Wine funding venture uncorks bond issue paid out in claret September 1, 2013 NAKED Wines, the wine funding business launched by former Virgin executive Rowan Gormley, has launched a £3m fundraising using bonds that pay interest in wine. The fine wine bonds, which have a three-year duration, will pay gross interest of 10 per cent in wine credits for customers to snap up more bottles from Naked Wines. [...]
Wagon Wheels bosses want future role September 1, 2013 BOSSES at Wagon Wheels maker Burton’s Biscuit Company have indicated they want to stay at the helm of the firm amid a £350m buyout of the biscuit maker. The private equity-backed business, which also makes Jammie Dodgers, was put up for sale last week after a review by Credit Suisse. The sale process is due [...]
Minister putting his foot down over speed rule September 1, 2013 PLANS to fit cars with devices that would force drivers to stick to the speed limit have been met with fury at the Department for Transport, a Whitehall source said yesterday. The European Commission is due to publish its findings on so-called intelligent speed adaptation in the autumn, but transport ministers in the UK are [...]
Businesses concerned by cost of coalition’s green energy policy September 1, 2013 LEADING businesses believe the government’s flagship energy policy will be a burden on industry and make it more difficult to predict costs, according to a report released today by Npower. The energy supplier found nine out of ten companies believe the £110bn Electricity Market Reform (EMR) programme – which guarantees a fixed price for green [...]
Pupils with poor GCSEs forced to study English and maths until 18 September 1, 2013 TEENAGERS who fail to achieve a C grade or better in GCSE English and maths will have to continue to study the subjects, the government will announced today. The rule change means that 16-year-olds who fail to achieve a good pass in the two core subjects will have to make moves towards resitting the exams [...]
Gold flight from British vaults September 1, 2013 BRITAIN sold an estimated 797 tonnes of gold to overseas buyers in the first six months of the year, with Chinese and Indian buyers snapping up a record amount of British reserves. The figures, from Macquarie, mean an estimated $37bn-worth of gold has gone overseas. The World Gold Council said rising consumer demand for jewellery [...]
UK lenders pay £1bn for Iceland banks’ collapse September 1, 2013 BRITISH banks yesterday paid the first of three multi-million pound cheques to cover the bill for savers rescued in the wake of the Icelandic banking crash five years ago. The UK government stepped in to bail out depositors who lost out when the banks collapsed in 2008. The Icelandic deposit protection scheme gave compensation of [...]
Pro-business London beats Paris to title of best capital in Europe September 1, 2013 LONDON’S status as a business centre and its high quality of life mean other countries see it as the “capital of Europe,” according to an Ipsos Mori poll to be published this week. The capital was voted third best city to live in, fourth for tourists and fifth for business, making it the most consistent [...]
Italian tax on high frequency trading begins September 1, 2013 ITALY will today bring into force its tax on high-frequency trading, after introducing levies on certain equity derivatives earlier this year. The Eurozone nation said in February that it will impose the financial transactions tax in stages, making it the first country in the currency bloc to use such a toll. The high-frequency trading element [...]
Weight loss pays out in Dubai September 1, 2013 A DIETING challenge in Dubai has proved to be worth its weight in gold – quite literally – this weekend. Dieters in the emirate have just completed a five week weight-loss challenge set by the government, which rewards the biggest losers with grams of the precious metal. The “No Wealth Without Health” challenge saw hundreds [...]