JD Sports sells its majority stake in Rebecca Adlington-founded company October 29, 2024 JD Sports has sold its majority stake in a company founded by former Olympic swimmers Steve Parry, Rebecca Adlington and Adrian Turner. The Greater Manchester-headquartered retail giant, through its subsidiary JD Gyms, has held a 60 per cent stake in Bolton-based Total Swimming Group since a deal in 2022. At the time, the initial cash [...]
Bosses scramble to sell shares amid fears of Budget capital gains tax raid October 29, 2024 UK executives have been “racing to sell shares” at a record rate as fears mount that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will raise capital gains tax at tomorrow’s Budget. Last week, directors sold £29.8m of their companies shares, while only buying £4.1m, leaving a net £25.7m of stocks sold. Meanwhile, over the last month, investors have sold [...]
Competition intensifies in Saudi’s surging insurance industry October 29, 2024 In recent years, Saudi Arabia has been building an insurance industry from scratch. In the process, the country has generated home-grown companies and attracted international giants such as Bupa to help cater to rising demand. So far, the expansion of insurance in the Kingdom has been dizzying. According to Saudi Arabia’s central bank (SAMA), in [...]
Keeping a check on AI Oliver Wyman’s CEO highlights the pitfalls of regulating AI October 29, 2024 AI leaders gathered in Riyadh in September for the Global AI Summit (GAIN). Hosted by the Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority, GAIN 2024 explored themes such as generative AI, AI in urban life and the ethical governance of AI. Nick Studer, president and CEO of Oliver Wyman, who spoke on ‘AI governance in an interconnected [...]
Adidas predicts profit of nearly £1bn after sales surge October 29, 2024 Adidas is now predicting its operating profit to swell to almost £1bn for 2024 as it upped its forecasts following a better-than-expected performance in recent months. The sportswear giant is now eyeing an operating profit of around €1.2bn (£997m) for its current financial year, a rise from its previous guidance of around €1bn. The increase [...]
Robot artist makes history as the first humanoid to sell at Sotheby’s October 29, 2024 The first ever ultra-realistic humanoid artist, Ai-Da, will have its art auctioned by Sotheby’s this week – a milestone for the art world. The robot’s work, ‘A.I. God’, portrays three paintings of Alan Turing, the so-called father of modern computer science, and will be featured in Sotheby’s Digital Art sale from 31 October to 7 [...]
How Network Rail is planning to stop the ‘Euston rush’ October 29, 2024 A plan to reduce the number of passengers rushing to platforms at Euston station in London has been revealed by Network Rail. The Government-owned company is to allow passengers travelling on around 40 per cent of Avanti West Coast services from the London station to board trains 20 minutes before departure. Network Rail said this [...]
Rolls-Royce sells stake in small nuclear reactor division October 29, 2024 Rolls-Royce has sold a minority stake in its small nuclear reactor division to Czech power company CEZ. The Derby-headquartered giant has handed a 20 per cent share in Rolls-Royce SMR in a deal worth hundreds of millions of pounds. CEZ plans to build the first small modular reactor at the existing Temelin nuclear plant in [...]
Santander UK profit slides as analysts forecast £1.8bn motor finance hit October 29, 2024 Santander has revealed a sharp fall in its UK profit during the third quarter, while delaying the publication of more detailed figures as it digests a landmark motor finance court ruling in London.
Jonathan Reynolds ‘open to reviving China trade talks’ October 29, 2024 Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said he is “open to having a conversation” about reviving trade talks with China. The cabinet minister told Politico he was “certainly” prepared to discuss reopening the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO), which was set up to improve bilateral trade and investment between the two nations. It was [...]