Sanne Group to raise £142m through IPO March 27, 2015 Independent fund and corporate administration provider Sanne Group is set to raise £141.6m in a deal that values it at £232m when it lists on the London Stock Exchange on 1 April. Current owner Inflexion said the IPO had generated a realised and unrealised return of 3.7 times its original investment. Shares in Sanne, for [...]
Is UK online fashion retailer Net-a-Porter about to be bought by Amazon? March 27, 2015 Is Amazon planning to get into high-end fashion retailing? The US tech giant is reportedly in talks to acquire Net-a-Porter, the British online luxury fashion retailer. It would be a bold move for Amazon, which already has clothing categories on its site – although many of the listings tend to feature the word "polyester". According [...]
This tiny alpine Swiss village wants to build Europe’s tallest skyscraper – 230ft taller than The Shard March 27, 2015 The 80-storey skyscraper will tower over the Swiss village of Vals (Source: Morphosis) It's the kind of audacious move that would leave the UK's nimbys in a cold sweat: the tiny Swiss village of Vals, situated in the heart of the Alps and with a population of less than 1,000, has unveiled plans to build [...]
Germanwings flight 4U9525 crash: Airlines including EasyJet, Monarch Airlines, Virgin and Thomas Cook have just changed their cockpit procedures so two people must always be present March 27, 2015 Following the revelation that Germanwings flight 4U9525 may have been crashed deliberately, some of the world's largest airlines have confirmed plans to change their cockpit procedures so two crew members must always be present. Airlines including EasyJet, Monarch Airlines, Emirates, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Virgin and Thomas Cook all said they have changed their policies. The [...]
RBS confirms plans to sell Queen’s bank Coutts to Swiss Union Bancaire Privée March 27, 2015 After much fevered speculation, RBS has finally confirmed plans to sell private banking arm Coutts International – famously the Queen's bank – to the Swiss Union Bancaire Privée. RBS said under the terms of the deal, the sale comprises client relationships outside the UK – "relationships managed from Switzerland, Monaco, UAE, Qatar, Singapore and Hong Kong". [...]
Banned Blackrock exec Jonathan Burrows hits back at £43k fare-dodging claim March 26, 2015 A City executive who was banned for life from working in the Square Mile has hit back at claims that he dodged £43,000 worth of train fares over a five-year period. Jonathan Burrows, previously a managing director at Blackrock, insists that for most of the period in question he walked to work from a rented [...]
“Do business abroad,” enthuses export expert Myleene Klass March 26, 2015 Fresh from lambasting Ed Miliband about his plans to redistribute the wealth through a mansion tax, former pop star and Littlewoods brand ambassador Myleene Klass has climbed back onto her soapbox – this time, to tell businesses they should be doing more exporting. Klass, who famously told Miliband he "may as well tax this glass [...]
Webuyanycar.com owner British Car Auctions sold for £1.2bn March 26, 2015 The company formerly known as British Car Auctions (now known as BCA), the parent behind those ubiquitous, irritating webuyanycar.com ads, has been sold for £1.2bn, it was confirmed today. BCA was sold to listed investment fund Haversham, which is backed by City fund houses including Aviva, Schroders, Inveso and Artemis. It had been thought to [...]
Thomas Piketty and Russell Brand named among the world’s top 10 “thinkers” March 26, 2015 It seems Russell Brand's lectures about the many advantages of not voting were more than just the fevered rantings of a "pound shop Ben Elton". The comedian-cum-"revolutionary" has just been listed among the world's top 10 world thinkers. It turns out someone's actually taking him seriously… even though it wasn't that long ago that the [...]
Pothole plague: It’s going to cost councils £12bn to fill every pothole in Britain March 26, 2015 Some argue it's to do with local government cutbacks, while others suggest it's to do with worsening weather – either way, a plague of potholes has swept the country, and a new report suggest it will take 13 years and cost councils £12.16bn to fill them all. According to the Asphalt Industry Alliance, London will [...]
