Royal Dutch Shell to cease Arctic drilling and offshore oil exploration in the Burger J well in Alaska September 28, 2015 Royal Dutch Shell will cease offshore oil exploration in Alaska, after the company announced plans to retreat from the Arctic due to high production costs. Shell said in a statement it had “found indications of oil and gas in the Burger J well”, but that these were “not sufficient to warrant further exploration”. The oil [...]
1700 jobs go as SSI closes Recar plant September 28, 2015 SSI is closing its Redcar steel plant, with the loss of up to 1,700 jobs, it was announced this morning. Production had been suspended last week as the firm attempted to ride out the collapse of global steel prices. Workers staged a rally over the weekend as they attempted to keep their jobs, saying it [...]
Volkswagen emissions scandal: Bumpy road ahead for VW as probes launched September 28, 2015 Scandal-hit German car giant Volkswagen faces another tough week as several governments are set to launch investigations into the fiddling of emissions tests on its diesel engines. The news comes as it emerges that Volkswagen, already reeling from the backlash over what is known – inevitably – as dieselgate, was warned about cheating emissions tests [...]
SSI facing fuel shortage but still stays silent on plans for Redcar September 28, 2015 The owner of Redcar steel works could be forced to announce its plans for the future tomorrow, when it is expected to run out of fuel. Thai steel firm SSI suspended production at the plant last week, citing rising costs and a slump in demand. Almost 2,000 workers are awaiting more information from the company [...]
Countryside Properties eyes up £1bn return to the stock market September 28, 2015 Housebuilder Countryside Properties is planning to return to the stock market with a £1bn float, over 10 years since it delisted. The company was bought for £222m in 2005 by a joint venture between HBOS, now Lloyds Banking Group, and the founder Alan Cherry. It was subsequently bought by US private equity firm Oaktree Capital [...]
Debenhams set for shareholder leadership coup September 28, 2015 Debenhams is facing further shareholder unrest, with several more of its biggest investors joining broker Cenkos in its attempts to unseat the retailer’s top bosses. Milestone Resources, Schroders and Old Mutual are said to have teamed up with Cenkos, which was last week revealed to be in talks with other shareholders about possibly replacing chairman [...]
Sale of Tesco’s Clubcard business to WPP on the verge of collapse September 27, 2015 Tesco is likely to be forced to give up on the sale of its loyalty card business Dunnhumby as talks with WPP look set to collapse. The advertising agency has struggled to agree a price, according to the Sunday Times. Tesco hired Goldman Sachs earlier this year to look into selling a portion or all [...]
Soho House to raise £200m to fund expansion September 27, 2015 Soho House is trying to raise £200m in its second financing drive in two years. The group, which owns Shoreditch House and has 15 outposts around the world, including the recently opened Soho Farmhouse in Oxford, is looking to raise the funds to open six new houses and up to 30 restaurants over the next [...]
RSA prepares to make more overseas sales September 27, 2015 British insurer RSA is believed to be preparing to sell its Russian and Middle East operations in the next few months. The company has been disposing of its non-core business over the past two years, since chief executive Stephen Hester was brought on board to turn the group around. Earlier this month, the insurer sold [...]
Volkswagen warned over emissions test cheating “years ago”, German reports claim September 27, 2015 Volkswagen was warned about cheating emissions tests several years ago by the company's own staff members and by one of its suppliers, according to German media reports. The warning from internal engineers as far back as 2011 is said to have surfaced from VW's internal investigation into the scandal which has rocked the company, German [...]