Pret a Manger brushes off Jollibee takeover rumours | City A.M. September 19, 2017 Pret a Manger intends to push ahead with its plans for a possible float on the New York Stock Exchange despite speculation a multi-billion-dollar Filipino business is eyeing a takeover bid for the coffee and sandwich chain. City A.M. understands that Jollibee and Pret have not been in contact with each other on the potential [...]
Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable set to call for a second Brexit referendum at party conference in Bournemouth September 19, 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable is expected to call for a second Brexit referendum when he addresses his party in Bournemouth today. Cable, who was crowned party leader in July, will argue at the Liberal Democrat conference that the public must be allowed to decide on Brexit after the negotiations with the EU have concluded. [...]
Piccadilly Line’s Night Tube service troubles could continue until end of the year as unions point to driver shortage September 19, 2017 Night Tube services on the Piccadilly Line are being derailed by fewer trains being run than scheduled, leading Transport for London (TfL) to draw up an amended schedule in an effort to minimise disruption. New figures obtained by City A.M. reveal that since July, the line has been running considerably fewer trains than scheduled, which [...]
KPMG has been cleared of wrongdoing over its 2007 HBOS audit September 19, 2017 KPMG has been absolved of responsibility by the accounting watchdog over its auditing of HBOS in the run-up to the bank’s collapse in 2008, saying at the time there was no evidence market conditions would take such a dramatic turn. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said today after a detailed investigation, it had decided it [...]
GDPR: Nearly half a million small businesses don’t have a clue about new data rules September 19, 2017 Hundreds of thousands of small businesses have no clue that there are new rules governing data coming into force within months, new figures reveal, Two in five small and medium-sized firms in London have not heard of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), EU-wide rules which will be adopted by the UK after Brexit and [...]
Swedish fintech startup iZettle lands €30m to fund artificial intelligence research from European Investment Bank | City A.M. September 19, 2017 iZettle, one of Europe’s most successful fintech startups, is ramping up its research and development efforts and will focus on the potential applications of artificial intelligence with fresh funding from the EU’s lending arm. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is funding a round of debt to the tune of €30m for the payments firm, which [...]
Brexit: Business and backbenchers to support Prime Minister Theresa May’s impasse-breaking divorce bill speech September 19, 2017 Theresa May will be backed by backbenchers and business if she broaches the issue of the Brexit divorce bill in a significant speech later this week. The Prime Minister, who is currently in Canada trying to secure a pre-Brexit agreement on future trading, will be in Florence later on Friday to deliver a critical intervention [...]
Will Boris Johnson be the next Prime Minister? September 19, 2017 Will Boris Johnson be the next Prime Minister? YES – Rupert Myers, barrister and writer. Of course Boris will be the next Prime Minister. Politics isn’t a meritocratic process – look at Trump and Brexit. First, consider whether Vladimir Putin would like Boris to be PM. Obviously he would. Anything that might bring chaos or [...]
Ryanair flight cancellation troubles to cost airline up to €25m as boss Michael O’Leary bemoans ‘mess of our own making’ September 19, 2017 Ryanair is set to foot a €25m (£22m) bill following a wave of flight cancellations set to take place over the next six weeks. The airline said over the weekend that it will cancel 40 to 50 flights every day until the end of October after “messing up” its pilots’ holidays, the fallout from which [...]
Transferwise founders set to sell first shares as forex firm is confirmed as fintech unicorn September 18, 2017 The two founders of Transferwise will sell part of their stakes in the foreign exchange start-up as part of a funding round valuing the fintech darling at $1.6bn (£1.2bn), according to reports. Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Kaarmann are set to sell small parts of their 40 per cent ownership of the firm as part of [...]