Purplebricks, the Neil Woodford-backed online estate agents, starts trading on AIM and sees share price fall December 17, 2015 Purplebricks, the online estate agents backed by superstar investor Neil Woodford, has started trading on London's junior market under the ticker PURP.L. Shares are currently trading down on the AIM market, at 96.5p, down six per cent from an opening price of 104.5p. The 240m ordinary shares were placed at 100p each, with proceeds of £25m and giving the [...]
Fracking companies Ineos and Cuadrilla win new UK licences as a further 2.8m acres of shale gas exploration in north west England, North Yorkshire and East Midlands approved December 17, 2015 Ineos has hailed a shale gas revolution in Britain, after the government's Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) granted 93 licences for fracking across a further 2.8m acres of land. “We are delighted with today’s announcement. The UK government has demonstrated it is determined to move forward with this exciting new industry," said Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe. "This is the start of [...]
UK manufacturing output declines in final three months of the year as pessimism grows over 2016 December 17, 2015 Output from UK factories declined over the last the three months, with many expecting further weakness in early-2016, according to a business survey published today. The Confederation of British Industry’s industrial trends survey showed 27 per cent of firms reporting output had fallen over the past three months, compared with 24 per cent where output had gone [...]
How much do barristers earn? Much less than you’d think if they’re working on Crown Court legal aid cases December 17, 2015 Barristers working on certain legal aid cases could find themselves pocketing less than the average wage and far less than their similarly educated peers in other professions, the Bar Council warned today. The remarks are based on a report released today from the Ministry of Justice about junior barristers' wages, which discovered the lawyers working regularly on [...]
Mortgage lending leaps as buy-to-let investors rush to buy December 17, 2015 November’s mortgage lending figures rose 23 per cent on last year, showing signs of a stabilising recovery in the housing market, figures published this morning showed. The Council of Mortgage Lenders' (CML) November report showed gross mortgage lending rose to £19.9bn last month, nine per cent lower than October, but up on last November's £16.1bn. Mohammad [...]
Standard Chartered poaches Simon Cooper from HSBC to run Corporate and Institutional Banking business December 17, 2015 Standard Chartered has hired a top executive from HSBC to run its corporate and institutional banking (CIB) business. The Asia-focused bank said this morning that Simon Cooper would join the group in April of next year as CIB chief executive. Cooper's appointment is just the latest step for Standard Chartered in executing the new turnaround strategy it [...]
AstraZeneca buys majority stake in biopharma company Acerta for $4bn December 17, 2015 AstraZeneca has agreed to buy a majority stake of biopharma company Acerta for $4bn (£2.7bn), with the hope of expanding and improving its portfolio of medicines. Once the transaction goes ahead, the British pharmaceutical giant will take over 55 per cent of the private-owned company, which is based in the US and Netherlands. Acerta focuses [...]
M&G Real Estate buys Bloomberg’s new European headquarters in the City for £93m December 17, 2015 M&G Real Estate has bought Bloomberg’s new European headquarters near Mansion House in the City, in a £92.5m deal. The fund manager said it has bought the freehold ground lease of Bloomberg Place from Legal & General Property, which put the site up for sale two months ago after more than 60 years of ownership. The vast 750,000 square feet [...]
HMRC is failing to answer its phones and is not doing enough to tackle tax fraud December 17, 2015 No matter how bad your commute has been, your morning is still probably better than that of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) – after two separate reports highlighting the UK tax authority's shortcomings were released today. The National Audit Office (NAO) concluded that, while taxmen and women had come a long way in their compliance efforts, there [...]
Entertainment One share price rises on Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks partnership Amblin Partners December 17, 2015 Peppa Pig maker Entertainment One (EOne) and Steven Spielberg's film company Dreamworks have teamed up to form a new film company called Amblin Partners. Dreamworks, the company behind Shrek and the upcoming adaption of Roald Dahl's the BFG, has alos got backing for the new venture from entertainment companies Participant Media and Reliance Entertainment. EOne will be the global distributor of the film and TV [...]