IG Design: Card maker’s cost-cutting drive starts to pay off despite profit plummet October 29, 2024 Profit at IG Design, the world’s largest maker of greeting cards, wrapping paper and gift bags, has been slashed but the firm is now cash generative and expecting to make a comeback in the second half of the year. As expected, group revenue fell 11 per cent in the six months to September, causing adjusted profit to [...]
Love Island host Maya Jama invests in pea milk brand Sproud October 29, 2024 Love Island presenter Maya Jama has invested in Swedish plant milk brand Sproud – which is already backed by a shareholder of Fortnite maker, Epic Games. Jama is to be a strategic advisor and public face of the company following the deal, the value and scale of which has not been revealed. Sproud’s investors also [...]
Foxtons acquires commuter town estate agents in expansion drive October 29, 2024 Estate agents Foxtons has acquired two smaller companies in commuter towns as it looks to expand its presence in the lettings market. Haslams, in Reading, and Imagine, in Watford, will be bought by Foxtons for £7.6m and £5m respectively. The acquisitions will increase Foxtons’ footprint to 64 branches, as well as delivering an extra 2,900 [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown client growth surges as takeover looms October 29, 2024 Hargreaves Lansdown’s client growth surged to 18,000 in the last quarter as the investment platform’s private equity takeover approaches. However, despite the growth, which compared to just 8,000 new customers in the same quarter last year, new assets coming into the platform dropped. Hargreaves Lansdown reported just £500m in net new business, compared to £600m [...]
Pearson: Educational publisher starts to reap rewards of AI October 29, 2024 Pearson said it is starting to see “commercial benefit” from the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into its services. The education publisher said there have been over five million student interactions with its higher education AI study tools in the nine months to September, leading to double-digit year on year billings growth in its higher [...]
HSBC shares pop as bank beats profit estimates and launches $3bn buyback October 29, 2024 HSBC has unveiled its latest share buyback after beating profit estimates in the third quarter as the Asia-focused bank gears up for a major restructuring.
BAE Systems plots £220m transformation to create hundreds of jobs October 29, 2024 Defence company BAE Systems is planning to invest £220m to transform its Rochester base into an “advanced technology” factory. The century-old site, which specialises in aerospace technologies and electronic systems, will be revamped into a “state-of-the-art” 32,000sqm facility. BAE Systems expects the bigger and “more efficient” factory will create 300 jobs over the next five [...]
How we morphed a party outfit into a multi-million pound costume business October 29, 2024 How I turned an impromptu party outfit into a multi-million-pound business
This will-we, won’t-we budget is causing economic harm October 29, 2024 Watching the will-we, won’t-we budget commentary unfold over the past few months has been painful and has caused significant uncertainty across the market. Not to mention that delaying the budget to October following the July election was a misstep, it has resulted in drawn-out public scrutiny of the multitude of possible tax changes on the [...]
Former Accenture exec Peter Lacy settles claim with consultancy giant October 28, 2024 Accenture’s former head of sustainability Peter Lacy has settled his employment case with the consultancy giant, City AM can reveal