Sir Philip Green poised for BHS sell-off March 9, 2015 Update: This deal has now gone through. Read the full details here. Sir Philip Green (pictured above with TV star Holly Willoughby )is understood to be close to agreeing a deal to sell troubled department store chain BHS in a move that would break up his Arcadia empire. American hedge fund Apollo’s retail fund [...]
Morrisons to cut dividend and post lowest profit in eight years March 9, 2015 Morrisons is expected to signal lower dividend payouts on Thursday this week when the troubled supermarket chain is to report its lowest annual profit in eight years. The Bradford-based retailer has been hit hard by the fierce industry price war as all big four supermarkets battle it out to retain customers’ loyalty and fend off [...]
Whitewood Reff IPO: Benelux focused property firm to float in London March 9, 2015 A property arm of Whitewood Group has unveiled plans to float in London to raise cash for a push into Holland and Belgium’s commercial property sector. Whitewood Reff will raise up to £125m from listing and aims to start trading on the main market of the London stock exchange next week. The vehicle, led [...]
Glaxosmithkline China dismisses more than 100 over bribery scandal that cost company £300m March 7, 2015 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has booted more than 100 staff in China on the back of its investigations into the corruption scandal that ended with it being fined £300m last year. The company was found guilty last September of bribing doctors to prescribe its medicines, and began an internal investigation to ascertain the extent of the corruption. [...]
Apple is going to join the Dow Jones on 18 March March 6, 2015 Apple is to jump across to the Dow Jones, becoming the fifth highest-ranked company on the index. AT&T will be the casualty, with the switch taking place on 18 March this year. Apple is the world’s largest company, but won’t top the Dow as companies are ranked by share price, not by market cap. The [...]
Heron Tower police raid: The colourful world of Chelsea FC’s forex partner CWM FX March 6, 2015 Only one company in the Heron Tower has alluded to this week’s police raid. We ask who they are… Three days ago police raided offices in the Heron Tower, hauling 13 City workers out of the building and away for questioning. The event has sent shockwaves through the Square Mile; but aside from pub gossip [...]
Lockheed Martin has made a laser that can do this to a truck from a mile away March 6, 2015 We’ve had stealth bombers and drones for a while, it was always just a matter of time until we had lasers, too. US defence company Lockheed Martin has developed a prototype laser weapon that can scorch holes through metal from over a mile away, as this photo shows. Some have termed the device a death-ray, [...]
Quids in: Inside Poundland founder Steve Smith’s £5.7m mansion March 6, 2015 The house comes complete with water feature, although there's no word on whether the Roller is included in the price… (Source: Estates Direct) They say a pound doesn't stretch as far as it once did, but that doesn't seem to be the case for Poundland founder Steve Smith, who has put his Shropshire mansion up [...]
Rangers FC shareholders vote on club’s future at EGM called by Dave King March 6, 2015 Rangers’ shareholders have voted on a resolution to oust the football club's board at a highly anticipated extraordinary general meeting (EGM) today. Dave King, the South African businessman who holds a 14.5 per cent stake in the club, called the EGM to gain control of the board and unseat its four members allied with Sports [...]
So meta: Amazon just opened an online store on Alibaba March 6, 2015 Amazon and Alibaba may be a hair away to declaring themselves official arch-nemeses, but that hasn't prevented the US online retail giant from making the most of the opportunities presented by its rival. Amazon has opened a shop on Alibaba's Tmall, the Chinese tech giant's equivalent of, er, Amazon. What does it all mean? Amazon's [...]