Thomas Cook takes £19.5m hit on sale of Egypt and Lebanon units October 7, 2013 THOMAS Cook Group said yesterday it had sold its businesses serving customers in Egypt and Lebanon to Bahrain’s Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo (Holdings) in the latest stage of the British travel company’s turnaround plan. Thomas Cook, which will continue serving Egypt as a holiday destination, said it would receive £6.5m in cash for the two [...]
On the Beach travel website sold to new financial backers for £73m October 7, 2013 ONLINE travel agent On the Beach yesterday changed hands for £73m after its private equity backers Isis Equity Partners sold the business to rival Inflexion Private Equity. On the Beach, which was advised by DC Advisory on the sale, has around 900,000 customers and has grown sales from £78m to about £280m since Isis first [...]
Albemarle & Bond whipped back into shape October 7, 2013 TROUBLED pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond yesterday appointed a seasoned corporate fixer to its board in a bid to help bring the company back from the brink. The high street gold broker, which has suffered a 75 per cent share price plunge over the past month, has recruited Colin Whipp as chief restructuring officer to lead [...]
Britain gets its own version of America’s FBI October 7, 2013 BRITAIN launched a new crime-fighting agency yesterday and unveiled a revamped strategy to combat serious organised crime, which it says costs the country £24bn and represents a threat to national security. At the heart of what the government vowed would be a tougher new approach is the National Crime Agency (NCA), dubbed Britain’s version of [...]
Serious Fraud Office calls for change in law October 7, 2013 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office (SFO) said yesterday the law must be changed if critics want to see more companies in court for misconduct. Serious Fraud Office director David Green said he was constantly being compared unfavourably with US enforcement agencies, which prosecute far more companies for fraud. The SFO faces a much higher burden of [...]
Surprise departure for bosses at Virgin Trains October 7, 2013 VIRGIN TRAINS will lose its long-serving boss this month, as the firm prepares to pitch again for the West Coast Main Line and other routes. Tony Collins, who has been with the firm for 14 years and served as chief executive for nine years, will stay on as a consultant to advise Virgin on its [...]
Ice cream seller scoops prize for business savvy October 7, 2013 HEARD about the apocryphal salesman who flogged coal to Newcastle? Well it seems James Lambert has gone one better by managing to infiltrate the notoriously nationalistic Italian marketplace with his ice creams. Lambert, chairman of R&R Ice Cream – which sells brands like Fab, Skinny Cow and Kelly’s of Cornwall – scooped the top prize [...]
It could be worse for Carney October 7, 2013 WHILE Bank of England governor Mark Carney faces problems convincing markets to accept his forward guidance scheme, new historical evidence suggests he may be getting off lightly. Newly released diary pages from Margaret Thatcher’s economic adviser Alan Walters claim that Bank governor Gordon Richardson “got a boll***ing” for raising the benchmark interest rate while she [...]
On one’s head: Football comes to the palace October 7, 2013 THE first ever official football match in the grounds of Buckingham Palace took place yesterday, to mark the Football Association’s 150th anniversary. The match was the brainchild of Prince Wiliam, the Duke of Cambridge – who is also president of the FA. He even took to the pitch to join players in the second half, warning [...]
Reed Elsevier sells tech group back to founder October 7, 2013 BRITAIN’S fastest growing technology company MVF yesterday announced that it has bought back Approved Index, the business that its founder sold to Reed Elsevier in 2008. Titus Sharpe sold Approved Index to the FTSE 100 firm five years ago, before using the proceeds of the sale to found MVF, which uses technology to win customers [...]