Four fire engines called to central London blaze in Great Portland Street April 17, 2015 Four fire engines were called to the scene of a fire in Great Portland Street at lunchtime, after black smoke appeared to spew from the top of a building currently being refurbished. At 12.30pm, the London Fire Brigade tweeted that it had received 35 999 calls regarding the fire, which it said had been caused [...]
Quindell share price edges up as investors vote in favour of Slater & Gordon deal April 17, 2015 Quindell shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a deal to sell its professional services arm to Australian law firm Slater & Gordon, with 99.1 per cent in favour of the deal. Shares in the company rose 1.3 per cent to 133p after the vote, which took place at an extraordinary general meeting held in [...]
Toroidion 1MW: This Finnish startup has created an electric supercar more powerful than the Bugatti Veyron April 17, 2015 Electric cars have come a long way since the G-Whizz. A Finnish startup has unveiled a supercar designed to compete at Le Mans – and at 1,341 horsepower (that's 1,000 kW), it's more powerful than the Bugatti Veyron (1,200hp), and not far off the 1,400hp Koenigsegg One:1. The Toroidion 1MW was unveiled yesterday at the [...]
Serco share price dips as investors back rights issue April 17, 2015 Some good news for Serco: the troubled outsourcer said this morning its shareholders had largely supported a rights issue, with acceptances for 520m of 549m (that's 95 per cent) of new ordinary shares offered. The one-for-one rights issue, priced at 101p per new ordinary share, closed on Thursday. This morning, shares dipped 0.2 per cent to [...]
Hipster bonanza: Etsy’s shares have gone berserk after its IPO April 16, 2015 It turns out hipster craft site Etsy is as popular with New York's clued-up investors as moustache wax and skinny jeans. Shares in the site, which launched its IPO today, have more than doubled, to $33. That's a stonking start for the company, which has been much-mocked with sites such as the now-closed Regretsy. Having [...]
General Election 2015: The boozy way to cast your vote – coalition cocktails April 16, 2015 If the many insults and photo-ops of the election campaign are already enough to drive you to drink, at least there's now an altogether more civilised way to cast your vote: an upmarket London hotel has come up with range of five cocktails which "capture the personalities of the main parties". Yep – it's the [...]
Grexit strategy: How much money does Greece owe, which countries does it owe and when does it have to pay its debts? April 16, 2015 As Greece teeters on the brink of default (again), it looks like its lenders are losing patience. Yields on Greek bonds soared this morning after it was reported that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had gently asked the country not to request a delay on its debt repayments. But how much does Greece actually owe, who [...]
Greek bond yields soar on IMF rumours April 16, 2015 Yields on Greek 10-year bonds soared to 12.8 per cent in late morning, after reports suggested the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has rejected informal requests to delay loan repayments. Yields on its three-year notes rose to 26.43 per cent, after the FT reported this morning that the IMF had “persuaded” the Greek government not to make [...]
Direct Line with Vladimir Putin: The weird tradition of the Russian President’s annual phone-in April 16, 2015 If you're into Russian politics, tonight is one of the highlights of the political year: Direct Line with Vladimir Putin will air on Russian TV – the Russian President's annual marathon chat show, during which he takes questions put to him by the Russian public for the 13th time. It's an annual tradition dating back [...]
UK’s mini heatwave: Right now, London is hotter than Marrakech, Lisbon and Malaga April 15, 2015 Here's an interesting tweet from the BBC's weather account, which pointed out that with some parts of the capital hitting the heady heights of 24 degrees celsius, it's currently warmer in London than it is in Marrakech, where it's 22 degrees; Malaga, where it's 21 degrees, and Lisbon, where it's a positively chilly 18 degrees.https://twitter.com/bbcweather/status/588316312910372864 [...]
