TSB IT meltdown: Former and current bosses criticise damning probe into online outages November 19, 2019 Past and present TSB bosses have criticised parts of a damning independent probe into the bank’s catastrophic IT meltdown last year. City law firm Slaughter and May has concluded that TSB’s board lacked “common sense” in the run-up to an IT outage which left 2m TSB customers without access to online banking. Both TSB and [...]
Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s fintech startup Snoop gets watchdog approval November 19, 2019 Fintech startup Snoop, launched by ex-Virgin Money boss Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia, has won approval from the UK’s financial watchdog to handle customer data, a key step in the company’s ambitions. Snoop is an app that pledges to use consumer’s financial data to deliver “personalised insights to help consumers avoid rip-offs and make the most of [...]
Easyjet boss bullish about package holiday move, despite tumbling profit and ‘difficult’ aviation market November 19, 2019 Easyjet has unveiled a new-look package holiday business just months after the collapse of Thomas Cook, despite profit plunging more than a quarter over the last year. The budget flyer said the new business, Easyjet Holidays, will launch in the UK just in time for customers to pencil in a Christmas getaway, with bookings open [...]
General Election 2019: Justice secretary Robert Buckland hints at shift on fox hunting November 19, 2019 Justice secretary Robert Buckland has hinted that fox hunting may be off the agenda this election campaign. Speaking ahead of the Conservatives’ manifesto launch, expected this weekend, the frontbencher told Sky News he thought it was unlikely Boris Johnson would revive the topic. Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May pledged to hold a free vote to potentially [...]
Storage firm Big Yellow’s profit jumps on higher revaluation gain November 19, 2019 Big Yellow’s pre-tax profit jumped over 50 per cent in the first half thanks to a higher revaluation gain, as the self storage firm reported increased revenue despite the “less than helpful” economic and political environment. The figures For the six months ending 30 September Big Yellow’s profit before tax increased 56 per cent to [...]
Why passionate innovators make for better investors November 19, 2019 | City Talk What does it take to succeed in business and investing? Differentiation is among the key ingredients. You need to offer a product that differs from the competition in a way that clients recognise as added value. If you want to beat the market as an investor, the first thing you need to do is something [...]
Cobham’s £4bn takeover set to go through as Andrea Leadsom signals approval November 19, 2019 Cobham’s £4bn buyout at the hands of US private equity giant Advent took a step closer to going ahead this morning, as business secretary Andrea Leadsom said she is “minded to accept” the buyer’s provisions to address national security concerns. Advent has offered to make sure existing security arrangements around defence giant Cobham would “continue [...]
Dialight share price plunges as US-China trade war bites November 19, 2019 Shares in Dialight, the UK’s leading LED maker, crashed this morning as the firm warned that the full-year profit will be hit by the ongoing US-China trade war uncertainty. The LED lighting group’s share price plummeted 20 per cent to 240p in early morning trading after it said that early signs of recovery in the [...]
Homeserve posts higher revenue as it eyes US expansion November 19, 2019 Emergency repairs business Homeserve saw revenue jump 13 per cent in its latest half-year results. That led it to hike its interim dividend as it announced a $140m deal for a controlling stake in US firm eLocal, as it boosts its presence across the pond. Read more: Shareholders rebel at Homeserve over ex-director payouts The [...]
John McDonnell: ‘No one needs to be a billionaire’ November 19, 2019 Shadow chancellor John McDonnell is set to take aim at billionaires today, describing their wealth as “obscene” as Labour releases research showing almost a third of Britain’s billionaires have donated money to the Tories. McDonnell is expected to say he wants to “rewrite the rules of our economy” in a speech in central London later [...]