CVC abandons IPO or sale of Domestic and General after tepid investor response June 18, 2019 A sluggish response from investors has forced one of Britain’s biggest home appliance insurers to abandon plans for a public float as soon as this month which it hoped would value it at more than £1bn. Domestic and General has decided in the last few days to shelve the plans, Sky News reported. Read more: [...]
Rolls-Royce makes move towards hybrid planes June 18, 2019 Engine-maker Rolls-Royce took a major step towards greener travel as it today announced the acquisition of Siemens’s electric aeroplane business. The e-aircraft business employs around 180 designers and engineers to develop all-electric and hybrid systems for planes. Read more: Rolls Royce 4.6bn pension legal general buyout The deal is understood to have been worth around [...]
Nationalising the Big Six could leave British pensioners out of pocket June 18, 2019 A trade union plan to nationalise the UK’s biggest energy suppliers could favour foreign investors to the detriment of British pensioners, a city lawyer has warned. Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party, which has pledged widespread nationalisation of the energy industry, welcomed the proposal from the Unison, one of Britain’s largest trade unions, to bring the Big [...]
Biff’s Jack Shack review: Unapologetically filthy vegan burgers June 18, 2019 Vegan food is at the literal bleeding edge of culinary science, but before there were heme-infused burgers, pea protein mince and steaks made of specially cultivated soy chunks pounded into the vague shape of a cow by a man in a lab coat, there was the humble jackfruit. The flaky, stringy, melting flesh of the [...]
Bank of England official warns UK reliant on ‘flighty’ capital June 18, 2019 A Bank of England (BoE) official has today warned that since the Brexit referendum in 2016 Britain’s economy has become vulnerable to foreign money being withdrawn at short notice. Read more: Bank of England chief economist says rate rise on horizon Anil Kashyap, a member of the Bank’s financial policy committee (FPC), also warned that [...]
Financial Conduct Authority launches probe into Woodford fund suspension June 18, 2019 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said today it has launched an investigation into the suspension of fund manager Neil Woodford’s flagship Equity Income fund. FCA chief executive Andrew Bailey confirmed the probe in a letter to Treasury Committee head Nicky Morgan MP. “We have opened an investigation but cannot comment any further,” Bailey said. The [...]
Andrea Leadsom defends Boris Johnson’s U-turn over Heathrow June 18, 2019 A key ally of Boris Johnson has defended his apparent decision to drop his opposition to the Heathrow third runway. Andrea Leadsom, who threw her weight behind Johnson’s campaign to be the next Prime Minister this morning, told LBC: “I think he has changed his view over time, as is absolutely right that politicians do [...]
Data breach could be ‘fatal’ for Open Banking sector, treasury committee chair Nicky Morgan warns June 18, 2019 A single data breach at an Open Banking startup could “fatally” damage the developing sector, Nicky Morgan, the chair of the treasury committee, warned today. Open Banking, which allows users to view all their financial information in one place, relies on customers providing their data to a third party. Read more: Are Britain’s banks closed-minded [...]
Trump hits out at Draghi over ‘unfair’ Eurozone stimulus June 18, 2019 US President Donald Trump has hit out at Mario Draghi, claiming his hints of fresh stimulus made it “unfairly easier” for Europe to compete with the US. Draghi suggested the ECB could cut interest rates or expand its bond-buying programme in a bid to reinvigorate the ailing Eurozone economy. Read more: Euro plunges as ECB [...]
Coast Capital hits out at First Group over ‘defamatory attacks’ June 18, 2019 Activist investor Coast Capital has hit out at First Group for making alleged “defamatory attacks and false statements” in the pair’s public slanging match over the transport giant’s strategy. Coast, First Group’s largest shareholder, has issued a 24-page rebuttal to claims made by First earlier this month, in which it called the investor an “opportunistic, [...]