Medica becomes latest London-listed private equity target in £269m deal April 24, 2023 A medical technology firm which supplies the NHS has become the latest company to fall into the sights of private equity today, as bidders capitalise on low prices and swoop on listed British companies.
Watchdog extends investigation into PM’s declaration of interests April 24, 2023 Parliament’s standards watchdog has expanded the investigation into Rishi Sunak’s potential breach of the rules on declaring financial interests. The Prime Minister is also being investigated over whether he broke the MPs’ code of conduct relating to disclosing details surrounding active inquiries, it emerged on Monday. Standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg opened the inquiry following concerns [...]
Elizabeth Line: More trains and improved timetable to mark new London favourite’s first birthday April 24, 2023 The Elizabeth Line will mark its one year anniversary with speedier travel and an improved timetable, TFL announced today. The popular line will see a swathe of improvements from Sunday 21 May, as it reaches the final milestone of the Crossrail project. Londoners can expect more trains and faster journeys on a number of routes, [...]
Keir Starmer: Diane Abbott’s racism comments were ‘antisemitic’ April 24, 2023 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has condemned Diane Abbott’s comments about racism as “antisemitic” and said they will never be accepted in the party. Abbott had the Labour whip suspended after comments suggesting Jewish, Irish and Traveller people are not subject to racism “all their lives”. Sir Keir would not say if Abbott should not [...]
Human governance in the metaverse: Part One April 24, 2023 In part one of his examination of human governance in the metaverse, Dr Chris Kacher looks at 'the network state'.
Philips shares and profits up as investors dismiss £575m sleep device recall bill April 24, 2023 Philips shares jumped 13 per cent on Monday as the Dutch health technology company reported much better than expected first-quarter results and said it had set aside €575 million ($631 million) related to lawsuits over its recall of respiratory devices. Amsterdam-based Philips has been grappling with the fallout of the global recall of millions of respirators used to treat [...]
Revolut shareholder slashes firm’s value by nearly half as investors sour on tech April 24, 2023 Revolut’s value has plunged by nearly half over the past year according to one of its shareholders, as investors reconsider the hefty price tags attached to tech and fintech firms during a 2021 funding frenzy. Schroders Global Innovation Trust, a long-time Revolut investor, revealed in a regulatory filing last week that it had written down [...]
Prezzo shuts 46 branches including four in London as 810 jobs put at risk April 24, 2023 Prezzo will shut 46 loss making sites across the UK including three in London and place 810 workers at risk of redundancy, as soaring energy and a hike in food costs rattle the business. The Italian restaurant chain, which is owned by private equity firm Cain International said that the closures will impact sites where [...]
Sunak pledges £100m ‘world leader’ AI boost as firms wooed at business summit April 24, 2023 Prime minister Rishi Sunak has insisted his government is undertaking “the most transformative changes to financial services regulations since the Big Bang”. Sunak insisted the Financial Services and Markets Bill was a “very significant piece of legislation”. He pledged that once the law was implemented, Solvency II reforms would “unlock tens of billions of pounds [...]
Time lapse at UBS as CRO Bluhm delays planned photography career April 24, 2023 UBS’ chief risk officer Christian Bluhm postponed plans to focus on his photography today as the bank confirmed he will stay for the “foreseeable future” to handle the acquisition of Credit Suisse. Bluhm, who has been in place since 2016, was planning to handover to Damian Vogel on 1 May. Bluhm had been hoping to [...]