hedge fund Elliott Advisors, which pressed the company to accept a takeover [...]
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made “serious errors” in Libor case says complaints watchdog October 2, 2017 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been heavily criticised by the complaints watchdog for making “serious errors” over its handling of an investigation into the rigging of the Libor benchmark rate. Two former UBS traders, Panagiotis Koutsogiannis and Arif Hussein, wrote separately to the Complaints Commissioner in May and June complaining the City regulator had [...]
Las Vegas shooting: More than 50 people killed and 200 injured by Stephen Paddock in Las Vegas Mandalay Bay gun attack October 2, 2017 Las Vegas police have confirmed 58 people were killed after a gunman opened fire at a country music festival on Sunday night. Police said 515 were also wounded before the culprit was killed. The police said they believe the shooter killed himself. The suspect was Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old local Las Vegas man who acted [...]
Numis share price rises as stockbroker reports record profits after bounceback in second half October 2, 2017 Aim-listed stockbroker Numis today announced record revenues and profits in the second half of its trading year as transaction activity increased. Full-year revenue in the year ending on 30 September rose by 15 per cent compared to the previous year, Numis reported in a trading update delivered ahead of full results in December. The record [...]
Uber’s top boss in northern Europe Jo Bertram exits amid London licence trouble October 2, 2017 Jo Bertram, Uber’s top boss in northern Europe, is leaving the beleaguered company for a new, but not yet disclosed, role at another company as the ride-hailing app fights for its licence to operate in London, . Bertram has overseen Uber’s operations in London, the UK and across the rest of Europe since 2013. The [...]
Dong Energy is changing its name to Orsted to reflect its focus on green energy October 2, 2017 Dong Energy today announced plans to change its name to Orsted as the company shifts its focus to renewable energy. The firm said the name Dong Energy, which stood for Danish Oil and Natural Gas, was no longer suitable after it completed the sale of its entire oil and gas business to chemicals group Ineos [...]
Easyjet, Ryanair and IAG share price jumps in the wake of Monarch’s failure October 2, 2017 Shares in some of Monarch’s airline rivals jumped this morning after the news that Britain’s fifth biggest carrier had ceased trading. Easyjet, which was reported to be one of a number of parties in talks with Monarch to save the airline, led the way and was this morning’s biggest FTSE 100 gainer. Shares were up [...]