Barclays’ plans to offload 12 per cent of its Africa business won’t affect talks with former chief executive Bob Diamond May 4, 2016 Barclays' plans to sell off a 12 per cent stake of its African business has not derailed talks between the bank and it's former chief executive Bob Diamond, City A.M. understands. "It doesn’t make the slightest jot of difference," a source with knowledge of the early-stage negotiations told City A.M. Atlas Merchant Capital, the US-based arm of Bob Diamond's banking investment [...]
Why there’s a sunny future for solar M&A in UK, with deals volume booming May 4, 2016 Solar deal activity is on the rise, with £11bn of investment in UK projects since 2013, according to new research. UK Renewable Energy Finance 2016, a report from Clean Energy Pipeline and law firm TLT, found a 14 per cent increase in tracked deals last year, with a total acquisition value of £1.6bn. And the first [...]
Polish Prince John Zylinski reckons becoming mayor is every property developer’s dream come true May 4, 2016 Polish prince John Zylinski is unlikely to win the mayoral election tomorrow, but his career in politics is only just starting. Zylinski, a property boss from Lewisham with blood as blue as Tory hopeful Zac Goldsmith's, is running as an independent candidate in the race for City Hall. He's an outsider with odds of 100/1, but [...]
London fashion retailer Farfetch raises over £75m in funding round May 4, 2016 Online fashion retailer Farfetch has raised $110m (£75.6m) in its latest funding round to augment expansion plans in the Asia-Pacific region. The London-based luxury shopping platform plans to use the funding to expand in China, Farfetch’s second largest market, Japan and other Asia-Pacific countries. China represents 12 per cent of the company’s sales with Asia-Pacific collectively representing [...]
Gardening spend in the UK shows signs of slowing, survey shows May 4, 2016 The amount people in the UK spend on gardening is falling, new research has revealed. Despite the UK being a nation of garden lovers, with a third of people spending time every week gardening, total spend would appear to have dropped since Lloyds Bank Insurance carried out a survey last year. Just 12 per cent [...]
Goodbye, €500 note. We hardly knew you May 4, 2016 The €500 note will be withdrawn from circulation by the end of 2018, the European Central Bank (ECB) confirmed this afternoon. The violet-coloured note, dubbed the "Bin Laden" in parts of the Eurozone because of how rarely it is spotted in everyday life, is one of the highest value notes in circulation anywhere in the world. Its design features [...]
Finding the capital’s next Clooney: The new mayor must be a brand manager and spokesperson May 4, 2016 NULL
The Royal Bank of Canada steps into the spotlight as its partnership with the Old Vic bags a Hollywood star May 4, 2016 It looks like the Royal Bank of Canada will be taking centre stage in London this summer. The Old Vic theatre in Waterloo, which the Canadian central bank is a principle partner of, has committed to sponsoring a further 15 productions with the venue as part of its three-year partnership. The Canadian bank isn't skimping [...]
London mayoral election: Freezing fares or cutting council tax? How Zac and Sadiq’s giveaways stack up May 4, 2016 Elections are rarely free from giveaways. Labour Mayoral hopeful Sadiq Khan’s flagship policy is to freeze Transport for London’s fares for four years. His main contender, Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith, has made clear he would freeze the council tax collected by the Mayor. This is one of the few big policy differences between the two [...]
Star Wars Day shows us the droids we’re looking for May 4, 2016 Over the years I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I firmly believe science fiction is one of the most powerful influences on how people think about the future potential of technology. We’ve seen wonderful examples where the creative license of a few enlightened people have led to the creation of incredible technologies that [...]