Rolex giant Watches of Switzerland begins London IPO debut with £650m valuation May 30, 2019 The UK’s largest seller of Rolex watches has begun life as a listed firm in the Square Mile today, having priced its shares towards the top end of the range it had targeted. Investors start trading in Watches of Switzerland on the London Stock Exchange today after the firm priced its shares at 270p, valuing [...]
First Group to sell off Greyhound arm amid activist pressure as losses narrow May 30, 2019 First Group has announced plans to sell parts of its operations including its US Greyhound buses. Shares in the FTSE 250 company, which has been facing pressure from an activist investor to split up the business, jumped 13 per cent per cent in early morning trading after it also announced plans to separate its First Bus operations [...]
Post-Maybot, the Tories are on the hunt for a likeable leader May 30, 2019 Every Tory leadership election has a flavour. In 2016, after childishly airing our dirty laundry to our European neighbours during the bitter referendum, a sheepish UK was looking for a “grown-up”. Six years of boyish David Cameron making rash decisions on behalf of the country had taken its toll on the Conservative party, and the [...]
DEBATE: Was it right for Labour to expel Alastair Campbell because he voted for the Liberal Democrats? May 30, 2019 Was it right for Labour to expel Alastair Campbell because he voted for the Liberal Democrats? James A. Smith, author of Other People’s Politics: Populism to Corbynism, says YES. In 2016, in an attempt to prevent Jeremy Corbyn from being re-elected, Labour party officials began invoking obscure rules about conduct deemed irreconcilable with party membership. [...]
The inflation target is just the start for the next ECB president May 30, 2019 With the EU elections out of the way, the horse-trading over a host of top EU jobs, including who replaces Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank (ECB), will ratchet up. By the European Council meeting on 20-21 June, a successor to Draghi should become clear. The new president’s most urgent task is [...]
Keep your wits about you, it’s not easy to navigate this tyrannical political jungle May 30, 2019 Any country that forced its citizens to spend over 40 per cent of their time working for those in power would be roundly condemned as a slave state and the most appalling tyranny. Yet this is the effective reality in Britain. Just over two fifths – 40.94 per cent – of everything the nation earns is [...]
We turn politics into a deposition at our peril May 30, 2019 Politics is not known as one of the more truthful professions. Spin, exaggeration, and truth-stretching are all staples of the politician’s toolkit. We might prefer it to be otherwise, but the reality is that an astute public must take claims uttered by those in office with a healthy dose of salt. It is therefore worrying [...]
Ofgem slaps suppliers Economy Energy and E with £850,000 fine for competition breaches May 30, 2019 Failed supplier Economy Energy has been slapped with a major fine by regulator Ofgem for breaching competition laws with E (Gas and Electricity) and consultancy Dyball Associates. The companies were fined a combined £870,000 by the regulator this morning after it found the two suppliers had agreed to not target each others’ customers through face-to-face sales. [...]
No-deal Brexit factory shutdowns slash UK car production by 45 per cent May 30, 2019 An “extraordinary” widespread factory shutdown prompted by Brexit slashed car production almost in half last month. Read more: Car sales fall again as Brexit puts brakes on consumer confidence The number of vehicles made slumped by 45 per cent, according to fresh figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). That meant only [...]
Online harms proposals will damage UK tech sector, tech giants warn May 30, 2019 Government plans to crack down on social media firms over the growing problem of online harms are unclear and will damage the UK’s digital sector, tech giants have warned. A scathing new report, seen exclusively by City A.M. and authored by the Internet Association (IA), which represents online firms including Google, Facebook and Twitter, has outlined a string [...]