BT’s billion-pound EE deal raises “significant” competition concerns, says regulator June 9, 2015 BT's deal to buy mobile network EE for £12.5bn has raised "significant" competition concerns, according to regulators. The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) will address the concerns after fast-tracking the probe into the more detailed second phase following a request from BT. "We have found that there is a real risk that the merger could [...]
Check out Virgin Money’s Sex Pistols credit cards June 9, 2015 "Cause I wanna be anarchy … it's the only way to be," sang punk band the Sex Pistols over thirty years ago. Now, though, it looks like their artwork will be gracing something vital to the smooth functioning of a modern society… Richard Branson-backed Virgin Money, which floated on the London Stock Exchange in November, has unveiled [...]
Just Eat share price falls as it raises £445m June 9, 2015 Shares in Just Eat, the takeaway site which listed last April, fell 1.9 per cent to 416p this morning after it announced it had raised £445m through a placing and open offer. The company – listed in the UK but founded in Denmark – announced in May that it was planning to raise cash to [...]
HSBC to rebrand UK retail banking arm – or possibly sell it June 9, 2015 HSBC will rebrand its UK retail banking arm as part of a move to ring-fence it from the rest of the group. Chief executive Stuart Gulliver, who this morning revealed HSBC was cutting 25,000 jobs worldwide, of which 8,000 are expected to be UK jobs, said he was not certain he would keep the [...]
HSBC job cuts: Unions slam move as punishing staff for “boardroom misconduct” June 9, 2015 Could Canary Wharf become a stage for the next major picket line? HSBC staff cuts have been blasted by unions, claiming the bank's employees are being “punished for boardroom misconduct”. This morning Europe's biggest bank revealed it was cutting up to 25,000 jobs worldwide, as it looks to make $5bn (£3.25bn) savings. Around [...]
This animation shows how 12 iconic company logos have changed over time: Coca-cola, Nike, Google, Apple, Microsoft June 9, 2015 Logos are key to how customers remember and relate to a company – meaning many avoid changing them too often. However, Zing Ecommerce has put together an animation showing how much some of the world's most widely recognised logos have changed over time. "It might surprise you how the most recognisable logos of some of [...]
Plus500 has unfrozen 8,457 customer accounts June 9, 2015 Struggling spreadbetter Plus500 today announced it's unfrozen 8,457 customer accounts – saying that while the majority had resumed trading it was still too early to anticipate ongoing behavior of those customers. The Aim-listed firm said 5,205 of its customers whose accounts has been unfrozen had resumed trading – 61 per cent of the total number that are now [...]
The City tells Deutsche Bank: Hard work on costs is not over yet June 8, 2015 Shares in Deutsche Bank climbed sharply yesterday after its co-chief executives agreed to stand down over the weekend, to be replaced with a turnaround veteran. But analysts and investors said that the hard work still lies ahead of the bank, which will have to prove to investors that it can cut costs and grow [...]
Morrisons back on the offensive: Has the retailer put its darkest days behind it? June 8, 2015 David Potts wasted no time in stamping his mark on Morrisons when he took the helm of the retailer in March. After years of haemorrhaging sales, the ailing supermarket was in urgent need of a turnaround. And for the 58 year-old retail evangelist, that meant not only making sweeping changes at the top – including [...]
Phoenix IT rises from the ashes as profits return after difficult spell June 8, 2015 Phoenix IT yesterday released its annual results, which showed the beginnings of the IT firm again taking flight, after a difficult time. Chief executive Steve Vaughan told City A.M. “the results demonstrate we’ve got stability”. Referring to the firm’s previous problems, he commented: “A whole year without screw ups, hand grenades and ‘oh good griefs’ [...]