Takeover titan and Blackstone boss Steve Schwarzman talks charity, business and life advice October 14, 2019 Private equity does not have a reputation for giving away money: on the contrary, it is an industry known for its hard-headed obsession with turning a profit though buying companies and selling them on. So it comes as something of a surprise to find that the boss of the world’s biggest private equity company, Steve [...]
Hiro Capital launches with €100m fund as it sets sights on gaming boom October 14, 2019 A team of gaming entrepreneurs has set up a brand new venture capital firm to pump €100m (£87.6m) into the booming games and esports industries. Hiro Capital launched today with the aim of targeting what it describes as a funding gap in the market, splitting its investments between creative games studios and industry technology. Read [...]
European direct lending investment on course for record year October 14, 2019 Investment by European direct – or non-bank – lenders is predicted to soar to record levels by the end of the year thanks to an increase in average loan sizes, but the number of deals struck is falling, new research has found. Direct lenders in Europe deployed €22.6bn (£20bn) in the first half of 2019, [...]
The Office Group buys Chancery House for £100m October 14, 2019 Flexible workspace provider The Office Group (TOG) has bought Chancery House in a deal worth more than £100m. The 150,000 sq ft property in Chancery Lane is the co-working group’s largest London property to date. Read more: The Office Group expands into Hammersmith Wework rival TOG bought the block near Chancery Lane and Holborn Underground [...]
Vodafone apologises after customers charged thousands for roaming October 14, 2019 Vodafone has issued an apology after customers were incorrectly charged as much as £11,000 for using their phones abroad. Mobile users took to Twitter to complain about thousands of pounds worth of roaming charges on their bills, with many saying their phones had been disabled and they were unable to contact customer services. Read more: [...]
WTO gives green light for US to impose tariffs on $7.5bn EU imports October 14, 2019 The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has formally given the nod to the US to impose tariffs on up to $7.5bn of imports of EU goods, after an arbitrator’s decision over subsidies to plane maker Airbus. The WTO’s dispute resolution body, made up of delegates from its 164 members, cleared Washington to hit back against the [...]
Climate activists target bankers during second week of protest October 14, 2019 Hundreds of climate protesters shut down traffic at the heart of the City today, accusing the financial sector of “bankrolling the environmental crisis”. Read more: Extinction Rebellion targets Blackrock in day of City protest Activists from protest movement Extinction Rebellion gathered in the rain at around 7am to begin a “day of disruption” that saw [...]
Former Thomas Cook executives to face grilling from MPs after collapse October 14, 2019 Thomas Cook bosses will be hauled in front of MPs tomorrow morning and forced to explain the firm’s catastrophic collapse, which left 150,000 Brits stranded abroad and forced the biggest peacetime repatriation in history by the British government. Chief executive Peter Fankhauser will answer questions from the Commons’ business select committee, in the first evidence [...]
London Night Tube crime rates soar in 2018-19 October 14, 2019 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has been slammed as having a “complacent attitude” on crime in the wake of soaring violence on London’s Night Tube. New figures from the Greater London Authority show violent crime and sexual assault on Night Tube journeys rose by 32 and 10 per cent respectively in 2018-19. The increases were [...]
Bank of England deputy governor flags concerns over ‘low for long’ interest rates October 14, 2019 Economic downturns are at risk of becoming more severe as a result of prolonged low interest rates, the deputy governor of the Bank of England has warned. The current environment of ‘low for long’ interest rates will make “demand management of the economy more difficult in downturns”, according to Jon Cunliffe. The Threadneedle Street official [...]