Taiwanese insurer Fubon Life Insurance snaps up site of Madame Tussauds May 25, 2015 Top tourist attraction Madame Tussauds Marylebone site has been snapped up by a Taiwanese insurer in a multi-million pound deal. Fubon Life Insurance bought the premises, which has been home to the waxwork museum for about 130 years, for £348.8m according to media reports. It's located on Marylebone Road near Regents Park and displays waxworks figures of [...]
European stocks feel the pressure after Greek minister says default is on the horizon and Spain’s ruling party is punished at the polls May 25, 2015 European stocks are feeling the latest shockwaves from Greece. Yesterday Greece’s interior minister said that the country wouldn’t be able to pay the €1.6bn (£1.1bn) it owes the IMF next month. To add to the jitters, the ruling Popular Party (PP) in Spain was hammered at the polls, with smaller, ant-establishment parties doing well. The [...]
After banning Uber in Guangzhou, the Chinese government is starting its own online taxi service in the city May 25, 2015 The Chinese city of Guangzhou may have banned Uber, but that hasn’t stopped its municipal government setting up its own, strikingly similar, online taxi company. The new company will be named Ruyue, which means “by appointment”. Uber was shut down in the city a matter of weeks ago, after authorities raided its offices, murmuring about [...]
Patrick Drahi’s Altice and John Malone’s Charter Communications are fighting to take over Time Warner Cable May 25, 2015 Time Warner Cable (TWC), one of the biggest US cable companies, could become the subject of a takeover clash. John Malone, a US cable tycoon who owns Charter Communications, and France’s Altice are vying to buy TWC for $48bn (£31bn), sources told the Financial Times. Discussions are said to be ongoing through the weekend, with [...]
Eurovision Song Contest 2015: Secretly, these countries are probably hoping they lose May 23, 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest is getting more and more expensive, despite Europe's decline into austerity. The annual tradition blossomed in the 60's, at a time when things looked brighter for Europe and there was a stronger sense of solidarity. But now the event is more lavish and over-the-top than ever, and each year the winning [...]
Email slip-up reveals Bank of England’s investigation into what would happen if UK left the EU May 23, 2015 The Bank of England is carrying out a confidential investigation into what would happen if the UK left the European Union (EU), an email accidentally sent to The Guardian has revealed. It discloses details of a special task force set up by the central bank to look into the economic consequences of a UK exit, [...]
Germany denies reports Greece could get a parallel currency May 22, 2015 Germany's finance ministry has denied reports it was considering offering Greece its own parallel currency. Earlier today Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was said to have raised the possibility of offering it a parallel currency during a recent meeting, according to a a report by Bloomberg. This prompted speculation that Germany was preparing for the cash strapped country's [...]
Plus500 suspends shares after it suffers a shorting attack May 22, 2015 Beleaguered spread-betting firm Plus500 today suspended trading in its shares on London's junior market, following a sell-off sparked by a hedge fund's blog post which said it was shorting the company's stock. US hedge fund Cable Car said it was shorting the trading platform with a price target of 76 pence per share. This sent the [...]
UK government faces legal action from British American Tobacco and Philip Morris over plain packaging law May 22, 2015 The UK government is facing legal action from two of the world's biggest tobacco companies over its new “plain packaging” law. British American Tobacco and Philip Morris have filed law suits with the High Court, claiming the regulation breaches EU and English property trademark laws. Marc Firestone, senior vice president of Philip Morris, [...]
Young landlords are revitalising Britain’s ailing pub industry May 22, 2015 Over the last three years young pub landlords breathed new life into Britain's ailing pub industry, helping it bounce back from a painful period of decline. Youthful landlords have tapped into the nation's penchant for pub food, helping the sector's sales rise by 23 per cent in the three years to March 2015, according to data published [...]