BBC shifts focus to iPlayer as main platform for distribution October 8, 2013 VIDEO on-demand is set to take a leap forward as the BBC places its iPlayer service as the corporation’s primary platform for showing programmes. BBC director general Tony Hall revealed the changes in a speech yesterday – his first since returning to the corporation in April – where he outlined his vision for the future [...]
Brand Index: Help to Buy comes as Brits cheer up about the economy October 8, 2013 THIS week, banks including RBS, NatWest and Halifax will begin taking applications for 95 per cent mortgages under phase two of the government’s controversial Help to Buy scheme. The initiative is intended to help buyers who cannot afford a hefty deposit onto the property ladder, but critics say it could lead to another housing bubble. [...]
Scots nationalise Prestwick airport October 8, 2013 THE SCOTTISH government yesterday said it intends to buy the lossmaking Glasgow Prestwick airport in order to protect the 1,400 jobs that depend on its continued operation. Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish parliament that her SNP government intends to bring it into public ownership at the earliest opportunity. This follows discussions with New Zealand-based owners Infratil [...]
Arrow Global shares jump in market debut October 8, 2013 DEBT collection firm Arrow Global saw a sharp rise during its first day of trading on the London Stock Exchange to value the company at £390m, nine per cent higher than its float price. Arrow Global had priced its sale of 52.8 per cent of the company at 205p per share when it floated yesterday, [...]
State-run East Coast railway returns £200m October 8, 2013 THE STATE-RUN East Coast Main Line handed more than £200m to the taxpayer last year as revenues rose. The London-to-Scotland route was nationalised in 2009 after franchise operator National Express handed back the keys early, and is due to be put back in the private sector by February 2015 – a plan that has been opposed [...]
CME to rival LME with aluminium contract launch October 8, 2013 CME Group, the Chicago-based derivatives exchange, plans to launch an aluminium contract that will compete with the London Metal Exchange’s product, it emerged yesterday. Harriet Hunnable, head of metals at CME, told reporters of the company’s plans at LME week, the annual conference for the metals industry. Chris Grams, spokesperson at CME, would not disclose [...]
Land Secs sells £200m shopping malls October 8, 2013 Land Securities and British Land yesterday agreed to sell their two Aberdeen shopping centres to F&C REIT for £189m. The two FTSE 100 property firms owned Bon Accord and St Nicholas shopping centres in Aberdeen through a 50:50 joint venture formed in 2004. Land Securities said the venture was due to expire after seven years [...]
London second-best for property cash October 8, 2013 London has retained its place as the world’s second largest property investment market behind New York, according to property consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield. Investment volumes increased by six per cent to $32.3bn (£20bn) in the year to the end of June 2013. New York attracted the most commercial property investment during the last year, [...]
Microsoft pays bounty to hack expert October 8, 2013 Microsoft is paying a hacking expert more than $100,000 for finding security holes in its software, one of the largest such bounties awarded to date by a high-tech company. James Forshaw, who heads vulnerability research at London-based security consulting firm Context Information Security, won Microsoft’s first $100,000 bounty for identifying a new “exploitation technique” in [...]
Watchdog tells Lafarge Tarmac to sell off plant October 8, 2013 BRITAIN’S monopoly regulator yesterday said it wanted to boost competition in the cement industry by requiring Lafarge Tarmac, one of the major players, to sell a cement plant to a new entrant in the market. “The best way to disturb the balance of a market where producers have focused on retaining their respective market shares [...]
